GK October 2023

 

Awards

The American actor and film producer who has been chosen to be conferred the Satyajit Ray Excellence in Film Lifetime Achievement Award during the International Film Festival of India 2023 to be held in November 2023 – Michael Douglas

The Tamil writer who has been conferred the Saraswati Samman 2022 by KK Birla Foundation for her book Surya Vamsam – Ms. Sivasankari

 

Defence

The joint military exercise (bi-service involving Army and Air Force) conducted by India and Kazakhstan from 30.10.23 to 11.11.23 at Otar, Kazakhstan is named – Ex. KAZIND-2023

The third of Visakhapatnam class stealth guided missile destroyer which was delivered to the Indian Navy on 20 October by Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited is named – INS Imphal

The joint military exercise between Indian and Malaysian Army conducted in Umroi Cantonment is named – Ex Harimau Shakti-2023

The collaborative project of the Indian Army and United Services Institution with the objective to synthesize ancient wisdom with contemporary military practices launched by the Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh is named – Project Udbhav

The annual Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise CHAKRAVAT-2023 is being hosted by Indian Navy at – Goa

The 11th edition of annual joint military exercise by India and Bangladesh held from 03rd October 2023 in Umroi, Meghalaya is named – SAMPRITI-XI

 

Persons

The former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports who passed away on 15 October 2023 – Shri M.S. Gill

The People's National Congress candidate and Malé mayor who has won the Presidential elections in Maldives defeating incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih – Mohamed Muizzu

 

Places

The place in Andhra Pradesh where collision between 2 passenger trains resulted in the death of 14 passengers and injury of several others – Kantakapalli in Vizianagaram

The place in Uttar Pradesh where India's first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi – Ghaziabad

The village in Gujarat's Kutch district which has been declared the Best Tourism Village by United Nations World Tourism Organization – Dhordo

The venue of the third edition of the 3-day Global Maritime India Summit 2023 inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi – Mumbai

The venue of World Health Summit 2023 held from 15 to 17 October 2023 with the theme A Defining Year for Global Health Action – Berlin

The venue of 141st session of International Olympic Committee held from 14 to 17 October 2023 – Mumbai

 

Sports

The Argentina footballer who has been awarded the 2023 Ballon d'Or (winning it for the 8th time in his career) – Lionel Messi

The Indian batsman who has become the fastest to score 2000 runs in one-day internationals by scoring in 38 innings surpassing the record of Hashim Amla who did it in 40 innings – Shubman Gill

The Indian chess player who has become the third Indian to beat the world number 1 Magnus Carlsen by defeating him the Qatar Masters tournament – Karthikeyan Murali

The Kenyan athlete who has established a new world record in running the marathon by finishing the Chicago marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds – Kelvin Kiptum

 

Miscellaneous

The day which has been chosen to be observed as the National Space Day as per notification issued by the Govt of India – August 23

The rank of India in Global Hunger Index 2023 published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe – 111

The two PSUs under Ministry of Railways which have been granted the Navratna status by the Govt of India – IRCON International and RITES Ltd

The state which has designated the Gangetic Dolphin as the state's aquatic animal – Uttar Pradesh

The operation launched by India to evacuate Indians from Israel due to the situation arising after the attack by Hamas is named – Operation Ajay

The Indian company which has become the only Indian Public Sector Undertaking to be listed in the Forbes World's Best Employers list of 2023 – NTPC Ltd

The country in Southeast Asia which has become the first in the region to launch high speed railway – Indonesia

 

Nobel Prizes 2023

#	Field	Winners	Contribution
1.	Medicine	Katalin Karikó & Drew Weissman	for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19
2.	Chemistry	Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus & Alexei I. Ekimov	for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots
3.	Physics	Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz & Anne L’Huillier	for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter
4.	Peace	Ms. Narges Mohammadi	for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all
5.	Economic Sciences	Ms. Claudia Goldin	for having advanced our understanding of women's labour market outcomes
6.	Literature	Jon Fosse	for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.

 

Asian Games 2023

Host city: Hangzhou, China

Motto: Heart to Heart, @Future

Mascots: Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen known collectively as Memories of Jiangnan

Official theme song: With You and Me

Held from 23 September to 08 October 2023

Opened by: Xi Jinping, President of China

Opening and Closing ceremonies held at: Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium

 

Medals Tally

#	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.	China	201	111	71	283
2.	Japan	52	67	69	188
3.	South Korea	42	59	89	190
4.	India	28	38	41	107
5.	Uzbekistan	22	18	31	71

 

Indian Medals by Sports

#	Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.	Shooting	7	9	6	22
2.	Athletics	6	14	9	29
3.	Archery	5	2	2	9
4.	Squash	2	1	2	5
5.	Cricket	2	0	0	2

 

Indian flag bearers at the opening ceremony: Harmanpreet Singh and Lovlina Borgohain

Indian flag bearer at the closing ceremony: PR Sreejesh

 

4th Asian Para Games 2022

Host city: Hangzhou, China

Motto: Hearts Meet, Dreams Shine

Mascots: Feifei, inspired by the motif of the "Divine Bird" in the Liangzhu Culture.

Official theme song: With You and Me

Held from 22 October to 28 October 2023

 

Medals Tally

#	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1.	China	214	167	140	521
2.	Iran	44	46	41	131
3.	Japan	42	49	59	150
4.	South Korea	30	33	40	103
5.	India	29	31	51	111

Important Days of October

International Day of Older Persons: 01 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 1991

Theme: Fulfilling the Promises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for Older Persons: Across Generations

International Day of Non-Violence: 02 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 2007

World Teachers' Day: 05 October

Established by: UNESCO

Theme: The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage

First Observed in: 1994

World Habitat Day: 1st Monday of October (04 October)

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First observed: 1986

Theme: Resilient urban economies. Cities as drivers of growth and recovery

World Post Day: 09 October

Designated by: Universal Postal Union

First Observed in: 1969

Theme: Together for trust: Collaborating for a safe and connected future

World Mental Health Day: 10 October

Designated by: World Health Organisation

Theme: Mental Health is a Universal Human Right

First Observed in: 1992

International Day of the Girl Child: 11 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

Theme: Invest in Girls' Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being

First Observed in: 2012

World Sight Day: 12 October (2nd Thursday of October)

Designated by: International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

Theme: #Love Your Eyes

First Observed in: 2000

International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction: 13 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

Theme: Fighting inequality for a resilient future

First Observed in: 1989

International Day of Rural Women: 15 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 2008

World Food Day: 16 October

Designated by: Food and Agricultural Organisation

Theme: Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind.

First Observed in: 1980

International Day for Eradication of Poverty: 17 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

Theme: Decent work and Social Protection: Putting dignity in practice for all

First Observed in: 1993

World Development Information Day: 24 October

Designated by: United Nations General Assembly

First Observed in: 1972

United Nations Day: 24 October

The day marks the coming into effect of the UN Charter (the founding document of UNO) in 1945.

This year's UN Day Concert on the theme of The Frontlines of Climate Action is sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations with support from PVBLIC Foundation's Family Offices for Sustainable Development.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: 27 October

Designated by: UNESCO

Theme: Your window to the world

First Observed in: 2005

World Cities Day: 31 October

Designated by: UN General Assembly

First Observed in: 2014

 

Bishan Singh Bedi – Former Cricketer

• Born: 25 September 1946
• Passed away: 23 October 2023
• Bowler: Slow left-arm orthodox
• Bowling performance: 266 wickets in 67 tests
• Awarded the Padma Shri in 1970 and C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004

New Governors

• Tripura - Shri Nallu Indrasena Reddy
• Odisha - Shri Raghubar Das

 

New GI Tags

The following items have been bestowed Geographical Indication (GI) tags recently

• Basohli Pashmina from Kathua district (J&K)
• Yak Churpi (Yak milk product) from West Kameng and Tawang districts (Arunachal Pradesh)