Current Affairs for Competitive Examinations: October 26, 2022
Current affairs are included in significant government exams including the SSC, RRB NTPC, UPSC CDS, Railways, and more. The current events section of the test is given a higher weightage. This section’s preparatory phase is essential. How well-versed the candidate is in current affairs will determine whether or not they can pass this section. We have analysed the most current news from The Hindu, Indian Express, the Economic Times, and other sources to assist all the contenders in performing well in this part.
Current Affairs: Person in News
Anna May Wong, the first Asian-American featuredon US currency
Late Hollywood actress and fashion icon Anna May Wong (1905-1961) became the first Asian American to feature on US currency.
A quarter-dollar coin featuring a close-up image of Wong’s face with her chin resting on her hand was circulated from (October 24), as the fifth coin in the American Women Quarters (AWQ) programme.
Who was Anna May Wong?
Born with the birth name Wong Liu-Tsong to second-generation Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, Wong started her film career at the age of 14 as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919).
She gained critical acclaim only three years later when she played the leading role in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first Technicolour films.
Wong appeared in more than 60 movies, including the box-office hit Shanghai Express (1932).
About the coin:
The coin is the fifth design of the American Women Quarters Program, which highlights female pioneers on coins.
Previous designs featured astronaut Sally Ride, activist and poet Maya Angelou, the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation Wilma Mankiller and the suffragist Nina Otero-Warren.
Question
Who among the following is the first Asian-American featured recently on US currency?
A. Sally Ride
B. Ang-Sang-Suki
C. Anna May Wong
D. Maya Angelou
Answer: C
Current Affairs: Art and Culture
Kashi Tamil Sangamam
The centre has announced a month-long Kashi Tamil Sangamam, which aims to rediscover the links between the two ancient knowledge, culture and heritage centres, from November 16.
The Sangamam, which will be held in the auspicious Karthigai Tamil month, has been organised under the overall framework and spirit of “Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat”.
About the Event:
The month-long Sangamam will be organised in Varanasi from November 16 to December 19. During this, academic exchanges – seminars, discussions, etc., will be held between experts and scholars on various facets of the two ancient manifestations of Indian culture, with a focus on bringing out the links and shared values between the two.
Objective:
The broader objective is to bring the two knowledge and cultural traditions closer, create an understanding of our shared heritage and deepen the people-to-people bond between the regions.
Themes covered:
The Sangamam will be centred on themes covering various facets of knowledge – literature, ancient texts, philosophy, spirituality, music, dance, drama, yoga, Ayurveda, handlooms, handicrafts, and as modern innovations, trade exchanges, edutech and other gen-next technology.
Question:
The Kashi Tamil Sangamam will be held in which of the following cities?
A. Ayodhya
B. Varanasi
C. Chennai
D. Rameshwaram
Answer: B
Current Affairs: International
Rishi Sunak to become the next Prime Minister of the UK
Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s youngest prime minister in modern times after he won the race to lead the Conservative Party, tasked with steering a deeply divided country through an economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer.
He replaces Liz Truss, who only lasted 44 days before she resigned, needing to restore stability to a country reeling from years of political and economic turmoil and seeking to lead a party that has fractured along ideological lines.
Who is Rishi Sunak?
Rishi Sunak is a British politician who has emerged as one of the top candidates to compete for the post of UK PM, to replace Boris Johnson. Sunak has been a member of the Conservative Party for Richmond (Yorks) since 2015.
Life and Education
Sunak was born in Southampton on 12 May 1980, to Indian parents Yashvir and Usha Sunak in East Africa. His grandparents were born in British India’s Punjab province. They migrated to the UK from East Africa in the 1960s with their children.
Sunak studied at Winchester College and read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Lincoln College, Oxford, in 2001. The 42-year-old also did his MBA as a Fulbright Scholar from Stanford University in 2006.
Political career:
He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks) in October 2014. He was the head of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Research Unit of the think tank Policy Exchange in the same year.
Sunak was re-elected from his seat in the 2017 general elections. From 2018 to 2019, he served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government.
In 2019, he was appointed Chief Secretary to Treasury by Boris Johnson and also became a member of the Privy Council. He was re-elected in the 2019 general election.
Sunak, on 5 July 2022, resigned from his post along with minister Sajid Javid, expressing a lack of confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
Later that week, Sunak announced his prime ministerial bid and topped the first two rounds of the race within the Conservative party.
PERMA-CRISIS in the UK.
Britain has been locked in a state of perma-crisis ever since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, unleashing a battle at Westminster over the future of the country that remains unresolved to this day.
Johnson, the face of the Brexit vote, led his party to a landslide victory in 2019, only to be driven out of office less than three years later after a series of scandals. His successor, Truss, lasted just over six weeks before she, too, was forced out.
Question:
Rishi Sunak, who will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, belongs to which political party?
A. Conservative Party
B. Labour Party
C. Scottish National Party
D. Liberal Democrats
Answer: A
Current Affairs: Sports
Fifth Khelo India Youth Games-2022
The 5th edition of the Khelo India Youth Games will be held in Madhya Pradesh from 31 January to 11 February 2023.
The Khelo India Youth Games will be held at eight locations. More than 8500 athletes and sportspersons are expected to participate in the sporting event.
What are Khelo India Youth Games?
Khelo India Youth Games, formerly Khelo India School Games, are the annual national-level multidisciplinary grassroots games in India held in January or February for two categories, namely under-17 years school students and under-21 college students.
Headquarters: New Delhi
Abbreviation: KIYG
First event: 2018
Frequency: Annual
Purpose: Grassroot talent hunt
About the 2022 Games:
The upcoming edition of the Khelo India Youth Games will feature a total of 27 disciplines, with water sports being included for the first time in the history of the games.
New disciplines like Canoe Slalom, Kayaking, Canoeing and Rowing will also feature alongside the usual sports and indigenous games.
The Games will take place across eight cities of Madhya Pradesh.
Question:
The 5th edition of Khelo India Youth Games will be held in which of the following states/UT?
A. Kerala
B. Maharashtra
C. Haryana
D. Madhya Pradesh
Answer: D
Current Affairs: Defence
Indian, U.S. Militaries Conduct “Tiger Triumph” Exercise
The Indian and U.S. militaries concluded a three-day joint humanitarian assistance exercise on Thursday at India’s Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.
About Tiger Triumph:
The “Tiger Triumph” tabletop simulation was a comprehensive effort in which Indian and U.S. military and diplomatic representatives coordinated a joint response to provide disaster relief services to a notional third country that experienced a super-cyclone.
This week’s Tiger Triumph exercise was the second collaboration between the Indian and U.S. militaries to coordinate disaster relief in the region.
The first exercise—also based out of Visakhapatnam—took place over the course of nine days in November 2019 and featured more than 500 U.S. Marines and sailors and approximately 1,200 Indian sailors, soldiers, and airmen.
This year’s exercise involves fifty combined participants and is focused on staff planning, with an emphasis on processes for streamlining diplomatic, operational, and logistical coordination.
US-India Collaboration:
Tiger Triumph marks the third time in 2022 that the Indian and U.S. militaries have worked together in Visakhapatnam.
In February, the United States joined India and more than thirty other nations for India’s bi-annual Exercise Milan – the first time the United States had participated in Exercise Milan.
In August, the USS Frank Cable visited Visakhapatnam, during which U.S. sailors joined Indian counterparts for briefings and an official dinner.
Question:
India has recently concluded the Tiger Triumph exercise with which of the following countries?
A. Australia
B. Bangladesh
C. France
D. USA
Answer: D
Current Affairs: Awards and Recognitions
Pulitzer Prize-2022
Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui’s children accepted the Pulitzer prize on his behalf. Danish Siddiqui was killed while covering the Afghanistan conflict in July last year. Late Danish Siddiqui received the award in a moving ceremony in New York.
Danish Siddiqui is among four Indians honoured with the prestigious Pulitzer Prize 2022 in the feature photography category.
Why did he get this Prize?
Danish Siddiqui—who extensively covered conflicts around the world—won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for feature photography for documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis and was killed while covering the war between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Kandahar city.
About Siddiqui:
This is for the second time that Siddiqui has won the Pulitzer Prize. He was honoured with the prestigious award in 2018 as part of the Reuters team for their coverage of the Rohingya crisis.
He had extensively covered the Afghanistan conflict, the Hong Kong protests and other major events in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
Siddiqui graduated with a degree in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. He had a degree in Mass Communication from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia in 2007.
About Pulitzer Prizes:
The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States.
2022 Pulitzer Prizes Awards Ceremony held at Columbia University, USA.
Pulitzer Prize administration awards prizes across 22 categories in journalism and the arts each year.
Named after Joseph Pulitzer, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in 1917.
Prizes are announced by the president of Columbia University on Pulitzer Prize board recommendation.
Gobind Behari Lal was the first from India to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1937.
Question:
Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui recently got a Pulitzer Prize-2022 was a citizen of which country?
A. Bangladesh
B. India
C. Pakistan
D. Afghanistan
Answer: B
Current Affairs: Awards and Recognitions
PMAY-U Awards 2021
Winners of the PMAY-U Awards 2021 were recently declared. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu held the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively as the ‘Best Performing States’ under the scheme.
Gujarat was awarded the ‘Best State’ for implementing the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS). Tripura won the award for Best Performing State under PMAY-U in the north-eastern and hilly States category.
About the scheme:
PMAY-U scheme is aimed at confronting and tiding over the shortage of housing facilities in urban India for beneficiaries under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low-Income Groups (LIGs) and Middle Income Groups (MIGs) categories.
This scheme is implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
Credit linked subsidy component will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme, while the other three components will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
All statutory towns as per Census 2011 and towns notified subsequently would be eligible for coverage under the Mission.
Question:
Which of the following is declared the best-performing state under PMAY-U Awards 2021?
A. Madhya Pradesh
B. Maharashtra
C. Uttar Pradesh
D. Tamil Nadu
Answer: C
Current Affairs: Days and Events
World Polio Day 2022
World Polio Day is observed every year on October 24 to raise awareness about the polio vaccination and eradication of polio from every corner of the world.
The day is observed to commemorate the progress made by the world towards polio eradication.
The day highlights the efforts of the frontline workers who work to provide vaccines in polio-hit countries.
Theme:
This year, the overarching theme of World Polio Day is “A healthier future for mothers and children”.
Meaning of this theme:
The theme urges the world to acknowledge the progress made in the battle to eradicate polio in children and the work to provide a healthier future for mothers.
The goal is to provide mothers with a positive pregnancy experience to help them with the development of children for a brighter and better future.
History and significance of Polio Day:
World Polio Day was established in 1985 by Rotary International to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk. He was the lead medical researcher of the team that developed a vaccine against polio.
He developed the inactivated poliovirus vaccine, which first came into use in 1955.
This was further developed as the oral polio vaccine by Albert Sabin, which came into use in 1961.
Today, the polio vaccines are recommended all over the world, particularly for children under the age of five, who are the most vulnerable to the infection.
Organisations involved in Polio Awareness:
On World Polio Day, global organisations such as Rotary International, WHO and others host several events to raise awareness about polio. Events range from rallies, walks, and webinars to organising competitions in schools and clubs. In the global fight to eradicate polio, no member is too small to contribute.