NATIONAL:
1. BR Ambedkar Outside India
Why in news – The tallest statue (19-feet) of BR Ambedkar outside India was unveiled in the US.
Key Points –
• Location - Washington, DC (Maryland suburb).
• It is called the “Statue of Equality”.
• It was designed by Ram Sutar.
• It is a replica of the world’s largest Ambedkar statue located in India’s Hyderabad (125 feet tall).
INTERNATIONAL:
1. Keywords in Israel-Palestine Conflict
Why in news – These terms have come into the limelight during the recent escalation of violence in the region.
Key Points –
• Al Aqsa - It refers to the compound of Islamic religious buildings, including the Dome of Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City.
• Ashkelon – It is a coastal city in southern Israel.
• Balfour Declaration (1917) – The British promised support for a “Jewish national home” in Palestine.
• Gaza – It is a strip of land (365 sq km) wedged between the Mediterranean Sea (west), Israel (north and east) and Egypt (south).
• Holocaust - genocide of European Jews by the Nazis from 1941-45.
• Jerusalem - One of the oldest extant cities in the world, it is considered holy in all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
• Khan Younis - A city in the southern end of the Gaza strip.
• Kibbutz - An intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture.
• Levant - land lying to the east of the Mediterranean (Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Turkey).
• Nakba (catastrophe) - forced displacement of Palestinians due to the creation of Israel.
• Mossad - National intelligence agency of Israel.
• Ramallah (West Bank) - Administrative and de facto capital of Palestine.
• West Bank - Palestinian territory lying to the west of the Jordan River.
• White phosphorus – Military munitions used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.
• Zionism - a political and ideological movement to return the Jewish people to their ‘homeland’ in Palestine, at the time under Ottoman control.
GOVERNMENT SCHEMES:
1. Green Credit Program (GCP)
Why in news – M/o Environment, Forest, and Climate Change has introduced two initiatives under the LiFE Initiative.
Key Points –
• Initiatives - Green Credit Program (GCP) and Ecomark Scheme.
• Aim - to Promote Sustainable Lifestyle and Environmental Conservation initiatives.
• Green Credit Program (GCP) – to incentivize voluntary environmental actions through buying and selling of Green Credits.
• Ecomark Scheme - to provide accreditation and labeling for household and consumer products that meet specific environmental criteria.
• The Central Pollution Control Board administers the Ecomark Scheme in partnership with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
2. Mera Yuva Bharat
Why in news – Union Cabinet approved the establishment of an autonomous body Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat).
Key Points –
• Aim –
(a) for youth development and youth led development
(b) provide equitable access to youth to actualize their aspirations and build Viksit Bharat.
(c) Youth community to act as the Yuva Setu (bridge) between the Government and the citizens.
• It will benefit the youth in the age-group of 15-29 years, in line with the definition of ‘Youth’ in the National Youth Policy.
• It will be launched on October 31, 2023 on National Unity Day.
SCIENCE–TECH:
1. Deepfakes
Why in news - Citing deepfakes, Centre looks at Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 to make WhatsApp disclose source ID.
Key Points –
• The basis for this is multiple deepfake videos of politicians circulating on WhatsApp.
• It seeks the identity of the people who first shared the videos on the platform.
• Concern - Rising artificial intelligence (AI)-led misinformation can cause harm to electoral integrity in India.
About Deepfakes -
• A deepfake is a video of a person in which the face or body has been digitally altered so that he or she appears to be someone else.
• Deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images of fake events, hence the name deepfake.
• Audio can be deepfaked too, to create “voice skins” or ” voice clones” of public figures.
• Encoder – It is an AI algorithm that finds and learns similarities between the two faces, and reduces them to their shared common features.
• Decoder - AI algorithm that is taught to recover the faces from the compressed images.
• To perform the face swap, one simply feeds encoded images into the “wrong” decoder. E.g., a compressed image of person A’s face is fed into the decoder trained on person B.
• Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) – It is another way to make deepfakes.
• Shallowfakes - Videos that are either presented out of context or are doctored with simple editing tools.
IMPORTANT DAYS:
1. World Food Day 2023
Why in news – It is observed every year on 16 October.
Key Points –
• Theme - Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind.
• It was established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1979.
• SDG 2 - 'Zero Hunger'.
SPORTS:
1. Olympics 2036
Why in news – PM Narendra Modi revealed India’s ambition to host the Olympics in 2036.
Key Points –
• A decision for 2036 might not be taken before 2026-27.
• The 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session took place in Mumbai.
• India hosted the IOC session for the 2nd time after a gap of about 40 years. (86th session 1983 - New Delhi).
Value Addition –
• 33rd Olympics - Paris (2024).
• 34th Olympics - Los Angeles (2028).
• 35th Olympics - Brisbane (2032).
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