Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 25th August 2024

1. Actor Vijay launches his political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s flag 

• Tamil cinema’s leading actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay launched his party’s flag and flag song at the party headquarters at Panaiyur in Chennai. 
• Vijay introduced the two-coloured flag with red on top and bottom; yellow in the middle; and a flower resembling Vaagai surrounded by 28 stars at the centre with two trumpeting tuskers facing each other on either side. 
• Warriors of ancient Tamil kingdoms wore Vaagai flower garlands to symbolise victory. Mr. Vijay also hoisted the flag at the party’s headquarters and launched the party’s flag song Thamizhan Kodi Parakuthu. 
• Vijay had in February, this year announced the formation of his political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and declared that his party would enter the electoral fray in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. 

2. Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates GST Bhawan at Udaipur 

• Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the GST Bhawan, an Official complex of CGST, Udaipur Commissionerate under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), at Udaipur, Rajasthan. 
• The Union Finance Minister also launched ICETAB 2.0, a handheld device for customs operations, and expressed hope that it will help in uploading real-time examination reports and in quicker clearance of cargoes. 
• The complex is located at one of the most preferred locations in Udaipur. 

3. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi launched Subhadra scheme 

• The Bharatiya Janata Party Government led by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, announced the implementation of the Subhadra scheme under which ₹50,000 will be provided over five years to one crore women between the ages of 21 and 60. 
• The Subhadra scheme is one of the key poll promises made by the BJP which came to power toppling 24 years rule of former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. 
• The Scheme has been approved for implementation from the financial year 2024-25 to financial year 2028-29. An outlay of ₹55,825 crore has been made for this initiative. 
• Subhadra will transform the lives of more than one crore women of the State. It will cover all eligible women aged 21 years or above and less than 60 years. 
• Atotal of ₹10,000 per annum will be paid in two installments of ₹5000 each on Rakhi Purnima Day and International Women’s Day (March 8). 

About Odisha 

• Capital– Bhubaneswar 
• Chief Minister– Mohan Charan Majhi (replace Naveen Patnaik) 
• Deputy CM– KV Singhdeo and Pravati Parida 
• Governor– Raghubar Das 
• Legislative Assembly Seat– 147 

4. Eastern Railway develops ‘Prabodh’ chatbox for easier access to railway rules 

• The 161-year-old Kanchrapara Workshop of Eastern Railway (ER) in West Bengal — one of the oldest such establishments in the country —has come up with an Artificial Intelligence-based chatbox named ‘Prabodh’ to help ER employees remain abreast with the latest rules and regulations. 
• Prabodh is being touted as a human resource management wizard that will help employees give their best while keeping them informed about their responsibilities and rights. 
• Prabodh is not merely a chatbot; it is a groundbreaking innovation designed to streamline the complex world of Railway Establishment Rules. Developed by the personnel department at the Kanchrapara Workshop, Prabodh leverages the cutting-edge capabilities of the OpenAI platform to provide an intelligent, responsive, and user-centric experience.

5. PM Modi presents BHISHM Cubes to Ukraine during first visit to Kyiv 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented four BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri) Cubes to the Ukrainian government during his visit to the war-torn country where he met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy under the shadow of the raging war with Russia. 
• Each BHISHM Cube consists of medicines and equipment for the first line of care for all kinds of injuries and medical situations. It also includes surgical equipment for a basic operation room that can manage 10-15 basic surgeries per day.
• The Cube can handle about 200 cases of diverse nature in emergencies such as trauma, bleeding, burns, fractures, etc. 
• It can also generate power and oxygen in limited amounts. A team of experts from India has been deployed to provide initial training to the Ukrainian side to operate the cube. 

About Ukraine 

• Capital- Kyiv 
• Currency– Hryvnia 
• President– Volodymyr Zelenskyy 
• Prime Minister– Denys Shmyhal 

6. Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider steps down after 8 years; Laurent Freixe to take over 

• Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider quit from the Swiss food group after eight years in charge.
• He will be replaced by Latin America boss Laurent Freixe. 
• Laurent Freixe joined Nestle in France in 1986 and has “successfully managed” the company’s European zone during the 2008 financial crisis and until 2014. 
• After this he was named CEO of the Americas region before taking over at the newly created Latin America zone in 2022, “where he has been successfully leading through challenging conditions”. 

Recent Appointment in Foreign 

• India’s Permanent Representative to UN– Parvathaneni Harish (replace Ruchira Kamboj) 
• CEOofBoeing– Robert “Kelly” Ortberg (replace Dave Calhoun) 
• Headof the EU assembly– Roberta Metsola;2nd time (Malta) 
• UK’s First woman Finance Minister– Rachel Reeves 
• President of FATF– Elisa de Anda Madrazo (replace T. Raja Kumar) 

7. Ronak Dahiya wins Bronze in U-17 Wrestling Championship 

• Indian wrestler Ronak Dahiya won bronze medal in Men’s Greco-Roman 110 kilograms event at Under-17 World Wrestling Championship in Jordan. 
• Dahiya defeated Turkish wrestler Emrullah Capkan 6-1 in the crucial medal match. 
• With this, India has finished their campaign in Men’s Greco-Roman category with two Bronze medals in the championship as Sainath Pardhi also secured Bronze in GR 51 kilograms category. 

8. Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli honoured at the 26th CEAT Cricket Awards 

• The Indian men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma was awarded the 26th CEAT International Cricketer of the Year Award at a ceremony held in Mumbai. 
• Sharma was honoured for his exceptional performance in the 2023-24 season. Under his captaincy, India reached the final of the 13th ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup but lost to Australia. 
• During this period, Rohit scored around 1800 international runs, including 597 runs during the 13th ODI World Cup. 
• Virat Kohli, who had a terrific year in the One Day Internationals (ODI), was honoured with the Best ODI Batter of the Year award. 
• In the 2023-24 season, Kohli scored 1377 runs, which included six centuries and eight fifties. Kohli was the leading scorer of the 2023 ODI World Cup with 765 runs at an average of 95.62. 
• During the World Cup, Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most centuries-49 in ODI. With 50 ODI centuries, Virat Kohli has surpassed Tendulakar’s record. 
• Former Indian cricket captain and coach of the Indian men’s cricket team was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. 
• Rahul Dravid, also known as the Wall, was the coach of the Indian team that won the 9th ICC Men’s T 20 World Cup in Barbados, defeating South Africa in the final. 

About CEAT Cricket Awards 

• The CEAT Cricket Awards is one of the most prestigious awards in cricket. It honours the exceptional performance of cricketers worldwide. 
• The CEAT Cricket Awards started in 1995-96, is sponsored by RP Goenka Group company CEAT Tyres. The latest 26th CEAT Award takes into account the players’ performance during the 2023-24 cricketing session. 

9. Complete List of the Winners of the 2023-24 CEAT Cricket Award 

• Men’s International Cricketer of the Year- Rohit Sharma 
• Test Batter of the Year- Yashasvi Jaiswal 
• Test Bowler of the Year- R Ashwin 
• ODI Batter of the Year- Virat Kohli 
• ODIBowler of the Year- Mohammed Shami 
• T20I Batter of the Year- Phil Salt 
• T20I Bowler of the Year- Tim Southee 
• T20 Leadership award- Shreyas Iyer (KKR) 
• Lifetime Achievement- Rahul Dravid 
• Award for excellent in sports administration- Jay Shah 
• Most matches as captain in women’s T20I history- Harmanpreet Kaur 
• Women’s Indian bowler of the year- Deepti Sharma 
• Fastest double-century in women’s Test- Shafali Verma 

10. Neeraj Chopra won silver in Lausanne Diamond League 

• Star Indian javelin throw athlete Neeraj Chopra registered a season-best throw of 89.49m at the Lausanne Diamond League 2024, in his first competitive appearance since he bagged silver for the nation at the Paris Olympics 2024. 
• The 26-year-old was edged out by Grenada’s Anderson Peters, who claimed the top spot in Switzerland with a mammoth throw of 90.81m. Julian Weber of Germany came in third on the day with a best throw of 87.08m. 
• The top six javelin throwers in the season’s standings qualify for the final in Belgium slated to be held on the 14th of September. 

11. Shikhar Dhawan retires from all forms of Cricket 

• Oneof the finest One Day Internationals (ODI) batsmen in the world, Shikhar Dhawan has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. 
• His last competitive match was for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April 2024. 
• Shikhar Dhawan played 269 international matches in his cricketing career and scored 24 hundreds-17 in ODIs and 7 in test matches. 
• His last game for India was an ODI against Bangladesh in December 2022. 
• Shikhar Dhawan, nicknamed ‘Gabbar’ by his teammate, is a left-handed batsman who made his debut for India in an ODI Match against Australia in Visakhapatnam in 2010. 
• Hecreated a world record by scoring the fastest century by a debutant in a Test match, an 85-ball hundred against Australia in Mohali in the 2013 Test match. 
• Hescored 6793 runs in the 167 ODIs at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 91.35 .Records Shikhar Dhawan played 34 Tests and scored 2315 runs at an average of 40.61. In the T20 Internationals, he scored 1759 runs at the strike rate of 126.36 in 68 matches 

Recently Retired Players 

• Ilkay Gundogan (Germany)– International Football 
• Andy Murray (UK)– International Tennis 
• PRSreejesh (India)– International Hockey 
• James Anderson (England)– International Test Cricket 
• Dinesh Karthik (India, RCB)– IPL 
•  Toni Kroos (Germany)– International Football 
• Sunil Chhetri (India)– International Football 
• Colin Munro (New Zealand)– International Cricket 

12. Green Tug Transition Program 

• TheUnionMinistry of Port Shipping and Waterways has officially launched the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Green Tug Transition Program (GTTP). 
• The Green Tug Transition Program (GTTP) as a key initiative under the ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’. 
• The GTTP is designed to phase out conventional fuel-based harbour tugs operating in Indian Major Ports and replace them with green tugs powered by cleaner and more sustainable alternate fuels. 
• Phase1of the GTTP will begin on October 1, 2024, and continue until December 31, 2027. 
• During this phase, four Major Ports—Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Deendayal Port Authority, Paradip Port Authority, and V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority—will procure or charter at least two green tugs each. 

13. 11 New Nuclear Reactors- China 

• China approved 11 new nuclear reactors across five sites to support its push to cut emissions. 
• The total investment for all 11 units will be at least 220 billion yuan ($31 billion) with construction taking about five years. 
• China has more nuclear reactors under construction than any other nation in the world. 
• It also approved 10 new reactors in each of the last two years. 
• The country has 56 reactors currently in operation, with a combined capacity that equates to around 5% of total electricity demand. 
• It is expected to surpass France and the US to be the world’s leading atomic power generator by 2030. 

14. Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 

• The global youth unemployment has hit the lowest level for 15 years and is likely to continue to fall. 
• The ILO’s report was titled "Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 (GET for Youth). 
• Around64.9 million people aged between 15 and 24 worldwide were unemployed last year. 
• The youth unemployment rate of 14.5 per cent in 2023 in East Asia was a historical high. 
• One in five (20.4%) youth in the region was in ‘not in employment, education or training’ status in 2023 in South Asia. 
• By2025, the youth unemployment rate in the region is expected to continue its decline to 13.7%. 
• Youth unemployment rates were higher in 2023 than in 2019. 
• The rates of young women and young men in 2023 were nearly equal (at 12.9 per cent for young women and 13 per cent for young men). 
• The share of young adults working in a secure paid job is significantly higher in high-income countries (at 76% in 2023).