Miscellaneous Current Affairs

• The visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has received global recognition. The Global System for Mobile Communications-GSM Association (GSMA) has presented the Government Leadership Award 2023 to India for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.

Speaking on the announcement of India receiving the award, Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, Shri Ashwini Vaishnav said,

• ROW permission earlier used to take more than 230 days, now it is approved within 8 days.
• More than 85 percent of mobile tower clearances are now instantaneous.
• With nearly 1 lakh locations in 387 districts, India’s 5G roll-out is one of the fastest in the world.
• The Indian telecom sector has emerged as a promising sector and the whole world has taken note of this rise.

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) :

The Global Mobile Communications Systems Association (GSMA), which represents over 750 mobile operators and 400 companies in the telecom ecosystem, recognizes one country every year. India was declared the winner at a ceremony organized by the Mobile World Congress Barcelona on 27 February 2023.

• The 69th Dadasaheb Phalke Award ceremony was held on 20th February 2023.
• The grand event of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival (DPIFF) 2023 took place in Mumbai.
• The award consists of a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000 (US$13,000).
• Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ won the Dadasaheb International Film Festival Awards and SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ won the International Film of the Year award.
• Alia Bhatt received the Best Actress Award for Gangubai Kathiawadi. Ranbir Kapoor received the Best Actor award for his performance in Brahmastra.

Winners list of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Awards 2023

• Best Film : The Kashmir Files
• Best Director : R Balki for Chup: Revenge of The Artist
• Best Actor : Ranbir Kapoor for Brahmastra : Part 1
• Best Actress : Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi
• Most Promising Actor : Rishab Shetty for Kantara
• Best Actor In A Supporting Role : Manish Paul for Jugjugg Jeeyo
• Outstanding Contribution In The Film Industry : Rekha
• Best Web Series: Rudra : The Edge of Darkness
• Critics Best Actor : Varun Dhawan for Bhediya
• Film of The Year : RRR
• Television Series of The Year : Anupamaa
• Most Versatile Actor Of The Year : Anupam Kher for The Kashmir Files
• Best Actor In A Television Series : Zain Imam for Fanaa-(Ishq Mein Marjawaan)
• Best Actress In A Television Series : Tejasswi Prakash for Naagin
• Best Male Singer : Sachet Tandon for Maiyya Mainu
• Best Female Singer : Neeti Mohan for Meri Jaan
• Best Cinematographer : PS Vinod for Vikram Vedha
• Outstanding Contribution In The Music Industry : Hariharan

• Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and Development of North Eastern Region Shri G. Kishan Reddy presented the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (UBKYP) – 2019, 2020 and 2021 at Meghdoot Theater Complex, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi on 15 February.
• The program was presided over by Dr. Sandhya Purecha, President of Sangeet Natak Akademi.
• In its General Council meeting held at New Delhi on 8th November, 2022, 102 artistes (including three joint awardees) from India were selected for the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar – 2019, 2020 and 2021, who have distinguished themselves as young talents. They have made their mark in their respective fields of performing arts.
• A four-day festival of music, dance and drama was organized from 14 to 17 February 2023 at Meghdoot Theater Complex, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi. In this, the recipients of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Youth Award for the year 2019 displayed their arts.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (UBKYP) :

The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar was instituted in the year 2006. It is awarded to artistes up to the age of 40 years. Its objective is to identify and encourage outstanding young talents in various fields of performing arts and to provide them national recognition in their life, so that they can work with greater commitment and dedication in their chosen fields. The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries Rs 25,000, an Angavastram and a plaque.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10 February 2023, inaugurated the new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy at Marol in Mumbai. He was accompanied by the head of the Dawoodi Bohra community, His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. Mr. Modi unveiled the inaugural plaque and officially inaugurated the Arabic Academy with a ceremonial untying of the ribbon.

Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, an Arabic academy

The new Mumbai campus of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, an Arabic academy, is all set to begin functioning in the upcoming academic year. Its session will begin in the month of Shawwal, the tenth month in the Islamic calendar.

This Institute is also known as Jamea, this is an academic institute exclusively catering to the education of young boys and girls from the Dawoodi Bohra community, a Shiite denomination spread across the world. While the academy’s focus will primarily be on spiritual and religious studies, the academy will also provide its students with mainstream education in association with an internationally recognised school board curriculum.

India’s national accreditation system under the Quality Council of India (QCI) has been ranked 5th in the world according to the recently published Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.

• India’s overall Quality Infrastructure (QI) system ranking is at 10th position.
• India’s national accreditation system is ranked 5th in the world.
• The 2021 GQII rankings are based on data collected until the end of December 2021.
• Jaxay Shah, Chairperson of QCI, said that India’s accreditation system is young and has jumped to the 5th place globally within a year.
• QCI is committed to making “Made in India” a globally trusted brand.
• Quality Infrastructure (QI) is the technical backbone for international trade and provides reliability and trust between trading partners.

• India’s largest power generation company NTPC Limited has been honored with the ‘ATD Best Awards – 2023’ by the US-based Association for Talent Development (ATD).
• NTPC Limited has won this award for the sixth time for showcasing enterprise success in the area of ​​talent development.
• The foundation of NTPC’s culture has always been to engage employees through creative techniques. This award is a testimony to the contemporary HR practices of NTPC.

ATD Award :

• The ATD BEST Awards recognize organizations that showcase their enterprise through talent development. NTPC has been successful in creating an ecosystem that empowers the employees to enhance their skills.
• This award is given to small and large private, public and non-profit organizations from all over the world.
• The US-based Association for Talent Development is the world’s largest talent development organization and the ATD BEST Awards are the most prestigious recognition in the field of learning and development.

• India-born naturalized British economist Meghnad Desai has written a new book titled “The Poverty of Political Economy: How Economics Abandoned the Poor”.
• The book highlights how the discipline of economics has systematically kept corporate interests on the fringes since the late 18th century.
• The book is published by HarperCollins Publishers India.
• In this compelling new book, Meghnad Desai takes a critical, introspective look at the bodies of thought that have driven economics around the world.
• From Adam Smith to John Maynard Keynes, and from the Great Depression to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Desai studies the contribution of economics to domestic and international politics.