Important Days
National Sports Day – August 29
- It is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand Singh.
- Theme – “Sports are an enabler to an inclusive and fit society”.
Defence, National Security and Terrorism
Bright-Star exercise
- The biennial Tri-Services exercise, Bright-Star, a 21-day multilateral war game, is taking place at Cairo (West) Air Base in Egypt.
Participants
- U.S.,
- Saudi Arabia,
- Greece,
- Qatar,
- Egypt (host country),
- India
Note
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed five MiG-29 combat jets, six transport aircraft and a group of its Special Forces personnel.
- It is for the first time that the IAF is participating in the exercise.
About Egypt
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- President – Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
- Capital – Cairo
- Currency – Egyptian Pound
Eminent Persons
Commemorative coin in honour of N.T. Rama Rao
- The ₹100 commemorative coin of former A.P. Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao was unveiled by President Droupadi Murmu in Delhi.
About N.T.Rama Rao
- Indian actor, filmmaker and politician
- Served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. (1983-84; 1984-89; 1994-95)
- Founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982.
Awards and Honour
-
- Padma Shri – 1968
- NTR National Award
- It is a national award in honour of Rao.
- Instituted in 1996 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh
- To recognise notable film personalities for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the Indian film industry
Sports and Games
BWF World Championships
- BWF World Championships 2023 took place in Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy claiming his first-ever BWF World Championships medal, bronze medal.
Appointments – Who is who?
First woman to head Indian mission in Pakistan
- Geetika Srivastava will be appointed as the new Charge d’Affaires (CDA) at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
- This is the first time since Independece that India’s head of mission in Pakistan will be a woman.
- She is a 2005 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.
Note
-
- A charge d’affaires is a diplomat who temporarily heads a diplomatic mission in a foreign country in the absence of the Ambassador or High Commissioner.
- Diplomatic missions
- Between Commonwealth countries – High Commissions
- Between non-Commonwealth countries – Embassies.
- India and Pakistan have no High Commissioners since August 2019 (abrogation of Article 370)
About Pakistan
- President – Arif Alvi
- Capital – Islamabad
- Currency – Pakistani Rupee
