Current Affairs – KNOWALLEDGE

Piloo Reporter was one of the first neutral umpires in test cricket

Piloo Reporter, who passed away on September 3rd, 2023, in Mumbai, was part of the first pair of neutral umpires to stand in international cricket. This landmark feat took place in November 1986 when he, along with VK Ramaswamy, stood in a test played in Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium between Pakistan and West Indies. This was one of the turning points in cricket, as Pakistan captain Imran Khan requested the ICC to setup a system with neutral umpires, to put an end to biased home umpiring.

KnowALLedge Plus: In 1993, Piloo Reporter officiated a Hero Cup ODI game in Bengaluru between Zimbabwe and South Africa as an umpire. 19-year-old Heath Streak made his debut in that match. Co-incidentally, Heath Streak too passed away on the same date as Reporter.

Microsoft to remove WordPad from future Windows releases

Microsoft is discontinuing its WordPad software from Windows 12 onwards, after nearly thirty years of its existence. In its support note, the company wrote, “WordPad is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt.”

KnowALLedge Plus: WordPad was first introduced as part of Windows 95 in 1995. However, the free word processing software has not been updated since the release of Windows 7.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant wins Durand Cup 2023, ends a 23-year wait.

On September 3rd, 2023, Mohun Bagan Super Giant defeated arch-rivals East Bengal FC in a high profile Kolkata Derby to lift the Durand Cup for the 17th time, thanks to a solitary goal by Dimitri Petratos. The Mariners became the most successful club in the tournament’s history in the process.

KnowALLedge Plus: First played in 1888, the Durand Cup is the oldest existing football tournament in Asia and the third oldest in the world. This edition of the tournament had 24 teams, four more than the last edition, including 12 Indian Super League (ISL) sides. The tournament is named after its founder Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, who served as the foreign secretary of British India from 1884 to 1894.

Air India unveils new brand identity, symbolising ‘Window of Possibilities’

Air India undergoes a makeover. The new aircraft livery and design features a palette of deep red, aubergine, and gold highlights as well as a chakra-inspired pattern.

In its release, India’s oldest airline said that its new symbol, ‘The Vista’ takes its inspiration from the peak of the gold window frame and stands for limitless possibilities, progress, and the airline’s bold, confident outlook for the future.

Air India was fully acquired by Tata Sons in January 2022. The task of its rebranding went to McCann Workgroup India and the brand design was carried out by Futurebrands.

KnowALLedge Plus:
Even after the rebranding, Air India will continue using its iconic ‘Maharaja’. The much-celebrated mascot originated in 1946, when Bobby Kooka, Air India’s Commercial Director, and Umesh Rao, an artist with advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, together created the moustachioed icon. Kooka famously said, “We call him a Maharajah for want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He might look like royalty, but he isn’t royal.”

Hogwarts Express is back in service

After a safety inspection raised alarm about passengers being put at risk, the Jacobite has received the necessary green light to resume operations yet again, following a temporary halt. Running every summer since 1984 and currently operated by the West Coast Railways, it covers part of the West Highland line, effortlessly combining legendary Scottish folklore, luxury travel and picturesque scenery.

KnowALLedge Plus:
The Jacobite Train is often referred to as the Hogwarts Express after it featured in the Harry Potter film series. Potterheads from around the world have been travelling to the Scottish Highlands to ride the Jacobite over the Glenfinnan viaduct.

Thiruvalluvar’s statue made with Tamil letters installed in Coimbatore

As part of enhancing tourism near the Kurichikulam lakefront under the Smart City Mission, the Coimbatore Corporation has installed a steel statue of the celebrated Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar.

The sculpture is designed in a sitting posture and with linguistic characters. The 1,330 letters of the Tamil language that adorn the statue are meant to denote the 1,330 Kurals (couplets) written by the poet.

KnowALLedge Plus:
Thiruvalluvar is best known as the author of Tirukkuraḷ, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic affairs. One of his more famous statues can be seen at Kanyakumari.

Rogan Josh and Galouti Kebab feature among ’50 best lamb dishes in the world’

Taste Atlas, an online food and travel guide that collates authentic recipes, critic reviews and research articles on local foods from around the world, has released a global list of 50 best lamb dishes. While the top two spots respectively went to Iskender Kebap and Cag Kebabi– both from Turkey- India’s very own Rogan Josh (23) and Galouti Kebab (26) make the cut as well.

KnowALLedge Plus:
Rogan Josh is believed to be a dish of Persian origin, introduced to Kashmir by the Mughals. It is a part of the traditional Wazwan, a 36-course Kashmiri feast. The word ‘rogan’ means ‘clarified butter’.

Galouti Kebab on the other hand has its origins in the kitchens of Nawab Asad-ud-Daula of Awadh. The toothless Nawab, known for his love of meat delicacies, wished for a kebab that would be so exceptionally tender that it would melt in the mouth.

Oldest fossil remains of a plant-eating dinosaur discovered in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) have discovered the oldest fossil remains of a long-necked, plant-eating dicraeosaurid dinosaur in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The study published in Scientific Reports, an international journal by publishers of Nature, reveals that the remains are 167 million years old and belong to a new species, which makes this new Indian sauropod not only the oldest known dicraeosaurid but also globally the oldest diplodocoid (broader group which includes dicraeosaurids and other closely related sauropods).

KnowALLedge Plus: It has been named ‘Tharosaurus indicus’, the first name referring to the Thar desert where the fossils were found, and the second after its country of origin. Some of the dinosaurs whose remains have been found in India include:
Barapasaurus, Indosuchus, Isisaurus, Kotasaurus and Rajasaurus

Jharkhand launches mobile app to track jumbo movements

With a rise in human-elephant conflict in the state, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren launched an app based elephant movement tracking system on the occasion of the 74th Van Mahotsav.
The app will help villagers and department to track elephant movements and take precautionary measures in advance.

KnowALLedge Plus

Jharkhand ranks among the highest in terms of human casualties during man-elephant conflicts. THREE REASONS why the jumbos are entering human space:

> Forest cover might have increased in the state but animal habitats have degraded in the past one decade.

> Elephants are facing food scarcity owing to thinning of bamboo and grass canopy. Elephant calves are gradually turning into grain eaters which is a cause of big concern.

> They are fast losing their traditional movement routes due to construction of roadways and mining activities

Arsenal unveils Wenger’s statue at Emirates Stadium

Arsenal Football Club has unveiled a statue of their legendary manager for 22 years, Arsene Wenger, in front of their home ground. The bronze statue, created by award-winning sculptor Jim Guy, is 3.5 metres high and weighs approximately half a tonne, and depicts the former French manager of the club lifting the Premier League trophy.

KnowALLedge Plus

Between October 1996 and May 2018, Arsène Wenger was the coach of Arsenal men’s first team for an incredible 1,235 matches and led the club to:

> Three Premier League titles (including an entire season unbeaten)

> Seven FA Cup wins

> 20 successive years in the UEFA Champions League.

Category: Current Affairs