Current affairs 05 August 2023

UPI records 9.96 billion transactions in July worth Rs 15.34 lakh crore.

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI) registered 9.96 billion transactions in July, with the total value for the month hitting Rs 15.34 lakh crore, according to data from the NPCI.
• This shows a 6.6% jump in the number of transactions via UPI from 9.34 billion in June. The value of transactions in the same period rose 4% from Rs 14.75 lakh crore.

Gukesh D becomes India's number one chess player, overtakes Viswanathan.

• India's Grandmaster Gukesh D has become as the country's top chess player, surpassing Viswanathan Anand in Aug 2023.
• He qualified for the third round of FIDE World Cup 2023, secured victory against Azerbaijani Misratdin Iskandarov.
• He holds a live rating of 2755.9 in Classic chess, slightly edging out Anand, whose live rating stands at 2754.0.
• He now holds the 9th position in the live rankings, while the five-time World champion Anand has slipped to 10th place.

Russia: exercise Ocean Shield 2023 has started in the Baltic Sea.

• The Russian Defense Ministry announced the start of the Ocean Shield 2023 naval exercises in the Baltic Sea.
• The exercises are being conducted under the command of Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Evmenov.
• Objective: To assess the Russian Navy's readiness to defend the country's interests in a critical area, as well as the coordination of the various military forces.
• The drills involve 30 combat ships 30 aircraft of naval aviation and Russia’s Aerospace Forces.

Indian Railways and IIT-Madras jointly signed MoU for 5G testbed.

• The Ministry of Railways and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) signed a MoU in Secunderabad in Aug 2023.
• Objective: To establish the India 5G testbed at the Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET).
• Aim: To enhance its operational efficiency, passenger experience and overall safety.
• It would serve as a cutting-edge facility to conduct comprehensive trials of 5G-enabled applications tailored for Railway operations.

India won gold in mixed team archery at World University Games 2023.

• At the World University Games 2023 in China, Indian archery Aman Saini and Pragati, secured a gold medal in the mixed archery team.
• They defeat Korea's Sua Cho and Seunghyun Park to claim the top spot on the podium.
• Presently, India holds the fourth position in the overall medal standings.
• The bronze medal in the compound team event was secured by Ming-ching Lin and Z-wei Wu from Chinese Taipei.
• Indians won two more medals in archery in men’s and women’s team events.