✅ Bangladeshi president Mohammed Shahabuddin on 5 august, ordered the release of former prime minister Khaleda Zia. Hasina's main rival, the ailing former who is now 78, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2018 for alleged corruption.
✅ Zia was elected the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 1991. She entered politics after her husband Ziaur Rahman, who served as the country’s President from 1977 to 1981, was assassinated in office. Rahman founded the BNP in 1978. She also served as the PM between 2001 and 2006.

#upsc #prelims #facts

Maitree Express between Dhaka and Kolkata remains suspended

✅ The Kolkata-Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express will remain cancelled on Wednesday due to the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh.
✅ Citing a message from Bangladesh Railways, the ER said on Tuesday the services of Maitree Express, which has not been operational since July 19, will not resume services on Wednesday. The operations of bi-weekly Kolkata-Khulna-Kolkata Bandhan Express have also remained suspended since July 21.
#upsc #prelims #mains #IR #GS2

India at the Paris Olympics

👉 Manu Bhaker won India’s first medal of the Paris Olympics, in the process becoming the first ever female shooter from India to win an Olympic medal. She won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol women’s.
👉 Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won the Bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event of the Shooting competitions at the Olympics. The result also made Manu Bhaker the first athlete of independent India to win two medals in one edition of the Olympics.
👉 Swapnil Kusale has won the bronze medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final at the Paris 2024 Olympics shooting competition. This was India’s first-ever Olympic shooting medal in the 50m 3P and the third medal in rifle shooting.

The first medal of Paris Olympics
👉 The first medal of Paris 2024 was won by Kazakhstan. Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan secured the Bronze medal and their country’s first shooting medal since 1996.
👉 China became the first nation to win Gold in the Paris Olympics. The pairing of Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the 10m Air rifle.

❇️ Who is Khaleda Zia?

👉 Khaleda Zia, the 1st woman PM of Bangladesh, is set to be released from house arrest following anti-government protests that ousted her long-time rival, Sheikh Hasina.
👉 Zia,leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), born on August 15, 1945, Zia’s entry into politics was marked by tragedy when her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in 1981. Then She took the reins of the BNP, in 1984.
👉 Zia’s political career was marked by a significant milestone in 1990 when she joined forces with Hasina to overthrow military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad.
👉Although their alliance was short-lived, Zia went on to win Bangladesh’s first free election in 1991, becoming the country’s 1st female PM and the 2nd woman to lead a democratic government in a predominantly Muslim nation, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto.

#upsc #prelims #prelims2025 #SSC

❇️ Who is Muhammad Yunus

👉 Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist, has been appointed as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government. Yunus, known as the “Banker to the Poor,” founded Grameen Bank in 1983 after successfully scaling up a local microcredit experiment.
👉 The bank, which provides collateral-free loans, has distributed over $34 billion to nearly 10 million people, achieving a recovery rate of more than 97%.
👉 Grameen Bank’s innovative microcredit model has been replicated by banks in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2006, Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to promote economic and social development from the grassroots level
#upsc #prelims #prelims2025 #nobelprize

👉 After protests against job quota and PM Sheikh Hasina's resignation and escape from the country, Bangladesh gears up for the formation of a new, interim government today (8 August).
👉 Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus will take oath today. 👉 President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath of office to the new government.
👉 Regarding the size of the interim government, initially consist of around 15 members. However, one or two more individuals may be added.”

🚀 ISRO will launch the EOS-08 earth observation satellite on August 15, 2024, aboard its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle(SSLV).

🚀 The primary objectives of the EOS-08 mission include designing and developing a microsatellite, creating payload instruments compatible with the microsatellite bus etc.

🚀 It would be SSLV's third and final (developmental) flight 

🚀 EOS-08 carries three payloads: Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R), and SiC UV Dosimeter.

🚀 The spacecraft has a mission life of one year. It has a mass of approximately 175.5 kg and generates power of around 420 W

#upsc #prelims #prelims2025 #GS3 #ISRO

👉 A plane has crashed in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, killing all 61 people on board.

👉 The plane landed in a residential area but no-one on the ground was injured.

👉 It is Brazil's worst plan crash since 2007, when a TAM Express plane crashed and burst into flames at São Paulo's Congonhas airport, killing 199 people.

✅ NITI Aayog's recent report highlights a roadmap to boost seaweed cultivation in India
through research, investment, training, infrastructure, and market development.

✅ Over 10 thousand seaweed species are found worldwide and can be broadly classified into three groups:
a. Green: Chlorophyta
b. Brown: Phaeophyta
c. Red: Rhodophyt