DAILY GK 3-4 AUG 2026
1. BRICS
MEETING OF NATIONAL STATISTICAL OFFICES
·
India
hosted the Meeting of Heads of National Statistical
Offices (NSOs) of BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh.
·
Theme “Quality Statistics as a Driver of Change”.
·
India hosted the 2nd BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) Meeting as well
as 2nd Meeting of the BRICS Expert
Network on Asset Recovery in Hyderabad, Telangana.
·
Under India’s BRICS Presidency 2026, 3rd BRICS Culture Working Group (CWG)
meetings is being held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
2. 48TH
SESSION OF UNESCO WHC
·
The 48th session
of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
World Heritage Committee (WHC)
held under the chairmanship of Lee Byong Hyun (Republic
of Korea) in Busan, South Korea.
·
Session has inscribed 25 new
sites, including Ancient Buddhist site of Sarnath (in
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, UP) on its World
Heritage Sites List.
·
These
newly added sites comprise 19 cultural,
5 natural, and 1 mixed site, bringing the total number of UNESCO-recognised World Heritage (WH) sites
to 1,273 across 173 countries.
·
The session witnessed the 1st-ever WH inscriptions for 3 African
nations: Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe and South Sudan.
·
Sites Included List on
Emergency Basis: The Committee included 3 sites on
emergency basis and these are: Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape (South
Sudan); Mount Amel Castles (Lebanon); and Sebastia (State of Palestine).
·
The 49th session of UNESCO WHC will be held in 2027 in Istanbul,
Türkiye.
3. NAURU
RENAMED AS REPUBLIC OF NAOERO
·
the Pacific Island country of Nauru officially
changed its name to the Republic of Naoero.
·
Following a constitutional amendment approved
in May 2026, the country officially changed its name from “Nauru” to its traditional indigenous name, “Naoero.”
·
Naoero is
a Pacific island nation in Oceania,
which gained independence in 1968, uses the Australian Dollar, and is led
by President David Adeang.
·
With a
population of around 12,000, Naoero is the
world’s third-smallest country by population.
4. GUJARAT’S
SACRED ‘PITHORA PAINTING’ RECEIVED GI TAG
·
The Geographical Indications Registry (GIR), under
the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), granted
Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Gujarat’s centuries-old wall art tradition, Pithora
Painting.
·
Earlier
in July 2026, two agricultural products of Gujarat i.e. Unjha
Cumin and Fennel, both originating from the Unjha region in the
north of the state, received the GI tag.
5. COSPAR
VIKRAM SARABHAI MEDAL
·
Indian astrophysicist Annapurni
Subramaniam, Director of Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA),
Bengaluru (Karnataka), was honoured with the Committee
on Space Research (COSPAR) Vikram Sarabhai Medal 2026 for
her exceptional contribution to space
research in developing countries.
·
With
this, she became the 4th Indian, the first
Indian woman scientist, and only
the 3rd woman globally to receive the honour.
·
The
medal was officially presented during the ongoing 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly which is being held at Florence, Italy.
·
The medal was established in 1990 in
the honour of Vikram Sarabhai, who is considered father of Indian
space programme and founder of India
Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
·
The medal is awarded jointly
by COSPAR, an international body affiliated to the
International Science Council (ISC) and United Nations (through UN-COPUS);
and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) every two
years.
6.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE
INDEX 2026
· The Yale
University released the latest edition of Environmental Performance Index (EPI
2026).
·
India ranked 176th out
of 177 countries, making it the second-lowest
ranked nation, with an overall score of 22.46, below
the regional average of 31.81.
·
Estonia retained the top spot with an overall score of 74.79; followed by Luxembourg (74.24)
and the United Kingdom (UK) (71.51), ranked at 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively.
·
All
top 5 countries are from
Europe region, including Estonia, Luxembourg the UK, Finland
(ranks 4th); and the Netherlands (ranks 5th).
·
Bottom 5 Countries: Laos with an overall score of 21.78, ranked lowest in the index; followed by
India, Bangladesh (ranks 175th), Mali (Ranks 174th), and VietNam (Ranks 173rd).
·
India
performed far better in Climate Change
(130th, +13.98 points over the last
10 years) and Waste Management and
Sanitation (141st in both).
7. 2026
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
·
The 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG),
officially known as the XXIII Commonwealth Games (23rd edition held in Glasgow, Scotland.
·
India
won 39 medals, including 13
gold, 17 silver, and 9 bronze, finishing fourth overall in the medal standings.
·
Australia topped the medal table with 171 medals (70
gold, 45 silver, and 56 bronze), followed by England in second place with 110
medals (29 gold, 45 silver, and 36 bronze) and Canada finished
third, securing 62 medals, including 19 gold, 20 silver,
and 23 bronze.
·
The event featured over 3,000 athletes from a
record 74 nations and territories competing in 215 medal events across 10
sports, including six integrated para sports, making it a compact edition
compared to Birmingham 2022.
·
Mascot: The
official mascot, Finnie, is a Glaswegian unicorn inspired
by the Finnieston Crane and Glasgow’s iconic
traffic-cone tradition.
