2023 Cricket World Cup
The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the Cricket World Cup, contested by men’s national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted by India. It started on 5 October and concluded on 19 November 2023, with Australia winning the tournament. It was the first men’s Cricket World Cup which India hosted solely. The tournament took place in ten different stadiums, in ten cities across the country. The top eight placed teams in the tournament’s final points table qualified for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, the next ICC ODI tournament. Virat Kohli was the player of the tournament and also scored the most runs; Mohammed Shami was the leading wicket-taker. A total of 1,250,307 spectators attended matches, the highest number in any cricket World Cup to date.
Mascot
The ICC officially announced the mascots for the World Cup on August 19. The mascots are a male and female duo named “Tonk” and “Blaze” respectively from the fictional cricketing utopia called “Crictoverse”. They embody the principle of gender equality.
Theme Song
The official theme song of the 2023 Cricket World Cup titled “Dil Jashn Bole” was released on 20 September. The song was composed by Pritam while lyrics were written by Shloke Lal and Saaveri Verma. The song was sung by Pritam, Nakash Aziz, Sreerama Chandra, Amit Mishra, Jonita Gandhi, Akasa Singh and S. P. Charan.
Broadcasting Rights
Star Sports were the host broadcaster, televising matches domestically with Disney+ Hotstar in English and eight regional languages. All matches were streamed domestically without the need for a subscription on mobile devices.
Prize money
The ICC allocated a pool of US$10 million in prize money for the tournament. Australia, the winning team, received US$4,000,000, the runner-up(India) $2,000,000 and the losing semi-finalists $1,600,000. Teams that did not progress past the league stage received $100,000 and the winner of each league stage match received $40,000
Stats at a glance
- Dates: 5 October – 19 November 2023
- Administrator: International Cricket Council
- Cricket format: One Day International (ODI)
- Host: India
- Champions: Australia (6th title)
- Runners-up: India
- Participants: 10
- Matches: 48
- Player of the series: Virat Kohli
- Most runs: Virat Kohli (765)
- Most wickets: Mohammed Shami (24)
2022 Asian Para Games
The 2022 Asian Para Games, also known as the 4th Asian Para Games and commonly known as the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, was a multi-sport event that paralleled the 2022 Asian Games which was held for Asian athletes with disabilities in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China from 22 to 28 October 2023. Hangzhou was the second Chinese city to host the Asian Para Games, after Guangzhou in 2010. Originally scheduled to take place from 9 to 15 October 2022, the event was postponed to 2023 on 17 May 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Host city
As is the tradition of the event, since 2010, the Asian Para Games are usually held after every Asian Games in the same host country. On 16 September 2018, the Asian Paralympic Committee announced that Hangzhou in China hosted the fourth edition of the Asian Para Games after making a visit there in July.
Emblem
The official emblem of the 2022 Asian Para Games,”Ever Forward”, was unveiled on 2 March 2020. It features a wheelchair athlete striving forward on a running track with 10 semi-arc lines and resembling surging Qiantang River tides. The organising committee stated that the emblem was meant to reflect “the sublime heroism of the para-athletes in persevering and challenging themselves”.
Mascot
Fei Fei, a character inspired by the motive of the divine bird in the Liangzhu culture and which is a symbol of bliss in local legend, was unveiled online on 16 April 2020 as the official mascot of the Games. The first “fly” is the flight of a bird. The high sky allows birds to fly,which means a good atmosphere of tolerance, respect and friendship in human society. The second “fly” is the mental state of disabled athletes who chase their dreams and leap ahead of themselves.
Motto
The official motto of the 2022 Asian Para Games,”Hearts meet, Dreams shine” was unveiled on the same day as the emblem. Similar to the motto of the Asian Games, it symbolises connectivity between the countries of Asia.
Medals
On 14 July 2023, the 100-day countdown to the 4th 2022 Asian Para Games Asian Para Games, the medal design named “Osmanthus Grace” was released. Its name was derived from a Tang lyric poem “Around mountain temples, I search for osmanthus blooms falling from the moon”. The medal design was a combination of two different Jades: round green Bi and yellow square Cong in the Liangzhu culture, respectively associated with heaven and earth. The obverse featured the Games edition logo encircled by Sweet Osmanthus flowers – city flower of Hangzhou, while the reverse featured the Asian Paralympic Council Emblem surrounded by braille letters and the name of the event in Chinese and English.
Top 10 Countries in the Medal table
| Rank | NPC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 214 | 167 | 140 | 521 |
| 2 | Iran | 44 | 46 | 41 | 131 |
| 3 | Japan | 42 | 49 | 59 | 150 |
| 4 | South Korea | 30 | 33 | 40 | 103 |
| 5 | India | 29 | 31 | 51 | 111 |
| 6 | Indonesia | 29 | 30 | 36 | 95 |
| 7 | Thailand | 27 | 26 | 55 | 108 |
| 8 | Uzbekistan | 25 | 24 | 30 | 79 |
| 9 | Philippines | 10 | 4 | 5 | 19 |
| 10 | Hong Kong | 8 | 15 | 24 | 47 |
India in Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 18 | 17 | 20 | 55 |
| Badminton | 4 | 4 | 13 | 21 |
| Archery | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Shooting | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Chess | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Paracanoe | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Powerlifting | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| Judo | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Rowing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Table tennis | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Swimming | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Taekwondo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 29 | 31 | 51 | 111 |
2022 Asian Para Games at a glance
- Host city: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Motto: Hearts Meet, Dreams Shine
- Nations: 44
- Opened by: Ding Xuexiang
- Closed by: Majid Rashed
- Torch lighter: Xu Jialing
- Next Edition: Aichi–Nagoya 2026
What are electoral bonds and what is the controversy?
What are ELECTORAL BONDS?
The government implemented the electoral bonds in 2018 in order to cleanse the system of political funding. The concept behind these bonds was to reduce the influence of black money in politics and to provide a legal and transparent mechanism for individuals and corporations to contribute to political parties. Also the electoral bonds would be a bearer instrument. In case of bearer instruments, generally, no ownership information is recorded and the holder of the document is assumed to be the owner.
Who can buy these bonds and from where?
The electoral bonds are interest-free banking instruments and a citizen of India or a body incorporated in the country is eligible to purchase them. These bonds are available in multiple denominations, ranging from Rs 1,000 rupees to Rs 1 crore in specified branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
How to buy these?
Electoral bonds can only be bought by making payment from a bank account. The bond would not carry the name of the payee and have a life of only 15 days, during which it can be used for making donations to political parties meeting certain criteria. The electoral bonds, handed over to political parties, can be encashed only through designated bank accounts by the parties.
Did ELECTORAL BONDS bring opacity in funding system?
The proponents of electoral bonds argue that they promote transparency by ensuring that political parties receive donations through formal banking channels, which can be audited by government authorities.Furthermore, the identity of the donors remains confidential, reducing the risk of retaliation or
intimidation for their political affiliations.
However,since their inception, electoral bonds have been a subject
of significant controversy, with many questioning whether they have achieved their intended goals or have
instead facilitated opacity in political financing.
One of the main criticisms of electoral bonds is the lack of
transparency regarding the source of funds. The donor’s identity is not disclosed to the public or the Election
Commission, which makes it difficult to track the origin of political contributions.
This opacity has led to
concerns that electoral bonds could be used to launder illicit money into the political system.
In 2017, then Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel spoke about the possibility of misuse of
electoral bonds, especially through the use of shell companies. He suggested that the electoral bonds be in
digital form, instead of being in physical form.
ELECTORAL BONDS and the share of funding
According to reports, Rs 13,000 crore has been transferred to several political parties between March 2018 and July 2023. Electoral bonds worth Rs 9,208 crore were sold between 2018 and 2022, and the BJP secured 58 per cent of the total money. Data released by the Election Commission in January 2023 showed that four of the national political parties — BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — collected 55.09 per cent (Rs 1811.94crore) of their total income through electoral bonds in 2021-22. The BJP received the lion’s share of the donations through electoral bonds in 2021-22, followed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress. According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in March 2023, over 66 percent of the total income of the seven national parties came from electoral bonds and unknown sources. The seven national parties were BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), CPI, CPI(M) and the Meghalaya-based National People’s Party. The seven parties collected Rs 2,172 crore from unknown sources in 2021-22 and 83 per cent of that income (Rs 1,811.94 crore) came through electoral bonds.
Why in News
A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court starts hearing petitions challenging the validity of electoral bonds used to fund political parties. Electoral bonds provide anonymity to the donors and were introduced to curb the influence of black money in politics. But the bonds have been targeted for infusing opacity in the political-funding system. The central government told the Supreme Court that the voters do not have the right to know about the funding of political parties as per the Constitution. Electoral bonds were introduced with the intention of bringing transparency to political funding in India. However, the controversy surrounding them persists. While electoral bonds have made it possible for political parties to receive funding through formal channels, concerns about their impact on transparency and accountability have yet to be adequately addressed.