Daily GK Updates - 12th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 12TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.           L&T Infotech appoints Sanjay Jalona as MD, CEO.

II.     Union Government gives nod to set up All India Institute of Ayurveda: The Government has approved setting up of an All India Institute of Ayurveda, the 1^st referral-cum-teaching facility in the world’s oldest health care system at SaritaVihar, New Delhi.

III.      New frog species discovered in Goa: A group of scientists of Pune has discovered a new leaping frog species on the edge of the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa. The Netravali Leaping Frog (Indiranasalelkari) is the 12^th species in the Indirana genus.

IV.     India lost 41 tigers in 7 months: Fresh data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and TRAFFIC-India, the wildlife monitoring network revealed that between January and August 2015, India lost about 41 tigers.

V.    Maharashtra Government constituted Cabinetsub-panel to tackle impending drought crisis: The committee will be headed by state Agriculture minister EknathKhadse.

VI.  Petroleum Minister DharmendraPradhan announced marketing of Bio-Fuel Blended High Speed Diesel (HSD).

VII.   Delhi Government constituted panel to probe CNG fitness scam: Delhi Government led by CM ArvindKejriwal decided to constitute an independent commission of inquiry to probe the multi-crore CNG fitness scam of Delhi. This commission will be headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice SN Agarwal.

VIII.  Uttar Pradesh Government approved new guidelines for Begum Akhtar Award: The amendment empowers the Chief Minister to make any further amendments to the guidelines. The award will be annually awarded on singers of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri, who have achieved a milestone in these forms of music.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.      Facebook donates benefits worth $21 million to India developers: Social Networking major Facebook has given benefits of around $21 million to Indian developers as part of its FbStart initiative. FbStart is a programme launched last year to help early-stage mobile start-ups build and grow their applications. In India, the event is being organised in Bengaluru and Gurgaon. 

II.     US President Barack Obama to host Nuclear Security Summit in March-April, 2016: He would host the 4^th and final nuclear security summit next year which is expected to be attended by a galaxy of World leaders, including PM Modi. The two-day summit will continue discussion on evolving threat and highlight steps that can be taken together to minimise the use of highly-enriched uranium, secure vulnerable materials, counter nuclear smuggling.

OTHER UPDATES: 

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    NABARD accredited by UN’s Green Climate Fund as National Implementing Entity: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development got accredited by the Green Climate Fund as a national implementing entity for undertaking climate change related projects in India.

II.   India signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for NCRMP Projects: Government of India and the World Bank signed financing agreement for the assistance of National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-1&2 for $104 million and $308.40 million respectively.

SPORTS:

III.     Pankaj Advani bags 13^th World Snooker Championship: India’s poster boy of cue sports PankajAdvani clinched his 13^th world title after winning the World 6-Red Snooker Championship in a convincing manner. The defending champion outplayed China’s Y. Bingtao 6-2 in the final.

AWARDS:

   IV.     Sania Mirza to be conferred Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna:SaniaMirza became only the 2^nd tennis player to be recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna, while star cricketer Rohit Sharma and ace shooter JituRai were among 17 named for this year’s Arjuna Awards.