Daily GK Updates - 25th January, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Voters’ Day being observed on 25^th January 2017: 25th January is also the foundation day of the Election Commission, which came into being on this day in 1950. The Commission's objective through National Voters’ Day is to increase enrolment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones. The Day is also utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

2. List of Padma Awardees: Padma Vibhushan awardees: SharadPawar, MurliManohar Joshi, K.J.Yesudas, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, P.A. Sangma, Sunder LalPatwah, VishwaMohanBhat. Padma Shri awardees: BasantiVisht, Chemanchari K. Nair, Sadhu Meher, T. K. Murthy, Emrat Khan, L. Birender Kumar Singh, Baoa Devi, TilakGitai, KailashKher, MukundNaik, SukriBommagowda, AnuradhaPodwal, WareppaNaba Nil, T. K. Vishwanathanan, KanwalSibal, G. VenkataSubbaiah, AkkithamAchuthanNamboothiri, BirkhaBahadurLimbooMuringla, Eli Ahmed, BhavnaSomaya, KashinathPandit,Harkishan Singh, Dr MukutMinz, SanjeevKapoor, Ashok Kumar Bhattacharya, H. R. Shah,AnuradhaKoirala, Dr Mapuskar, KarimulHaque, ViratKohli, Sakshi Malik, DipaKarmakar, VikasGowda, Srijesh, M. Thanghavelu.

3. Cabinet Approvals-January 24, 2017: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi approved the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 on January 24, 2017 that aims to declare IIMs as Institutions of National Importance.

ii. Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval on for interest waiver for the two months of November and December, 2016 for farmers accessing short term crop loans from Cooperative Banks.

iii. As a part of government’s commitment for financial inclusion and social security the Union Cabinet has given its post-facto approval to launch Varishtha Pension BimaYojana 2017 (VPBY 2017) on January 24, 2017.

iv. Union Cabinet on January 24, 2017 approved a new scheme for promotion of Rural Housing in the country.

v. PM Modi gave approval for the ratification of the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol on containing the emission of Green House Gases (GHGs) which was adopted in 2012. Till date, 65 countries have ratified the Second Commitment Period.

vi. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister ShriNarendraModi approved the proposal of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) on January 24, 2017 for redevelopment of PragatiMaidan by setting up of a world class Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) at PragatiMaidan, New Delhi.

4. SC for daily drug dosage regimen for TB patients: The Supreme Court gave the government nine months to replace the thrice-a-week dosage norm of tuberculosis drugs with a daily dosage regimen recently approved by the World Health Organisation to curb relapse and deaths during treatment.

5. Assam launches ‘Chief Minister’s Award’ to reward districts adopting digital payments: The Chief Minister’s Award would be given to the best performing district of the state that adopts digital payment methods and also educate larger section of the society about the cashless transaction.The winning district’s Deputy Commissioner would be presented a prize of Rs 50,000 at the end of financial year 2016-2017 after March 31, 2017.

6. India and UAE sign 14 agreements after delegation level talks between PM Modi and visiting crown prince of Abu Dhabi:India and the UAE inked 14 agreements in various areas including in defence, maritime transport, comprehensive strategic partnership, shipping, agriculture and allied sector, trade, oil storage and management, energy efficiency, road transport and highways and prevention and combating human trafficking. The agreements were signed after delegation level talks between Prime Minister NarendraModi and visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

7. UN appoints director of UNIC in New Delhi: DerkSegaar has been appointed Director of the New Delhi based United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) covering India and the Kingdom of Bhutan by the UN Secretary-General AntónioGuterres.

8. Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS) launched by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry for rubber growers: The Minister of Commerce & Industry, SmtNirmalaSitharaman launched Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS) in New Delhi to provide the detail RubSISabout the soil quality to the rubber growers to enhance productivity besides reducing the cost of production. RubSIS is an online platform developed to recommend application of appropriate mix of fertilizers to the specific plantations of rubber growers depending upon their soil nature.

9. PVR launches theatre on Demand Service VKAAO: Vkaao is an online platform that will enable consumers to watch any movie of their PVRchoice at a theatre of their choice. It would empower the viewers to choose what they want to watch, when and where. 

10. India UK join hands to launch project to tackle Delhi air pollution risks: India has partnered with the British experts over a project that aims to study the air pollution level in Delhi and health problems associated it.The project ‘ASAP-Delhi: An Integrated Study of Air Pollutant Sources in the Delhi National Capital Region’ would be led by University of Birmingham and would also involve experts from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the Indian National Physical Laboratory and the University of Surrey.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nikki Haley confirmed as new US envoy to UN.

2. Trump signs executive orders to advance Keystone XL, Dakota Access pipelines: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to advance controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. His latest actions to overturn the policies of former President Barack Obama, the nation's chief executive he replaced recently.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Mattew Hayden inducted into Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

2. Retired Watson bags Australia’s T20I Player of the Year award.

3. Kremlin to host 2018 FIFA World Cup finals: The draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals hosted by Russia will take place in the Kremlin the country’s Football Union (RFU) chief Vitaly Mutko stated. Mutko, Russia’s deputy prime minister, stated FIFA had approved the plan, which world football’s ruling body later confirmed.The World Cup finals draw ceremony will take place.