Daily GK Updates - 18th February, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. NRAI gets highest WHO ratings for vaccine regulations: India’s vaccine regulatory body NRAI (National Regulatory Authority of India) was given the maximum ratings by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for vaccine regulations. The ratings were given by WHO after completing the assessment of the status of the NRAI system against WHO NRA Global Benchmarking Tool and measured the maturity of the system in India.

2. Tamil Nadu CM Palanisamy wins trust vote in Assembly: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy on Saturday won the trust vote in the state Assembly. He proved the majority of his government in the House after 122 AIADMK MLAs voted in favour of him. Palanisamy, a four-time MLA from Salem, was handpicked by AIADMK chief VK Sasikala after her conviction in the disproportionate assets case.

3. No concept of National Song in the Constitution: SC: Refusing to direct the Centre to promote Vande Mataram, the Supreme Court on Friday observed that there was no concept of a National Song in the Constitution. Referring to Article 51A of the Constitution, the court said it did not refer to National Song, but only to the promotion and propagation of the National Anthem and the National Flag.

4. IIM Bill 2017 drops Rajiv Gandhi’s name from IIM Shillong: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill 2017, recently introduced in the Lok Sabha, has dropped the name of former PM Rajiv Gandhi from IIM Shillong's name. This is the first instance of the former PM's name being dropped from a leading education institution. The Bill aims to vestige greater autonomy and power to these institutions in granting degrees.

5. AAI plans ₹500 crore revamp of Goa Airport: The Airports Authority of India on Saturday announced its plans to upgrade facilities for flight operations and passengers over the next three years at the Goa International Airport, at an estimated cost of ₹500 crore. A parallel taxiway, three aerobridges, escalators and toilets are among the planned infrastructure developments, AAI chairperson Guruprasad Mohapatra said.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. London to levy a daily fine of ₹800 on polluting cars: London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that the city will start levying a daily 'toxicity charge' of about ₹800 on 'polluting' vehicles, typically registered before 2006. He described the fine as "the toughest emission standard of any world city." This will be in addition to London's Congestion Charge, which applies from Monday to Friday between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Team India sponsorship to fetch BCCI over ₹538 crore:Team India's sponsorship from 2017 to 2022 is expected to fetch BCCI over ₹538 crore. BCCI has set a base price of ₹2.2 crore per match for the 238 bilateral games in that period, while each of the 21 ICC matches are priced at ₹70 lakh. The tender process has started for rights' distribution, and will end on March 7.

2. Athlete's human rights complaint rejected for being 'late': National Human Rights Commission has rejected athlete Santhi Soundarajan's human rights violation complaint against the Athletics Federation of India and Indian Olympic Association, for being late. She underwent a 'gender test' in 2006 and was stripped of her silver Asian Games medal because of hyperandrogenism. The commission said the complaint needed to be filed within a year of the violation.

3. Japan to recycle outdated phones into 2020 Olympics medals:Japanese citizens have started donating old mobile phones, which will be used to make medals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The organisers are looking to retrieve eight tonnes of metal from outdated phones, which will be used to produce 5,000 medals. The project is part of a cost-cutting effort, with the budget being slashed from $26.5 billion to $16.8 billion.