Daily GK Updates - 22nd February, 2017

                     NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government launches Cyber Swachhta Kendra in New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra in New Delhi for Botnet cleaning and Malware analysis. It was launched by Union Minister of Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad as part of Union Government’s ambitious digital India initiative to create a secure cyber space by detecting botnet infections. Besides, minister also launched some cyber security tools. They are

USB Pratirodh: It is a desktop security solution to protect from USB mass storage device threats.

AppSamvid: It is a desktop solution to protect systems by allowing installation of genuine applications through white listing. It helps in preventing threats from malicious applications.

M-Kavach: It is an indigenously developed mobile application to address the security threats in mobiles.

2. Punjab bans gutkha, pan masala, food products having tobacco:T he Punjab government on Wednesday said it has prohibited the manufacture, storage, sale or distribution of food products containing tobacco or nicotine like gutkha and pan masala in the state for one year. The ban also applies on processed, flavoured, scented, and chewing tobacco, whether they are packaged or unpackaged or sold as one or separate products, an official said.

3. Cabinet approves ₹8,100-cr investment to set up solar parks: The Cabinet has approved an investment of ₹8,100 crore for setting up at least 50 solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. The investment would double the solar power production target to 40,000 MW. Notably, the government has laid down a plan to achieve 100 GW solar power capacity by 2022.

4. India holds total wealth of over ₹415 lakh crore: Report: India held a total wealth of $6.2 trillion (over ₹415 lakh crore) as of December 2016, a New World Wealth report has revealed. Further, India is home to over 2.6 lakh millionaires and 95 billionaires, the report stated. India was also among the top five countries which saw the maximum outflow of millionaires in 2016, at around 6,000.

5. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre appointed chairman of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal: Chief Justice JS Khehar has appointed Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre as the chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

6.  National Biodiversity Congress 2017 held in Kerala:The National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 was held in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala. The event is hosted by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board. 

NBC is one of the significant biodiversity mega events of the country. It aims to identify practical, evidence-based case studies at the regional level to support the plan of action. The focal theme of 2017 NBC was “Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”.

7. Arunachal CM Pema Khandu inaugurates Composite Regional Centre in Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Composite Regional Centre at Itanagar Banquet Hall, Arunachal Pradesh. To create resources and infrastructure required for developing services for persons with disabilities with an outlay of Rs.20 Crore. The centre is established under the National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities (NILD), Kolkata.

8. Delhi to get India's first heliport: The first heliport in India will be inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in North Delhi on (28 February 2017). 

The heliport, built by state-owned Pawan Hans, consists of a terminal building, nine parking bays and four hangars with a parking capacity of 16 helicopters. It was built at an investment of Rs. 100 crore.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Islamic court legalises 'test tube babies' in Pakistan: Pakistan's top Shariat court has legalised using 'test tube baby' method of conceiving for married couples with medical complications. It is lawful only if the sperm belongs to the actual father and the egg of the actual mother and the child is born by the actual mother, the court added. The court further declared the practice of surrogacy as "un-Islamic".

2. An international zip line connects Spain and Portugal:A zip line connecting Spain and Portugal, is known to be the first cross-border zip line in the world.

The 720-metre-long zip line joins the two countries, allowing people to reach Portugal within a minute.

On reaching Portugal, the participants gain one hour because of the time zone change.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1.  India beat South Africa in final of ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier 2017: India beat South Africa by one wicket in the final of ICC Women World Cup Qualifier 2017 at Colombo, Shri Lanka.

2. India win 'Handball-on-skates' World Championship: India won the men's Roll Ball World Cup Championship as they beat Iran 8-7 in the final on Wednesday. India also won the tournament in the women's category, defeating Iran 6-4 in the final. Roll Ball is a combination of roller-skating, handball, and basketball, and it was invented by an Indian sports teacher Raju Dabhade in 2003.

3. Blind World Cup winning Indian players to get ₹5 lakh each: India's Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Goel announced on Wednesday on Twitter that ₹5 lakh each will be given to the members of India's T20 World Cup for the Blind winning team as a cash reward.

4.  Dustin Johnson dominates Genesis Open to overtake world No. 1: American professional golfer Dustin Hunter Johnson  has claimed No 1 Position in  Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.

This feat comes after he ended up with a world-class performance by winning Genesis Open 2017 at Riviera.

5. Milind Soman becomes 'Ultraman' by racing barefoot for 517.5 km:National level swimmer-turned-model Milind Soman (51-year) has completed an extremely high endurance event called ‘Ultraman’ a 517.5 km race on in Florida.

The challenge requires participants to complete a 10-kilometre open water swim, a 423-kilometre-long bike ride and an 84-kilometre ultra-marathon run.

Earlier, he completed the toughest triathlon in the world to become India’s Iron Man.

BANKING/FINANCE:

6.  SIDBI, Vijaya Bank combine to provide concessional loans to micro, small units: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vijaya Bank for providing concessional finance to micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

The MoU aims at promoting and strengthening units in the MSE segment through concessional funding  that is at the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) of Vijaya Bank under refinance from SIDBI.

7. Microsoft to deploy Azure Stack in Andhra Pradesh: The chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella singed an MoU during an event called ‘Microsoft Future Decoded’ in Mumbai. Under the MoU, Microsoft Azure Stack for the first time in the world will be used to migrate live applications currently hosted in Hyderabad State Data Centre (SDC) to Vizag data centre.