Daily GK Updates - 20th March, 2017

­­­­                     NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Union cabinet clears 4 GST supplementary legislations for introduction to parliament: Today, in the meeting of union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared four supporting Goods and Services Tax (GST) legislations, paving the way for their introduction in Parliament soon. The four supporting legislations, the Compensation Law, the Central-GST (C GST), Integrated-GST (I-GST) and Union Territory-GST (UT-GST) would be introduced as Money Bill. Once approved by Parliament, the states would start taking their State-GST (S-GST) bill for discussion and passage in the respective state assemblies. Earlier, the GST Council had given approval to the four legislations as also the State-GST bill. While the S-GST has to be passed by each of the state legislative assemblies, the four other laws have to be approved by Parliament.

2.  The 5th foundation day function of BIRAC: The Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan  inaugurated the 5th foundation day function of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council in New Delhi. More than 300 Scientists, Entrepreneurs, Industry Experts, and Policy Makers including large number of stakeholders both national and international is taking part in the event. The discussion will focus on the impact the Biotech Ecosystem is making on the Indian economy and the opportunities which exist for the Indian Biotech Sector as a global player.

3. Bikaner passport seva kendra inaugurated: The Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has inaugurated a passport seva kendra at a post office in Bikaner (Rajasthan). Similar kendra will be inaugurated in Jhunjhunu, Kota, Jhalawar (RPT Jhalawar) and Jaisalmer by 31^st  March. The central government has taken this step of opening passport seva kendras in post offices for people's convenience.

4. 1.04 crore people hit by arsenic contamination in Bengal:  According to recent report tabled in the Lok Sabha, West Bengal has the highest number of arsenic-affected people in the country. State’s 83 blocks in eight districts have ground water affected by arsenic contamination. Despite the State government’s efforts to curb the Arsenic menace, there is still a lot to be done. So far, state government was able to provide safe drinking water to 52% of the arsenic-affected areas in Bengal.

5. Justice Navniti Prasad Singh took oath as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court: Kerala Governor Sathasivam administered Justice Navniti Prasad Singh the oath at Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). Justice Singh is the former judge in the Patna High Court. Earlier, the acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Justice TB Radhakrishnan has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.

6. Cheneni-Nashiri: India’s Longest Road Tunnel completes trial run: India’s longest surface tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district is complete. It will be open to traffic soon, following successful completion of trial runs for peak and off-peak hours.   The 9-km-long tunnel at Chenani passes through the lower Himalayan mountain range on Jammu- Srinagar National Highway. The 9-km-long twin-tube tunnel located at an elevation of 1,200 metres. It is an important part of a 286-km-long four-lane project on the highway.

                      INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UK to trigger Brexit process on March 29: UK PM Theresa May will trigger the two-year process of leaving the European Union on March 29, UK ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow formally notified the EU President Donald Tusk on Monday. Adding that the UK expects to receive a response from the EU within 48 hours, May's official spokesperson said, Britain will exit EU on March 29, 2019.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Tamil Nadu wins Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016-17: Tamil Nadu beat Bengal by 37 runs in the final of Vijay Hazare trophy 2016-17 on Monday. With this win, Tamil Nadu become the only team to win the tournament five times. Tamil Nadu first scored 217 runs in 47.2 overs then restricted Bengal team at 180.

2.  Shahid Afridi appointed as ambassador of Blind Cricket World Cup: Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been appointed as the ambassador for the fifth edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup 2018. The announcement was made by the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC). Blind Cricket World Cup will be hosted by PBCC in theUnited Arab Emirates(UAE) and Pakistan in January 2018.

3. K T Irfan wins bronze in Asian 20km Race Walk Championships: National record holder K T Irfan clocked an impressive timing to win a bronze in the 20 kilometer men's event in the Asian Race Walk Championships at Nomi in Japan.

Irfan finished the race in 1 hour 20 minutes and 59 seconds, a tad slower than his national record timing of 1 hour, 20 minutes, 21 seconds. Earlier, he had set the national recode while finishing 10th in the 2012 London Olympics. Kim Hyun-Sub(Korea) took the gold in while Georgiy Sheiko (Kazakhstan) bagged the silver in the event.

BANKING & FINANCE

4. The union Govt. swaps chief executives of IDBI Bank & Indian Bank: The Union govt. has swapped the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Indian Bank and IDBI Bank. Managing Director & CEO at Indian Bank Mahesh Kumar Jain has been appointed as Managing Director & CEO of IDBI Bank. IDBI Bank CEO Kishore Piraji Kharat has been appointed as Managing Director and CEO of Indian Bank.

5. World Bank announces 57 billion US dollar for sub-Saharan Africa: World Bank has announced 57 billion US dollar financing for sub-Saharan Africa over the next three fiscal years (2017-2019). Of that total, 45 billion dollars will come from the International Development Association (IDA), 8 billion dollars from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and USD 4 billion dollars will come from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

6. Idea Cellular approves merger with Vodafone India: Today, the board of directors of Idea Cellular has approved the scheme of amalgamation of Vodafone India Limited (VIL) and its wholly owned subsidiary Vodafone Mobile Services Limited (VMSL) with the company. The transaction is subject to necessary approvals from concerned authorities like SEBI, Department of Telecom, RBI and others.

Vodafone will hold a 45.1% stake in the combined entity, Aditya Birla Group will hold 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public. The merger is expected to be completed by March 2019, and the newly merged entity will named at a later date. Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla has been appointed as the Chairman of Vodafone-Idea merged entity.

7. Snapdeal appoints Jason Kothari as CEO of FreeCharge: E-commerce firm Snapdeal announced the appointment of Jason Kothari as the Chief Executive Officer of its digital payment platform FreeCharge. In addition to taking on the role of CEO, Jason will continue his key leadership role as Chief Strategy and Investment Officer at Snapdeal.

8. Amazon India brings out ‘A-Z GST Guide’ program: E-commerce major Amazon India has come out with a new program for sellers to get insights and help related to the goods and services tax (GST), called the ‘A-Z GST Guide’.

The programme in its pilot phase has already trained over 5,000 sellers on the Amazon platform. The portal provides resources in the form of tutorials, blogs, and free online training sessions.

OBITUARIES

9. Former Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra passes away: Former bureaucrat turned politician Pyari Mohan Mohapatra (77-year) passed away at a hospital in Mumbai. He was the former Rajya Sabha member and founder of the Odisha Jan Morcha. Mohapatra is widely credited with Biju Janata Dal’ unstoppable growth from until 2012 and political advisor of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.