Daily GK Updates - 3rd March, 2017

­­­­NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Dharamshala becomes 2nd capital of Himachal Pradesh: The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday approved a proposal to make Dharamshala the second capital (first is Shimla) of the state. The decision came days before the state budget presentation which is scheduled to take place on March 10. Following the decision, a mini secretariat would come up in Dharamshala to house the offices of ministers and senior officers.

2. India to participate in meet on Indus Water Treaty in Lahore: India will participate in the meeting of Permanent Indus Commission, scheduled to be held in Lahore in March, according to reports. This comes after Pakistan reportedly forwarded the invitation to India to resolve the Indus Water Treaty. The Permanent Indus Commission is a bilateral commission of officials from India and Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of the treaty.

3. Half of India-Bangladesh border fenced: Government: The Union Government has announced that half of the 4,096-km long border India shares with Bangladesh has been fenced. The remaining half will be fenced by 2019 deadline. Its aim of fencing the India-Bangladesh border is to curb infiltration and smuggling of cattle and fake Indian currency notes (FICN). However, land acquisition is a major challenge to completing the work by the deadline. Besides, government is going to use technological solutions such as cameras and lasers across cross border rivers, where fencing is not possible.

4.  Govt. launches nationwide 'Swachh Shakti Saptah': The Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar has launched “Swachh Shakti Saptah” to raise awareness on sanitation and cleanliness in Gurugram, Haryana. The govt. has decided to observe 'Swachh Shakti Saptah' from 1st to 8th March 2017 across the country. The closing ceremony of the program will be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on 8th March, 2017.

5. Centre approves over 4,000 PG seats in medical colleges & hospitals: Centre has approved over 4,000 Post Graduate seats in medical colleges and hospitals across the country for the academic session 2017-18. Health Minister J P Nadda in an official statement stated that with this, the total number of PG seats available in the country will go up to over 35 thousand.

6. P K Purwar appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of MTNL: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of ‘P K Purwar’ as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for five years.

7. Government’s biotech innovation BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre set up in Bengaluru: The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms – C-CAMP, technology, and innovation hub, will house the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC) in Bengaluru.

8. Navy successfully test-fires missile from Kalvari submarine:  Indian Navy has successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile from an indigenously built INS Kalvari submarine in Arabian sea. INS Kalvari is the first of India’s six scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75.

9.  Internet users in India to cross 450 mn by June: According to the report of Internet, Mobile Association of India and Indian Market Research Bureau, Internet users in the country are expected to be in the range of 450 to 465 million by June 2017. There were 432 million users in December 2016. About 269 million were in urban areas and only 17% penetration in Rural India.

10. Andhra Pradesh Cabinet accepts naming of Tirupati Airport as Sri Venkateswara Airport: The Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet has accepted the naming of "Gannavaram Airport" as "NTR Amaravati Airport" and "Tirupati Airport" as "Sri Venkateswara Airport". Now, the proposals for renaming the airports would be sent to the Centre for approval.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Dalai Lama’s Arunachal visit will harm ties: China to India: Bilateral ties will be seriously damaged if India allows Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to go ahead with a visit to Arunachal Pradesh, China said on Friday. "China's position on the eastern section of China-India border dispute is consistent and clear. The Dalai-clique has long been engaging in anti-China separatist activities," China's Foreign Ministry said.

2. China can cede Aksai Chin if India does in east: Ex-diplomat: Dai Bingguo, China's retired negotiator on the border talks, has said that if India agreed to make concessions in the eastern sector, China would also make concessions in Aksai Chin. Notably, while India sees China as occupying 38,000 sq km of its territory in Aksai Chin, China claims 90,000 sq km in Arunachal Pradesh.

3.  World Wildlife Day: 3rd March: The World Wildlife Day has been observed across the world on 3rd March 2017 with the theme 'Listen to the young voices'.

The day is celebrated and implemented by the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Indian Badminton Duo Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis wins Uganda International Series Doubles Title: Indian shuttler duo Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis has won the Men’s Double title at the 2017 Uganda International Series at MTN Arena Lugogo, Kampala. They defeated Aatish Lubah and Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius, 21-8, 21-14. In Men’s Single George Julien Paul (Mauritius) defeated Edwin Ekiring (Uganda). In Women’s Single Shamim Bangi (Uganda) defeated Domou Amro (Jordan).

2.  Dubai Tennis Championship: Paes & Bopanna to face each other in men's doubles semi-final: Indian tennis stars Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will face each other in the men's doubles semifinal of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Paes is paired with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) while Bopanna paired with Marcin Matkowski(Poland).

BANKING:

3. Reliance General Insurance ties up with Catholic Syrian Bank: The Reliance General Insurance (part of Reliance Capital) has tied up with Catholic Syrian Bank to expand its distribution network. RGI will offer its general insurance products to Catholic Syrian Bank's 1.5 million customer base spread across its 430 branches in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Maharashtra. This tie-up will enable RGI to leverage Catholic Syrian Bank's unparalleled retail and SME customer base.