Daily GK Updates - 6th March, 2017

­­­­                     NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World’s oldest aircraft carrier INS Viraat decommissioned: The world’s longest serving warship INS Viraat was decommissioned by the Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra after nearly six decades of service. INS Viraat was first commissioned in the Indian Navy on May 12, 1987, after the Indian government bought it for ₹433 crore. Before 1987, the aircraft carrier had served the United Kingdom's Royal Navy for 27 years.

2. Haryana Government announces Tirtha Darshan Scheme for senior citizens: Haryana Government has announced Tirtha Darshan Scheme under which senior citizens above 60 years of age in the state will be able to go on a pilgrimage within the country at government expenseUnder the scheme, state government will bear the entire cost of the tour of senior citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. In case of senior citizens of non-BPL families, state government would bear only 70% of the cost. Senior citizens will be selected for the pilgrimage on the basis of lottery system.

3. Government launches first ever across-the-river survey to figure out aquatic life: The Union Government has launched the first ever across-the-river survey in River Ganga to determine the population of aquatic life, including that of the endangered Gangetic dolphin. The first of its kind survey is being conducted by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) through Wildlife Institute of India (WII) under Namami Gange programme.

4. India to host its first ever Mobile World Congress in Sep 2017: India will be hosting its first ever Mobile World Congress in September 2017.Reportedly, the GSM Association, has agreed to associate for the three-day event that would be held in Delhi.

5. Afghanistan, India are victims of proxy war: Parrikar: Addressing the 19th Asian Security Conference in Delhi, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said that Afghanistan and India have been victims of proxy war for decades. "Terrorism is undoubtedly the single biggest threat to international peace" he added. "We share the region with Pakistan, which has the highest concentration of terrorists anywhere," said Afghan NSA Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

6. Hyderabad airport ranks 1st in world in service quality: Survey: GMR Hyderabad International Airport has been ranked first in the world in the highest passenger handling capacity category by the Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality survey. The airport, running into its ninth year of operations, is designed to cater to 1.5 crore passengers per annum. The second position has been held by Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

7. West Bengal Clinical Establishment Bill passed in state assembly: The West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation, and Transparency) Bill, 2017 was passed by the state legislative assembly with full support. The Bill aims to regulate the private hospitals and bring transparency, end harassment of patients and take necessary steps to stop medical negligence in health institutes. The Bill replaces the West Bengal Clinical Establishments Bill, 2010. The state will set up a 13 member West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission which will monitor private healthcare facilities.

8. First smart tribal village inaugurated in Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali on Sunday inaugurated the first smart tribal model village 'Hubbi' in Rajouri district of the state. Developed under the rural development department, the village has been introduced with smart classes in the schools, better roads, electricity, and water facility.

                      INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Valentina Tereshkova is the only woman on solo space mission: Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963, remains the only woman ever to have been on a solo space mission. Tereshkova, who spent 70 hours 50 minutes on the spacecraft, had presented the classified mission as a parachuting contest to her family.

2. WCCB’s Operation Thunderbird and Operation Save Kurma for fight against wildlife crime: Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has successfully coordinated Operation Thunder Bird from January 30 to February 19, 2017 in its fight to end poaching of India’s wildlife animals. It also had convened Operation Save Kurma, a species specific operation on turtles between 15 December 2016 and 30 January 2017. Operation Thunderbird is code-name of INTERPOL’s (International Criminal Police Organization) multi-national and multi-species enforcement operation for wildlife protection. Operation Save Kurma was species specific operation on turtles. Under it total of 15,739 live turtles were recovered from 45 suspects, having inter-state linkages.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS: 

1. ISSF 2017: India finish fifth with five medals at shooting World Cup: India ended their campaign in the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) with five medals, including one Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi. The list is topped by China with 6 Gold & 6 Silver.

BANKING:

2. China overtakes Eurozone as world’s largest banking system: China's banking system has surpassed that of the Eurozone to become the world's largest by assets, reflecting the country's increasing global influence, according to reports. Notably, China's GDP surpassed the European Union's economic bloc in 2011 at market exchange rates, but its banking system did not take over the top spot until the end of last year, it added.