Daily GK Updates - 23rd June, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Govt. announces another 30 cities under Smart City Mission: The Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu has announced the names of another 30 cities for development as smart cities under Smart City Mission in New Delhi. Out of the Forty-five cities contested for 40 available smart city slots, only 30 were selected. With this the total investment approved under the smart city plans of 90 cities has gone up to ₹1,91,155crore under the Smart City Mission, which was launched on June 25, 2015.

2. ISRO’s PSLV-C38, carrying 31 satellites, lifts off from Sriharikota: Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse rocket PSLV C-38 blasted off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The rocket carrying the Cartosat-2 series satellite for the defense forces, along with 30 co-passenger satellites.Out of the 30 co-passenger nano-satellites, 29 belong to foreign customers from 14 countries Austria, Belgium, Britain, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia.

3. EPFO, HUDCO to ink pact for housing subsidy under PMAY: To enable members of its housing scheme to avail subsidy and interest subvention under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’ Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) in New Delhi. Now, the EPFO allows its subscribers for withdrawing up to 90% of their EPF accumulations to buy homes. The eligibility condition has been relaxed for such withdrawal and now membership period of EPFO reduced from five years to three years.

4. Jeevandas Narayan appointed as MD of Manappuram Home Finance: Manappuram Finance has appointed Jeevandas Narayan as the Managing Director (MD) and Subhash Samant as CEO of its fully-owned home loans subsidiary, Manappuram Home Finance Pvt. Ltd.

5. Govt. launches ‘VAJRA’ scheme to attract Indian scientists abroad: To bring together the Indian scientists abroad and India-based researchers for conducting joint researches in India. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched a scheme named 'Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty' (VAJRA). The idea of the scheme is to bring the best of the world to India and conduct research here.

6. Passports to be in both English and Hindi: Sushma Swaraj, the Union External Affairs Minister, has announced that passports would now be in both Hindi and English (not just in English). Earlier, the personal details in passports are printed only in English. She also announced 10% reduction in passport fee for applicants who are under 8 and over 60 year.

7. Rural Haryana declares itself as 5th ODF under Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin: Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin Rural Haryana has declared itself as the fifth open defecation free (ODF) state in India.Haryana has joined the states of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Uttarakhand, which were the first four states to be declared ODF.Nationally, the sanitation coverage has increased from 42% to over 64% in just two-and-a-half years since the launch of SBM.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Russian Diplomat Vladimir Voronkov appointed as Chief of United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre: To head the newly established UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Russian diplomat Vladimir Voronkov. Voronkov has been given the rank of Under-Secretary-General. The United Nations General Assembly has approved the establishment of a new United Nations office of counter-terrorism.

OTHER UPDATES:

AWARDS:

1. Azim Premji honoured with Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy: For his efforts to reform public school system in India Wipro Chairman Azim Premji is honored with the 2017 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. He is now among the nine philanthropists with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy which is considered as the most prestigious prize in philanthropy.