Daily GK Updates - 9th August, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Amit Shah, Smriti Irani win, Ahmed Patel of Congress retains RS seat: Congress leader Ahmed Patel has retained his Rajya Sabha seat in Gujarat. While Amit Shah become a Member of Parliament for first time and third vacant seat from Gujarat has been won by Smt. Smriti Irani.

2. Yudh Abhyas, Inod-US military exercise to be conducted: The 13th Yudh Abhyas exercise will be held from September 14-27 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the US. Over 200 Indian soldiers from the Gorkha Rifles will take part in the military exercise. Yudh Abhyas started in 2004 under US Army Pacific partnership programme.

3. 75 years of “Quit India Movement”: Nation is celebrating 75th anniversary of Quit India Movement with “Sankalp se Siddhi – The attainment through resolve” being the theme for 2017. Quit India Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on 9th August (midnight), 1942, demanding an end to British Rule in India. It was in this movement that Gandhiji came up with the slogan “Do or Die”

4. 62.45% households in India have access to toilets: The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation released the findings of the survey of 1.4 lakh rural households, undertaken by the Quality Council of India (QCI) between May and June this year.

The survey, covering 4626 villages across all States and Union territories, claimed that 62.45% of the households had access to a toilet. The survey also pointed that 91.29% of the people who had access to a toilet also used it, indicating a change in sanitation behaviour. Northeastern States of Sikkim, Manipur and Nagaland were top performers with 95% rural households covered by toilets. In Bihar, only 30% of the rural household had access to toilets and was the worst performing state.

5. NITI Aayog partners with 6 states for Education and Healthcare reforms: NITI Aayog has announced partnership with 3 States each to radically transform their Health & Education sectors. NITI Aayog has shortlisted UP, Assam & Karnataka under its Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital initiative to transform their health sector. MP, Jharkhand & Odisha have also been selected by NITI Aayog under its SATH initiative to transform their education sector.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. South African Zuma survives no-confidence vote: South African president, Jacob Zuma has narrowly survived a motion of no confidence against him in the parliament. Out of 384 parliamentarians who cast ballots in a no-confidence motion, 177 voted in favor of motion to remove Zuma from office while 198 voted against it.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Flipkart launches Budding Star Programme to assist employees: Flipkart has launched Budding Star Programme to help employees achieve their dreams by providing financial assistance & paid leave. Employees who have completed 6 months will be eligible for this programme & can receive up to Rs. 3 lakh in assistance.

2. Bajaj Auto ties up with Triumph Motorcycles: Bajaj Auto has announced a partnership with UK’s Triumph Motorcycles to jointly make mid-capacity motorcycles for Indian and global markets. With Bajaj’s low-cost expertise the partnership will address the budget segment buyers looking for bikes having engine capacity of 400cc-800cc.

SPORTS:

3. Van Niekerk wins men’s 400m title at World Atheletics, London: Olympic Champion Wayde Van Niekerk won men’s 400 m event and retained his title in World Athletics Championships in London. He clocked 43.98 seconds to finish.

4. Real Madrid wins UEFA Super Cup: Real Madrid won the UEFA Super Cup for a second straight year, defeating Manchester United in finals to win 2-1 in Macedonia.