Daily GK Updates - 19th September, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Assam assembly adopts two-child norm: According to the Assam’s health and family welfare minister, the service rules of the state government will be changed to give effect to two-child norm for the state government employees. The policy seeks to bar those having more than two children from being elected or nominated to panchayat and other local bodies’ elections or government jobs.

2. International Yoga Festival starts in Kashmir: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Shri N N Vohra inaugurated the second International Yoga Festival and International Yoga Sports Championship 2017 in Kashmir. Around 300 participants from various parts of India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Canada, Bulgaria, USA, and Nepal are participating in the festival.

3. Akshay Kumar appointed as the Brand ambassador for Swachh Bharat in Uttarakhand: Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced appointment of Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission in the state. Akshay Kumar is the brand ambassador of the same mission for Uttar Pradesh too.

4. SSB’s new ‘intelligence’ unit set up: Home Minister Rajnath Singh has operationalised the Sashastra Seema Bal’s 1st ever intelligence wing. It will gather intelligence on terrorists, illegal immigrants, fake currency etc along Bhutan & Nepal borders.

5. Rajnikant Mishra appointed new SSB chief: Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed senior IPS officer Rajni Kant Mishra as the new chief of Sashastra Seema Bal. Mishra is a 1984 batch Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS officer, will succeed Archana Ramasundaram who is set to retire on September 30.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Iceland Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson resigns: Prime Minister of Iceland ‘Bjarni Benediktsson’ has given his resignation to the President Gudni Th. Johannesson. Earlier, Mr. Benediktsson took his office in January 2017, uniting his Independence Party, the Reform Party, and the centrists.

2. First US military base in Israel set up: For the first time in history, U.S. has established a permanent military base in Israel. The base will be located within Israel Defense Forces Air Defense School in southern Israel.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Google Tez UPI- based Digital Payments app launched in India: The app is based on UPI platform, allows payments direct from the bank accounts. The Tez app is one of the most-simple forms of monetary transactions and is available to Android as well as iOS users.

2. Current account deficit increases to 2.4% of GDP in first quarter – RBI report: Current account deficit (CAD) of the first quarter of this fiscal widened to 2.4% of gross domestic product (14.3 billion dollars) as imports pushed the trade deficit. Last year, it was 0.1% (401 million dollars) in the same period. According to the RBI, widening of the year-on-year deficit was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit brought about by a larger increase in merchandise imports relative to exports.

3. Chuck Robbins to be appointed as the Executive Chairman of Cisco: Cisco has announced that its CEO Chuck Robbins will be appointed as the Executive Chairman of the company.

4. Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund hits $1 trillion mark, becomes the largest fund: The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has officially hit $1 trillion for the first time. Norway’s fund was set up more than 20 years ago to invest revenue arising from oil extraction.

SPORTS:

5. Mark Beaumont breaks world record: Cyclist Mark Beaumont has broken the world record for cycling around the world in 79 days – 44 days shorter than the previous record. Beaumont arrived in Paris 1 day ahead of schedule after cycling 18,000 miles & an average of 240 miles per day.

6. India's Purnima wins pentathlon gold at Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games: Indian athlete Purnima Hembram bagged Gold in women's pentathlon event at the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan. Hembram broke the Indian record by scoring 4,062 points and won the event by more than 100 points.

OBITUARIES:

7. Dr. Kirpal Chugh, India’s father of nephrology passes away: Dr Kirpal Chugh, fondly called father of nephrology in India, passed away at 85. He is fondly called father of nephrology in India for single-handedly first separating this discipline from medicine & then developing this into super-specialty in India. He was awarded Padma Shri, 4th highest civilian award in the year 2000.