Daily GK Updates - 3rd September, 2017

                 NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Latest Cabinet reshuffle: PM Modi inducted 9 new ministers and promoted 4 to expand his Cabinet. Nirmala Sitharaman became the Defence Minister. Piyush Goyal got Railways and Coal MInistry. Suresh Prabhu got Commerce and Industry whereas Sushma Swaraj retained External Affairs Ministry.

2. Ram Rahim to lose access to VIP lounges: The Airports Authority of India has written to Civil Aviation Ministry to remove rape convict Ram Rahim Singh’s name from the list of people who have access to VIP lounges in the airports. The access to lounges is granted to dignitaries like the PM, President and the Cabinet secretary among others.

3. World Bank suggests safety measures to Indian Railways: This was done to help the Railways in averting accidents. It advised that the trains be painted yellow to enable visibility during twilight hours and has asked the Railways to set up an independent rail safety regulator.

4. Coconut palm declared State tree of Goa: The BJP-led coalition Cabinet of Goa passed an amendment granting coconut palm the status of “State tree”. “The State government has decided to include coconut palm as tree in the Goa, Daman and Diu (Preservation of) Trees Act, 1984 to regulate felling of coconut trees under this Act.

                                 INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. N Korea’s 6th nuclear test 9.8 times powerful: South Korean weather agency claimed that the 6th test was 9.8 times powerful than the 5th test conducted in Sep 2016. N Korea has hailed the bomb test as a perfect success and a meaningful step to complete its nuclear programme.

2. UN suspends food aid to refugees in Myanmar: The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended the aid works citing safety concerns as the ethnic violence escalated among Rohingya Muslims. The violence erupted after Rohingya Muslims attacked Myanmar’s security forces.

3. US takes control of Russian trade mission in DC: The Russian trade mission building in Washington DC has been closed down and its staff is barred access. The US State Department is conducting a search inside the building which the Russia’s US embassy spokesperson called ‘illegal’.

4. Rohingya children to get UNHCR cards: The West Bengal government will distribute identity cards issued by the UNHCR to Rohingya children lodged in the juvenile justice homes of the State. The move comes at a time when there are reports that the Union government is planning to deport Rohingyas refugees.

                                OTHER UPDATES:                               

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Aditya Birla Group’s valuation crosses $50 billion: The Group has crossed market capitalisation of $50 billion after the listing of Aditya Birla Capital.Among Indian conglomerates, Tata is on the top with a total valuation of its listed firms at over Rs.8.46 lakh crore.

2. Nike fires 20% of employees in India: Sportswear giant Nike has fired 20% of its Indian workforce and asked many others to join its operations in Southeast Asia. Earlier, as a cost cutting measure, Nike closed around 35% of its stores in India.

SPORTS:

3. Bumrah sets record for most wickets in 5-match ODI series: Jasprit Bumrah set the record in a 5-match bilateral ODI series after taking his tally in the India-Sri Lanka series to 15.He overtook Australia’s Clint McKay who had taken 14 against Pakistan in 2010.

4. Rajyavardhan Singh first sportsperson to become the sports minister: Olympic silver medal winning shooter was named the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the cabinet reshuffle. He is the first sportsperson to hold the position and he replaced Vijay Goel.

BANKING/FINANCE:

5. Syndicate Bank gets new Chairman: Ajay Vipin Nanavati has assumed charge as Chairman of Syndicate Bank. A board member of Alicon, Nanavati is an innovation evangelist. He mentors start-ups/SMEs, and is an angel investor.

6. IDRBT to develop a model platform for blockchain technology: IDRBT, an arm of the RBI is developing a model platform for blockchain technology. It’s a type of distributed ledger or decentralised database that keeps records of digital transactions. People generally use a trusted third-party like a bank to make a transaction but blockchain removes the need for a third-party by directly connecting the customers and suppliers on the same platform

7. RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 6%: The RBI has cut the repo rate by 25 bps to 6%.

The economy has slowed down through the past five quarters from a high of 9.1% registered in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 to a level of 6.1% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. Reverse Repo rate has also been cut by 0.25 % to 5.75 %.

OBITUARIES:

8. Poet Shirish Pai passes away: Shirish Pai, the renowned Marathi poet and activist, passed away in Mumbai. She was credited with introducing Japanese ‘Haiku’ to the Marathi speaking world.