Daily GK Updates - 4th September, 2017

                    NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Central scheme for senior citizens in Gujarat: Union minister Thawarchand Gehlot launched a scheme that provides for physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to the BPL category in Gujarat. The centrally-sponsored scheme, `Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’, was unveiled on April 1 this year. Under the scheme, aids and assisted-living devices like walking sticks, elbow crutches etc are provided free of cost.

2. Cabinet reshuffle details: Nirmala Sitharaman has taken charge as the Minister of Defence. She has become the first woman to take charge as the full-time defence minister (Indira Gandhi had the additional charge). The previous Railways Minister, Suresh Prabhu will hold the office of Minister of Commerce & Industry. Piyush Goyal has taken charge as the Minister of Railway and also Minister of Coal. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who earlier had the independent charge as the Minister of State for Minority Affairs will now hold the office of Minister of Minority Affairs. Uma Bharti will hold the post of Minister of Drinking Water & Sanitation. Earlier, she held the portfolio of River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.

3. President to lay foundation stone for Link-4 of SAUNI Scheme in Rajkot: President Ramnath Kovind laid the foundation stone for a link - 4 of Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation Scheme (SAUNI) Yojana in Rajkot, Gujarat.Earlier, SAUNI project had been launched by Mr. Modi to fill up 115 major dams by diverting overflow of water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River. Three phases of SAUNI yojana already dedicated to the people following completion of the work.

4. Augmentation Programme In Buxa Tiger Reserve: Tigers will roar again at Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal.  Located in Alipurduar district, the reserve, parts of which border Bhutan, has been identified for the tiger augmentation programme by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

5. Ministry of Defence to procure weapons from HAL: The Ministry of Defence will buy 41 more ALH advanced light helicopters from public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The Rs. 6,100-crore order signed recently includes 40 of the indigenously developed ALHs for the Army and one for the Navy.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BRICS summit begins in Xiamen: The 9th BRICS summit begins in the Chinese city of Xiamen. This is the second time the China has hosted the summit after the 2011 summit. In a joint declaration, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) condemned all terror attacks worldwide, including those attacks in the member states, stressing that there can be no justification whatsoever for any such act. Host country China has also invited five guest countries (Egypt, Kenya, Tajikistan, Mexico, and Thailand) for the summit under its BRICS plus approach.

2. Nepal signs UN development assistance plan: Nepal govt. has signed a USD 635 million United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for 2018-2022 to lay out the country’s development strategy for the next five years. The package involving 26 individual UN agencies is aimed at assisting Nepal in four areas - inclusive economic growth, social development, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

3. Trump to nominate Kenneth Juster as US Ambassador to India: America's foremost expert on US-India trade relations Kenneth I. Juster has been nominated as the U.S ambassador to India.He will succeed Richard Verma.The appointment will take effect once the U.S Senate confirms him.

4. Iran tests its homegrown air defence “Bavar”: Iran has tested its home grown air defence system, designed to match the Russian S-300, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ air defence has said. Bavar (which means “belief”) is Tehran’s first long-range missile defence system, and is set to be operational by March 2018.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Country's foreign exchange reserves swell to lifetime high of USD 394.55 billion: The country's foreign exchange reserves swelled by USD 1.148 billion to a new lifetime high of USD 394.55 billion for the week ended 25th August this month.RBI data showed the foreign currency assets (FCAs) increased by USD 1.142 billion to USD 370.833 billion for the week under review. Gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 19.943 billion. The country's reserve position with the IMF also rose by USD 3.6 million to USD 2.273 billion. The total reserves had declined by a marginal USD 211.1 million to USD 393.401 billion in the previous reporting week.

2. AMD presented a new line of microprocessor chips called ‘Ryzen Pro’: The Ryzen Pro desktop processor is an 8 core and 16 thread CPU and much faster than the rival Intel’s ‘Core i7’. The new Ryzen Pro processors are for commercial usage.

SPORTS:

3. Konsam Ormila Devi bags Gold at Commonwealth Youth championship: India’s Konsam Ormila Devi bagged a gold medal in 44kg weight category of the Commonwealth Youth (boys & girls) weightlifting championships, held at Gold Coast, Australia. Ormila lifted 57kg in snatch and 76kg in clean and jerk for an overall effort of 133kg, to finish on the top of the podium.

4. Tejasvi Duduka wins US Open Carrom Tournament: Tejasvi Duduka from Hyderabad won the women’s singles of U.S. Open Grand Slam Carrom tournament.

5. Lewis Hamilton wins 2017 Italian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton was first, while Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel came second and third respectively. The 2017 Italian Grand Prix was the Formula One motor race held on 3 September 2017 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy.

6. MS Dhoni becomes the first wicketkeeper to effect 100 stumpings in ODI Cricket: Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the first wicketkeeper in world cricket to effect 100 stumpings in One Day Internationals(ODI). He has taken 281 catches apart from scoring 9,657 runs so far. 

SPORTS:

7. Pulitzer-Prize winning poet John Ashbery passes away: Pulitzer-prize winning poet John Ashbery, a post-modern American trailblazer passed away in Hudson, New York. His 1975 collection, "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror," was the rare winner of the book world's unofficial triple crown: the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle prize.