Daily GK Updates - 22nd October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Narendra Modi to visit the truly vibrant Gujrat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Gujarat for the third time this month, as the BJP pulls out all the stops ahead of the assembly elections in the state. Modi will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for a number of projects in Bhavnagar and Vadodara districts. The projects that will be launched by Modi include the first phase of the Rs 650-crore ‘roll-on, roll-off ferry service.

2. IFS Sibi George appointed as the Ambassador: Sibi George is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of 1993 batch. He has also served as deputy chief of mission of Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia. Sibi George will replace Smita Purushottam as the ambassador of India to Switzerland. He is presently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Aftairs. He would to take up this assignment shortly.

3. India, Mozambique to develop Rovuma gas: India and Mozambique agreed to expedite development of the giant Rovuma gas discovery, which is planned to be converted into LNG for exports. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while his visit to Tokyo for LNG Producer–Consumer Conference discussed the development of the gas field. Oil India Ltd has 4% stake while a unit of BPCL holds 10% stake in project.

4. Dasna Jail to rename its dental clinic to acknowledge the Talwar couple’s services: the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to rename the dental clinic at Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad after Aarushi Talwar. Aarushi was murdered at the age of 14 at her residence in 2008. Aarushi Talwar’s parents – Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who are also dentists spent four years in the jail since 2013 as the accused in the murder case.

5. Committee to select RSTV’s editor: A five-member committee has been formed to select the candidate for the post of editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV. This committee is headed by Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash. The post of RSTV’s editor-in-chief felt vacant when Gurdeep Singh Sappal resigned after Hamid Ansari’s term as vice-president came to an end in August 2017.

6. Sushma Swaraj visits Dhaka: With External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh. Dhaka will be looking at increased cooperation on how to deal with the Rohingya refugee crisis. Sushma Swaraj had promised all possible help to deal with the massive influx of Rohingya refugees during her 15-hour flight to New York, seated next to Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina last month.

7. Toilets to be named as ‘izzat ghar’: The Central Government has asked each state to name the toilets in their rural households as “izzat ghar”, or to use a phrase in regional language equivalent to “house of dignity”. It is done with the aim of making India open defecation free by 2nd October 2019. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is looking over the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in villages.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Legalization of marijuana for medical purposes in Peru: Peru’s conservative Congress passed a bill to legalize medical uses of marijuana. This legislation was proposed by Preu’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. It came after police cracked down on a group of mothers making cannabis oil in a makeshift laboratory to treat their children suffering from epilepsy, a neurological disorder.

2. Aung San Suu Kyi’s and Oxford: Students at the St Hugh’s College voted to remove Aung San Suu Kyi’s name from the title of their Junior Common Room, in North Oxford, England. Her name was dropped owing to her inability to stop severe human rights abuses against Rohingyas in Myanmar. She had graduated from St. Hugh’s College in 1967 and was granted an honorary doctorate from the university in 2012.

3. Lebanon passes first budget since 2005: Lebanon’s parliament has approved a government budget for the first time since 2005. For 12 years, political crises and wars have forced Lebanon’s state institutions to operate without a budget. The 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri, plunged Lebanon into turmoil, dividing the country between supporters and enemies of Damascus.

 OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Government encouraging small saving schemes: In order to encourage savings, Central Government has issued a notification allowing all public sector banks and top three private sector banks (ICICI, HDFC and Axis Bank) to accept deposits under various small savings schemes. Until now, most of these schemes were sold through post offices. Small savings schemes include National Savings Certificate, recurring deposits and monthly income plan.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. Two NASA astronauts have successfully completed a spacewalk to install a new camera system outside the International Space Station: This has replaced a blown fuse and installed a new high definition camera on the starboard truss of the station. This was the fifth spacewalk of Bresnik’s career – 32 hours total spacewalking – and the third for Acaba – 9 hours and 46 minutes total spacewalking.

HONOURS/AWARDS:

1. Playback singers Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan have been selected for the Madhya Pradesh state government’s prestigious National Lata Mangeshkar award:  The artistes will be honoured for their contribution in the field of singing and composition of music. The award is alternatively given to music directors and playback singers every year.