Daily GK Updates - 3rd October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Kovind declares Rural Gujarat as Open Defecation Free: President Ram Nath Kovind has declared the Rural Gujarat as ODF (Open Defecation Free) at a function held at Kirti Mandir in Porbandar. He has felicitated rural women for achieving ODF status for rural Gujarat.

2. 1.80 metres tall bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi unveiled at Rajghat: The Vice-President of India M.Venkaiah Naidu unveiled a 1.80 meter tall bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his ‘148 Birth Anniversary’ at Rajghat Samadhi Complex, New Delhi. The famous message of Mahatma Gandhi “Be the Change You Wish to See” is inscribed on the front side.

3. Khandu announces to make Arunachal Open Defecation Free by this year-end: Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu has announced that Arunachal Pradesh shall be Open Defecation Free by 31th December this year. Sikkim is the only state in North East to achieve ODF free status and Arunachal to be the next.

4. Third National Wildlife Action Plan unveiled: India unveiled the third National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031 spelling out the future road map for wildlife conservation. The third National Wildlife Action Plan is unique as this is the first time India has recognized the concerns relating to climate change impact on wildlife.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 2017 Nobel Physics Prize announced: Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne & Barry Barish were awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for decisive contributions to LIGO detector & observation of gravitational waves. Waves which were predicted by Einstein 100 yrs ago, came from a collision b/w 2 black holes & took 1.3 bn yrs for the waves to arrive at LIGO detector.

2. King Salman - First Saudi monarch to visit Russia: King Salman of Saudi Arabia will arrive in Russia to conduct the first official visit to the country by a Saudi king.

Main topic of talks in Moscow will be Syria, where Russia & Saudis are backing different sides in the 6 year-long conflict.

3. Nepal and India to conduct joint tiger count: Nepal & India are going to conduct a joint head count of tigers in national parks, forests & sanctuaries of Nepal & India using the same camera tapping method. Conservation authorities & experts from both countries would install cameras in various locations & capture & track down their movements.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Indian GDP to hit USD 6 trillion by 2027 on digital leap - Morgan Stanley report: According to the Morgan Stanley report, India is likely to be the world's fastest-growing large economy in the next 10 years. Morgan Stanley expects digitization will provide an enhancement of 50-75 bps to GDP growth and forecasted, India will grow to a 6-trillion-dollar economy and achieve upper-middle income status by 2026-27.

2. India to be the fastest growing oil market: According to Moody’s Investors Service, India will surpass China as fastest-growing petroleum product market in Asia with fuel consumption rising 6% in 2018 As economic activity in China dials back, Moody expects its refined product demand growth will moderate to 2.5 -3 % in 2017-18.

3. Yatra partners OYO to expand inventory: Yatra Online has tied up with OYO to bring hospitality firm’s inventory on its platform. It brings OYO’s inventory onto a online travel agent platform & with this Yatra’s total hotel inventory will expand to over 70,000 hotels.