Daily GK Updates - 7th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Punjab Govt starts Campaign for constructing toilet in every household: The Punjab water supply and sanitation minister Tript Rajindra singh Bajwa has started a ‘Mass Construction Campaign’ for constructing the toilet in every household at Dabanwal village in Gurdaspur district. He also flagged off 90 promotional teams who will create awareness among the people to make their area free from open defecation.

 2. Odisha govt announces the package of Rs. 124 crores for farmers affected by pest attack: The Odisha state cabinet chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a package of 124 Crore rupees for the farmers affected by pest attack in different areas of the state during this year’s Kharif season.

The state’s cabinet has also revised earlier decision and announced the farmers who had set fire to their crop field out of frustration for not being able to control pests, would also get the relief.

3. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia (1981 batch IAS officer - Gujarat cadre) has been designated as the new Finance Secretary: The Finance Secretary is the Permanent Secretary-level civil servant, who plays a leadership role in the bureaucracy of the Finance Ministry, Government of India. The vacancy was caused following the superannuation of Ashok Lavasa. The Ministry of Finance is composed of five departments the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Expenditure, the Department of Financial Servicesand Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.

Each of the departments is headed by a secretary.

4. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has commissioned a new Instrument Landing System (ILS) for a runway at the Chennai airport at a cost of Rs. 5 crores: The ILS provides the necessary guidance to the pilots while they approach for landing at the runway. The new ILS commissioned for runway 07 will facilitate smooth landing of the aircraft at the Chennai airport even during rain, low clouds, smog etc and provide an improved guidance to the aircraft.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India, Nepal, Bangladesh to sync tiger count: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is responsible for conducting the exercise in India, has proposed major changes including uniformity in counting of big cats in all tiger reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country at the same time. India, Nepal & Bangladesh will conduct the 2018 tiger census in close coordination in their respective territories at the same time. The field directors, divisional forest officers and range officers from the states (UP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh) will be given expert training for the census in all six forest zones of the country, from 2nd week Nov 2017). The census will be held under the supervision of NTCA and the Wildlife Institute of India. The first phase of tiger census will be completed by December end, the second phase by January 2018 and the final phase will go on from February to October next year.

2. India - Bangladesh joint military combat exercise ‘SAMPRITI-7’: The Indian & Bangladeshi army are taking part in the 7th edition of joint training exercise ‘SAMPRITI-7’ in Meghalaya and Mizoram (6th-18th November). The exercise will be conducted at India's Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram and at the Joint Training Node at Umroi in Meghalaya The objective of the exercise is to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in peace-keeping activities in the United Nations (UN).

3. Saudi prince died in helicopter crash near Yemen border: A Saudi prince Mansour bin Moqren (Deputy governor of Asir province) died when a helicopter with several officials on board crashed near the kingdom's southern border with war-torn Yemen. Prince Mansour was the son of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, a former intelligence service director and a one-time crown prince of the kingdom. Prince Muqrin was removed as crown prince in April 2015 by his half-brother King Salman in favour of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a counterterrorism czar and interior minister.

4. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa: Mugabe's move came after high drama between Mnangagwa and Grace after which Mugabe appeared to finally back his wife in the succession race. In 2014, Mnangagwa was appointed vice president, taking over from Joice Mujuru.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. India finish with 20 medals at Commonwealth Shooting Championships: India ended the Commonwealth Shooting Championships with a rich haul of 20 medals after Satyendra Singh won a gold and Sanjeev Rajput (silver) in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event. The Indian squad won a total of gold (6), silver (7) and bronze (7) medals during the competition. The Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships is a shooting championship for Commonwealth countries, often held as a test event for the Commonwealth Games.

AWARDS/HONOURS:

1. Srirangam temple wins UNESCO award: Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam (Tamil Nadu) has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation. The international body praised the temple for undertaking renovation and beautification work worth over Rs 20 crore without harming its centuries-old heritage. Sri Ranganathaswamy temple considered the foremost of the 108 divyadesams, is situated on an islet between the Cauvery and the Coleroon rivers. It has seven prakaras and 21 towers, including the majestic 236-feet-high rajagopuram.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. China launches two BeiDou-3: China has launched the two BeiDou-3 satellites into space through a single carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The two newly-launched satellites represent the third phase of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. China will become the third country in the world after the US and Russia to operate its own navigation system. It began to serve China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2012.