Daily GK Updates - 22nd December, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. National Mathematics Day- 22nd December: Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s birth anniversary on December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day. It was in 2012 that then PM Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day. In 1917, Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the youngest person to achieve the feat.

2. Mamang Dai wins Sahitya Akademi Award: Authors Mamang Dai & Ramesh Kuntal Megh have won this year’s Sahitya Akademi award for their work The Black Hill, a novel, and Vishw Mithak Sarit Sagar, a literary criticism, in English and Hindi respectively. Sahitya Akademi announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 24 languages.

3. Kohli becomes India’s most valued celebrity (in terms of brand value): For the first time, a cricketer, Virat Kohli has emerged as the top-ranked celeb with a brand value of $144 million. In 2016, SRK was on the top spot with $131.2m brand value. He has slipped to the second rank this year, with a brand value of $106m.

4. Salman Khan tops Forbes India Celebrity List: With earnings of Rs232.83 crore, actor Salman Khan has topped the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list 2017 for the second consecutive year. While Shah Rukh Khan featured in the second spot with earnings of Rs170.50 crore, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli came third with Rs100.72 crore earnings. Akshay Kumar and Sachin Tendulkar featured in the fourth and fifth spots respectively.

5. India’s first design university starts its operations: India’s first and only design university, World University of Design opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana. WUD offers country’s largest creative course catalog – 23 specialized UG and PG programs in various design arenas.

6. Offshore Patrol Vessel ICGS ‘Sujay’ commissed: Indian Coast Guard Ship “Sujay”, the sixth in the series of six 105m Offshore Patrol Vessel was commissioned at Goa. ‘Sujay’ meaning ‘Great Victory’ is projection of Indian Coast Guard’s will and commitment “To serve and Protect” the maritime interest of the nation. This 105 meter OPV has been designed and built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Ltd.

7. NHAI creates Highways Investment Promotion Cell created: The NHAI has created a National Highways Investment Promotion Cell for attracting domestic & foreign investment for highways projects. The cell will focus on engaging with global institution investors, construction companies for building investor participation in road infrastructure projects. The primary focus of NHIPC will be to promote foreign and domestic investment in road infrastructure

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Scientists discover new frog species: Scientists have discovered a new frog species from its home in the fast flowing streams in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Subansiri district. The new species discovered from Talle Valley Wildlife Sanctuary has been named as Odorrana arunachalensis, after the state where it was discovered.

OTHER UPDATES

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. DARPAN Project launched for financial inclusion: Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN- “Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India”. It is a project to improve the quality of service, add value to services and achieve ‘financial inclusion’ of the unbanked rural population. The goal of the IT modernization project with an outlay of Rs. 1400 Crore is to provide a low power technology solution to each Branch Postmaster.

SPORTS:

1. Shooting excluded from 2022 Commonwealth Games: Shooting has been excluded from the Commonwealth Games 2022 edition. At the same time, the push to bring cricket back into the fold has gathered momentum, with Commonwealth Games Federation. The CGF declared Birmingham as the host city on Thursday after Durban, the original pick, had pulled out earlier this year due to financial constraints.

2. International Youth Sailing Competition to be held in Nellore: Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, is hosting the 9th edition of International Youth Sailing Competition of India from December 27th to December 31st 2017. The event is the largest sailing competition in the country and is organised by the Navayuga Sailing Academy.

3. Birmingham to Host Commonwealth Games: The central English city of Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games in 2022. The 2022 Commonwealth Games were originally given to Durban in 2015, but the South African city was stripped of the event this year because of financial difficulties. The multisports event was last in Britain in 2014 when it was held in Glasgow.