Daily GK Updates - 2nd December, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Surya Prakash re-appointed as Chairman of Prasar Bharati: A. Surya Prakash has been re-appointed as the Chairman of Prasar Bharati Board. President Ram Nath Kovind approved the appointment on the recommendation of the Selection Committee. Prasar Bharati was established by a 1990 Act of Parliament, as an autonomous body. It is India's largest public broadcasting agency. It comprises of Doordarshan television and All India Radio.

2. The 31st edition of the Konark festival begins in Odisha: The festival is held every year from 1st December to 5th December. The objective of the festival is to promote the diverse Indian dance heritage as well as the popularity of Konark Temple and Odisha as a tourist destination. The festival was first stated in 1986 which is organized in the state jointly by Odisha Tourism and Odissi Research Centre.

3. ‘Two’, the first novel in English by Gulzar released: Veteran lyricist Gulzar has come out with his novel ‘Two’ which is a debut novel in English. The novel revolves around the area of Punjab which became Pakistan after Partition. The novel was originally written in “Urdu’ later it translated into the English form.

4. National Nutrition Mission approved by Union Cabinet: The Union Cabinet has approved the setting of National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with an outlay of 9046.17 crore rupees for three years. It will be rolled out in three phases from 2017-18 to 2019-20.The function of NNM is to monitor various schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition. More than 10 crore people will be benefitted by this programme. All the States and districts will be covered in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20. It is the apex body for the said purpose under Ministry of Women and Child Development.

5. West Bengal to setup Green University: A bill named ‘West Bengal Green University Bill 2017’ has been passed in West Bengal to set up an environmental studies university at Hooghly district. State Education Minister tabled the Bill in Assembly & West Bengal becomes the first state to have a university dedicated to environmental studies.

6. Coast Guard conducts “Clean Sea-2017”: Indian Coast Guard conducted regional level Marine Oil Pollution Response Exercise titled ‘Clean Sea – 2017’ at sea off Port Blair, Andaman Nicobar Islands. The objective of this exercise was to ascertain preparedness of the ICG in responding to a major oil spill. ICG has been entrusted with the responsibility to protect the marine environment in the maritime zones of India.

7. NCRB releases Crime in India 2016 Statistics: Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh released ‘Crime in India – 2016’ published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The number of Murder cases across India decreased by 5.2% from 2015-16.Cases under ‘Crime Against Women’ in the year 2016 (338954) increased marginally compared to 2015 (329243).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. India re-elected to International Maritime Organisation Council: India has been re-elected to the Council of the International Maritime Organisation. India secured the second-highest 144 number of votes from member countries, after Germany’s 146 votes. YK Sinha, India’s ambassador to the UK, represented India at the assembly in London. India joined the International Maritime Organisation Council as a member in 1959. IMO is headquartered in London.

2. US Senate passes biggest tax overhaul in nearly 40 years: The US Senate voted 51-49 in favour of passing a bill which proposes the country’s biggest overhaul. These measures would cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent -- though the Senate version would set that lower rate in 2019. The tax cut is expected to add more than  $1.4 trillion deficit over 10 years to the US national debt.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Infosys appoints Salil Parekh as CEO and MD: Mr. Parekh will join Infosys from Capgemini where he was a member of the Group Executive Board. He has a Masters degree from Cornells University and a Bachelors degree from IIT Bombay. Salil takes over as CEO of Infosys at a time when the company has seen some of its most tumultuous times.

2. Air India to be sold as an integrated airline: Air India’s domestic and international operations will be sold together and some of its subsidiaries could also be up for bidding as part of the main airline. Air India has a total debt of Rs. 48,877 crores at the end of March 2017, of which about Rs. 17,360 crores was aircraft loans and Rs. 31,517 crores as working capital loans. The airlines is also struggling to find a ‘fit’ buyer.

3. Google introduces ‘Datally’ app: Google launched Datally App to understand, control and save users mobile data themselves. Datally App will enable users to track their data usage in real time, and get personalized recommendations on saving data along with notifications of nearby available public Wi-Fi spots. 3 things of Datally helps users:  Understand your data, Control your data and save your data.

OBITUARIES:

1. Sreerupa Mukherjee, former woman cricketer passes away: Former woman cricketer of India & Coach Sreerupa Mukherjee passed away in Kolkata. She was 65 years old. She had played two One Day Internationals for India against New Zealand. She was also the cricket manager of the Indian women’s team during three World Cups — 1993, 1997 and 2000.