Daily GK Updates - 4th December, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. India’s largest floating Solar Power Plant opened in Kerala: India’s largest floating Solar Power plant was inaugurated by the State Power Minister, MM Mani, in Kerala. The plant is built at Banasura Sagar dam Kerala. The total budget for the project is Rs. 9.25 crore. The solar power plant is built by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Ad Tech Systems.

2.  World Telugu Conference (WTC-2017) to be held: The World Telugu Conference (WTC) will be held at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana from December 15 with focus on how the Telugu language is preserved, protected, enriched in the Telangana region. The conference will provide the data related to Telugu Conferences (Telugu Maha Sabhalu) and eminent Telugu Personalities across the Globe. President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest of the 5-day event and the Telangana Sahitya Akademi will be the nodal agency for the conference.

3. Navy Day observed: The Indian Navy day is observed every year on 4th December. The Navy Day is observed every year to celebrate achievements and role of the naval force in the country. The Indian Navy is commanded by the President of India as Commander-in-Chief. It is the marine branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Sunil Lamba is the current Chief of the Naval Staff.

4. Tendu leaf bonus festival inaugurated: The Tendu leaf bonus festival kicked off in Chhattisgarh, and Chief Minister Raman Singh distributed bonus to the tendu leaf collectors of Bastar and Bijapur. The 10-day festival began from the Bijapur district. In addition to increasing the tendu leaves collection rate from Rs 1800 to Rs 2500 per sack, Mr Singh also announced a bonus to the collectors.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Iran President opens the first phase of Chabahar port: Iran President Hassan Rouhani  inaugurated the first phase of the Chabahar port project which is known as the Shahid Beheshti port. With the inauguration of the port, it had opened a new strategic transit route between Iran, India and Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. The Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar is now the only and largest port in Iran on the Indian Ocean and will significantly help in regional development with the rest of world countries.

2. Venezuela to launch cryptocurrency ‘Petro’: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the launch of the “petro” backed by oil reserves to shore up a collapsed economy. “Venezuela will create a cryptocurrency,” backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves, Maduro said. He also said that it would help Venezuela “advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.”

3. First International Conference on AYUSH & Wellness sector begins in New Delhi: The first International Exhibition and Conference on AYUSH and Wellness sector- AROGYA 2017 began in New Delhi today. The theme of the conference is ‘Enhancing the global potential of AYUSH’. AYUSH is the acronym of - Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy’.           

OTHER UPDATES

SPORTS:

1.  Deepika Kumari wins bronze medal Archery World Cup: Deepika Kumari of India has won the bronze medal at the Indoor Archery World Cup which was concluded in Bangkok. Korean Kim Surin defeated Deepika Kumari by 6-5.

OBITUARIES:

1. Shashi Kapoor passes away: Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor passed away at the age of 79 after suffering from prolonged illness. Kapoor, who started his career as a child actor in his father plays, was well-known for his roles in films like Deewar, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, amongst others. He was honoured with a Padma Bhushan for his contributions to art & cinema in 2011. He also received a Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2015.