Daily GK Updates - 11th January, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Dr. Sivan K appointed as ISRO Chairman: The government appointed renowned scientist Sivan K as the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. Sivan, at present the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, will succeed Kumar, who was appointed on January 12, 2015. He graduated from Madras Institute of Technology in Aeronautical Engineering in 1980.

2. Soumitra Chatterjee to receive “Legion d’Honour” award: The French government will confer, actor Soumitra Chatterjee with the “Legion of Honour” which is the highest order of merit in France. The award will be given to him at the 42nd Kolkata Book Fair on January 30. The Legion of Honour is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte.

3. Narendra Modi to attend WEF: US President Donald Trump will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos later this month. This would be for the first time in 18 years that a US president would be attending an annual gathering of global economic leaders. Modi will travel to Switzerland on January 22 on a two- day visit. This would be the first time since 1997 that an Indian prime minister will attend the Davos summit.

4. First all-women station in India-Matunga, Mumbai: The first all-women station in India, Matunga on Central Railway (CR), manned by a staff of 41 women, has entered the Limca Book of Records. The unique initiative was taken by CR General Manager D.K. Sharma in July 2017 with the aim of empowering women, Matunga station is situated in Mumbai.

5. Fourth International Dharma Dhamma Conference: President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated a three-day International Dharma-Dhamma conference at Rajgir in Bihar. The conference was jointly organised by India Foundation, Nalanda University, Ministry of External Affairs, ASEAN-India and Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha.

6. West Bengal government launches water ATMs in city, districts: The West Bengal government has launched a water ATM project to provide bacteria-free drinking water in schools with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank. If someone can prove the presence of harmful bacteria in any such water ATM, he will be given Rs 2 lakh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Rishi Sunak inducted into Theresa’s team: British Prime Minister Theresa May has inducted Indian-origin lawmaker Rishi Sunak into her government. Mr. Sunak is the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. He has been appointed as an Under Secretary of state in Britain’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

2. Jeff Bezos becomes the richest person: Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon has become the richest man in the history, overtaking Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Index showed that Bezos’ net worth had hit USD 105.1 billion. Index mentions Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian and the 20th richest person in the world.

3. Ecuador gives citizenship to Julian Assange: Ecuador has granted citizenship to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in asylum at the nation’s embassy in London for more than five years. Ecuador gave Assange political asylum after he sought refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for investigation of sex-related claims.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. Paytm launches Paytm Money Ltd.: Paytm, run by One97 Communications Ltd, has set up a new entity called Paytm Money Ltd. It will offer investment and wealth management products and will invest close to $10 million upfront in the new entity. Paytm Money is the fourth product after Paytm Mall, Paytm Payments Bank and Paytm wallet. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of One97 Communications.

2. Reliance Jio planning its own cryptocurrency called JioCoin: After disrupting the telecom sector with its free offers and hyper-competitive tariffs, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd plans to create its own cyptocurrency, JioCoin. With Mukesh Ambani’s elder son Akash Ambani leading the JioCoin project, Reliance Jio plans to build a 50-member team of young professionals to work on blockchain technology, which can also be used to develop applications such as smart contracts and supply chain management logistics.

BANKING/ FINANCE:

1. SEBI bans Price Waterhouse entities from issuing audit certificates for 2 years: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred auditor major Price Waterhouse's network entities from issuing audit certificates to any listed company in India for two years. The order comes after Price Waterhouse's network is guilty of the multi-crore Satyam scam. SEBI also ordered disgorgement of over 13 crore rupees wrongful gains from the audit major and it's two erstwhile partners who worked on the IT major's accounts.

  

SPORTS:

1. Aditya Mehta wins Kolkata Open 2018: Veteran Aditya Mehta won the Kolkata Open 2018 International Invitation Snooker Championship at the Hindustan Club. He edged out Englishman Alfie Burden 5-4 in a thrilling final. This is his third Kolkata Open title since its inception.

2. BCCI bans all-rounder Yusuf Pathan: Indian all-rounder Yusuf Pathan was handed a five-month retrospective suspension for failing a dope test. The 35-year-old Pathan had provided a urine sample as part of the BCCI’s anti-doping testing program during a domestic T20 match between his team Baroda and Tamil Nadu on March 16 last year. His sample was subsequently tested and found to contain bronchodilator Terbutaline.