Daily GK Updates - 21st January, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. “Cyber Surakshit Bharat” launched by MEITY: In order to strengthen cybersecurity ecosystem in India, Ministry of Electronics & IT has announced Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative in association with NeGD & industry partners. It will be operated on the three principles of Awareness, Education and Enablement. It is the first public-private partnership of its kind & will leverage the expertise of the IT industry in cyber security.

2. Commencement of ‘Livability Index’: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri has announced commencement of the country’s first-ever ‘Livability Index’ to rank 116 cities. Cities will be assessed on 15 core parameters like governance, social infrastructure, education, employment etc. ‘Livability Index’ will also take into account physical infrastructures like housing, open spaces, land use, energy and water availability among others.

3. In an initiative to empower Persons with Disabilities, 100 websites of various State Govts/UTs under Accessible India Campaign were launched:  Accessible Websites are those websites into which Persons with Disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web. ERNET India (MEITY) is executing the project which is funded by DEPwD under Accessibility India Campaign.

4. CRPF special DG Sudeep Lakhtakia has been appointed as the new chief of National Security Guard(NSG): Lakhtakia will take over from S P Singh, the current chief of the elite counter-terror force. NSG is special forces unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs which was raised in 1984 for combating terrorist activities with a view to protect states against internal disturbances.

5. Innovation in Governance Award 2018: Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh was felicitated with Dr. Kalam Innovation in Governance Award 2018. The award was conferred on him by Rajya Sabha Secretary General Desh Deepak Verma for exemplary work in improving governance. The foundation was set up in the memory of former President A J Abdul Kalam. It works in various areas for development of the society.

6. India is the world’s largest consumer of petcoke: The environment ministry has placed restrictions on the use of imported petroleum coke in Delhi & its surrounding region to curb rising air pollution: Only consented & registered industrial units of NCR States shall be permitted to directly import pet coke. India is the world’s largest consumer of petcoke & imports over half its annual petcoke consumption of about 27mn tonnes mainly from US.

7. President Kovind felicitated exceptional women achievers who are the first to set a milestone in their respective fields at Rashtrapati Bhawan: Over 100 women were selected after an extensive research process by Women & Child Development Ministry. The women who have been felicitated are those who have been the first in any field like first woman judge, first woman porter, first Olympian etc.

8. Tamilnadu to host first ever Defence Expo: According to defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tamil Nadu will host its first-ever bi-annual defence exhibition in April. The exhibition will take place from April 11 to 14 and nearly 80 countries are expected to take part in it. Arrangements will be made for the Navy, Army and Air Force to display their equipment in the exhibition.

9. Arun Jaitley, Union Finance & Corporate Affairs minister, launched the National CSR Data Portal & Corporate Data Portal in Delhi: The initiative is a significant step towards driving accountability & transparency for corporate India. By making the portals accessible to general public, it will ensure high level of compliance and also in institutionalizing and consolidating the CSR activities.

10. Newly appointed chairman of ISB: Harish Manwani, non-executive chairman of HUL, has been appointed as the chairman of executive board of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad:  Manwani will take over from Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej group, starting April this year. Manwani has been on the board of ISB since April 2006. ISB is a premier management institution in India having campuses in Hyderabad & Mohali.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UN special envoy visits Rohingya camp: UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee visited Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh’s coastal town of Cox’s Bazar. Lee was also supposed to visit her native Myanmar, but govt there unexpectedly banned her from visiting the country. Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar. They have been regarded as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Allahabad Bank became First to issue shares: Allahabad Bank has became the 1st public sector lender to offer an employee stock option scheme, under which it will offer 5 crore ordinary shares to its staff. Proceeds from share sale will be used to raise core capital of the bank which has long ago been placed under prompt corrective action by RBI. Bank may issue shares in 1 tranche & will complete the transactions in this financial year.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. ONGC To Buy Government Stake In HPCL: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has agreed to buy the government’s majority stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp for Rs. 36,900 crore. The deal is part of the govt’s objective to combine various public sector enterprises to give them the capacity to bear higher risks & create more value for shareholders. The proceeds from the HPCL stake sale will help the government pay for welfare programmes.

BANKING/ FINANCE:

1. Axis Bank with Srijan NGO initiated Buddha Fellowship Programme: Axis Bank is partnering with NGO Srijan through an initiative called Buddha Fellowship Programme to help nurture talent for development sector. Buddha Fellows are a cohort of IIM grads working in rural areas with farmer producer companies, govt departments to scale up projects in livelihood, health & education sectors. The bank is mentoring 15 grads from IIM at Kolkata, Ahmedabad & Shillong.