Daily GK Updates - 28th January, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Oxford chooses ‘Aadhaar’ as Hindi word of 2017: Oxford Dictionaries has chosen ’Aadhaar’ as the Hindi word of 2017. The word gained popularity due to the Aadhaar card, which was in the news last year and is likely to remain so this year as well. The announcement was made at a session “Oxford Dictionaries’ Hindi Word of the Year” during the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here.

2. The lowdown on Doklam: Chinese side beefing up its military presence in the disputed Doklam area, where Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a two-month stand-off in the summer of 2017. Recent satellite images and intelligence reports show the Chinese have erected several permanent military posts. About 1,800 Chinese troops are stationed, even in deep winter, in the Doklam area, according to other reports. India has also strengthened its presence in the region. 

Strategic Location of Doklam:

Ø  Doklam, or Donglang in Chinese, is an area spread over less than a 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, Bhutan and China. 

Ø  It is surrounded by the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, Bhutan’s Ha Valley and Sikkim. 

Ø  Despite several rounds of engagement between China and Bhutan, the dispute between the two over Doklam has not been resolved. It flared up in 2017 when the Chinese were trying to construct a road in the area, and Indian troops, in aid of their Bhutanese counterparts, objected to it, resulting in the stand-off. 

Ø  Doklam is strategically located close to the Siliguri Corridor, which connects mainland India with its north-eastern region. 

Ø  The corridor, also called Chicken’s Neck, is a vulnerable point for India. 

Ø  While India-Tibet trade flourished along the Siliguri corridor and Chumbi Valley, Doklam had very little significance. 

Ø   Even during British rule, Doklam did not command much attention. 

Ø   In recent years however, China has been beefing up its military presence in the Chumbi Valley, where the Chinese are at a great disadvantage militarily. Both Indian and Bhutanese troops are on a higher ground around the Valley.

3. Justice Vishwanath Shetty sworn in as Karnataka Lokayukta: Former Judge of Karnataka High Court Justice Vishwanath Shetty has sworn in as new Lokayukta of Karnataka by Governor Vajubhai R Vala. He succeeds N Bhaskar Rao who resigned the post in 2015 following his alleged involvement in his son's corruption case that involved using the Lokayukta office and residence for extortion. 

Details about Lokayukta:

Ø  The Lokayukta is an anti-corruption ombudsman organization in the Indian states.

Ø History: The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) headed by Morarji Desai submitted a special interim report on "Problems of Redressal of Citizen's Grievances" in 1966. 

Ø  ARC recommended the setting up of two special authorities designated as 'Lokpal' and 'Lokayukta' for the redressal of citizens' grievances.

4. Banwarilal Purohit appointed as Governor of Meghalaya: The President Pranab Mukherjee has given Banwarilal Purohit (Governor of Assam) to the additional charge of Meghalaya and PB Acharya (Governor of Nagaland) to the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier, the President accepted the resignation of V. Shanmuganathan as Governor of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

5. Dr. Vijay Bhatkar appointed new vice-chancellor of Nalanda University: The President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Dr.Vijay Bhatkar as the chancellor of Nalanda University for three-year. He will succeed former foreign Minister of Singapore George Yeo, who resigned. Dr. Bhatkar is the architect of India’s first supercomputer the Param series. 

Details about Nalanda Unniversity:

Ø  Nalanda University is located in Rajgir near Nalanda, Bihar. 

Ø  The University began its first academic session on September 1, 2014.

6. Dr. G.N. Rao to be inducted into Ophthalmology Hall of Fame: Noted Indian eye doctor Gullapalli N. Rao has been selected to the 2017 Ophthalmology Hall of Fame instituted by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr. Rao is the founder and chairman of the LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. He will be honored at the ceremony in Los Angeles at the annual meeting of the ASCRS on 6th May 2017. The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) was established in 1987 at Hyderabad as a not-for-profit, non-government eye care institution. “The Week-Nielsen” survey for rating the best hospitals in the country has declared LVPEI Hyderabad as third best eye hospital in India.

7. Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurates 29th Kerala Science Congress: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has inaugurated the three-day 29th "Kerala Science Congress" at Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. The event is jointly organized by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment and the Kerala Forest Research Institute. The Focal theme chosen for the Congress is “Genomics in Health and Disease”.

8. First Brahmaputra Literary Festival inaugurated in Guwahati: The first three-day Brahmaputra Literary Festival has been inaugurated by CM of Assam Sarabnanda Sonwal. The festival would be a great platform for interaction and exchange of ideas between readers and litterateurs across the country and abroad. Sixteen authors from 10 countries and many writers from within this country are participating in the festival.

9. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube content were covered by official action: A total of 1,329 social media URLs were blocked or removed on the recommendationof a government committee to deal with “objectionable content” last year till November 2017. This is an increase of nearly 38% from 964 social media URLs blocked or removed for the whole of 2016. URLs that were blocked or removed because of court orders during the same period came down from 100 in 2016 to 83 in January-November 2017, according to an internal note of the Ministry of Electronics and IT. The action covered Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

10. Four pacts between India and Combodia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cambodian counterpart, Samdech Hun Sen held talks to boost ties in key areas of defence, security and counter-terrorism. The two leaders called for concerted global efforts to eliminate terrorism, including blocking sources of terror financing and dismantling terrorist bases. The two countries inked four pacts, including the one to improve cooperation in the prevention and investigation of crimes and legal assistance in criminal matters and another on a line of credit from India to finance Cambodia’s Stung Sva Hab water resources development project for $36.92 million.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 95 dead, 158 injured in Kabul blast: Taliban claim responsibility for ambulance bomb. An explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a crowded area of Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 95 people and wounding 158 others, officials said. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, the second by the group within a week. The explosion triggered chaotic scenes as terrified survivors fled the area scattered with body parts and blood. Hospitals were overwhelmed by the large number of wounded. The assault comes as both the insurgents and the Islamic State have escalated attacks on the Afghan capital.

2. Beijing plans to spend $3 bn to reduce pollution:  Beijing is planning to spend over 19 billionyuan (about $3 billion) to reduce air pollution this year. The money will be used to control pollution sources such as coal, vehicles and dust, and to support projects to replace coal with clean energy, according to a draft of the 2018 Beijing budget report.

3. Honduran leader begins second term: Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was sworn in for a second term on Saturday as the opposition vowed mass protests over claims he fraudulently won November elections. Mr. Hernandez stood for re-election despite a constitutional ban on Presidents serving more than one term.

4. Pro-Russian Czech incumbent takes lead: Pro-Russian incumbent Milos Zeman took an early lead in the Czech presidential election on Saturday, outpacing his pro-European liberal rival Jiri Drahos by nearly 10%, partial results showed. Mr. Zeman took 54.49% of the vote against 45.5% for Mr. Drahos with 62.4% of ballots counted.

5. Elections in Finland: Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, a pragmatic pro-EU conservative, looks set to get re-elected for another six-year term on Sunday. Mr. Niinisto, 69, is running as an independent, placing himself above party politics to concentrate on his top priority: getting Finland under the protection of the U.S. missile shield without upsetting Russia.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Serena Williams wins Australian Open 2017 women's title: American professional tennis player Serena Jameka Williams (35- years) has won the 2017 Australian Open Women's Singles title. She defeated her sister Venus Williams (36-years) in the final, 6–4, 6–4. This is also her a seventh Australian Open win and her 23rd Grand Slam victory since the game turned professional in 1968. 

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. ISRO successfully ground-tests Cryogenic Upper Stage engine meant for rocket GSLV-Mark-III: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully ground tested the Cryogenic Upper Stage engine meant for the rocket GSLV-Mark-III. The rocket fitted with the cryogenic upper stage is expected to lift off in the first quarter of this year, carrying a 4-tonne class communication satellite. It was tested for a duration of 50 seconds in its Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in southern Tamil Nadu, demonstrating all the stage operations.

BOOK RELEASE: 

1. The Launch of “The book — The Tall Man Biju Patnaik”: A galaxy of political leaders across party lines paid rich tributes on Saturday to the former Odisha Chief Minister, Biju Patnaik, during an event to release a book on the veteran leader. The book — "The Tall Man Biju Patnaik", a pictorial biography by researcher Sundar Ganesan — was released by the former President Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, the former Deputy Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.