Daily GK Updates - 14th February, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. India-Russia Agriculture Business Summit held: India-Russia Agriculture Business Summit 2018 was held in New Delhi. The two countries discussed trade relations in the agricultural sector. The summit was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. Gajender Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Sergey Beletskiy, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Russia addressed the Summit.

2. PBNS shortlists Siddharth for top edit job: A high-level committee has identified Siddharth Zarabi for Head of TV News in DD News and Abhijit Majumder for the position of Chief Editor, Prasar Bharati News Service (PBNS). Zarabi with 20 years of work experience is currently Executive Editor of Business TV India while Majumder is Managing Editor of Mail Today newspaper. The Prasar Bharati board is slated to meet February 15.

3. Centre to consolidate small savings laws: In a bid to consolidate the legislations pertaining to small savings schemes, the government is proposing a merger of the various laws into a Government Savings Promotion Act. The government gives highest priority to the interest of small savers. In order to remove existing ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for small saving schemes, the government has proposed merger.

4. Ashok Das appointed Indian envoy to Brazil: Ashok Das, a 1987 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, was named India’s new Ambassador to Brazil. Das, presently additional secretary in the external affairs ministry, is expected to take up his assignment shortly, according to a ministry statement. Both India and Brazil are members of the BRICS economic grouping that also includes China, Russia and South Africa.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. UK team to study ice shelf in the Antarctic: A British Antarctic Survey-led team will investigate a marine ecosystem hidden for up to 120,000 years beneath the Larsen C Ice Shelf, which lost a trillion-tonne iceberg last year. They will investigate the 5,818-square-km of seabed left exposed by the separation. The team plans to conduct the research before sunlight changes the undersea environment changes, giving birth to new species.

OTHER UPDATES

DEFENCE:

1. Air Force gets vintage Dakota aircraft: Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal (ACM) B.S. Dhanoa received a restored World War-II DC3 Dakota aircraft from an IAF veteran. The gift deed was signed between ACM Dhanoa and Air Cdre (Retd) Chandrasekhar at a handover ceremony. The DC3 Dakota aircraft Parashurama bearing the Tail Number VP-905 will be part of the IAF’s vintage fleet.

2. Government to buy assault, sniper rifles: The Defence Acquisition Council, led by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has cleared proposals worth nearly ₹16,000 crore to buy seven lakh assault rifles and 5,700 sniper rifles. Over ₹1,800 crore was sanctioned to procure Light Machine Guns through the “fast track” route.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. India’s first Online Radio Station Launched: India’s 1st Online Radio Station ‘Radio Umang’ was launched recently in India. Listeners can tune in to this online radio station through web streaming or download the app. With 24 hours programming, it has found listeners in Hindi speaking regions of India and in over 60 countries worldwide.

2. Delhi-Pune in top ten air routes: Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi and Mumbai-Bengaluru-Mumbai routes continued on top, ranked in terms of number of seats deployed. Routes such as Delhi-Pune-Delhi have, however, climbed from the fifteenth place in 2007 to the sixth place in 2017. It is according to data sourced from civil aviation research firm OAG.

3. Bajaj Allianz Insurance partners with Quikr: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has entered into a partnership with Quikr to increase the insurance outreach and offer people with adequate financial protection. With 30 million monthly Unique Visitors, Quikr will be a new age distribution channel for Bajaj Allianz’s products. Under this key agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer personal lines of insurance products.