Daily GK Updates - 16th February, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 inaugurated in New Delhi: PM Modi inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 in New Delhi. Event has been organized by The Energy and Resources Institute to discuss frameworks to resolve climate change crises in developing countries. The summit will see participation from over 41 countries, bringing together different stakeholders in the fields of sustainable development, energy and environment sectors.

2. Government to change the base year for GDP and IIP: The government will change the base year to 2017-18 for calculation of GDP and IIP numbers while for retail inflation the year will be revised to 2018. Change in base year is significant as capturing economic activity much away from base year gives unrealistic numbers & does not capture changed economic scenario. Earlier in 2015, CSO had changed the base year for GDP to 2011-12 from 2004-05.

3. #YesIBleed campaign to be launched: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi will launch a menstrual hygiene campaign on February 20.

The objective of the campaign is to create a holistic approach to issue of menstruation, which is an experience that transcends culture, class, and caste. The campaign called “#Yes I Bleed” will be initiated formally across all multi-media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. WADA suspends Romanian laboratory: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended Romania’s drug-testing laboratory for six months. WADA has imposed the sanction on the lab in Bucharest due to a number of non-conformities with regulations. The lab is now forbidden from testing any samples and must transfer any in its possession to another laboratory.

2. Vikas Sathaye honoured at Oscars: Vikas Sathaye has been honoured with the Scientific and Engineering Academy Award at the Oscars Scientific and Technical Awards 2018. Sathaye and his team received the award for his contribution towards conceptualisation, designing, engineering, and the implementation of the ‘Shotover K1 Camera System’.

3. China to host SCO Summit in Qingdao: China has announced that this year’s summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will be held in the city of Qingdao in June. SCO focuses on security-related issues of the region specially on counterterrorism cooperation. It is comprised of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India & Pak.

4. Japan reappoints Kuroda as Bank of Japan Governor: Japan’s govt has reappointed Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to serve another 5 yr term. It would make Kuroda the longest-serving BOJ head in half a century, a sign of Abe’s confidence in Kuroda ability to pull Japan’s economy out of stagnation

5. Cyril Ramaphosa elected as the new South African President: Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected as South Africa’s new president by ruling party legislators after the resignation of Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa was the only candidate nominated for election in the parliament after two opposition parties said they would not participate. Ramaphosa is South Africa’s fifth president since majority rule started after the end of apartheid in 1994.

6. K P Sharma Oli becomes Nepal PM: The Communist Party of Nepal (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has become new Prime Minister of Nepal. This is the second time Mr. Oli has become the prime minister. He had served as prime minister from October 2015 to August 2016.

OTHER UPDATES

BANKING/ FINANCE:

1. Yes Bank lists country’s first $600m MTN bond: Yes Bank has announced the listing of its debut US $600 million bond issue under its maiden US $1 billion medium-term note bond on country’s first international exchange BSE’s IndiaINX. With this, Yes Bank’s MTN programme became country’s first capital raising platform for international investors in any currency.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. HomeShop18, Shop CJ Network merge businesses: E-commerce company Homeshop18 and home shopping network Shop CJ Network have combined their businesses. This combination makes HomeShop18 the largest TV home-shopping network in India. The resultant benefits of scale shall better the growth prospects for the combined entity, allowing it to improve its standing in the TV home-shopping landscape.

2. Umang App wins Best M-Govt Service award: Umang App was named as the winner of the Best M-Government Service award in the Accessible Govt category while Aadhar won the best emerging technology award at the World Government Summit 2018 in Dubai. Aadhaar was also recognized as the world’s largest biometric-enabled identification programme.

3. Odisha Govt to sponsor Indian hockey team: Indian hockey has got a new sponsor in state govt of Odisha, which has decided to support the game for next 5 years. It is for the first time a state is sponsoring a national hockey team. Odisha is regarded as the cradle of hockey & has produced greats like Dilip Tirkey & Ignace Tirkey. Odisha has been supporting the game with various initiatives & also won the Kalinga Lancers in the HIL.

SPORTS:

1. Martin Guptill becomes the highest run-scorer in T20 matches: Martin Guptill has become the leading run-scorer in T20 Internationals with his 2nd century against Australia. It took Guptill’s international T20 career total to 2,188 runs, surpassing Brendon McCullum’s 2,140, Kohli is the next highest on the all-time list with 1,956.