Daily GK Updates - 7th February, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates Mahamastakabhisheka Utsav: President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 88th Mahamastakabhisheka Utsav of Lord Gommateshwara in Sharavanabelagola in Hassan district of Karnataka.Mahamastakabhiseka of Gommateshwara (known as Bahubali) takes place once in 12 years.It is an important Jain pilgrimage center and lakhs of tourists visit Shravanbelagola to see a monolithic stone statue (57 feet tall)  that is anointed from head to feet during the Utsav.

2. Pelican festival held at Atapaka bird sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh: The first-of-its-kind ‘Pelican Bird Festival-2018’ was held in Atapaka Bird Sanctuary at Kolleru lake (freshwater lakes) in Andhra Pradesh.It was organized jointly by Krishna district administration and Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA).Every year Over 5,000 pelican birds from various countries reach Kolleru lake during winter by traveling over 3500 km.Recently, Atapaka Bird Sanctuary has been recognized as one of the largest pelicanry in the world.

3. UP Govt. launches DASTAK Campaign: The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath has launched massive door to door campaign 'DASTAK' against Acute Encephalitis Syndrome(AES) and Japanese Encephalitis.The war cry of DASTAK is ‘Darwaja khatkhatao, AES aur JE ko bhagao’.the whole state machinery with the help of UNICEF will go door to door in 38 JES and AE affected districts which mostly fall in the Tarai region of the state which contributes to about 60% of the total AES cases all over the country.

4. The world’s busiest single-runway airport: The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport has become the world’s busiest single-runway airport, after creating a new world record for single-runway operations by handling 980 arrivals and take-offs in 24 hours, or almost one flight every minute on January 20, 2018.

 INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. The South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference (SARPPC) held in New Delhi: The South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference (5^th edition) was held in New Delhi. The Conference was hosted by Public Procurement Division (PPD) of Ministry of Finance and All India Management Association (AIMA).The theme this edition of the conference was “Public Procurement and Service Delivery. The First Conference was held in Kathmandu in 2010, second in Islamabad (2014), third in Dhaka (2015) and fourth in Sri Lanka (2017).

2. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy blasts off at Cape Canaveral: SpaceX (USA’s private space organization) has launched ‘the world’s most powerful rocket’ ‘Falcon Heavy’ from Kennedy Space Centre near Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA).It was launched from the same launch pad, from where Apollo 11 moon rocket was launched.SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is carrying CEO Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla roadster to an orbit near Mars. This rocket generated 22,819 kilonewtons (5.13 million pounds) of thrust through 27 Merlin engines.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Govt doubles import duty on sugar to 100%, hikes chana to 40%:According to the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) notification, govt. has doubled the import duty on sugar to 100%(currently 50%) and raised duty on chana to 40% (Currently 30%) to protect domestic farmers. The higher tax has been imposed with immediate effect and without an end date. The move is aimed at curbing cheaper imports and ensure remunerative prices to domestic growers. In case of the sugar industry, ex-mill rates have fallen below the cost of production, affecting their ability to make cane payment to farmers on time.

2. The Assam Government has signed MoU with OLA: The Government of Assam has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with cab-hailing company Ola for a pilot project of app-based river taxi services in Guwahati. This MoU was signed during the ongoing Global Investors Summit: Advantage Assam. According to the MOU, bringing water taxis on the online platform will strengthen the transportation ecosystem.

3. The current repo rate, according to 6th Bi-monthly Monetary policy statement for 2017-18: In the 6th Bi-monthly Monetary policy statement for 2017-18, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the key interest rate “repo rate” unchanged at 6% and reverse repo at 5.75%. Also, the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate kept at 6.25%. 

SPORTS:

1.Shubhankar Sharma from Chandigarh has become the highest ranked Indian golfer: Shubhankar Sharma from Chandigarh has become the highest ranked Indian golfer after grabbing 72nd position in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). He has won the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sharma now also has the rare distinction of leading both the European Tour Race to Dubai and the Asian Tour Order of Merit. Shubhankar’s latest success also helped him join the exclusive club of Indians who have achieved two wins in the same European Tour season, the others being Jeev Milkha Singh (2006) and Anirban Lahiri (2015).

OBITUARIES:                                                      :

1.  Kathakali maestro Madavoor Vasudevan Nair passes away: Kathakali maestro Madavoor Vasudevan Nair (89-year) passed away while performing at Agasthyacodu Mahadeva Temple, Anchal.He was the recipient of several awards including Padma Bhushan.Madvoor had worked as a faculty in the Thekkan Kalari (Southern school of Kathakali) of Kerala Kalamandalam.