Daily GK Updates - 1st February, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Madhya Pradesh declares areas near sacred rivers, schools dry zones: MP announced its excise policy for 2018-19 under which areas near sacred rivers, religious places, schools, colleges, and girls’ hostels will be declared dry zones where consumption of liquor will be prohibited. the state cabinet decided to close liquor shops located within 50 metres of schools, colleges and authorised hostels meant for girls across the state.

2.Pune-three ICMR institutes merged: As part of a restructuring exercise to bring in more efficiency, three laboratories under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been merged with sister institutes working in related or overlapping fields. The Enterovirus Research Centre (ERC) at Mumbai — an accredited WHO global specialized laboratory for polio since 2000 — has been merged with Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) while Madurai based Centre for Research in Medical Entomology (CRME) — a WHO collaborative research centre in filariasis and dengue — has now been fused with the Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC) at Pondicherry.

3. Union budget 2018-19 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley : The union finance minister Arun Jaitley has presented the union budget for 2018-19 in Lok Sabha. According to the Arun Jaitley, this year’s budget will consolidate the gains and focus on strengthening agriculture and rural economy, provision of good health care to the economically less privileged taking care of senior citizens, infrastructure creation and providing of more resources to improve quality of education.

4. Major rivers in J&K declared national waterways-JK govt: The union govt. has declared four major rivers including Jehlum & Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir as ‘national waterways’, paving the way for inland navigation on them to boost water transport and tourism. The national waterways will be developed in a phased manner. The state government was examining the feasibility-cum-detailed project report of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) prepared for inland navigation and construction of terminals across these waterways.

5. Maharashtra govt approves proposal to provide sanitary napkins to women: The Maharashtra government has approved a proposal to provide sanitary napkins to women in rural areas at a subsidized rate of Rs.5 to promote hygiene among menstruating girls and women. The decision would be effectively implemented from International Women's Day, which falls on March 8.The use of sanitary pads (among girls and women) stands at around 17% due to high costs

6. Power Minister R K Singh inaugurates 7th India Energy Congress 2018: Mr. R K Singh (Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister) has inaugurated the 7th India Energy Congress 2018.The Energy congress organized by World Energy Council India with theme Energy 4.0: Energy Transition Towards 2030, in New Delhi.India’s per capita power consumption of 1,200 units is likely to go up by three to four times by 2030 as it aspires to become a developed country with GDP growth rate averaging 8.5% and the country is also committed to environmental protection.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. EU announces funding package of 42.5 mn euros to help build Palestinian state: The European Union (EU) has announced a new funding package of 42.5 million euros to help the Palestinians build their new state.Any framework for negotiations must be multilateral and must involve all players, all partners that are essential to this process.

2. US missile defence test unsuccessful: The US military carried out an unsuccessful test to shoot down an incoming dummy missile from Hawaii. SM-3 Block IIA missile was launched from an Aegis Ashore test site in Hawaii, but failed to hit another missile launched from an aircraft.

3.Hong Kong approves ban on local ivory trading by 2021: Hong Kong lawmakers gave final approval to a government proposal banning local ivory trading in the Chinese territory by 2021, with conservation groups hailing it as a major victory in the fight to save elephants. Lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the measure, voting 49-4 to amend the existing law to outlaw sales of ivory in Hong Kong, which researchers say is the world’s biggest retail ivory market.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. ADB and Centre sign 250 mn dollar loan agreement for construction of roads in five states: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the union Govt. have signed a 250 million USD loan to finance the construction of over 6,200 kilometers all-weather rural roads in 5 States (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal), under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).The ADB-funded investment program will provide continued assistance to the PMGSY and support the Government’s long-term goal for rural development.The program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12000 kilometers Rural Roads across the 5 States.

2. India & World Bank sign USD 100 million loan agreement to Tamil Nadu: India & World Bank sign USD 100 million loan agreement for Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project to boost the rural economy of Tamil Nadu.The Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project will create an enabling environment for producer organizations and enterprises to promote businesses across select value chains.The Project will be operational in 120 blocks across 3994 villages in 26 Districts of Tamil Nadu.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. India’s GDP growth for financial year 2016-17 unchanged at 7.1 percent: India’s GDP growth rate for 2016-17 remained unchanged at 7.1 per cent, as per the first revised estimates released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released for the previous financial year on Wednesday. The CSO, however, revised upwards the Gross Value Added (GVA) growth rate to 7.1 per cent from 6.6 per cent estimated earlier.

SPORTS:

1. Anu Kumar wins first gold in Khelo India School Games: Anu Kumar (Uttarakhand) grabbed the first gold medal of the Khelo India School Games in 1500 meters (4 minutes and 4 seconds) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.In the girl category, C Chanthini (Kerala) won the gold medal in 1500-metres run.Abhishek Singh (Uttar Pradesh) won the Shot Put with an excellent throw of 18.73 metres while Praveen of Tamil Nadu won the triple jump in his sixth attempt with 15.22 metres.Haryana girl Pooja excelled in the Shot Put and won the gold with a best of 13.88 metres.