Daily GK Updates - 14th March, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Finance Bill passed in Lok Sabha: With the passage of the Finance Bill and the Appropriation Bill, the budget exercise is complete in the lower house. A Finance Bill is presented in Parliament along with the Annual Financial Statement in lieu of fulfilling the requirement of Article 110 (1)(a) of the Constitution. The Finance Bill also contains other provisions related to the Budget can be classified as a Money Bill. It is noteworthy that a Money Bill can originate in Lok Sabha only.

2. Belagavi hoists India’s tallest flag: India’s tallest national flag was unfurled in Belagavi (also known as Belgaum) in Karnataka. The flag in Belgaum is much larger than the one at the India-Pakistan border at Attari in Punjab. The flag is reported to be 110 m high from the base plate to the top, with a size of 120×80 ft.

3. World Hindi Secretariat building opened in Mauritius: President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the World Hindi Secretariat building in Mauritius on his visit to the country.

He also launched the World Hindi Secretariat’s logo, an Early Digital Learning Programme and laid foundation stones of a social housing project and a large ENT hospital being built with Indian assistance.

4. Delhi Energy Dialogue 2018 starts: Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, will inaugurate the Delhi Energy Dialogue 2018, on March 14, organised by Ashden India Collective (AIC) in alliance with Climate Parliament. “Delhi Energy Dialogue” is an initiative to promote sustainable solutions for better lives. Established in 2010, AIC helps to increase access to energy for India’s rural poor.

5. India’s largest wind turbine generator S128 commissioned: Renewable solution provider Suzlon Group announced the installation and commissioning of its new product “S128” claiming it to be the largest wind turbine generator in India. The first prototype of S128 has been commissioned at the Sanganeri site in Tamil Nadu. This has the country’s largest single rotor blade measuring 63 metres and reduced levelised cost of energy.

6. Foreign law firms or foreign lawyers can’t practise in India: The Supreme Court ruled that foreign law firms or foreign lawyers cannot practise law in the country either on the litigation or non-litigation side. This means overseas lawyers or firms cannot open offices in the country, appear in courts or before any authority or render other legal services. But overseas lawyers can fly in, fly out for a temporary period to give advice.

7. IOC, Tata Motors flag off country’s first hydrogen-fuel bus: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Tata Motors have launched the trial demonstration of the country’s first hydrogen fuel cell bus. The project is being executed with financial support from the Department of Science and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy. The vehicle will be fuelled at the hydrogen dispensing facility at IndianOil.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Pi Day celebrated: Google has dedicated a doodle to mark 30 years of “Pi Day”, a day first recognised by physicist Larry Shaw in 1988 to honour the mathematical constant. Pi is used in every field of science as it’s used for calculations involving the volume and surface area of spheres. The first Pi Day was held at a San Francisco Science Museum in 1988.

2. Bidhya Devi Bhandari gets second term as Nepal President: Nepal’s incumbent President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has been elected for a second term, extending the tenure of the Himalayan country’s first female head of state for another five years. With this President Bhandari is the first President of federal Nepal. She is also the first Nepali woman to be elected as the country’s president twice.

3. Saudi Arabia approves Nuclear Power Program National Policy: Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved the national policy of its atomic energy programme as the kingdom prepares to award contracts for its first nuclear power plants. The policy insists on limiting nuclear activities to peaceful purposes and for enhanced safety measures and safe disposal of nuclear waste.

OTHER UPDATES

SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY:

1. Newton-Bhabha Fund for arsenic research: An India-UK Joint Team has won the Newton-Bhabha Fund for a project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga River Basin. The Department of Science and Technology has undertaken the project with the Natural Environment Research Council, UK, to find solutions to the water challenges faced in the arsenic-affected Ganga River. The project will begin from Bijnor and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

BUSINESS / ECONOMY:

1. BHEL secures order from NPCIL: Bharat Heavy Electricals has secured a significant order worth Rs.736 Crore for supply of Steam Generators from Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The Steam Generators will be used for a 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor to be installed at Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna in Fatehabad district of Haryana. The Steam Generators will be manufactured at the Tiruchirappalli.

BANKING / FINANCE:

1. RBI discontinues LOUs/LOCs issuance: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has scrapped the issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) and Letters of Comfort (LOCs) for trade credit for imports with immediate effect. Banks will continue to issue guarantees and letter of credit for trade purposes which are the international norm. A letter of credit is secure because it has the details of the expiry date and the material purchase.

OBITUARIES:

1. Black Hole scientist ‘Stephen Hawking’ passes away: Stephen Hawking, the British Physicist and the black hole theorist have died on 14th March. Hawking’s redefined cosmology by proposing that black holes emit radiation and later evaporate. He is also the author of the best-selling book, “A Brief History of Time”.