Daily GK Updates - 29th March, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. NITI Aayog launches baseline ranking: The NITI Aayog launched the baseline ranking for 115 aspirational districts based on 49 indicators across five sectors that include health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basic infrastructure.  This would be followed by delta ranking of these districts from May 2018 based on their incremental progress. 

2. MoU between India and SACEP approved: The Cabinet has approved the MoU between India and South Asian Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) for cooperation on Oil and Chemical Pollution in the South Asian Seas Region. It will promote cooperation between India and other maritime nation for protection of the marine environment. Indian coast guard will be the competent authority for implementation of “Oil spill contingency plan”.

3. N-AIM formation recommended for AI work in India: A central task force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) has suggested creating a National Artificial Intelligence Mission (N-AIM) will serve as a nodal agency for coordinating AI related activities in the country. The task force was set up by the Union Commerce Ministry in August 2017. The task force members include those from government and the private sector.

4. EPFO launches portal for pensioners: EPFO has launched the pensioner’s portal through which all EPFO pensioners may get the details of pension-related information. The pensioner’s portal is a service where details like pension payment order number, payment order details, passbook information and other related information are available. It provides help to pensioners to know the status of their life certificate.

5. MP govt launches ‘Kadaknath’ app: The Madhya Pradesh government has come up with a mobile application to market rare chicken breed — the “Kadaknath”. The “MP Kadaknath” mobile app aims to connect poultries that sale the breed with people from other parts of the country. Kadaknath breed is known for its taste and nutritional value, especially high percentage of protein.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Win Myint is the new President of Myanmar: Myanmar's Parliament elected Win Myint as the country's new President. This comes after Myanmar's first democratically elected President Htin Kyaw resigned from the position due to health issues. Myint is considered a close aide of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and has been a speaker in the lower house since 2012.

2. India-China ELM resumes data sharing on Brahmaputra and Sutlej: China pledged to continue data sharing of Brahmaputra and Sutlej waters. The decision was taken during the 11th meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) on Trans-border Rivers. The two-day meeting began on March 26 in Hangzhou. The data on water flows in both rivers is shared during the monsoons, to predict flooding, mainly in the northeast.

3. New Jersey declares April as Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month: The US state of New Jersey has declared April as ‘Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’ as part of its effort to promote awareness of the faith. The resolution was adopted unanimously by both the New Jersey House of Representative and the Senate.

4. Malala to visit Pakistan first time after the attack on her: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan for the first time since being shot by Taliban militants. She was shot in the head by a gunman for campaigning for female education in 2012.  She is expected to hold meetings with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Local media reported details of the trip have been kept secret in view of the sensitivity. The trip is expected to last four days and she arrived with officials from her Malala Foundation group.

OTHER UPDATES

SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY:

1. Hot, metallic Earth-sized planet, K2-22b, discovered: Scientists have discovered a hot, metallic, Earth-sized planet-“K2-229b”- orbiting a dwarf star located 260 million light-years away. The planet is almost 20% larger than Earth but has a mass which is over two-and-a-half times greater. Further research on the same is going on.

BUSINESS / ECONOMY:

1. Shekhar Kapur to head National Film Awards jury: Veteran director Shekhar Kapur has been appointed the chairman of the central panel of the 65th National Film Awards.

The central panel comprises a chairperson and 10 other members, including five regional chairpersons who head the respective regional panels. The 11-member committee reportedly includes lyricist Mehboob, actress Gautami Tadimalla and director Rahul Rawail.

BANKING / FINANCE:

1. RBI imposes a ₹58.9 cr fine on ICICI Bank: RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 58.9 crore on ICICI Bank for failure to adhere to held-to-maturity (HTM) guidelines. This is the highest penalty imposed by RBI on a bank for a single incident. Under RBI guidelines banks have to split their holding of government securities into `held-to-maturity’ (HTM) and available for `available-for-sale’ category.