Daily GK Updates - 13th June, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Govt. to raise pension limit under APY : Government is considering a proposal to raise the pension limit under Atal Pension Yojana to up to ₹10,000 per month from the existing slab of up to ₹5,000.Pension is given by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.Currently, the age of entering APY is from 18-40 years but an increase in the same by another 10 years from 18-50 years will help in expanding the subscriber base.

2. Odisha announced health care assistance : Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announced that the state government would launch a new scheme which will provide health care assistance of Rs 5 lakh per family in government hospitals to around 3.5 crore people.CM announced that the “Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana” will be launched on August 15.It will provide health care benefits to around 3.5 crore people from over 70 lakh families in the state.

3. Haryana raised age limit for in govt service : The Haryana government has raised the upper age limit of entry into government service from 40 to 42 years.The spokesperson said a circular to this effect was addressed to all administrative secretaries, heads of departments, chief administrators and managing directors of all boards, among others.Manohar Lal Khatta is CM of Haryana.

4. 10 new Swachh Places under Swachh Bharat : Ten new iconic sites have been taken up under Phase III of the flagship project Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) of the Swachh Bharat Mission.Places are: RaghavendraSwamy Temple, Hazardwari Palace, Brahma Sarovar Temple, VidurKuti, Mana village, Pangong Lake, Nagvasuki Temple, ImaKeithal/market, Sabarimala Temple and Kanvashram.The project is under Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Kovind to embark on 3-nation visit : President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on a three-nation tour to Greece, Suriname and Cuba.On the first leg of the visit, the President will leave for Athens. President Kovind will leave for Suriname on the 2nd leg.A number of agreements and MoUs in the areas of health and medicine, elections, IT, Ayurveda are scheduled to be signed.

2. Trump & Kim Sign Agreement On Denuclearization : US has decided to provide security guarantees to North Korea, in exchange of Pyongyang’s firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.This is according to the joint document which was signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.Both nations commit to establishing new relations in accordance with the desire of the people.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Railways to cut 11,000 redundant posts in FY19 : The Railway Board has set a target of shedding 11,040 redundant posts in different railway zones in 2018-2019.

The posts have been identified to be included in the “pool of surrendered posts”, which have either been vacant for long or rendered redundant due to technological advancement.Last year, the number of such surrendered posts was around 10,000.

2. CPI inflation quickens to 4-month high : Retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high in May as quickening food and fuel costs lifted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based reading to 4.87%.The acceleration in price gains in May, a second straight month when the headline reading has risen, followed April’s 4.58% pace.The food and beverages segment saw inflation accelerating to 3.37% in May, from 3% in April.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Low recoveries of NPAs : RBI data While public sector banks have claimed a ₹1,50,960 crore reduction in their non-performing asset levels over 2017-18, only 27% was actual recoveries, according to data provided by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.Public sector banks saw a ₹1,50,960 crore reduction in their NPA levels from the start of financial year 2017-18 till December 31, 2017.NPA refers to loans or advances that are in default

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

1. Two frog species discovered : In a significant discovery, two species of frogs have been recorded in the Indian peninsular — Fejervarya kalinaga from the Eastern Ghats and Fejervarya krishnan from the Western Ghats.The Eastern Ghats species of Fejervarya kalinga attains significance since it is endemic to moist high altitude forest of the region.These new species are habitat specialists.

SPORTS:

1. India bagged 3 Medals At Boxing Tournament : Indian boxers bagged one Gold and two Silver medals at the Umakhanov Memorial Tournament in the Russian city of Kaspiysk.Saweety Boora won the coveted yellow metal in the Women’s 75 kg category after beating Anna Anfinogenova (Russia) in the Final.In the Men’s section, Brijesh Yadav in the 81 kg division and Virender Kumar in 91 kgs lost their Final bouts to settle for Silver medals.

2. Murali became 2nd fastest Indian in 10,000 m : Young long-distance runner Gavit Murali Kumar bagged a gold in men’s 10,000 m race at the Gouden Spike meeting in Leiden, Netherlands.He became the second fastest Indian in this event.The 21-year-old Kumar, a bright talent from Gujarat, clocked a personal best of 28 minutes 43.34 seconds, the best by an Indian in the ongoing season.