Daily GK Updates - 29th June, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Pipeline across Maha Prosperity Corridor : Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has proposed setting up a natural gas pipeline along the Maharashtra Prosperity Corridor.The corridor will be an eight-lane 701-km hi-speed super communication expressway between Nagpur and Mumbai.The Rs 46,000 crore project is being planned to boost agro-industries and port-led developments in the state.

2. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw elected to MIT board : India’s biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been elected as a full-term member of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).Shaw is also ranked among the world’s most influential people in bio-pharma by Forbes magazine.Shaw was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2006.

3. MP to be awarded for reducing MMR : Madhya Pradesh will be awarded for reducing maternal mortality under Prime Minister’s Safe Motherhood Campaign.An unprecedented 48-digit decline in maternal deaths in Madhya Pradesh has been registered.The maternal mortality rate was 221 in the year 2011-13, which has now dropped down further to just 173.

4. World’s 1st medicine made from marijuana : Epidolex is the world’s first medicine made from marijuana.The drug does not cause intoxication or a high and is approved by US FDA.

It is created by GW Pharmaceuticals. It is an oral solution of cannabidiol (OSC) will be used to cure severe forms of epilepsies in children.The New England Journal of Medicine had first provided the evidence that marijuana can cure epilepsy.

5. National Centre at AIIMS : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone for the National Centre for AIIMS in New Delhi.The Multi-Speciality healthcare will have 200 general ward beds.Mr Modi also inaugurated the 555 bed Super Speciality Block in Safdarjung Hospital.Mr Modi inaugurated the Connection Motorable Tunnel between AIIMS, Ansari Nagar and Trauma Centre.

6. 1st government blockchain centre in Hyderabad : The Centre has decided to set up a Centre of Excellence for blockchain technology in Hyderabad to drive innovation.The Centre of Excellence proposed to come up at C-DAC’s Hyderabad unit.The plan is to use blockchain technology to digitise and secure land records for Telangana.ICICI Bank was the first to execute transactions using Blockchain technology.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki on July 16 : U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold their 1st summit on July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.The 2 leaders will discuss relations between US and Russia and a range of national security issues.It meeting would also entail high-level talks on US sanctions on Russia and Russia’s rejoining the Group of Seven industrialised countries to make it the G8 again.

2. Mount Agung volcano erupts in Bali : Bali closed its international airport Friday after Mount Agung volcano began spewing volcanic ash and vapor higher than two kilometers (6,500 feet) into the air.Over 300 flights have been canceled, according to airport authorities, impacting the travel plans of thousands of people.Indonesia is the world’s most active volcanic region and lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fir.

3. N Korea:’worst human trafficking country’ : According to the annual ‘2018 Trafficking in Persons Report’, North Korea has been ranked as worst human trafficking country in the world, along with China, Russia and Iran.The report said that the North Korean govt continued to use forced labour in prison camps.South Korea has been ranked at the highest category for the 16th consecutive year, along with US, UK, France and Canada

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. ICICI Bank gets new part-time chairman : ICICI Bank has appointed former bureaucrat Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as its non-executive part-time chairman.

Chaturvedi is a 1977-batch IAS officer, who retired as the Oil Secretary in January 2013.The term of M K Sharma, the current chairman of ICICI Bank, ends on June 30.

2. Indian money in Swiss banks rises 50% : Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50% to Swiss Francs (CHF) 1.01 billion (₹7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year downward trend.The surge comes as a surprise given India’s continuing clampdown on suspected black money stashed abroad.The Indian money in Swiss banks had fallen by 45% in 2016, marking their biggest ever yearly plunge.