Daily GK Updates - 4th June, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Ambulance service for infants  : The Gujarat government has decided to launch a dedicated ambulance service to shift critically ill infants to better equipped hospitals.

Under the ‘Neonatal ambulance service project for inter-hospital transfer’, the government would deploy 10 specially-equipped ambulances across the state.This facility will be linked to the ‘108’ service.

2. Humsafar Jodhpur Bandra Express flagged off : Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off Humsafar Jodhpur Bandra Express at Bhagat Ki Kothi Railway Station in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.Adequate arrangements have been made in the trains, including mobile charging points, CCTV and Bio Toilets.Railway projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore has been undertaken in Rajasthan.Humsafar Express are completely 3-tier AC sleeper trains.

3. IAF chief BS Dhanoa to visit Brazil : IAF chief B S Dhanoa will begin a four-day visit to Brazil to explore possibilities of deeper defence cooperation between the two countries.The visit would also strengthen relationships and enable engagement in productive exchanges between the two air forces.The air chief marshal is embarking on the goodwill visit at the invitation of his Brazilian counterpart.

4. Taj Declaration to Beat Plastic Pollution : A ‘Taj Declaration to Beat Plastic Pollution’ was adopted. Efforts would be made to make the 500-metre area around the 17th-century monument litter-free.Steps would also be taken to phase out single-use plastic there.Minister of State for Environment Mahesh Sharma said India and the whole world was grappling with pollution due to plastics.

5. Flower named after Modi : An orchid at National Orchid Garden in Singapore was named ‘Dendrobium Narendra Modi’.Now three flowers are named after PM Narendra Modi.Last year, a fast-growing Israeli Chrysanthemum was named ‘MODI’ during the PM Modi’s visit to the nation.An orchid grown in Sikkim was named ‘Cymbidium Namo’ in 2016 by the state CM Pawan Chamling.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Bicycle Day was observed on 3 June : On June 3, 2018, the first official World Bicycle Day was celebrated.It was approved on 12 April 2018 as an official United Nations day of awareness about the multiple societal benefits of using the bicycle for transport and leisure.It encourages ​the Member States to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and subnational development policies and programmes.

2.PM Modi’s three Nations visit concluded : PM Modi returned to Delhi after concluding his 3-nation visit to Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore.India & Indonesia signed 15 MoUs in the fields of defence, scientific & technological cooperation, railways and health, among others. In Malaysia Modi met his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad and had “productive discussions” on bolstering the bilateral strategic ties. Modi launched three Indian digital payment systems – RuPay, BHIM app and UPI by SBI at the ‘Business, Innovation and Community Event’ in Singapore. PM Modi held wide-ranging talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and delivered a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue.He is the first Indian Prime Minister to address the Shangri-La Dialogue.

3. Asia’s first 13 ‘Blue Flag’ beaches : Environment-friendly, clean & equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists, 13 Indian beaches will soon get the Blue Flag certification.Beaches of Odisha, Maharashtra & other coastal states will be the 1^st in not just India, but in Asia, to get the Blue Flag certification.The Indian beaches are being developed by the Society for Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM).

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. BBB to hold interviews for MDs and EDs : Newly constituted Banks Board Bureau, headed by former DoPT Secretary B P Sharma, will shortlist candidates for about 30 top-level vacancies in the public sector banks.The BBB has its genesis in the recommendations of The Committee to Review Governance of Boards of Banks in India, May 2014.The Bureau started functioning from April 01, 2016 as an autonomous recommendatory body.

2. Financial Literacy Week to begin on June 4:The Reserve Bank of India has chosen ‘customer protection’ as the theme for the Financial Literacy Week beginning on June 4.The event ending on June 8 will focus on creating awareness among customers of banks about financial products and services, good financial practices and going digital.Bankers, Financial Literacy Counsellors and other stakeholders will participate to create awareness.

DEFENCE:

1. India test-fires nuclear capable Agni-5 : India has successfully test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-5 from Dr. Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.Unlike other missiles of the series, Agni-5 is the most advanced with new technologies in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.The missile has been developed by DRDO and has a strike range of 5,000 kilometers.