Daily GK Updates - 27th July, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. SC Scheme to include child victims : The Supreme Court said that a government scheme for rape survivors should include child victims of sexual assault.SC suggested that the Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of SexualAssault/Other Crimes-2018, proposed by the National Legal Services Authority should include child victims.

2. Projects for 6,320 km roads awarded : Projects for constructing 6,320 km of road have been awarded under the first phase of the Bharatmala project.Under the first phase, a total of 34,800 km of road, including 10,000 km of residualNHDP (National Highway Development Project) have been approved for development.The first phase of Bharatmala is to be implemented during the period from 2017-18 to 2021-22.

3. Railways to launch ‘Mission Satyanishtha’ : All the 13 lakh employees of the Indian Railways will take turns to swear an oath publicly to “bring about integrity” and “eradicate corruption”.Termed “Mission Satyanishtha”, the program will involve railwaymen attending formal training course on probity and integrity in public life.

Railway Board members and all senior officers of the ministry will swear the oath of ethics and integrity.

4. Kerala to host Global Hackathon series : AngelHack, the world’s largest hackathon organisers, will conduct the Global Hackathon series in the Kerala Startup Mission on July 28 and 29.The challenge for this round of the hackathon is to address problems that prevent female entrepreneurship, with its focus on health, safety, economic empowerment and culture.The hackathon is being organised to solve social or environmental problems.

5. Govt approves new scheme to empower women : The government has approved a new scheme to empower rural women through community participation.The cost for implementing the scheme, Mahila Shakti Kendra, from 2017-18 up to 2019-20 would be shared in the 60:40 ratio between the Centre and states.The scheme is envisaged to work at the national level and state level to governments on issues related to women.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World’s oldest person dies at 117 : The world’s oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died.Miyako, born on May 2, 1901, became the world’s oldest person in April after Nabi Tajima from the Kikai island in southern Japan died at age 117.Guinness said the successor to her world record is yet to be confirmed.

2. Kochi airport gets UN environmental award : The United Nations has honoured the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) with ‘Champion of Earth’ award for being the firstairport in the world to be completely powered by solar energy.CIAL is the first airport in the world to receive the highest environmental award issued by the United Nations.UN established ‘Champion of Earth’ award in 2005 to recognise outstanding environmental leaders.

3. India, B’desh Coast Guards conduct exercise : The Indian Coast Guard conducted a bilateral table-top exercise on maritime pollution response with Bangladesh Coast Guard.The two-day exercise is being conducted in the backdrop of the MoU signed between India and South Asian Cooperation for Environment Protection (SACEP).

The SACEP was approved by Union Cabinet in May 2018.

4. Bharat & Sonam named Ramon Magsaysay winners : Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk are among the winners of Ramon Magsaysay Award 2018.Bharat Vatwani is a psychiatrist who works for mentally-ill people living on the streets.Sonam Wangchuk, known for his reforms in the education sector in Ladakh.The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often referred to as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

5. 6th India-UK SIC Meeting held in Delhi : The 6th India-UK Science & Innovation Council (SIC) meeting was held in New Delhi on 26th July 2018.In the meeting a range of issues on S&T cooperation between the two countries were discussed.Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology, India and Mr. Sam Gyimah, Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, UK led the Indian and UK delegations respectively.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. DoT clears Vodafone, Idea merger : The Department of Telecommunications gave its final approval to the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.The combination, to be known as Vodafone Idea, will create India’s largest mobile-phone company.

The next process is to notify the Registrar of Companies and get the company registered.

BANKING/FINANCE :

1. SoftBank partners with Paytm : SoftBank Group Corp will launch a digital payments service in Japan, and has partnered Paytm for the service.The service PayPay will be launched by SoftBank’s joint venture PayPay Corporation (with Yahoo Japan) in 2018.Paytm offers seamless mobile payments to over 300 million customers and 8 million merchants in India.

SPORTS:

1. India secures top position in archery : The Indian women’s compound archery team has been ranked as the No. 1 team in the latest world rankings.The team, which comprises of V. Jyothi Surekha, Trisha Deb, P. Lily Chanu, Muskan Kirar, Divya Dhayal, and Madhumita, reached the top spot with 342.6 points.World Archery Association also announced the rank in compound mixed team and India bagged fifth rank in world rankings.