Daily GK Updates - 12th August, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.ISRO to celebrate Sarabhai centenary : The Indian Space Research Organisation will have a year-long Vikram Sarabhai centenary celebration starting in August 2019 to honour visionary scientist and its legendary founding father.Sarabhai, the architect of the Indian space programme, the first ISRO chief and renowned cosmic ray scientist, was born on August 12, 1919.

2. Gita Mittal is first Woman CJ of J&K : Justice Gita Mittal became the first-ever woman Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.She was administered the oath of office by Governor NN Vohra.The ceremony took place at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar.

3. AIIMS starts wellness clinic to tackle stress : All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has started a wellness clinic for its medical students and doctors.Medical college in India experiences the highest level of stress than students in any other country.The wellness clinic is being run under the supervision of the AIIMS psychiatric department.

4. Tahilramani sworn-in CJ of Madras HC : Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani was sworn-in as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court by Governor Banwarilal Purohit at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Sunday.The new Chief Justice, along with Justice M. Duraiswamy would hear from August 13.She was born in 1958 and started practice in the Bombay High Court as well as City Civil and Sessions courts in Mumbai in 1982.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.efence Minister meet South Korea counterpar : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with South Korean counterpart Young-Moo Song.The two ministers discussed “issues of mutual interest” and ways to strengthen cooperation in defence and security.The meeting comes ahead of a planned high-level meeting between the rival Koreas on Monday.

2. Pak Navy’s maritime ship to visit Colombo : Pakistan Navy’s maritime security ship ‘Kashmir’ to visit Sri Lanka’s Colombo port on Monday for a four days visit.During the stay the officers and men of the ship will take part in various professional activities with Sri Lankan Navy.

3. Meeting of Senior Officials of BIMSTEC held : A special meeting of Senior Officials of the Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was held in Kathmandu on 11th Aug.Senior officers from all member states and Secretary General of BIMSTEC attended the meeting.The group was formed in 1997.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. FPIs infused Rs 8,500-cr in capital markets : Foreign investors have pumped in over Rs 8,500 crore into the Indian capital markets in the last eight trading sessions.The latest fund infusion comes following a net inflow of over Rs 2,300 crore in the capital markets equity and debt last month.Prior to this overseas investors had pulled out over Rs 61,000 crore during April-June

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. SBI to sell NPA worth Rs 2490 crore : SBI will sell two non-performing assets worth Rs. 2490 crore.These two accounts include Bombay Rayon worth Rs 2260.79 crore and Shivam Dhatu worth Rs 229.32 crore.The e-bids will be processed on August 20

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

1. World’s first mission to touch the Sun starts : NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, mankind’s first mission to ‘touch’ the Sun, has been launched today on a seven-year long journey.Liftoff took place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US early today.The Parker Solar Probe will perform the closest-ever observations of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona.

DEFENCE:

1. Army to produce products for soldiers in India : The Army is giving final touches to a long-pending project to manufacture specialized clothing, sleeping kits and key equipment for its soldiers deployed in the Siachen glacier – the world’s most dangerous battlefield.Currently, Army source the clothes and other equipment from US. Australia, Canada, and Switzerland.The army will save nearly 300 crores annually by indigenous production.

SPORTS:

1.Badminton championship: Jayaram ends runnerup : Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram had to be content with a runner-up at the Vietnam Open after losing the final to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in Ho Chi Minh City.It was second consecutive runner-up finish for Jayaram on the circuit as he had also reached the final at the White Nights International Challenge, last month.The 30-year-old Indian had an impressive run at the tournament.

OBITUARIES:

1. VS Naipaul passes away : British novelist and Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Sir. V.S. Naipaul passed away in London.Sir Vidia, who was born in rural Trinidad in 1932, was known for works including ‘A Bend in the River ‘and his masterpiece, ‘A House for Mr Biswas’.He published more than thirty books, both of fiction and nonfiction, over some fifty years.