Daily GK Updates - 14th August, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Rajnath inaugurates NDMC Smart City projects : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated various initiatives as part of smart city project of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on 13th August, 2018.The facilities inaugurated includes smart poles with free wi-fi, 360 degree cameras and environmental sensors, solar tree with the LED lights, mobile charging points, ideation centre for promoting smart city entrepreneurs.

2. IRDA constitutes working group : Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) constituted a working group to the norms for insurance surveyors.The 7-member working group has been formed to address areas pertaining to licensing, renewal and others in the context of the existing regulatory framework for Surveyors and Loss Assessors.The working group will submit its report within 2 months.

3. Govt dismisses Usha Ananthasubramanian : The government has dismissed Usha Ananthasubramanian, former managing director of scam-hit Punjab National Bank and Allahabad Bank, from service.Usha, who completed her one year as the CEO & MD of Allahabad Bank on May 6 2018.She also served as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Punjab National Bank from August 2015 to May 2017.

4. Uttarakhand HC appoints itself as guardian : The Uttarakhand high court said it would act as the legal guardian of cows in the state.The court did this by invoking the ‘parens patriae’ doctrine and is a doctrine that grants the court inherent power and authority to act as guardian for those who are unable to take care for themselves.

The court banned slaughter of cows, bulls, bullocks, heifers or calves in the state.

5. Hry to launch Ayushman Bharat in 22 districts : Haryana will launch its pilot health project Ayushman Bharat Haryana from August 15, 2018 in 22 district hospitals, one ESI and one medical college.Under this scheme medical facility upto Rs 5 lakh will be provided for free to 15.50 lakh families.Initially this facility will be provided in government hospitals, which would later be started in empanelled private hospitals.

6. Jodhpur, Marwar cleanliest railway stations : Rajasthan’s Jodhpur and Marwar railway stations have emerged the cleanliest among the major stations in the country.While Jodhpur secured the first position in A1 category stations for 2018, Marwar took the pole position in A category, according to the study report released Nby Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.the North Western Railway (NWR) topped the list as the cleanest zone.

7. First project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme : The first project under the central government’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme, ‘North East Circuit: Imphal and Khongjom’, will be inaugurated by Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on 14th August, 2018.

The project covers 2 sites – Kangla Fort and Khongjom.‘Swadesh Darshan’ is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Tourism for the development of thematic circuits in the country.

8.First project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme : The first project under the central government’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme, ‘North East Circuit: Imphal and Khongjom’, will be inaugurated by Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla on 14th August, 2018.

The project covers 2 sites – Kangla Fort and Khongjom.‘Swadesh Darshan’ is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Tourism for the development of thematic circuits in the country.

9. Pune tops Ease of Living Index 2018 : Pune has topped the Ease of Living Index 2018, followed by Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai.This was announced at the launch of the Index as well as Swachh Survekshan 2019 in New Delhi on 13th August 2018.The Ease of Living Index will help cities assess their liveability in relation to global and national benchmarks.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Vienna is world’s most liveable city : Vienna has replaced Melbourne for the first time at the top of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index.

Damascus retained the last place, followed by the Dhaka, and Lagos in Nigeria.

The survey does not include several of the world’s most dangerous capitals, such as Baghdad and Kabul.

2. India rejects U.K. proposal on DNA tests :India rejected a proposal by the U.K. to use DNA sampling to establish the nationality of illegal migrants living there citing “privacy issues”.As per the proposal, security agencies in India were to verify the antecedents of illegal migrants without documents in the U.K. within 72 days and those with documents within 15 days.India refused to sign the final pact in April 2018.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Inflation slows to 9-month low at 4.17% : Retail inflation eased to a nine-month low of 4.17% in July 2018 as food inflation cooled to its lowest level since July 2017.

Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed from the 4.92% pace set in June 2018.Among all the Indian states and Union Territories, West Bengal recorded the highest annual inflation rate of 7.37%.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Terms of two PSU banks’ chairmen extended : he government gave two-years extension to non-executive chairman of two public sector banks.Canara Bank Chairman T N Manoharan and Bank of India Chairman G Padmanabhan were given two-years extension each.They were appointed chairmen in August 2014 for a term of three years.

DEFENCE:

1. JCOs are gazetted officers, says Defence Min : Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) in the Indian military are gazetted officers, the Defence Ministry has clarified in an order issued on August 1, 2018.The Ministry has instructed the three services to issue suitable identity cards to the JCOs immediately in the order.JCOs and equivalent officer having been accorded gazetted officer status by an Act of Parliament.

SPORTS:

1. Smitha tops list of India’s wealthiest women : Smitha V. Crishna was ranked first in the ‘Kotak Wealth Hurun-Leading Wealthy Women 2018 list’.Roshni Nadar, the CEO and executive director at HCL, ranks second in the list.The chairperson of the Times Group, Indu Jain, ranks third in the list.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and MD of Biocon, ranks fourth in the list.