Daily GK Updates - 24th August, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Odisha Cabinet gives approval for LC : The Odisha government approved a proposal for setting up a Legislative Council (LC) in the state.The proposed Legislative Council will have 49 members.As per article 171 clause (1) of the Indian Constitution, the total number of members in the Legislative Council of a state shall not exceed one-third of the total number of the members in the Legislative Assembly of that state.

2. UIDAI makes facial recognition mandatory : UIDAI has made facial recognition mandatory for every authentication that requires Aadhaar.This will come along with the process that identifies an individual based on fingerprints or iris scans.Services like purchasing a new mobile SIM, bank account opening, the public distribution system, which commonly uses Aadhaar authentication will now have to implement this added security feature.

3. NITI Aayog launched 5 Thematic Reports : NITI Aayog released five thematic reports on Sustainable Development in Indian Himalayan Region.The themes include Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security, Sustainable Tourism, Transformative Approach to Shifting Cultivation, Strengthening Skill and Entrepreneurship Landscape in the Himalayas.The reports lists challenges in all 5 thematic areas.

4. Train 18 goes for testing from September : The Indian Railways will start the testing of the indigenously built semi-high speed “Train 18” from September 2018.Train 18 will be the first engine-less train of Indian Railways meant for inter-city travel.It is being manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.Train 18 series will replace existing fleet of the Shatabdi Express trains.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Scott Morrison is Australia’s new PM : Scott Morrison will be Australia’s new Prime Minister.Scott Morrison has served as treasurer since 2015.Scott Morrison will be the sixth politician to serve as the country’s Prime Minister since 2007 after ousting incumbent Malcolm Turnbull.Scott Morrison entered parliament in 2007 and has since held three key ministerial portfolios.

2. NASA will launch laser satellite : NASA will be launching a laser satellite that will measure changes in the heights of Earth’s polar ice to understand what is causing ice sheets to melt fast.The name of the satellite is ‘Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)‘.ICESat-2 will measure the average annual elevation change of land ice covering Greenland and Antarctica.

3. ‘Mountain Echoes Literature Festival’ began : In Bhutan, the ninth edition of Mountain Echoes Literature Festival began in Thimphu.The festival is an initiative of the India-Bhutan Foundation and India’s leading literary agency, Siyahi.The 2018 edition of the Festival will celebrate 50 years of formal diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. India to grow at 7.5% in 2018, 2019 : According to the Moody’s Investors Service’s report, the Indian economy is expected to grow by about 7.5% in 2018 and 2019.The title of the report is ‘Global Macro Outlook‘ for 2018-19.The economy is expected to be largely resilient to external pressures like those from higher oil prices.India’s GDP grew by 7.7% in the first quarter of 2018-19 financial year.

SPORTS:

1. Jhulan Goswami retires from Twenty20 Int : Jhulan Goswami has announced her retirement from Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).In her T20I career she took 56 wickets from 68 matches at an average of 21.94.She made her T20I debut in August 2006 against England.She is the first woman to take 200 wickets in the 50-over format.

2.Dushyant won bronze medal in rowing : Dushyant Chauhan won the bronze medal in the Men’s Lightweight Single Sculls at the Asian Games in Jakarta.Korea and Hong Kong won the gold and silver medals respectively.Dushyant’s previous international medals for India were silver and a bronze in Italian Regatta Championships in 2014.