Daily GK Updates - 16th September, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Insurance gets new CMD : Tajinder Mukherjee has been appointed as the new chairmen-cum-managing directors of National Insurance Company Limited (NIC).Earlier, she was the General Manager and Chief Underwriting Officer of New India Assurance.She took charge from 14^th Septembe

2. World chefs' Congress on Oct 12-14 in Amritsar : The World Cultural Culinary Heritage Committee will hold the first edition of the World Heritage Cuisine Summit and food festival at the Qila Gobindgarh in Amritsar (12-14^th October 2018).The summit will celebrate traditional cuisine with live demonstrations, food tasting, presentations, panel discussions, master classes by chefs from around the world in the holy city.

3.  HM Rajnath Singh inaugurates pilot project of smart fencing along Indo-Pak Border in Jammu : The Union Home Minister ‘Rajnath Singh’ has inaugurated the ‘pilot project’ of smart fencing’ along the Indo-Pak International Border in Jammu.The Union Home Minister also visited Command Control Centres’ and Border Out Posts’ along the Indo-Pak International Border in Jammu sector.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 16th September: International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer : The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is being observed every year on 16th September for the preservation of the Ozone Layer.The Ozone layer is a fragile shield of gas which protects the Earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiation of the sun and thus helping preserve life on the planet.This year, the theme for the Day is ‘Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol’.

2.  Jaipur literature festival begins in Houston : The Jaipur Literature Festival (the world’s largest free literary gathering) has begun in Houston at the Asia Society of Texas. The festival started with a soulful music performance by Indian Sufi singer ‘Zila Khan’.The inaugural session also saw Congress leader and writer Shashi Tharoor discuss his book “Why i am a Hindu” with writer Namita Gokhale

3. Super Typhoon Mangkhut hits China's Guangdong province : Super Typhoon ‘Mangkhut’ slammed into China's southern Guangdong province.The typhoon made a landfall into the coast of Jiangmen city in Guangdong province, packing winds up to 162 km per hour after leaving a trail of destruction in Hong Kong.

OTHER UPDATES:

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

1. ISRO successfully launches PSLV C 42 with two British earth observation satellites : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C 42 with two British earth observation satellites ‘NovaSAR’ and ‘S1-4’ from the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.The satellites were put into sun-synchronous orbit just over 17 minutes after lift-off from the first launch pad.With the successful launch of two British satellites on Sunday, the total number of foreign satellites launched by India goes up to 239.

SPORTS:

1.  MC Mary Kom clinches the gold medal at Silesian Open boxing in Poland

Indian five-time world boxing champion M C Mary Kom clinched her third gold medal of the year in 48 kg category.Mary Kom was up against Kazakhstan's Aigerim Kassanayeva and prevailed 5-0 with a fine tactical performance.Jyoti Gulia picked up the country's lone gold in 51 kg of the youth category of the Silesian Open boxing Tournament for women in Gliwice, Poland.

2. Maldives defeats India to lift SAFF Cup : Maldives have lifted the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup 2018 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.The Maldives defeated India (defending champions) 2-1.The win for the Maldives comes 10 years after their first SAFF Cup title in 2008.

OBITUARIES:

1.Noted Malayalam actor Captain Raju passes away : Noted Malayalam actor ‘Captain Raju’(68-year) passed away at his residence near Palarivattom, Kochi.Some of his popular movies include Nadodikattu, Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha and Pavam Krooran.He had also acted in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada movies.