Daily GK Updates - 6th October, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Justice Surya Kant sworn in as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh HC : Justice Surya Kant sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.He was administered the oath of office by Governor Acharya Devvrat in a ceremony held at Raj Bhawan.

2.  S Railway becomes unmanned level crossing free zone : The Southern Railway has become Unmanned Level Crossing (UMLC) Free Zone, eliminating over 1,000 such level crossings.Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai Divisions became UMLC free during the first quarter of the current year.The elimination of all 1054 UMLCs was done by offering alternate modes of crossing the track by the provision of subways, diversion to adjacent manned level crossings, subways, the road under bridges and outright closure due to low road traffic.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pankaj Sharma appointed India’s Ambassador to UN conference on disarmament : Pankaj Sharma has been appointed as the ambassador and India’s permanent representative to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (UNCD) in Geneva, Switzerland.Mr Sharma will replace Amandeep Gill.Currently, He is the joint secretary (Disarmament and International Security Division) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

2. Denis Mukwege & Nadia Murad win 2018 Nobel Peace Prize : Nadia Murad (Human rights activist- Yazidi-Kurdish) and Denis Mukwege (Physician) have won 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.Murad was captured by ISIS militants in 2014 and has spoken out about the abuse she suffered at their hands.In November 2017 Murad published her story in The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State.Mukwege has spent his life working with victims of sexual violence in The Democratic Republic of the Congo.

3.  India moves up to 28th rank in govt e-payment adoption : India's overall ranking on the government's adoption of e-payments has moved up to 28th in 2018 (36^th in 2011).The country holds the top ranking on B2G and G2B transactions and comes third on C2G transactions jointly with Argentina.Norway leads the pack in the 73-country ranking, followed by France and Denmark.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Govt appoints Rakesh Sharma as IDBI chief : The union government has appointed Rakesh Sharma as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of IDBI Bank for a period of six month.Mr. Sharma is the former MD and CEO of Canara Bank (till July 2018) and was among the few bankers hired in 2015 from the private sector to lead big state-run banks.He will have the task of ensuring a smooth transfer of majority ownership from the government to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

DEFENCE:

1. India & Russia seal USD 5 Billion S-400 missile air defence deal : India and Russia seal defense deal of USD 5 billion for S-400 air defence system deal during the annual bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Hyderabad House.The two countries are also expected to seal the number of pacts in key sectors such as space and energy.India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-India border.

SPORTS:

1. Sultan of Johor Cup Junior Men's Hockey tournament begins in Malaysia :The Sultan of Johor Cup Junior Men's Hockey tournament 2018 (eighth edition) begins in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.This is the tournament in which a total of six teams will compete for the title.United States (competed previously) is not taking part this year, replaced by New Zealand.

2. Youth Olympic Games 2018 begins in Argentina : The 3rd Youth Olympic Games has officially begun at Buenos Aires, Argentina. (6 to 18 October 2018) India is represented with a contingent of 68 members will compete in 13 sports during the prestigious event.Indian sport shooter Manu Bhaker (16-years) is leading the Indian team in the opening ceremony as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the games.With over 200 countries taking part, the event marks the start of young athletes’ career before they go on to bigger and better things.The event will see thousands of athletes (aged 15-18) compete in various categories.