Daily GK Updates - 11th November, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Education Day observed: ​The Birth Anniversaries of Abul Kalam Azad (National Education Day) and J. B. Kripalani were observed today. Abul Kalam Azad was an Indian scholar and the senior Muslim leader of the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement. Following India’s independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. J. B. Kripalani was an Indian politician, noted particularly for holding the presidency of the Indian National Congress during the transfer of power in 1947 and the husband of Sucheta Kriplani.

2. INSPIRE 2018: Power Minister R K Singh inaugurated the International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (INSPIRE 2018). This is the second edition of INSPIRE and is being organised by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and World Bank.

3. Rosogolla Day to be observed: West Bengal will observe ‘Rosogolla Day’ on November 14.The aim is to commemorate the first anniversary of Geographical Indication GI tag as ‘Bengal’s Rosogolla’.

4. ‘Bhubaneswar Me WiFi’: Odisha Govt. has launched ‘Bhubaneswar Me WiFi’ project to make Bhubaneswar with fully Wifi enabled city before Hockey World Cup. It was implemented by the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Jeff Sessions, US Attorney General, steps down: ​Jeff Sessions has stepped down from the post of US Attorney General. He is an American politician and lawyer, earlier served as the 84th and current Attorney General of the United States since 2017. A Republican, Sessions served as United States Senator from Alabama from 1997 to 2017, resigning the position in order to serve in the Trump administration.

2. Maldives’ President-elect: ​ PM Modi will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Maldives’ New President. It is noteworthy that India and Maldives want to improve their bilateral ties and the move of Mr. Modi to attend the swearing-in ceremony is considered to be a strategic one. The capital of Maldives is Male.

3. Cyril Ramaphosa as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations 2019: ​India is planning to invite South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations 2019. This came after US President Donald Trump rejected the invitation citing scheduling conflicts.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:
1. Global Macro Outlook 2019-20: ​According to Moody’s Investors Service report, Indian Economy to grow at 7.4% in 2018 but will slow down to 7.3% in the next fiscal. Moody’s Investors Service or Moody’s, is the bond credit rating business of Moody’s Corporation, representing the company’s traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody’s Investors Service provides international financial research on bonds issued by commercial and government entities.

2. Ombudsman For Digital Payments: ​Reserve Bank of India is planning to establish an ombudsman for digital payments by March 2019. This is thought keeping in mind the increase in the number of digital payments and the government’s focus on furthering the same.

SPORTS:
1. Bajrang Punia at Number 1 in World in 65kg Wrestling: ​Wrestler Bajrang Punia has achieved number one rank in the 65kg category with 96 points. He is Gold Medallist at both Asian Games 2018 and Gold Coast 2018.

2. Munaf Patel retires from all forms of cricket: ​Cricketer Munaf Patel has announced his retirement from all form of Cricket. He was a part of India’s 2011 World Cup winning squad.

3. 1st Indian woman to score a hundred in T20I: ​Harmanpreet Kaur has become the  1st Indian woman to score a hundred in T20I cricket against New Zealand in the Women’s World T20 2018. She scored 103 runs off 51 balls.