Daily GK Updates - 14th November, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. AIM & UNICEF announced Young Champions Awards: The NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and UNICEF have announced ‘UNICEF – Atal Tinkering Labs Young Champions Awards’ on 14 November 2018. The awards were presented to the top six most innovative solutions from across the country, which was shortlisted through the Atal Tinkering Marathon. AIM and UNICEF have also launched a 72-hour ‘Tinkering Hackathon’ from 14 to 17 November 2018.

2. India voted against UNGA draft resolution: India has voted against a United Nations General Assembly draft resolution on the use of death penalty. India said that it goes against the statutory law of the country where an execution is carried out in the ‘rarest of rare’ cases. The draft resolution, taken up in the 3rd Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) of the General Assembly, was approved on 13 November 2018.

3. India International Trade Fair inaugurated: Culture Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma inaugurated the 38th India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on 14 November 2018. The theme of the fair for 2018 is ‘Rural Enterprises in India’. For the year 2018, Afghanistan is the Partner Country, while Nepal is the Focus Country. Jharkhand is participating as a Partner State in the event.

4. Dr. Martha received lifetime achievement award: Late Dr Martha Farrell has been honoured with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the 6th Indian Social Work Congress in New Delhi on 13 November 2018. Dr Martha is being recognised for her lifelong work towards gender equality, women’s empowerment and prevention of sexual harassment at workplace. In 1991, she co-founded the NGO named Creative Learning for Change.

5. S K Seth sworned in as Chief Justice of MP HC: Justice S K Seth took oath as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 14 November 2018. Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to Justice Seth. Justice Seth is the senior-most judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He will be the 24th Chief Justice of the MP High Court.

6. Northeast Youth Festival to begin from 15 Nov: Tripura will host the 6th ‘Northeast Youth Festival’ from 15 November 2018.Various sports events and cultural programmes such as folk music, folk dance, rock music, martial arts, adventure sports, handicrafts shows, yoga, and boat race will be held at the three-day festival. The 5th edition of the festival was hosted by Sikkim in 2017.

7. UASG conferred award upon Vasundhrara Raje: Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG) conferred ‘Universal Acceptance Thought Leader Award’ to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 13 November 2018. She was awarded for ‘Rajmail project’ that enables access to the email address to people in the state in local script. The technology for the project was developed by Rajasthan based firm ‘Data XGen Technologies’.

8. Children’s Day celebrated on 14 November: Children’s Day is celebrated on 14 November every year. It is celebrated on the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The day is celebrated across the country to increase awareness of the rights, care and education of children.

9. Rs 75 commemorative coin to be released: The government of India will release a Rs 75 commemorative coin on the occasion of 75th anniversary of the hoisting of Tricolour for the first time by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Port Blair. The coin will bear the portrait of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose saluting the flag on the background of cellular jail. The coin will be composed of 50% silver, 40% copper, and 5% each of nickel & zinc.

10. Additional charges given to ministers on account of Ananth Kumar’s demise: Union Ministers, DV Sadananda Gowda and Narendra Singh Tomar were assigned additional portfolios of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, respectively on 13 November 2018. The move was necessitated following the demise of Ananth Kumar. He was holding the charge of both the ministries of Parliamentary Affairs and Chemicals and Fertilisers.

11. LEAP & ARPIT initiative launched by MHRD: Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched two new initiatives viz. Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT). ARPIT is an initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty. LEAP is a 3 weeks flagship leadership development training programme for 2nd level academic functionaries.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Diabetes Day observed on 14 November: World Diabetes Day is observed on 14 November every year. The theme of World Diabetes Day 2018 is ‘The Family and Diabetes’. The aim of World Diabetes Day theme is to raise awareness about the impact of diabetes on the family. Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, and lower limb amputation.

2. Neomi Rao to replace Kavanaugh on DC Circuit: U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American Neomi Rao to replace Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is considered next to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ms. Rao is currently the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

3. 7th RCEP Ministerial Meeting concluded: The two-day 7th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Inter-Sessional Ministerial Meeting concluded in Singapore on 13 November 2018. Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu led the Indian delegation to the meeting. The Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore Mr Chan Chun Sing was the Chair of the meeting.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. WPI inflation in October jumps to 5.28%: Wholesale inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 5.28% in October 2018. Wholesale inflation in primary articles, which include food articles, cereals, paddy, onions, food, and milk, among others, rose by 1.79% in October 2018. WPI is computed by the Office of the Economic Advisor, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

2. Second Startup India Investment Seminar organized: ‘2nd Startup India Investment Seminar’ was organised in Beijing on 12 November 2018. It was organised by the Embassy of India in China in partnership with Startup India Association (SIA) and Venture Gurukool. The event was planned to expose Chinese investors to the promising Indian startups. The 1st Startup Indian Investment event was organised in November 2017.

3. Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal quits: Flipkart co-founder, Binny Bansal resigned as the company’s Group CEO on 13 November 2018 following an independent investigation into allegations of serious personal misconduct. Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue to be the CEO of Flipkart. Ananth Narayanan will continue as CEO of Flipkart’s fashion arms Myntra and Jabong.

4. ‘Global Digital Content Market’ hosted by DIPP: A conference on ‘Global Digital Content Market’ (GDCM) 2018 is being hosted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 14 and 15 November 2018 in New Delhi. The focus of GDCM 2018 is on the Asia Pacific region.  The aim of GDCM 2018 is to give industry stakeholders a platform to come together and discuss new avenues in the films, music, gaming and creative industry.

BANKING & FINANCE:

5. Prime Minister Modi launched APIX technology: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the APIX (Application Programming Interface Exchange) in Singapore on 14 November 2018. APIX is a banking technology platform designed to reach nearly two billion people worldwide who are still without bank accounts. APIX will support banks to reach out to those without bank accounts in 23 countries including the 10 ASEAN members countries.