Daily GK Updates - 26th February, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal launches 'Rail Drishti Dashboard' : Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has launched a dashboard for passengers to keep track of train punctuality as well as other such information from anywhere in the country. The 'eDrishti' dashboard has been developed by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and can be accessed at ‘www.raildrishti.cris.org.in’. Now, people can now track any information related to Indian Railways in a swipe-even while on the move. The dashboard has been linked to the base kitchens of the Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to allow monitoring of the goings-on in IRCTC kitchens through live video.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends Gita Aradhana Mahotsav at ISKCON in Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Gita Aradhana Mahotsav  at ISKCON, East of Kailash in New Delhi. At the event, Mr. Modi turns a page of the Bhagwad Gita which has been prepared by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) devotees. It is measuring over 2.8 meters and over 800 kilograms the Bhagwad Gita is one of this kind in the world. It will have the original verses of Bhagwad Gita along with commentary.

3. Skill Development Minister inaugurates Skill Saathi Youth Conclave in Odisha :The Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated a “Skill Saathi Youth Conclave” to create awareness about various programmes under Skill India Mission in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. The Skill Saathi model was created to impart information on vocational education and available market opportunities to the youth.Currently, Ten Counselling Implementing Organisations (CIO) are empanelled under the 'Skill Saathi' initiative in Odisha, who mobilise candidates and provide career counselling to them. All blocks and urban local bodies in Odisha have been divided among these empanelled CIOs.

4.Madhya Pradesh Government launched ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana’ : Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath has launched the state Government’s flagship scheme ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana’ to urban youths (21-30 years) from economically weaker sections.Under the scheme, Rs 4,000 stipend per month will be given for 100 days of employment every year.They will also be given skill development training in order to become independent. Only those youths, whose family’s annual income is less than Rs 2 lakh are eligible for the scheme.

5. Brij Bhushan Sharan elected as WFI President : Brijbhushan Sharan Singh has been elected unopposed as President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). This marked the third time that Singh had assumed the post of WFI’s president. He was the chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent for the Asian Games 2018 held in Jakarta and Palembang. Mr. Sharan is also a Member of Parliament from the Kaiserganj constituency of Uttar Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Health Minister inaugurates 4th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit :  Union Minister of Health Minister J P Nadda along with Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad jointly inaugurated the 4th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit in New Delhi. According to Mr. Nadda, nearly 13 lakh poor people have availed the benefits of ‘Ayushman Bharat scheme’. The scheme is completely digital where all the processes from beneficiary identification to hospital empanelment and settlement of claims are done electronically. The objective of the summit is to provide an opportunity to support governments and health system reformers to improve the health and well-being of their citizens through digital technologies.

2.  Iran Foreign Minister Zarif announces the resignation :  Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (59-years) announced his resignation. His reputation in Iran's political establishment took a hit when the US withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018. Zarif was blamed by ultra-conservatives for negotiating a bad deal that had not gained anything meaningful for Iran. President Hassan Rouhani has not accepted the resignation so far.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1.  GST Council cuts tax on under construction residential houses to 5% : The GST Council slashed tax rates on under-construction housing properties to 5% (existing 12%). The Council also cut GST rates on affordable housing to 1% (current 8%). The council altered the definition of affordable housing, any house built on an area of 60 square metres or less in the metro cities of India will be categorised as affordable housing. The new tax rates will come into effect from 1st April 2019.

2. Indra Nooyi joins Amazon’s Board of Directors :  India-born former PepsiCo’s CEO Indra Nooyi has joined the online retail giant Amazon’s board of directors.She is the second woman of colour to be added on Amazon’s boardof Directors.Ms. Nooyi stepped down as CEO of Pepsico in October 2018. She was Pepsico CEO from October 2006 to October 2018, where she also served as the Chairman of its board of directors from May 2007 to February 2019.

SPORTS :

1.Saurabh Chaudhary clinches gold in 10m air rifle at Shooting World Cup : Saurabh Chaudhary has won the gold medal in the 10m air pistolevent at the ongoing ISSF World Cup at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. Saurabh shot a total of 245 (World Record) to claim the top spot. He has also booked a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

2. Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta lifts Cannes International Open trophy :  Indian Grandmaster ‘Abhijeet Gupta’ lifted the Cannes International Open Chess trophy. Abhijeet won the tournament with 7.5 points. Then two more wins and three draws happened on the way to his first solo International tournament victory.