Daily GK Updates - 31st March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Five varieties of Indian coffee have been awarded the GI tag : Five varieties of Indian coffee have been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, a move that will enhance their visibility globally and allow growers to get the right value. The 5 Varieties are: Coorg Arabica coffee from Kodagu district of Karnataka  Wayanaad Robusta coffee from Wayanad district in east Kerala Chikmagalur Arabica coffee from Chikmagalur district, Karnataka,   Araku Valley Arabica coffee from Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region  Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from the central portion of Chikmagalur district

2. Ministry for Health added new ruled to the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules : The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare have added new ruled to the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019 with an aim to promote clinical research in the country. The new rules reduce the time for approving applications to 30 days for drugs manufactured in India and 90 days for those developed outside the country. The new rules state that in case of no communication from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the application will be deemed to have been approved. The new rules will ensure patient safety, as they would be enlisted for trials with informed consent and the ethics committee will monitor the trials and decide on the amount of compensation in cases of adverse events.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Red Cross to aid Venezuela in two weeks : The Red Cross announced that it is to aid Venezuela in two weeks. It also said it would not allow any political “interference” in the operation. Francesco Rocca, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent said that the organisation would begin distributing aid that President Nicolás Maduro has to date refused to allow into the country, leaving it stockpiled since mid-February on the borders with Colombia and Brazil. Venezuela Crisis: A crisis concerning who is the legitimate President of Venezuela has been underway since 10 January 2019, when the opposition-majority National Assembly declared that incumbent Nicolás Maduro's 2018 reelection was invalid and the body declared its president, Juan Guaidó, to be acting president of the nation.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Facebook banned White Nationalism, White Separatism on its Platforms : Facebook has banned praise, support and representation of white nationalism and white separatism on its platforms. This move had a qualified approval from the recent Christchurch mosque shooting. Facebook will also direct users who post or search content connected to these ideologies to an organization that helps people leave hate groups. Social Media platforms were under pressure and criticisms that they have failed to confront extremism.  White Supremacy is defined as a belief system with tenets like "whites should have dominance over people of other backgrounds, especially where they may co-exist; whites should live by themselves in a whites-only society, white people have their own 'culture' that is superior to other cultures; white people are genetically superior to other people.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.Centre to infuse Rs.5,042 crore into BoB : The Finance Ministry has decided to infuse Rs.5,042 crore into state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) ahead of the merger of two other public sector lenders Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with BoB. The merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda would be effective from April 1

DEFENCE:

1. Indian Army inducted 4 indigenous Dhanush Howitzer guns : Indian Army inducted 4 indigenous Dhanush Howitzer guns. The induction of Dhanush Howitzer guns gives major fire-power boost to the Indian Armed Forces. Dhanush Howitzers Long Range Artillery Guns are the first ever indigenous 155 mm x 45 calibre long-range artillery guns. Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns are equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system. The self-propulsion unit on Dhanush allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease. Dhanush is also electronically upgraded to enhance firing accuracies, laying speeds of the existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammunition as well. 

SPORTS:

1. Justice D.K.Jain to be the Ethics Officer of the Indian cricket board : Supreme Court-appointed BCCI Ombudsman Justice D.K.Jain (retd) has been appointed to serve as the Ethics Officer of the Indian cricket board on an ad-hoc basis. According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), provisions in its constitution require an Ethics Officer to be appointed to determine and decide issues related to conflict of interest.