Daily GK Updates - 3rd March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi inaugurates Ahmedabad Metro service  : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has partially inaugurated the first phase of the 6.5 km-long Ahmedabad Metro train service in Gujarat. PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the 28.28 kilometres second phase of Ahmedabad Metro project and travel some distanceon the phase-I stretch. Total completion cost of Phase-II metro is estimated at Rs. 5,384.17 crores. Ahmedabad Metro is an under the construction mass-transit rail system for the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India.

2.  PM Modi inaugurates ordnance factory in Amethi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a factory to manufacture AK 203 rifles in Korwa area of Amethi. These Rifles will help the security forces to tackle terrorists and Naxals. The rifles will progressively replace the Army’s in-service INSAS and AK-47 rifles. Around 7.5 lakh units of the latest version of AK-47 will be manufactured in the new unit.

3. Maharashtra govt to appoint Lokpal in universities to resolve student grievances :  Maharashtra Government has appointed ‘Lokpal’ in all universities except agricultural universities to resolve student grievances. The appointment of the students' ombudsman would be made in the next two to three months. Maharashtra would be the first state in the country to have such a Lokpal for universities. The Lokpal will be a person related to the university and someone not below the rank of the retired district judge or a retired vice-chancellor.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Wildlife Day being observed : The World Wildlife Day has been observed across the world on 3rd March raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora.The theme of World Wildlife Day 2019 is “Life Below Water: For people and planet”.The day is celebrated and implemented by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.AN Jha replaces Shaktikanta Das as 15th Finance Commission Member : Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha (1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre) has joined as a member of the 15th Finance Commission. Jha has been posted in place of Shaktikanta Das, resigned after being appointed the RBI Governor. Mr. Jha was retired as a Finance Secretary to the central government.

SPORTS:

1. CISF creates Guinness world record in a single-line bicycle parade :  The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has created a Guinness world record in a single line bicycle parade to mark the 50 years of the paramilitary force. Personnel of the central force rode a total of one thousand 327 bicycles non-stop with a uniform distance between bicycles in a single line at the Yamuna Expressway in Noida.The bicycle parade covered 3.2 km distance non-stop. Earlier, this record was held by Hubballi bicycle club of India which had one thousand 235 bicycles in a single chain.The CISF was raised in 1969 and has about one lakh 80 thousand personnel in its ranks.

2. Wrestler Bajrang Punia wins gold in Bulgaria : India's star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65-kilograms freestyle in Bulgaria. Punia overpowered Jordan Oliver of USA 12-3 in the final. This was Punia's 10th medal in as many international tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris.Earlier, Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in women's 59 kg while Sarita Mor won a silver in the same weight category. In the men's freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar claimed silver in 61kg.

OBITUARIES:

1.Russian physicist and Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov passed away :  Russian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Zhores Alferov (88-years) passed away. In 2000, Alferov received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with US scientists Jack Kilby and Herbert Kroemer, for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed-and optoelectronics. He was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1972, and a full member in 1979.