Daily GK Updates - 11th April, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Lok Sabha Election 2019: Phase 1 voting kicks off today : The phase 1 of the Lok Sabha Election 2019 begins from today The Lok Sabha Elections 2019 will be conducted across the country in seven phases, the first of which took place today on April 11. The voting time for Phase 1 elections was from 7 AM to 6 PM. A total of 18 states and two union territories voted in the first phase of Lok Sabha election, which begins the process of electing a new government. In the first phase, citizens of 20 states voted for 91 out of the 543 seats.

2. Vikram Nath appointed as first chief justice of new Andhra Pradesh HC :  Senior judge of Allahabad high court, Justice Vikram Nath has been appointed as the first Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court. A collegium of Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and judges S A Bobde and N V Ramana recommended the name of Justice Nath as the chief justice of the AP High Court. The new high court for Andhra Pradesh was created on January 1 this year, following the bifurcation of a combined high court for AP and Telangana, which had been operating from Hyderabad since June 2, 2014, when the two Telugu states got separated.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.India’s education technology startup bags global tech prize :  India’s education technology startup ‘Dost Education’ has bagged a $25,000 tech prize along with two other winners from Tanzania and Egypt. Dost was awarded for its ability to empower parents to take charge of their child’s early education by creating short, friendly audio content that is sent to them via their mobile phones. The software, audio content, and tool kits of Dost Education makes it easy fun and addictive for parents to boost their child’s early development, so low-income families need no longer send their children to primary school behind and without a chance to catch up.

2. Israeli PM Netanyahu wins record fifth term: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won the Israeli national election, securing a record fifth term in office. With 97 percent of the votes counted, neither of the candidates' parties had captured a ruling majority, but Netanyahu was clearly in a strong position to form a coalition government with other right-wing factions that have backed him.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. India’s population grew at a 1.2 % average annual rate between 2010 and 2019: UN report :  According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund, India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion, more than double the annual growth rate of China. India’s population in 2019 stood at 1.36 billion, growing from 942.2 million in 1994 and 541.5 million in 1969.India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency said in the State of World Population 2019 report.

2. RBI imposes Rs 1 lakh penalty on Lucknow-based co-op bank :  The Reserve Bank Wednesday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on UP Postal Primary Co-operative Bank, Lucknow for violation of norms regarding shifting of its branch. The Rs 1 lakh penalty has been imposed on the co-operative bank "for violation of RBI Instructions/Guidelines for shifting of its branch without obtaining prior approval from RBI", the central bank said.

3. Emirates Islamic becomes the world's first Islamic bank to launch banking via WhatsApp  : Emirates Islamic has announced the launch of Chat Banking services for customers via WhatsApp, marking a global first in the Islamic banking sector. The bank’s customers will now able to conduct daily banking activities via WhatsApp in a seamless and hassle-free manner. The Chat Banking solution, supported by Infobip, further enhances Emirates Islamic’s suite of digital banking channels and allows customers to use features such as checking account balances and temporarily blocking or unblocking of an existing card.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. India's steel demand to grow by over 7% in FY19, FY20 :  As per the Indian Steel Association, India's steel demand is likely to grow by over 7 percent in 2019 and 2020, driven by sectors like construction, capital goods and railways. "The Indian Steel Association has forecast India's steel demand to grow by 7.1 percent in the calendar year 2019 and by 7.2 percent in the calendar year 2020. The World Steel Association had recently estimated steel demand in India to touch 103 million tonnes in 2019, against 96 million tonnes logged in 2018 and 110 million tonnes in 2020.

2. Govt. retains interest rate for General Provident Fund at 8% :  The government has retained the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF), Contributory Provident Fund and other related schemes at 8 per cent for the first quarter of current financial year. The interest rate on these funds was at 8 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2018-19 and government kept it unchanged for April to June for 2019-20.

SPORTS:

1. Virat Kohli named Wisden's 'Leading Cricketer' for a third straight year :  India captain Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named the Leading Cricketer in the World and featured in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year, by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.Kohli was also among Jos Buttler and Sam Curran to be listed in Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year, a rare accolade which has been eluding him in his career until now.The India skipper had a fantastic 2018 in which he racked up 2,735 international runs at 68.37 across all formats, more than 700 more than his nearest challenger, England's Joe Root.

2. Smriti Mandhana named Wisden’s leading Women’s Cricketer of The Year : Team India opener Smriti Mandhana has been named as the Wisden Almanack’s ‘Leading Women’s Cricketer of the Year’. The 22-year-old is currently the top-ranked player in women’s ODIs and third in T20Is. In 2018, Mandhana scored 669 runs at an average of 66.90 in 12 ODIs and 622 runs at a strike-rate of 130.67 in 25 T20Is