Daily GK Updates - 2nd April, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Air Marshal NS Dhillon appointed as new Strategic Forces Command chief : Fighter pilot Air Marshal NS Dhillon has been appointed as the new Strategic Forces Command Chief. The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) is tasked to look after the strategic nuclear arsenal of the country and is a part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) headed by PM Narendra Modi. Dhillon graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakwasla in Pune and later attended Defence Services Staff College in Wellington Cantonment and National Defence College in New Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.World Autism Awareness day being observed :  The ‘World Autism Awareness Day’ has been observed across the world on 2nd April every year to raise awareness about people with autism throughout the world. The 2019 theme for the day is "Assistive Technologies, Active Participation". In 2008, The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared 2nd April as World Autism Awareness Day.

2. China successfully launches second generation data relay satellite : China has successfully launched the first of its new-generation data relay satellites into orbit to provide data relay, measurement and control services for its manned spacecraft.The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. The Tianlian II network will be markedly more advanced in mission planning, system management and operations than the first-generation network composed of Tianlian I satellites.

3. India, Chile agree to work together to defeat terrorism :  India and Chile signed three memoranda of understanding (MoU)s for cooperation in the fields of mining, culture and Empowerment of persons with disabilities. The agreements would further enhance engagement in economic, social and cultural fields between the two countries. President Ram Nath Kovind who was on an official visit to Chile said this after a brief Tete-a-Tete with his Chilean counterpart. Chile is the sixth largest trading partner of India in the Latin American region.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Reserve Bank to inject USD 5 billion more liquidity into the banking system :  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will inject long-term liquidity worth5 billion US Dollars into the banking system through a dollar-rupee buy-sell swap for a tenure of three years on April 23. The RBI statement stated that the move intends to meet the durable liquidity needs of the system. It stated that the auction is meant to give RBI greater flexibility in managing banking system cash while helping absorb any potential large dollar inflows, which could make the rupee rise sharply. The auction would be a multiple-price based auction -- successful bids will get accepted at their respective quoted premium.

SPORTS:

1.Manu Sawhney takes charge as ICC Chief Executive :  Media professional Manu Sawhney took charge as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He will work alongside Dave Richardson, who will step down after the World Cup in July 2019. Sawhney was with ESPN Star Sports for 17 years and was responsible for scaling the business and doubling annual revenues.

2. Sam Curran youngest player to claim a hat-trick in IPL history :  KXIP's Sam Curran (20 years and 302 days) has become the youngest player to take a hat-trick in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Delhi Capitals. In 2009, Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) had taken a hat-trick at the age of 22 years and 6 days. England all-rounder Curran removed Harshal Patel (0), Kagiso Rabada (0) and Sandeep Lamichhane (0) to take the 1st hat-trick of the 2019 Indian Premier League in Mohali.