Daily GK Updates - 8th May, 2019

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Red Cross Day: 8 May: The ‘World Red Cross Day’ is observed on 8th May annually to commemorate the birth anniversary of 'Henry Dunant'. Henry Dunant was the founder of the Red Cross as well as the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This day is dedicated to the people who suffer from food shortage, natural calamities, war as well as disease of the Epidemic. The theme for World Red Cross Day 2019 is “#love” or simply "love". In 1901, Henry Dunant has received the first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy.

2. India's Jagjit Pavadia re-elected to International Narcotics Control Board: India's Jagjit Pavadia has been re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another five-year term. Ms Pavadia has been a member of the INCB since 2015 and her current term is set to expire in 2020. Jagjit Pavadia Pavadia has held several senior positions in the Indian Revenue Service for 35 years in the Government of India, including Narcotics Commissioner of India, Central Bureau of Narcotics.

3. Laurentino Cortizo wins Presidential elections of Panama: Businessman & politician: Laurentino Cortizo (66-year) has won Panama's presidential election with 33.27% of the vote in support. Chairman Rómulo Roux lost a close race, polling just around 31% of the vote. Cortizo was also a member of the National Assembly between 1994 and 2004, serving a year as chamber president. Due to constitutional term limits, Outgoing President Juan Carlos Varela is ineligible for a second consecutive term.

4. Stevo Pendarovski elected new President of North Macedonia: Stevo Pendarovski (56 years) has won the 2019 Macedonian presidential elections with 51.66% vote to become the President-elect of North Macedonia. The president must be a citizen of North Macedonia, be over 40 years of age and have lived in North Macedonia for at least ten of the previous fifteen years.

5. India, Bangladesh to produce a movie on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: India and Bangladesh will jointly produce a movie based on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a documentary on Bangladesh Liberation War. The movie will be directed by acclaimed India’s filmmaker Shyam Benegal. Prasar Bharati has decided to carry Bangladesh TV on DD Free Dish platform without charging carriage fees. As a reciprocal gesture, Bangladesh Delegation announced that a Doordarshan channel will be adopted on the soon to be launched DTH platform of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Delegation assured full cooperation in ensuring smooth logistics for shooting the movie in Bangladesh.

6. India re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council: India and Finland re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council. The Arctic Council promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among Arctic states on common issues, particularly on sustainable development and environmental protection. Observer status is open to non-Arctic states approved by the Council at the Ministerial Meetings that occur once every two years. The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic.

7. Microsoft unveils tool “ElectionGuard” for secure, verifiable voting: Microsoft has launched software named “ElectionGuard” to help countries ensure secure and verifiable voting. The tool “ElectionGuard” will enable end-to-end verification of elections, open results to third-party organisations for secure validation, and allow individual voters to confirm their votes were correctly counted. However, it should be noted that “ElectionGuard” is not designed to support internet voting and is aimed at supplementing and improving the paper ballot systems. "ElectionGuard" provides each voter a tracker with a unique code that can be used to follow an encrypted version of the vote through the entire election process via a web portal provided by election authorities.

8. USAF successfully tests Laser System ‘SHiELD’ to shoot down missiles: The United States Air Force (USAF) has successfully conducted the test of a laser weapons system called the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) at the US Army’s White Sands Missile range in New Mexico. It successfully shot down multiple air-launched missiles while in flight. The SHiELD is an Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Program which is capable of shooting down multiple missiles in flight. It would be mounted on aircraft to demonstrate self-defence of aircraft and protect the fighter jets against surface-to-air (SAM) and air-to-air (AAM) missiles attack.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Chess: TePe Sigeman & Co International tournament begins in Sweden: In chess, the TePe Sigeman & Co International tournament begins in Malmo, Sweden. Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin (14-years) is training his sight to become the youngest Indian to break the 2600 rating barrier from this event. According to the World Chess Federation (FIDE), the tournament will have eight players with an average rating of 2663, making it a Category 17 tournament. India’s No. 2 Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna will open his campaign against Persson while Nihal is set to meet Saric in the opener.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. e-Governance Services India ties up with IIT-Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan: Common Service Centre’s (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited has tied up with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions from Uttar Pradesh. These institutes will adopt gram panchayats and equip them with all citizen-centric services through CSCs. ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ is an initiative of the Ministry of HRD. It aims to find solutions to accelerate sustainable growth in rural India. 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Trump awards highest US civilian honour to Tiger Woods: US President Donald Trump presents the Presidential ‘Medal of Freedom’ to Golfer Tiger Woods (43-years) during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Woods is only the fourth and the youngest golfer ever to have received the highest American civilian award. Tiger Woods is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Mr Woods won the Masters tournament last month, his first major title since the 2008 US Open, capping a remarkable comeback from personal turmoil and physical injuries.

Note: The Medal of Freedom is America’s highest honour for civilian accomplishment. Presidents can award the medal of freedom to any person, living or dead, who have made “an especially meritorious contribution” to the security or national interest of the United States, world peace, or to a significant public or private endeavour.

OBITUARIES

1. West Indies cricketer Seymour Nurse passes away: Former West Indies batsman Seymour Nurse (85-years) passed away following a prolonged illness. He played 29 Tests between 1960 and 1969 and scored 2523 runs at an average of 47.60. The middle-order batsman from Barbados made 9489 runs in 141 First-Class matches at 43.93. He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1967.