Daily GK Updates - 12th June, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘VAYU’ Over East-Central Arabian: The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘VAYU’ over East-central Arabian Sea moved nearly northwards with a speed of about 13 kmph in last six hours and lay centred over East-central Arabian Sea, about 470 km west-northwest of Goa, 280 km south-southwest of Mumbai (Maharashtra) and 340 km nearly south of Veraval (Gujarat). It is very likely to move nearly northwards and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Veraval & Diu region as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed 145-155 kmph gusting to 170 kmph around morning of 13th June 2019.

2. Arjun Munda Launches ‘E-Governance Initiatives for ST Welfare Schemes’: Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs launched the “e-governance initiatives for ST Welfare schemes” at a function organized by Ministry of Tribal Affairs. A power point presentation on these new e-governance initiatives was made on the occasion. Munda applauded the teamwork efforts of the Ministry of Tribal affairs for these-governance initiatives for Scheduled Tribes Welfare schemes and stated that as per the “SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas and SabkaVishwas”, these e-governance initiatives will serve their purpose of the betterment of tribal communities across the nation. 

3. Nripendra Misra re-appointed as Principal Secretary to PM Modi: Nripendra Misra has been re-appointed as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PK Mishra has also been re-appointed as Additional Principal Secretary to Mr Modi. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved both the appointments with effect from 31st May. According to DoPT order, during the term of their office, they will be assigned the rank of Cabinet Minister.

4. Thawarchand Gehlot appointed leader of Rajya Sabha: BJP leader Thawarchand Gehlot (Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment) has been appointed as the leader of Rajya Sabha. He will replace senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley who opted out of the government citing health reasons. Mr Gehlot is a Rajya Sabha member representing Madhya Pradesh.

Note: The Leader of the House is a Rajya Sabha member who is either a cabinet minister or nominated minister. The Leader has a seat next to the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, in the front row.

5. Uttar Pradesh govt hikes old-age pension: Uttar Pradesh Government has hiked old-age pension in the age group 60 to 79 years by rupees 100 monthly. Now, the old-age pensioners would receive 500 rupees per month (existing 400 rupees).This was approved in a Cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Lucknow. The 100-rupees hike would be enforced from January 2019 and the government will have to bear an additional burden of 106.84 crore rupees from January 2019 to March 2019. The newly hiked pension will benefit around 44.21 lakh people in the state.The state government has amended its rule for the appointment of assistant teachers in government schools according to which B.Ed. will be recognised along with BTC.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Japan To Invest Rs 13,000 cr In Northeast: The Government of Japan has decided to invest an amount of 205.784 billion Yen,equivalent to approximately Rs.13,000 crore, in several ongoing as well as new projects in different states of India's North- Eastern region. This was disclosed after a meeting which the DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh had with the Japanese delegation led by Ambassador Mr Kenji Hiramatsu.

2. World Day Against Child Labour: 12 June: The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them. The theme for World Day Against Child Labour 2019 is Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams! 

3. 16th Asia Media Summit begins in Siem Reap, Cambodia: Prime Minister of Cambodia, Samdech Hun Sen has inaugurated the 16th Asia Media Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The theme of the 3-day summit is Media Digitisation with a focus on developing markets. 600 delegates from 42 countries are participating in the summit which is hosted by the Ministry of Information, Cambodia in partnership with Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD). One of the highlights of the summit is a round table among CEOs of broadcasting networks which will discuss digitisation and its impact on media credibility.

Note: In 2018, the summit was held in New Delhi with the theme 'Telling Our Stories - Asia and More'. Summit will offer an opportunity to take stock of technological advances, the level of digitisation and impact on the broadcast industry.

4. Sri Lankan Airlines named world's most punctual: Sri Lankan Airlines, the flag carrier of Sri Lanka has been named the 'World's Most Punctual Airline' for the second consecutive year. It has been named for the second consecutive time with over 90% of its flights in May being "on time". In May, it achieved a punctuality rating of 90.75%. Global flight tracker, ‘Flightstats’ analysed data of 41 carriers from Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, including most of the world's largest and most prestigious airlines before drawing its conclusions.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI constitutes six-member panel to review ATM interchange fee structure: The Reserve Bank of India constituted a six-member committee to review the ATM interchange fee structure with a "view to increase the ATM deployment in the unbanked areas". The committee will be led by V G Kannan, Chief Executive, Indian Banks Association.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. India's TCS Now Has Higher Market Value than IBM at $120.5 bn: India's largest software services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has surpassed US technology giant IBM in terms of market capitalisation. As of recent closing, the market cap of TCS stood at Rs8.37 lakh crore ($120.5 billion) compared to IBM's $119.5 billion. TCS reported revenue of $20.9 billion in the previous fiscal while IBM ended 2018 with $79.6 billion in revenue.

2. Reckitt Names Pepsico’s Laxman Narasimhan as CEO: British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser named PepsiCo executive Laxman Narasimhan to succeed Rakesh Kapoor as chief executive officer. Narasimhan, PepsiCo's global chief commercial officer, will join Reckitt as CEO-designate and be appointed to the board on July 16. He will become group CEO on September 1.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Novelist Amitav Ghosh honoured with Jnanpith Award 2018: Noted English writer Novelist Amitav Ghosh (63-year) has received the country’s highest literary honour Jnanpith Award 2018 (54th). Ghosh treads through historical settings to the modern era and weaves a space where the past connects with the present in relevant ways. Ghosh is the recipient of the Padma Shri (2007) and Sahitya Akademi Award.

Note: The Jnanpith Award is an Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their 'outstanding contribution towards literature'. The award was given to the authors for their most outstanding work and consisted of a citation plaque, a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh and a bronze replica of ‘Saraswati’.