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Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Daily GK Updates - 26th June, 2019


NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Beekeeping Development Committee Report: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister set up a Beekeeping Development Committee under the Chairmanship of Bibek Debroy to identify ways of advancing beekeeping in India. Some of the recommendations in the report include: Recognizing honeybees as inputs to agriculture and considering landless beekeepers as farmers. Institutionalizing the National Bee Board and rename it as the Honey and Pollinators Board of India. Plantation of bee friendly flora at appropriate places and engaging women self help groups in managing such plantations. Training and development of beekeepers by state governments. Development of national and regional infrastructure for storage, processing and marketing of honey and other bee products.

2. 31.4% of Indian children will be stunted by 2022: Food and Nutrition Security Report: Recently released Food and Nutrition Security Report stated that 31.4% of Indian children will be stunted by 2022. Which means one in every three Indian children under five years will be stunted by 2022. In States like Bihar (48%) and Uttar Pradesh (46%), almost one in two children are stunted, while it is only one in five children in Kerala and Goa (20% each). The report is prepared by the UN World Food Programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

3. Kerala tops health rankings: NITI Aayog report: Kerala has topped in NITI Aayog's Health Index followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Also, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand showed the maximum improvement of health outcomes from base to reference year. The health index has been developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the World Bank, in consultation with the ministry of health and family welfare. The report ranks the states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other.

4. Communication gadgets to fishing vessels: The Indian Space Research Organisation has distributed 250 NavIC Messaging Receivers to fishermen of Kerala on a trial basis. The device will provide Emergency Warning Alerts like cyclone, high waves and Tsunami and also provides information on Potential Fishing Zone and International boundary crossing based on the position information from NavIC.
Note: ISRO Director: K Sivan, Headquarters: Bengaluru, Established in: 1969.

5. 17th Run against Drug Abuse: Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment flagged off “17th Run Against Drug Abuse” on the occasion of “International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” in New Delhi. ‘Listen First’ was chosen as the theme to increase the support for prevention of drug use.
Note: Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment: Thaawarchand Gehlot.

6. Amitabh Kant gets two year extension as NITI Aayog CEO: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension of Amitabh Kant’s tenure as the CEO of NITI Ayog beyond June 30, 2019 to June 30, 2021.

7. New heads for the country’s premier spy agencies IB & RAW: Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has named new heads for the country’s premier spy agencies — the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). Arvind Kumar will head the Intelligence Bureau, the main internal intelligence unit of the government. He will succeed Rajiv Jain. Samant Goel will take charge of the RAW, which looks after the external intelligence of the country. He will succeed Anil Dhasmana. Prime Minister is the head of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Telangana hosts International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) congress: Telangana hosts 32nd edition of the International Seed Testing Association congress. This is the first edition of ISTA congress to be held in Asia. Scientists, policy makers, researchers and members of public and private seed industry from over 80 countries are participating in the congress. The eight-day congress would have the main event for three days and technical committee meetings/sessions would be held over the next five days.
Note: President of ISTA: Craig McGill, Headquarters: Switzerland.

2. Qu Dongyu becomes first chinese to head FAO: Qu Dongyu becomes the first Chinese national to head the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Qu Dongyu will replace Brazil's Jose Graziano da Silva. He is a biologist by training and has 30 years of experience in developing digital technologies in agriculture and introducing micro credit in rural areas.
Note: Headquarters: Rome, Italy; Founded: 1945.

3. Ann Sarnoff becomes first female CEO of Warner Bros: WarnerMedia has appointed Ann Sarnoff as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Warner Bros. Ann Sarnoff (former BBC executive) has become the first female CEO of Warner Bros. Sarnoff will replace Kevin Tsujihara, who was ousted earlier this year as a result of sexual misconduct allegations.
Note: Warner Bros. is an American entertainment company (founded in 1923) headquartered in Burbank, California and a subsidiary of AT&T's Warner Media. It has operations in film, television and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

4. International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking: 26 June: The United Nations’ (UN) International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is being observed every year on 26th June to raise awareness about the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society. This year the theme is Health for Justice, Justice for Health, which highlights that justice and health are two sides of the same coin when it comes to addressing drug problems. It is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities. Union Minister Dr Thawarchand Gehlot flagged off the 17th Run Against Drug Abuse”, on the occasion of ‘International Day Against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking’, in New Delhi.
Note: The UN General assembly chose the day in December 1987 to strengthen global action and cooperation to achieve the goal of a society free of drug abuse.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. India's junior women's team adjudged best in Black Forest Cup: In Boxing, India's junior women pugilists clinched seven medals (gold medal – 5), while the team was adjudged the best of the tournament in the Black Forest Cup in Villingen, Schwenningen, Germany. Haryana's Neha (54kg) and Karnataka's Anju Devi (50kg) claimed the honours of best boxer and promising player of the tournament. Ten countries including India, Ukraine, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Mongolia, Greece, and Poland took part in this tournament.

2. Girish Koushik becomes India's 63rd Grandmaster: Karnataka's Girish A. Koushik (22-years) has become India’s 63rd Grandmaster at the 37th Balaton International Chess Festival in Hungary. He is the only Indian chess player to have won gold medals at the Asian U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16 age-group categories. Girish had completed his second GM norm in Mallorca late in May, and the third in Budapest the following week. World popular Chess player Mr. Viswanathan Anand was the first Grandmaster in India.
Note: Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. FIDE awards separate Grandmaster titles to composers and solvers of chess problems, International Grandmaster for chess compositions to the former and International Solving Grandmaster to the latter. The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) awards the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (ICCGM).

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. SBI plans to tap Singapore SME businesses: The State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to expand its market in Singapore by enhancing its relationship across small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The SBI has served the Singapore retail and corporate sectors as a qualified full bank since 2008. It has six branches and offering ATM services under the ATM5 network across the island state and two remittance centres. The SBI plans to offer its YONO app, an omnichannel service at the fingertip, to manage a wide range of financial services here.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. The Tribune's reporter wins the 'Journalist of the Year' RedInk Award: The RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism are conferred to encourage good quality reporting and analysis, fair play and high ethical standards in Indian journalism. The following are the winners of awards in different categories: Rachna Khaira of The Tribune has bagged the prestigious RedInk Award for 'Journalist of the Year'. She won it for exposing the functioning of the UIDAI and its Aadhaar data cache. Two retired senior journalists Dinu Ranadive from the Maharashtra Times, and Sebastian D'Souza, from the Mumbai Mirror, have jointly received the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year.

2. ‘Kalu’ in Rajasthan is India's best police station: As per Ranking of Police stations for 2018 by the Home ministry, Rajasthan’s ‘Kalu Police Station’ (in Bikaner district) has been ranked the best Police Station in the country (in 15,666 - PS ) on its performance in crime prevention, investigation and disposal of cases, crime detection, community policing and maintenance of law and order. The No-2 rank goes to ‘Campbell Bay police station’ in Nicobar district of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The No-3 rank goes to ‘Farakka police station’ in Murshidabad, West Bengal, which has facilities like air-conditioners, besides a gymnasium and playground that provide a comfortable environment for public-police interaction.
Note: The 2018 survey covered a set of police stations shortlisted from across the country. The stations were evaluated on the basis of crimes against women and SCs/STs, and property-related offences. Around 20% weightage was also given to the police station’s infrastructure and citizen feedback on the performance of the police personnel posted at the police station. The score was calculated depending on the number of FIRs charges sheeted within 60 days.

DEFENCE

1. K Natarajan to be the new director general of Indian Coast Guard: Krishnaswamy Natarajan has been appointed as the Director General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard (ICG). He will take over from Rajendra Singh, who retires on 30th June 2019. Currently, Mr. Natarajan is the Additional Director General of the ICG's Western Sea-Board, which looks after the security of the sensitive maritime boundary from Gujarat to Kerala. K. Natarajan joined the Coast Guard on January 18, 1984, and holds a Masters Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University.

OBITUARIES

1. Goa freedom fighter Mohan Ranade passes away: Veteran freedom fighter Mohan Ranade (90-years) passed away after a prolonged illness. Mohan Ranade entered Goa under disguise as a teacher in 1950 and founded an organisation called Azad Gomantak Dal to raise an armed revolt against the Portuguese rule. He was honoured with the Goa's highest civilian award as well as Padmashri by the Union government. Mohan Ranade had penned two books - 'Struggle Unfinished' in English and 'Satiche Vaan' in Marathi - based on his experience during the Goa liberation movement.

2. Spiritual Leader Swami Satyamitranand Giri Maharaj passes away: Renowned spiritual guru Swami Satyamitranand Giri Maharaj (87-years) passed away after a prolonged illness. The famous seer was the founder and head of Bharat Mata Mandir, a famous temple in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. He was born as Ambika Prasad in Agra.

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