Daily GK Updates - 20th July, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Culture Minister inaugurates architectural illumination of Safdarjung Tomb: Culture Minister has inaugurated the architectural illumination of the historic Safdarjung Tomb in New Delhi. A total of 213 technologically advanced LED lights have been used to highlight the 17th century monument. The consumption of LED lights is approximately 62 percent less than conventional light fixtures. Archaeological Survey of India has taken up the project to illuminate the important monuments of Delhi to highlight the archaeological magnificence of historical monuments.

Note: Minister of State (Independent Charge): Prahlad Singh Patel.

2. Vivek Kumar appointed as private secretary to PM Modi: Indian Foreign Service officer Vivek Kumar (IFS officer-2004 batch) has been appointed as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Currently, Mr Kumar is working as the Director in the Prime Minister's Office. Mr Kumar's appointment will come into effect from the day of the assumption of charge.

3. Commerce and Industry Minister to launch Global Innovation Index: Commerce and Industry Minister will launch the Global Innovation Index (GII) on 24th July 2019 in New Delhi. The launch of GII will reveal the innovation rankings of economies. Theme for 2019: Evaluating the Medical Innovation Scenario of the Next Decade. The GII has been a charter for assessing the innovation capabilities of national economies worldwide.

Note: Commerce and Industry Minister: Piyush Goyal.

4. Haryana government, NSE sign pact for growth of MSMEs: National Stock Exchange (NSE) has signed a pact with the Haryana government to help boost the growth of MSME sector in the state. As per the memorandum of understanding, NSE will support the Haryana government in enhancing the financing opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state, through listing on NSE's SME exchange platform, NSE Emerge.

5. Kerala will host Women Startup Summit 2019: The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is hosting the Women Startup Summit on August 1. The summit will be hosted in association with the Indian Women Network floated by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), at the Integrated Startup Complex, Kochi. Successful women leaders, startup founders, policymakers and women entrepreneurs will participate in the summit. The theme of this summit is ‘Developing an Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem’. About 20 women startups shortlisted from the “She Loves Tech” national grand challenge will be showcased in the summit.

6. Tamil Nadu carves out two new districts taking total number to 35: The Tamil Nadu government has announced the creation of two new districts in the state, taking the total number of districts to 35. Tenkasi District would be carved out of Tirunelveli. Chengalpet District would be carved by splitting Kanchipuram district.

7. WB govt to sign MoU with British Council to brush up spoken English skills of polytechnic students: The West Bengal government has decided to sign an MoU with the British Council for brushing up the English-Speaking skills of the students studying in Polytechnic Colleges in the state. The move is aimed to improve English speaking capacity for job seekers students. According to Technical Education Department sources, an enquiry to assess job readiness of students was conducted recently and communication in English was found as a major hurdle.

At present, there are 148 Polytechnic Colleges across the state.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Upender Singh Rawat named India's next Ambassador to Panama: IFS officer Upender Singh Rawat has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Panama. He will succeed Ravi Thapar.

Note: Capital of Panam: Panama City; Currency: Panamanian Balboa.

2. Sanjeev Kumar Singla appointed as India's Ambassador to Israel: Senior diplomat Sanjeev Kumar Singla has been appointed as the next Indian Ambassador to Israel.  Earlier he was serving as Private Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister of India. He will replace Pavan Kapoor, who assumed charge as the Ambassador to Israel in 2016.

Note: Israel Capital: Jerusalem; Currency: Israeli new shekel.

3. International Chess Day : 20 July: The International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded. The idea to celebrate this day as the international chess day was proposed by UNESCO, and it has been celebrated as such since 1966, after it was established by FIDE. FIDE, which has 181 chess federations as its members, organizes chess events and competitions around the world on this day. As recently as 2013, the international chess day was celebrated in 178 countries.

Note: International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded in 1924.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Indian Men & Women's teams win Commonwealth Table Tennis title: India has made a record by winning gold in both men’s and women’s category of the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship taking place in Odisha. The Indian men's team won the final match defeating England 3-2. The Indian women's team defeated England 3-0 in final match to won the gold for the first time in the history of the commonwealth games.

Note: Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik; Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

2. North Korea wins Intercontinental Cup title: North Korea wins the 2nd edition of Intercontinental Cup football tournament. North Korea beats Tajikistan in the finals held in Ahmedabad. North Korea, Tajikistan, India and Syria participated in the event.

3. Sports Minister launches AIFF Golden Baby Leagues Handbook: Sports Minister has launched the All India Football Federation’s Golden Baby Leagues handbook 2019-20. The launch marked the renaming of the ‘AIFF Baby Leagues’ to ‘AIFF Golden Baby Leagues’, with emphasis being laid for ages under 6 to under 12 both for girls and boys. The handbook is a guide to help the stakeholder to organize the Golden Baby League.

Note:  Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: Kiren Rijiju.

4. India’s mixed relay silver at Asiad set to be upgraded to gold: India is in line to get the Asian Games gold in 4x400 mixed relay event held in Jakarta 2018, as Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain was handed a 4 year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for failing a dope test.  India’s mixed relay team of Muhammed Anas, Hima Das, Arokia Rajiv and M. R. Poovamma had won the silver in the event at the Asian Games 2018. Kemi Adekoya had also won the 400m hurdles gold at the Asian Games with India’s Anu Raghavan finishing fourth. Hence, Anu Raghavan is in line for the bronze medal.

Note: 19th Asian Games are to be held in Hangzhou, China (2022).

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. NABARD to raise Rs 60,000 crore via non-convertible debentures in 2019-20: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will raise long-term funds of Rs 60,000 crore through nonconvertible debentures in the current financial year 2019-20. The own requirement of funds for NABARD is assessed at Rs 30,000 crore. The remaining Rs 30,000 crore will be for the Centre to cover the shortfall in various schemes in rural development and sanitation in FY20. NABARD has already raised Rs 11,000 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Note: Chairman of NABARD- Harsh Bhanwala.

2. No changes made in ITR forms after 1st April 2019: CBDT: According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official statement, no changes have been made in any of the Income-tax Return (ITR) forms since the notification made on 1st April 2019. There were reports in social media that the taxpayers were facing difficulties in filing return of income in ITR-2 and ITR-3 due to large scale changes in the ITR form. The software utility is a dynamic process and is continuously taken up as per the feedback received from the filers to ease their experience in electronic filing of returns. 

DEFENCE

1. India, China to carry out major military exercise ‘Hand in Hand’: India and China will carry out a major military exercise called ‘Hand-in-Hand’ in December, 2019. The exercise will take place at Umroi, Meghalaya. It will be based on counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

Note: Capital of China: Beijing; Currency: Renminbi.

OBITUARIES

1. Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit passes away: Former Delhi Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Shiela Dikshit (81 years) passed away at Escorts Fortis hospital in Delhi. She was suffering from a heart ailment for a long time. Dikshit served at the Chief Minister of Delhi for a period of 15 years from 1998 to 2013. Presently, she was holding the office of Delhi Congress president.