Daily GK Updates - 26th July, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kargil Vijay Diwas: 26 July: India remembers its brave hearts on 26 July which is celebrated as Kargil Vijay Diwas. This year India celebrates the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Indian Armed Forces in ‘Operation Vijay’ against the infiltrating Pakistani troops. The day is named after the successful ‘Operation Vijay’ (in 1999) when India regained the control of the high outposts which had been stealthily taken over by Pakistan. The central theme of this year's celebrations is ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’. President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Kargil War Memorial in Dras (Jammu and Kashmir) and paid homage to soldiers & officers of the Indian Army who were martyred during ‘Operation Vijay’.

Note: The Kargil War was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LOC).

2. BS Yeddyurappa to take oath as karnataka CM: BS Yeddyurappa, 3-time chief minister of Karnataka, will once again take the oath as Karnataka CM as the Bharatiya Janata Party has staked the claim for government formation three days after HD Kumaraswamy's government failed to prove majority.

3. IIT Kharagpur team develops app CARE4U: ‘CARE4U’ the android-based app which will connect the caregiver to the elderly person.  The app has been built by an interdisciplinary team of the institute of IIT Kharagpur.  This app will inform the caregiver when the elderly person falls down with the exact location.

4. ICMR launches platform to boost health data quality in India: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute for Medical Statistics (NIMS), in partnership with global nonprofit organisation Population Council, launched the National Data Quality Forum (NDQF). NDQF will integrate learnings from scientific and evidence-based initiatives and guide actions through periodic workshops and conferences.

Note:  Director General of ICMR: Balram Bhargava.

5. Cong's Adhir appointed as PAC chairman: The leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was appointed as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC has 15 members from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha. The term of office of members of the committee does not exceed one year at a time.

Note: Present Lok Sabha Speaker: Om Prakash Birla.

6. Sunil Kumar given charge as MTNL chief: Sunil Kumar has been given additional charge of chairman and managing director of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). Kumar is currently Director (Human Resources and Enterprise Business) at MTNL and takes over from P K Purwar who was recently appointed chairman and managing Director of BSNL.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pakistan to send its first man to space in 2022: Pakistan announced that it will send its first astronaut to space in 2022. It will be using close ally China's satellite launching facilities to execute the mission.

Note: Pakistan Capital: Islamabad; PM: Imran Khan; President: Arif Alvi.

2. China launches first private rocket capable of carrying satellites: Beijing-based startup "Interstellar Glory Space Technology" also known as iSpace successfully launched the china’s first commercial rocket.  The 20 m (66-foot) rocket designed by iSpace named Hyperbola-1reached an altitude of 300 kilometres (186 miles).  The rocket is capable of carrying satellites into orbit.

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

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Kristof Milak breaks the Phelps record in 200m butterfly stroke: Kristof Milak shattered Michael Phelps' long-standing world record in the 200 metres butterfly at the World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju. Hungarian teenager Milak won the final in 1:50.73, breaking the previous record of 1:51.51, set by Phelps in 2009.

2. India drops two places in FIFA rankings: The Indian football team slipped two places to 103rd in the FIFA (football's world governing body) rankings released. India has 1214 ranking points to its kitty, down by five points from the previous chart issued last month. The Indian team now lies at 18th among Asian countries. Iran (23rd) is at the top among Asian countries, followed by Japan (33), Korea (37), Australia (46) and Qatar (62). Overall, Belgium leads the chart, followed by Brazil, France, England and Uruguay.

Note: The FIFA World Ranking (publish-monthly) is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, currently led by Belgium. The teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest.

3. Goa govt seeks new dates for holding National Games: The Goa government is not able to host the 36th National Games in November this year. The Goa government has requested the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to allot fresh dates in May 2020. Recently, The IOA had fined the Goa government for frequently missing the deadlines to host the games in the last four years. The National Games were earlier scheduled to be held in March- April 2019 but were postponed to November on account of Lok Sabha elections, by polls.

Note: The National Games comprises various disciplines (37 sports) in which sportsmen from the different states of India participate against each other.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Apple acquires Intel's smartphone modem business for $1bn: Apple has announced the acquisition of chip-maker Intel''s smartphone modem business for $1 billion. This agreement enables to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology. Intel had been working on a chipset for the iPhone maker, with the chip expected to be part of iPhones by 2020.

Note: Present CEO of Apple: Tim Cook.

DEFENCE

1. CISF launches a video Hub, encyclopedia for staff: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) launched an online encyclopedia called Securitypedia and also launched customised video interface for its personnel called CISFTube. For Recognising the need to empower its personnel by making technical know-how available to them at the click of a button.

Note: Director General of CISF: Rajesh Ranjan.

2. Defence Minister launches Dashboard of Department Defence Production: Defence Minister launched dashboard of Department Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence. The dashboard will help the Ministry to keep track of the major components of Defence Production, including defence exports, defence offsets, Intellectual Property Rights and Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti. The dashboard is available for the general public at "ddpdashboard.gov.in".

Note: Union Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh.

OBITUARIES

1. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi passes away: Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi (92-years) passed away in a military hospital. He was the major figure in the country’s transition to democracy after the Arab spring. Essebsi was the oldest head of state after the Queen, has been a major figure in Tunisian politics since the uprisings that led to the overthrow of the long-time despot Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Tunisia is often described as the lone success story of the revolutions of 2011 because of its slow but steady progress towards democracy, despite extended economic problems.