Daily GK Updates - 27th July, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Railway’s first printing press heritage gallery opened: The Western Railway (WR) has thrown open to the public the first printing press heritage gallery of the Indian Railways at Mahalaxmi. With this, the WR Mahalaxmi General Stores Depot (GSD) has become the first in Indian Railways to portray a heritage gallery of the printing and allied machines used in the WR Printing Press since 1948, which are still in working condition. The press came into existence in 1912 under the Greater Indian Peninsular Railway (GIP) Bombay, as the railway needed stationery and tickets to run the operations.

Note: Union Railway Minister: Piyush Goyal; Headquarter of Western Railway: Churchgate (Mumbai).

2. Kaiga Atomic Energy station sets a World record: Kaiga Atomic Energy station (Karnataka) sets a World Record in continuous operation of 962 days by Unit-1 of Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-1) among nuclear power plants of all technologies. KGS-1 (220 MW) in an indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) fuelled by domestic fuel which started commercial operation on November 16, 2000.

3. Kargil veteran Lt Col Dr Samir Rawat invited to ICP: Kargil veteran Lt Col Dr Samir Rawat has been invited as an eminent keynote speaker at the 32nd International Congress of Psychology 2020 (ICP) in Prague which is the most prestigious and biggest international event in the psychological world with over 8000 delegates participating in ICP..

4. CM Naveen Patnaik launches revamped Odisha Tourism website: Chief Minister of odisha launched the revamped website of Odisha Tourism, odishatourism.gov.in. The website involves a pilot implementation of an e-commerce platform for Odisha handlooms and handicrafts by promoting state brands Boyanika and Utkalika.

Note: CM of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik, Governor of Odisha: Ganeshi Lal.

5. Gujarat tops in rooftop solar installation across the country: Gujarat ranks on top in the installation of rooftop solar projects with an installed capacity of 261.97 megawatts. Total rooftop solar installation in India currently stands at 1,700.54 MW. Gujarat is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with 198.52 MW and 151.62 MW.

Note: Gujarat CM: Vijay Rupani; Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat. Capital: Gandhinagar.

6. Arunachal CM launches statewide tree plantation programme: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has launched the state-wide tree plantation programme ‘Clean-Green Arunachal Campaign 2019’ in Itanagar. The campaign under the State Forest department will plant 1-lakh tree saplings in the next 24 hours. The campaign is being held as part of Van Mahotsav celebration and has set the target of planting 1 Cr tree within the next five years. Arunachal is known globally for its huge forest cover and is considered one of the eighteen 'biodiversity hotspots' in the world.

Note: Governor of Arunachal Pradesh: B. D. Mishra.

7. UP becomes No. 1 in implementation of Pradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna: Uttar Pradesh has become number one in implementation ofPradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna in the country. As per the statement released by the state government, 1.95 crores people have been given insurance cover under the scheme till 31st March 2019. Implementation of this ambitious central government scheme started in the state from January 2018 under which people between age group of 18 to 70 get an accidental insurance cover of rupees 2 lakh by paying a nominal premium of 12 rupees annually. Uttar Pradesh stands second in the country in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana, another flagship scheme of the Union Government.

8. Students at IIT Madras Develops ‘Smart Agricopter’: A team of three students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a drone name as “Smart Agricopter” to eliminate manual spraying of pesticides in agricultural fields as well as identify crop health by using imaging camera. The Project ‘Smart Agricopter’ is a hexacopter drone which has the capacity to carry 15 litres of pesticide and will allow spraying pesticides ten times faster and with 100 per cent precision at the same cost as manual spraying. The cost of the agricopter is estimated to be around Rs 5.1 lakh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Kovind to visit 3 West African nations from 28th July: President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on a week-long visit to three West African nations, Benin, The Gambia and Guinea. (from 28th July to 3rd August). India's diplomatic relations with Africa have undergone an unprecedented transformation in the last five years. This will be the first high-level visit for our Head of State from India to all the three countries in West Africa.

2. US Senate confirms General Mark Milley as next Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff: The US Senate has overwhelmingly confirmed four-star Army General Mark Milley (61-years) as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS). He will replace General Joseph Dunford. The Chairman is nominated by the President for the appointment and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. The United States Senate confirmed him by an overwhelming 89-1 votes.

Note: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is, the highest-ranking and senior-most military officer in the United States Armed Forces. He is the principal military advisor to the President, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the Secretary of Defence.

3. The US & South Korean military exercises to be held in August: An annual military exercise between the US and South Korean military exercises ‘19-2 Dong Maeng (alliance)’ will be held in the month of August. The announcement was made by Choi Jong-kun, the secretary for peace planning to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Earlier, the United States and South Korea had suspended a large-scale exercise and it also cancelled a second exercise after the Singapore summit in June 2018. North Korea has threatened that the country will drop the nuclear talks with the US if it continues the military exercise with South Korea.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. BCCI announces Byju's as Team India's new sponsors: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially named Byju's as the new sponsors of Team India (from September 5 to March 31, 2022). BYJU'S (Bengaluru-based online tutorial company) will be taking over the sponsorship from OPPO. Now, BYJU’S will be seen on the Indian team jersey from September 2019 when the home series against South Africa. Oppo had won the Indian team sponsorship rights in March of 2017 by bidding Rs 1079 crores.

2. Kapil Dev led CAC to pick Team India's head coach: Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) led by World Cup-winning former captain Kapil Dev entrusted with the responsibility of selecting India's new coach. Apart from Kapil, former women's captain Shantha Rangaswamy and former men's coach Anshuman Gaekwad have also in the panel.

3. Dressel breaks the Phelps record in 100m butterfly stroke: American star Caeleb Dressel destroyed Michael Phelps’s World record in the 100 metres butterfly at the World Aquatics Championships 2019 in Gwangju (South Korea). Caeleb Dressel take 49.50 seconds in the semi-final event and breaking the old record of 49.82 seconds set by Michael Phelps.

4. Chandigarh gets BCCI affiliation: Chandigarh received affiliation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after nearly four decades. After getting BCCI affiliation, Chandigarh Cricket Association-Punjab had recently decided to merge with Union Territory Cricket Association, thus paving way for the Union Territory to be recognised as a separate entity.

Note: President of BCCI: C.K. Khanna; Headquarters of BCCI: Mumbai.

5. Mohammad Amir announces retirement from Test cricket: According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Speedster Mohammed Amir (27-years) called time on his Test career. Amir made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle in July 2009 and he featured in 36 Tests, taking 119 wickets at an average of 30.47. In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Dublin Chiefs in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.