Daily GK Updates - 5th July, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. AYUSH, MeitY ministries collaborates for digitisation of AYUSH sector: The Ministries of AYUSH and Electronics and Information Technology have signed a MoU to collaborate on the digitization of the AYUSH sector. The ministry aims to digitize the entire AYUSH, leading to transformation in the field of health care delivery at all levels, along with greater research, education, delivery of various health care programmes and better drug regulations.

Note: Minister of State (Independent charge) of AYUSH Ministry: Shripad Yesso Naik; Minister of Communications and Information Technology: Ravi Shankar Prasad.

2. Delhi Police signs pact with SECI for rooftop solar energy systems: Delhi Police has signed a pact with Solar Energy Corporation of India. Under this, the  SECI will support the implementation of grid-connected rooftop solar photovoltaic systems on the establishments of Delhi police. The Delhi police will set up rooftop solar energy systems in over 200 of its buildingsacross the city.

Note: Chairman of SECI: Praveen Kumar.

3. UIDAI Opens its First ‘Aadhaar Seva Kendra’ in Delhi and Vijayawada: Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has set up its first exclusive ‘Aadhaar Seva Kendra’ (ASK) at Akshardham Metro station in New Delhi. It will be operational six days a week excluding Tuesdays and public holidays. The second such Aadhaar centre has been opened in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh). These Aadhaar centres will make it easier for citizens to apply for a new Aadhaar card or update existing ones. UIDAI has an ambitious plan to set up 114 such centres by the end of 2019. Although thousands of Aadhaar centres are being run by banks and post offices currently but the Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASK) are the first specialized centres operationalized by UIDAI.

Note: Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained by residents of India, based on their biometric and demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established in January 2009 by the government of India, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric ID system.

4. UP govt launches toll-free CM helpline 1076: The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a toll-free Chief Minister helpline 1076. It will enable people from across the state to register their complaints, ensure time-bound action on the complaints. According to CM Yogi Aditya Nath, he will personally review the complaints every month. If a department gets more than 100 complaints in a month, action will be taken against the concerned officials.

Note: When the complainant calls the helpline, he/she will get an SMS informing that the complaint has been sent to the department concerned. The Chief Minister’s helpline number 1076 will work 24x7 and anyone from any part of the state can call on this number anytime.

5. Rural sanitation coverage jumped to 99% from 38% in 2014: According to Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria, Under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), nine crore 62 lakh individual household toilets have been constructed so far. The sanitation coverage in the rural areas of the country has increased to more than 99% (over 38% on 2nd October 2014). 632 Districts, 30 States, over 2.50 lakh Gram Panchayats and five lakh 67 thousand 498 villages have been declared open defecation Free.

6. India’s first Design Development Centre ‘Fashionova’ launched in Surat: India’s first Design Development Center ‘Fashionova’ has been launched in Surat, Gujarat. The launch of Fashionova will promote the city in the field of the fashion design sector. The main objective of this studio is to provide a strong platform to all those who have a flair of the apparel business. It fulfils, on a large scale, all business needs from co-working space, technicians, expert advises to cognitive workshops and exposure to the industry.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Ursula von der Leyen elected as next EU president: European Commission has elected Ursula von der Leyen as its new president.   She will replace Jean Claude Juncker. She has become the first woman to be elected to lead the EU’s executive arm.

Note: Headquarters of European Commission: Brussels, Belgium.

2. Duty-Free shops at Dubai airports to accept Indian currency: Dubai Duty-Free has announced that Indian Rupee will now be an accepted currency at all the retail outlets of the Dubai airport. However, the change, if any, will be given back in Dirhams and not the Indian currency. Stores at the Dubai Airport will accept notes of various denominations, including 100s, 200s, 500s and 2000s. The move makes the Indian rupee the 16th international currency to be accepted at Dubai's airports.

Note: According to a report, out of the 90 million passengers who used Dubai's airports, 12 million of them travelled to or from Indian destinations.

3. French lawmakers approve 3% tax on online giants: In France, the lower house of parliament today approved a small, pioneering tax on internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook. The French government hopes that other countries will follow the suit. The bill foresees a 3 per cent tax on the French revenues of digital companies with global revenue of more than 750 million Euros. At present, the companies pay nearly no tax in countries where they have large sales like France. The bill adopted by the National Assembly will be sent to the Senate next week, where it is expected to win final approval.

4. 3rd Global Sunflower Seed Meet to be held in Mumbai: India will host the 3rd edition of the International Sunflower Seed and Oil Conference (ISSOC) 2019 in Mumbai (from 19-20th July 2019). The event will be hosted by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA). The last two editions was hosted by China and Ukraine. The conference will see participation from global industry leaders, experts, researchers, and government representatives.

Note: Sunflower seed is seen as a healthy table-seed and culinary seed having wide applications in variety of food preparations including cakes and pastries. India is the largest importer of sunflower oil with imports of about 2.8 million tonnes. The global imports of sunflower oil are around 9.6 million tonnes.'

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Arjen Robben announces retirement from football: Dutch winger Arjen Robben (35-years) has announced his retirement from football after a 10-year spell with German giants Bayern Munich. He has played 96 international matches for the Netherlands, scoring 37 goals. Robben, who joined Bayern in 2009 from Real Madrid, played 309 competitive games for the Bavarian powerhouse, contributing 144 goals and setting up 81 more.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Union budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: The union finance minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman has presented the maiden union budget for 2019-20 in Lok Sabha. This is the first Budget of the Narendra Modi Government in the second tenure. The annual financial statement of a government, the Union budget gives details about the revenue and expenditure of the Centre in the past and estimated spending and projections for the coming year.

2. RRB recruitment exams to be conducted in 13 regional languages: The Union government has announced that the recruitment examination of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) will be conducted in 13 regional languages in addition to English and Hindi. It has been decided that examination of direct recruitment of Scale-1 officers and Office Assistant in RRBs will be conducted in regional languages too. The regional languages are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Malyalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The candidate has the option to choose the regional language of the State, they have opted for the examination. The decision will be implemented from this year onwards.

Note: At present, there are 45 Regional Rural banks functioning in the country has a total staff strength of around 90 thousand employees.

3. Airtel Payments Bank to sell Bharti AXA Life's term insurance: Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer a life term insurance plan. The product, Bharti AXA Life (Point of Sale) Saral Jeevan Bima Yojana, is a pure life term insurance plan which is aimed at the under insured and uninsured segments in India.

Note: MD & CEO of Bharti AXA Life Insurance: Vikas Seth;  MD & CEO of Airtel Payments Bank: Anubrata Biswas.

4. RBI appoints A K Misra as additional director in J&K Bank: The Reserve Bank of India has appointed A K Misra as an additional director on the board of Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank). He is a former executive director of RBI. A K Misra shall hold the office for a period of two years up to July 2, 2021, or till further orders.

5. Harideesh Kumar appointed as Director of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection: Karnataka based B Harideesh Kumar has been appointed as the Director of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) for a period of three years. Earlier, he was the Executive Director of Canara Bank. He is a Post-Graduate with a Degree in Law and started his banking career with erstwhile Vijaya Bank in the year 1978.

Note: The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is a recruitment body that was started with an aim to encourage the recruitment and placement of young graduates in public sector banks in India, other than the State Bank of India. It also provides standardised systems for assessment and result processing services to organisations.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Ola gets green light for London taxi business: India’s biggest ride-hailing platform Ola Cabs, has received approval from London’stransport regulator to start private hire vehicles (PHV) in the capital city of the UK.  Ola will be the first ever platform to offer both PHVs and black cabs in the UK.

Note: CEO of OLA: Bhavish Aggarwal; Headquarters: Bengaluru.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Ajay Banga, Azim Premji to receive excellence awards from USISPF: The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum has announced that Mastercard CEO and President Ajay Banga and Wipro Chairman Azim Premji will receive the 2019 Global Excellence Awards. This is the Second Annual Leadership Summit of USISPF. They have been honored with the awards for their significant contribution to strengthening economic ties between the US and India.