Daily GK Updates - 13th September, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. MSDE laid the foundation stone of IIS in Mumbai: Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), laid the foundation stone for Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) at Mumbai.

The objective of the institute is to provide skill training in highly-specialised areas to students who want to pursue technical education after completing Class X and XII. The IIS will be a tertiary care institute in the skills ecosystem and offer best of required courses in emerging and high demand areas such as deep technology, aerospace, among others. These institutes will be constructed and operated on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model. Tata Education Development Trust (TEDT) was selected as the private partner for setting up IIS at NSTI campus in Mumbai through a competitive bidding process.

Note: Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE): Mahendra Nath Pandey.

2. Prime Minister launches Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana' at Ranchi, Jharkhand. The Scheme shall secure the lives of 5 Crore Small and Marginal Farmers by providing a minimum pension of Rs 3000 per month, to those who attain 60 years of age. Prime Minister also launched the National Pension Scheme for the Traders and The Self-Employed. The scheme aims at providing a minimum assured pension of Rs 3000, to small traders and self - employed after attaining the age of 60 Years. Around 3 Crore Small traders would be benefited from the scheme. Prime Minister also launched 462 Ekalavya Model Schools across the country in Tribal Dominated Areas. The schools would focus to provide quality upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education to ST Students in these areas. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the New Vidhan Sabha Building of Jharkhand.

3. Odd-even rule to be implemented in Delhi from November 4 to 15: According to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Odd-even rule to combat pollution will be applicable in Delhi between 4 to 15th November 2019. Under the odd-even scheme, cars with licence plates ending in an odd number (1,3,5,7,9) & even number (0,2,4,6,8) allowed to ply on alternate days, except weekends. Earlier, exemptions were granted to women, VIPs and two-wheelers. This is the third time odd-even rule will be rolled out in Delhi.

4. Samsung launches Mobile apps ‘Good Vibes’ and ‘Relumino’: Tech giant ‘Samsung’ has introduced two mobile applications named ‘Good Vibes’ and ‘Relumino’ as strong communication tools for the deaf-blind and people with low vision in the country. Good Vibes has been launched for deafblind to enable them to have two-way communication with their caregivers, family and friends. Good Vibes app uses Morse code, which converts vibrations (a combination of dots and dashes that the deafblind can interpret) into text or voice (on the caregiver’s app) and vice-versa. 'Relumino' is a visual aid application for people with low vision to help them see images clearer by magnifying and minimizing images, highlighting the image outline, adjusting colour contrast and brightness, and reversing colour. National Association for the Blind (NAB) will use Relumino in classrooms where students with low vision will use these devices to see better, thus, helping them improve their learning abilities.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India joins global antimicrobial resistance research hub: India has joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research (AMR) and Development hub as a new member. AMR is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe. India will be a member of the board of members of the hub from this year. India looks forward to working with all partners to leverage their existing capabilities, resources and collectively focus on new research to address drug-resistant infections. The hub supports global priority setting and evidence-based decision-making on the allocation of resources for AMR research and development through identification of gaps, overlaps and potential for cross-sectoral collaboration and leveraging.

Note: The acting Chairperson of the hub’s Board of Members is Bersabel Ephrem.

2. IFC signs MoU with FIDC for training NBFCs: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC). FIDC is a representative body of asset and loan Financing Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFCs), to collaborate on the training of NBFCs in the country. According to the agreement, the training programs for NBFCs would be conducted on “Commercial Credit Reporting” aimed at building the capacity of NBFCs to enhanced reporting and enquiring on Commercial Credit Information Data from the Credit Bureaus.

Note: CEO of IFC: Philippe Le Houerou; Director-General of FIDC: Mahesh Thakkar.

3. The Times Higher Education “World University Ranking 2020” released: This year’s list of the best universities in the world is led by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge for the second year in a row. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, shares the first rank with Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Ropar this year and continues to be the best Indian institute in this ranking since 2014. Both the institutes have been ranked among the top 301-350 universities of the world.

Note: World University Rankings 2020, published by the United Kingdom (UK) based Times Higher Education (THE). The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020 includes more than 1,400 universities (92 countries), making it our biggest international league table to date. It is the only global university performance table to judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

World Best five University Rankings 2019

Rank	Name	Number of Students
1	University of Oxford (United Kingdom)	20,664
2	California Institute of Technology (United States)	2,240
3	University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)	18,978
4	Stanford University (United States)	11,231
5	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States)	11,247

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Megan Schutt becomes first woman to claim two white ball hat-tricks: Australia fast bowler Megan Schutt scripted history by becoming the first woman to claim two hat-tricks in white ball cricket after she cleaned up the West Indies tail in the third ODI here. Schutt (3/24), thus, became the first Australian women to claim a hat-trick in ODIs. Her feat enabled Australia women to bowl out West Indies women for a paltry 180. Schutt had claimed her first hat­trick in a T20 game against India.

2. India top medal tally in Track Asia Cup cycling: India's Ronaldo Laitonjam has won his fourth gold medal on the concluding day of Track Asia Cup Cycling competition in New Delhi. India emerged overall champions as its players picked up three medals in the day, two gold and one bronze. Overall, India topped the medals tally (10 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze) as the tournament came to an end at the IGI Sports Complex. Uzbekistan finished second, with 4 gold and 3 silver and Malaysia secured third place, with 4 gold and 1 silver.

3. Feroz Shah Kotla stadium renamed after Arun Jaitley: The iconic Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi has been renamed as ‘Arun Jaitley Cricket stadium’. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has digitally inaugurated the renamed Cricket Stadium in a ceremony at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Arun Jaitley served as the President of the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) as well as the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). DDCA also unveiled a new pavilion stand at the Feroz Shah Kotla named after skipper Virat Kohli, who recently became the most successful India captain in Test cricket (surpassing M S Dhoni).

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Karnataka Bank chief becomes IBA committee member: Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Karnataka Bank, has been inducted to the managing committee of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). He was elected unopposed from the Private Sector Member Banks’ category.

Note: Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association: Sunil Mehta.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Music director Usha Khanna to get ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award’: Veteran music director Usha Khanna (78-years) has been conferred the “Lata Mangeshkar Award” for the year 2019-20. The award presented by the Maharashtra government, the Lata Mangeshkar Award for Lifetime Achievement, consisted of cash reward of Rs 5,00,000, a citation, a trophy and a shawl. Usha Khanna first composed super hit songs for the Asha Parekh debut film “Dil Deke Dekho” (1959). Some of her famous songs are “Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein”, “Hum tumse juda hoke, mar jayenge ro roke” “Jiske liye sabko chhoda”.

DEFENCE

1. DRDO hands over second ‘Netra’ (AEWC) aircraft to IAF: The Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) has handed over the second airborne warning plane, Netra, to the Indian Air Force. The Netra, an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft, it is useful for surveillance, tracking, identification and classification of airborne and sea surface targets and is useful in detecting incoming ballistic missile threats. The Netra had played a stellar role during the Balakot airstrikes that had been carried out by the IAF in February this year. It provided surveillance and radar coverage to the five Mirage jets that bombed terror launch pads in Balakot in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.

Note: Chairman of DRDO: Dr G. Satheesh Reddy; Headquarters: New Delhi; Founded: 1958; Motto of DRDO: “Strength’s Origin is in Science.

2. Indo-Thailand joint military exercise Maitree 2019: India and Thailand are all set to organize Joint Military Exercise MAITREE-2019 at Foreign Training Node, Umroi (Meghalaya) from 16th to 29th September 2019. Both the countries have already conducted two such military exercises in past one month. About 100 Indian and Royal Thailand Army (RTA) soldiers will participate in the joint military exercise with an aim to share experience gained during a various counter-terrorism operation in their respective countries. The exercise ‘MAITREE’ is an annual training event which is being conducted alternatively in India and Thailand since 2006.

Note: Chief of the Army Staff: General Bipin Rawat.

OBITUARIES

1. Climate change campaigner of the South Pacific Akilisi Pohiva passes away: Climate change campaigner of the South Pacific and Prime Minister of Tongan Akilisi Pohiva passed away. He was long-time pro-democracy campaigner and leader in the fight against climate change. He was awarded the Defender of Democracy Award in 2013 by the Parliamentarians for Global Action, the first Pacific Islander to receive the prize.