Daily GK Updates - 1st September, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. New Governors Appointed for 5 States: President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed new Governors for five states: Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana.

(1) Former Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya will be the Governor of Himachal Pradesh in place of Kalraj Mishra. (2) Kalraj Mishra, has been given the charge of Rajasthan, replacing incumbent Governor Kalyan Singh. (3) Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been named the Governor of Maharashtra replacing C. Vidyasagar Rao. (4) Former Union Minister, Arif Mohammed Khan was appointed Governor of Kerala replacing P. Sathasivam. (5) Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan will be the new Governor of Telangana replacing E.S.L Narshiman.

2. Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane Takes Charge as Vice Chief of the Army Staff: Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane assumed the charge of Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS). He succeeds Lt Gen Devraj Anbu who superannuated on 31 August 2019. Prior to this, Lt Gen Naravane was the incharge of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army.

3. Govt accepts State Bank of India MD Anshula Kant’s resignation: The government has accepted the resignation of State bank of India’s managing Director Anshula Kant, following her appointment as MD and chief financial officer of the World Bank. Kant was appointed as the managing director and chief financial officer of the World Bank.

4. September Month Being Celebrated as ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’: The Government of India has decided to observe the entire month of September as the ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’ (National Nutrition Month) beginning September 01, 2019. The theme for 2019 celebrations is Complimentary Feeding. Through the Poshan month celebrations, government aims to take the message of nutrition to every nook and corner of the country to focus on complimentary food, treatment and prevention from infections in children.

5. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu Inaugurates India’s Longest Electrified Rail Tunnel: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu dedicated India’s longest electrified rail tunnel between Cherlopalli and Rapuru and the electrified railway line between Venkatachalam and Obulavaripalli in Andhra Pradesh. The railway tunnel has been built at a cost of Rs 437 crore and has 44 trolley refuges and 14 cross-passages in a horseshoe design. The 112-km new line has no level crossings and is completed at a cost of Rs 1,993 crore and consists of 9 railway stations along the route, 146 bridges, 60 road-under-bridges and two tunnels. The minister also inaugurated the re-modelled yard at Guduru railway station and flagged-off a new inter-city superfast express train between Guduru and Vijayawada.

Rajasthan launches AB-MGRSBY health insurance scheme: The Rajasthan government has launched a new health insurance scheme- Ayushman Bharat-Mahatma Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojna (AB-MGRSBY)- from September 1. The scheme will be implemented after merging the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) and the state’s Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojna (BSBY). With the merger of AB-PMJAY and BSBY, the number of families getting benefit will increase.

6. Haryana CM releases book penned by senior IPS officer O P Singh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar released a book titled ‘Jin Dhoondha Tin Paaiyan’ penned by senior IPS officer O P Singh. The 174-page book is written in Hindi and has 45 chapters. It covers a wide range of issues including crime, violence, police, sports and social media. The book urges the readers to keep upgrading their worldview and avoid getting obsolete.

7. “A Short History of Indian Railways” book penned by Rajendra B Aklekar released: A new book named “A Short History of Indian Railways”, has been penned by veteran journalist and author Rajendra B Aklekar. This new book on the history of Indian Railways chronicles the journey of the national transporter from the 1830s to the new high-speed Train 18 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious bullet train project.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. ECI to Host 4th General Assembly of Association of World Election Bodies: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will host the 4th General Assembly of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) at Bengaluru on 3rd September 2019. India will also take charge as the Chair of A-WEB for the 2019-21 term. An International Conference on “Initiatives and Challenges of Social Media and Information Technology in Elections” will also be held during the meet that will take place from 02 to 04 September, 2019.

Note: The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide. Its permanent secretariat is located at Seoul South Korea. 

2. Indonesia picks eastern Borneo island for new capital: Indonesia has chosen the eastern edge of jungle-clad Borneo island for its new capital, President Joko Widodo said, as the country looks to shift its political heart away from congested megalopolis Jakarta. The proposed location — near the regional cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda- is in the geographical centre of the Southeast Asian archipelago and an area where the government already owns some 180,000 hectares (445,000 acres) of land, he added.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Charles Leclerc wins F1 Belgian Grand Prix: Monacan based Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) has won the Formula 1, Belgian Grand Prix 2019. This is his first F1 win. Lewis Hamilton was on second while Valtteri Bottas finished third. 

2. India’s Sasikumar Mukund Finishes Runner Up in Both Singles and Doubles at ATP Challenger Tour: In Tennis, Sasikumar Mukund ended runner-up in both singles and doubles at ATP Challenger Tour, in Baotou, China. The 12th seed Mukund lost to Australian top seed James Duckworth 4-6 3-6 in the singles in the clay-court event of Challenger 80 category tournament. In the doubles, Mukund and Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili pair lost 6-7 (3) 2-6 to second seed Korean pair of Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song.

3. Tejinderpal Wins Shotput Silver at Czech Republic Athletic Meet: Asian Games gold medallist Tejinderpal Singh Toor won silver medal in men’s shot put event at V. Koci Memorial Athletics Meet at Decin, Czech Republic. The 24-year-old came with his best throw of 20.09m. Tomas Stanek of Czech Republic won the gold with 20.86m.

4. India Thrash Nepal 7-0 to Win U-15 SAFF Championship: India defeated Nepal 7-0 in the final of the 2019 SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) U-15 Championship at the Kalyani Stadium, West Bengal. Maheson Singh (15'), Amandeep (41'), Sibajit Singh (43+1'), Himanshu Jangra (65') and Sridarth Nongmeikapam (52', 76', 80') got their names on the scoreboard. With seven goals to his name, Jangra finished as the top scorer in the tournament in which the hosts had secured their place in the final with a game to spare. 

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. 2% TDS on cash withdrawals of over Rs 1 crore from September 1: Tax department: The revenue department said that the 2 per cent tax deduction at source (TDS) on cash withdrawals of over Rs 1 crore will come into effect from September 1. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) further said that if a person has already withdrawn Rs 1 crore or more in cash up to August 31, 2019, in the current fiscal, 2 per cent TDS shall apply on all subsequent cash withdrawals. The government had made the provision of levying 2 per cent TDS on cash withdrawals exceeding Rs 1 crore in the Union Budget with an aim to discourage cash transactions and move towards less cash economy.

2. RBI extends KYC deadline for mobile wallets by 6 months: The Reserve Bank of India has given mobile wallet providers time till February 29, 2020 to fully comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, in a major relief to companies such as Paytm, Amazon Pay and PhonePe just a day before the expiry of its earlier deadline. These companies ran the risk of losing thousands of customers if they had failed to comply with the August 31 deadline to convert customer accounts authenticated through the minimum KYC route to full KYC wallets, ahead of the crucial festival season.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

1. Digital payments growing in India at 12.7% CAGR: KPMG: Digital payments in India are witnessing thriving growth with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7 per cent in the number of non-cash transactions, global advisory KPMG said. A KPMG report said that the mobile payment revolution in the country has led to a boom in the number of merchants adopting digital payments with close to 1.5 million digital payment acceptance locations in 2016-17.

OBITUARIES

1. US actress and four-time Emmy winner Valerie Harper passes away: Actress Valerie Harper, the star of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and spin-off series “Rhoda”, has passed away after a long battle with cancer. She was 80.