Daily GK Updates - 23rd September, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

           

1. India’s first environmental school to come up in Karnataka: India’s first environment school named World Environment School, Coorg (WESc) will come up at Coorg, Karnataka. WESc will be open for students of Grade 6 to 12 from India and around the world from the year 2021. It will be the first school in India and South Asia to take a leading role in promoting and delivering environmental education with sustainability at its core. It will be launched by Mobius Foundation, a non-profit organization working towards environmental sustainability.

2. Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana on 21st October: Assembly elections in Maharashtra (288 seats) and Haryana (90 seats) will be held on 21st October this year. According to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, the election process in both the states will be completed by 27th of October 2019. Notification will be issued on 27th of this month and the last date for filing nominations will be 4th October. The scrutiny will be held on 5th October and the last date for withdrawal of the nomination will be 7th of October. The counting of votes will take place on 24th October this year. The Election Commission has also announced by-polls to 64 assembly seats across 18 States and Samastipur Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar.

3. Ooty to host 2nd flower festival during North-East Monsoon: Udhagamandalam-Ooty (in Tamil Nadu) will be hosting the 2nd flower festival of the year during the North-East Monsoon in October and November 2019. Preparatory works for the elaborate exhibition of colourful and fragrant flowers have started in the famous Botanical Gardens in Udhagamandalam. More than eighty-five exotic varieties, including predominantly English flowers like Dahlia, Merigold, Calendula and Daisy will be exhibited during the festival.

4. 1st Edition of Ayushman Bharat Diwas for 2019 observed: The 1st edition of Ayushman Bharat Diwas was observed on September 23, 2019. It was on this day a year ago Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Ranchi, Jharkhand. It is the world’s largest health care programme which provides a health cover of Rs 5 lakh annually to vulnerable families. In the last one year, more than 46 lakh beneficiaries have received the treatment. Altogether, at present, 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) have implemented the scheme.

Note: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ayushman Bharat scheme is Indu Bhushan.

5. Government launches ‘UMMID’ initiative to tackle inherited genetic diseases: The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched the UMMID (Unique Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders) initiative. UMMID aims to create awareness about genetic disorders amongst the clinicians and establish molecular diagnostics in the hospitals for it. UMMID initiative will work at three levels:

Level 1: Fellowship in Genetic Diagnostic

Level 2: NIDAN Kendras: He also inaugurated the NIDAN (National Inherited Diseases Administration) Kendras, which is being supported by Department of Biotechnology (DBT),M/o Science and Technology.

Level 3: Preventions of Genetic Disorders in Aspirational Districts. For this 7 aspirational districts have been selected in the phase 1

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 2 day visit to UAE: The Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri.Piyush Goyal has made a two-day visit to UAE (United Arab Emirates) for the meeting of the 7th India-UAE High Level Task Force on Investment (HLTFI). Piyush Goyal has unveiled the design of the India Pavilion for ‘Dubai Expo 2020’, in Dubai, UAE and hailed the recent tax measures as a leap towards making India a hub of investment. He also visited the site of the ‘Dubai Expo 2020’ and took stock of the preparations. India will invest Rs 230 crore to build the India Pavilion at the World Expo 2020, of which Rs 200 crore will be raised for construction, curation, interiors, maintenance and security from participation charges, publicity and sponsorships

2. First India-US tri-services ‘Exercise Tiger Triumph’ to be held in India in Nov: India and the United States will conduct their first tri-services exercise named “Exercise Tiger Triumph” in November 2019 at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada. “India-US tri-services ‘Exercise Tiger Triumph’ is being organised under the aegis of the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff. This is the second such tri-service exercise to be conducted by India with any other country after Russia.

3. International Day of Sign Languages: 23rd September: International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) is celebrated annually across the world on 23rd September along with ‘International Week of the Deaf’. The 2019 Theme of International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) is ‘Sign Language Rights for All!’.

Each day of the International Week of the Deaf:

Sr. No.	Days (last week of Sep 2019)	Sub-Theme
1	23rd September (Monday)	Sign Language Rights for All!
2	24th September (Tuesday)	Sign Language Rights for All Children
3	25th September (Wednesday)	Sign Language Rights for Deaf Senior Citizens
4	26th September (Thursday)	Sign Language Rights for DeafBlind People and Deaf People With Disabilities.
5	27th September (Friday)	Sign Language Rights for Deaf Women
6	28th September (Saturday)	Sign Language Rights for Deaf LGBTIQA+
7	29th September (Sunday)	Sign Language Rights for Deaf Refugees

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Amit Panghal becomes first Indian to win silver medal at World Boxing Championships: Ace Indian boxer Amit Panghal settled for a silver medal at the AIBA Men's World Boxing Championships at Ekaterinburg in Russia. He lost to Shakhobidin Zoirov (Uzbekistan) in flyweight (48-52 kg) category, by a unanimous decision from the judges. Amit Panghal created history as he became the first Indian male boxer to qualify for the final of the Championships.

2. 16th Edition of Moselle Open (Tennis) for 2019 held at the Arènes de Metz, in Metz, France: The 16th Edition of Moselle Open (Tennis) for 2019 was held at the Arènes de Metz, in Metz, France from September 16-22, 2019. It is played on indoor hard courts and is a part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour 250 Series of the 2019 ATP Tour. The prize money of the tournament was 524,340 Euros.

In Men’s Singles category, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia in 3 sets and clinched the singles title. He became the first man to win four singles titles at the Moselle Open. In Men’s Doubles, Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Jan-Lennard of Germany clinched the title by defeating Nicolas Mahut & Édouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

3. 24th St. Petersburg Open for 2019 held at Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia: The 24th Edition of St. Petersburg Open for 2019 was held at Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia from September 16- 22, 2019. It was played on indoor hard courts and was a part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour 250 Series of the 2019 ATP Tour. The total prize money of the tournament was $1,180,000.

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev defeated Crotia’s Borna Coric by 6–3, 6–1 and clinched the men’s singles title. India’s Divij Sharan along with Slovakia’s Igor Zelenay defeated Italian pair of Matteo Berrettini & Simone Bolelli by 6–3, 3–6, [10–8] and clinched the men’s doubles title. It was the fifth Tour doubles title for Divij.

4. Malvika claims maiden title at Maldives International: Young Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod has claimed her maiden title at the Maldives International Future Series with a stunning straight-game win over top seed Thet Htar Thuzar of Myanmar in women’s singles here. The unseeded Indian, who turned 18 recently, shocked Thet Htar Thuzar 21-13 21-11 in a 31-minute summit clash here on Sunday. Among other Indians, top seeded Kevin Arokia Walter settled for a runner-up finish after going down 13-21 14-21 to second seeded Thai Kantawat Leelavechabutr in men’s singles competition. Indian pair of Vaibhaav and Prakash Raj, seeded second, also claimed the men’s doubles title after beating Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul 21-16 21-15 in just 26 minutes.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI approves reappointment of Shyam Srinivasan as Federal Bank CEO: The Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-appointment of Shyam Srinivasan as the Managing Director and CEO of Federal Bank for one year.    His re-appointment is with effect from September 23, 2019 this year until September 22, 2020. Srinivasan, 57, took charge as the Managing Director and CEO of Federal Bank on September 23, 2010.

2. SEBI tightens guidelines for debt mutual fund applicable from April 1, 2020: In order to improve the risk management & ensure sufficient liquidity, the regulator for the securities market in India, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has tightened the rules for mutual funds, in which it make it mandatory for liquid schemes to hold at least 20 % in liquid assets such as cash and cash equivalents like treasury bills and repo on government securities. The new guideline comes into force from April 1, 2020.

3. Paisalo Digital inks co-origination of loan agreement with Bank of Maharashtra: Paisalo Digital (Formerly known as S.E Investments Limited) has signed its second co-origination of loan agreement with major public sector bank in India, Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) with the aim to necessitate the joint contribution of credit flow by BoM and Paisalo Digital. The arrangement also involves sharing of risks & gains between them. On August 12, 2019, Paisalo digital has signed the 1st co-origination loan agreement (designed at Rs.10,000 to 2 lakh) with State Bank of India (SBI) to pay out 200,000 loan applications in 2019 (FY-Fiscal Year 2020).

Note: Paisalo Digital Managing Director:  Sunil Agarwal; Headquarters: New Delhi.

BoM Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra; MD & CEO: A. S. Rajeev

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. NDTV’s Ravish Kumar awarded 1st Gauri Lankesh Memorial Award 2019: Ravish Kumar (44) of Motihari, Bihar, an Indian TV anchor, writer, journalist and the Managing Editor of NDTV India, the Hindi news channel of the NDTV (New Delhi Television Limited) news network, has received the 1st Gauri Lankesh Memorial Award 2019 by the Gauri Lankesh Memorial Trust (which is founded in memory of the journalist, Gauri Lankesh) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was selected for this prestigious award in recognition of his sharp news analysis and uncompromising secular stance. On August 2, 2019, he was awarded 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award, regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

2. Emmy Awards 2019: The 71st Edition of Primetime Emmy Awards for 2019 was held at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States (US). This ceremony was preceded by the 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards which was held on September 14 and 15, 2019. The award honoured the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2018 until May 31, 2019, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The International Emmy Awards, which are awarded for Excellence in television programming outside the U.S, will be presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) on November 25, 2019 in New York City.

List of Winners:

Sr. No.	Category	Winner
1	Outstanding Comedy Series	Fleabag (Prime Video)
2	Outstanding Drama Series	Game of Thrones (HBO-Home Box Office)
3	Outstanding Limited Series	Chernobyl (HBO)
4	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Bill Hader on Barry (HBO)
5	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Fleabag
6	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Billy Porter on Pose (FX)
7	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Jodie Comer on Killing Eve
8	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie	Jharrel Jerome on When They See Us (Netflix)
9	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie	Michelle Williams on Fosse/Verdon (FX)
10	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Tony Shalhoub on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
11	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Alex Borstein on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)
12	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Peter Dinklage on Game of Thrones  (HBO)
13	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Julia Garner on Ozark  (Netflix)
14	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie	Ben Whishaw on A Very English Scandal  (Prime Video)
15	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie	Patricia Arquette on The Act (Hulu)

OBITUARIES

1. Former cricketer Madhav Apte passes away: Former cricketer Madhav Apte (86-years) passed away at the Breach Candy Hospital Mumbai. He has played 67 first-class matches (46 Ranji Trophy for Bombay and three for Bengal), scored 3336 runs, with six centuries and 16 half-centuries. Madhav Apte was the first Indian opener to aggregate over 400 runs in a Test series (460 runs against West Indies in 1953). Apte was for many years the President of the Cricket Club of India and the Legends Club.