Daily GK Updates - 5th September, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Teachers' Day: 5th September: Teachers' Day is being celebrated throughout the country on the birthday (5th September 1888) of educationist and former President Bharat Ratna Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Dr. Radhakrishnan was India's first Vice President and second President.President Ramnath Kovind gave away National Teachers’ Awards to 46 teachers at a function in New Delhi. The award is given to meritorious teachers, who through their commitment have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their students. The awards which were instituted in 1958 carries a Silver medal, a certificate, and award money of 50 thousand rupees. On teacher's day, the Uttar Pradesh government schools are going to enter a new era of digital transformation with "Prerna App" which was launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath yesterday. 

2. PM to launch a pension scheme for traders: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan­dhan Yojana, the Centre’s pension scheme for traders. A few of the first subscribers from across the country will be given pension cards by the PM. The scheme, which is an extension of the PM Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana, will make all beneficiaries eligible for a monthly pension of Rs 3000 after the age of 60 at a miniscule monthly contribution.

3. CBI's 1st national conference on cybercrime investigation inaugurated: CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla has inaugurated the 1st National Conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics at CBI Headquarters in New Delhi. The two-day conference covers one of the mandates of CBI which is to investigate crimes with inter-state and international ramifications. The conference is aimed at creating the platform and bringing together investigators, lawyers, forensic experts and academia to discuss challenges related to cybercrime and ways to find solutions. It will also be a platform to share good practices to learn from experiences of various State police and Law Enforcement Agencies. 

4. Asia's only 5th Generation - VR based simulator centre launched at Chennai by AASI: Asia's first 5th Generation Virtual Reality based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre was launched at the Automobile Association of Southern India Centre (AASI), Chennai. Under 'Safe Drivers Campaign', AASI will train 200 Ambulance drivers in the first six months, free of cost. The patented simulator was ideated, designed and developed by Chennai based Red Chariots Technologies Pvt Ltd. The training session is a combination of level-based practical learning modules coupled with self-learning theory modules through an interactive e-learning quiz app built in-house.

5. Rohit Sharma launches a campaign to save Rhinos in India: Indian Cricket team vice-captain Rohit Sharma is launching Rohit4Rhinos campaign, in partnership with WWF India and Animal Planet. This campaign helps to build awareness for the need to conserve the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros or the Indian Rhino.  The Indian rhinoceros faces several threats, including poaching, habitat loss and mass mortality from inbreeding and disease.

6. ‘Loktantra Ke Swar’ and ‘The Republican Ethic’ books to be released by V. President: The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will release 2nd editions of ‘Loktantra Ke Swar (Khand 2)’ and ‘The Republican Ethic (Volume 2) in New Delhi. In order to promote and disseminate selected speeches of President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind. They are a compilation of 95 speeches delivered by the President during his second year in office (July 2018 to July 2019).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US Federal Trade Commission fines YouTube with $170 million: The US's Federal Trade Commission has fined Google's YouTube with $170 million. YouTube will have to pay $170 million to settle allegations of collecting personal information about children. YouTube has been accused of tracking viewers of children's channels using cookies without parental consent. YouTube also used those cookies to deliver millions of dollars in targeted advertisements to those viewers. The penalty on YouTube is the largest since a law came into effect in 1998 which banned the collection of information about children aged below 13. The law was revised in 2013 to include “cookies,” which can be used to track a person's internet viewing habits.

2. Delhi, Mumbai fall in EIU’s Global Liveability Index 2019: Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index for 2019, released with both Delhi and Mumbai sliding down ranks. New Delhi dropped 6 places to 118, from 112 last year and Mumbai also fell in this year’s index, by two places to 119, from 117 last year. Vienna in Austria, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia make the top three cities. The survey ranks countries across indicators including stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure, culture and environment.

Note: Headquarters of EIU's: London, UK; Founded: 1946.

3. Jaideep Sarkar appointed as next High Commissioner of India to Lesotho: India's High Commissioner to South Africa, Jaideep Sarkar has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the Kingdom of Lesotho, with residence in Pretoria. He is a 1987 IFS-batch officer and earlier served as envoy to Israel and Bhutan.

Note: Capital of Lesotho: Maseru; Currencies of Lesotho: South African rand, Lesotho loti.

4. International Day of Charity: 5 September: The United Nations observes 5 September every year as International Day of Charity with the objective of sensitizing and mobilizing people, NGOs, and stakeholders all around the world to help others through volunteer and philanthropic activities. The date of 5 September was chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the passing away of Mother Teresa. She also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace."

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. FIFA unveils official emblem for Qatar World Cup 2022: For Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022, FIFA has announced the official emblem for the event. The emblem has a swooping curve which represents the undulations of desert dunes and the unbroken loop depicts both the number eight and the infinity symbol. The eight represents the number of stadiums that will host the football tournament while the infinity symbol reflects the interconnected nature of the event. Qatar also unveiled the logo for the FIFA 2022 World Cup. The design is a stylised Arabic white unisex shawl with maroon patterning, which is displayed in a figure-of-eight symbolising infinity while creating a heart shape above the words “FIFA WORLD CUP Qatar 2022”.

Note: The 2022 FIFA World Cup (22nd edition) is scheduled to be held from 21 November to 18 December in Qatar. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country.

2. Hockey: schedule of FIH Pro League season 2 released: As per schedule of FIH Pro League season 2 Hockey, India will play a total of 16 home and away games. The opening match will oppose China and The Netherlands in the women's event on 11th January 2020. Indian men's hockey team will open its campaign against the Netherlands at home on 18th and 19th January 2020. This will be followed by two home fixtures against Australia on 22nd and 23^rd. In away games, the Indian team will travel to Germany, Great Britain, Argentina and Spain in April, May and June. India will play the last leg of the Pro League round-robin matches in Spain in June 2020. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the match schedule of the second edition of the FIH Pro League, which includes 144 matches.

3. Indian boys settle for silver at Asian Junior and Cadet TT Championships: The Indian boy's team has settled for a silver medal after losing the final 0-3 to top seed China at the Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships held at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The second place helped Indian boys qualify for the World Junior Championships to be held at Korat, Thailand (Nov 2019).

4. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan becomes the youngest skipper ever in Test cricket: Afghanistan Spin sensation Rashid Khan (20 years and 350 days old) has become the youngest ever Test skipper at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Rashid beat the previous record held by former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu (20 years and 358 days) by a mere 8 days. Taibu was 7 days short of his 21st birthday when he led his side against Sri Lanka in Harare on 6th May 2004. India's Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi rounds up the top-3 in this regard, having made his captaincy debut against West Indies at the age of 21 years and 77 days on March 23, 1962.

5. Bianca Andreescu becomes 1st teen US Open semi-finalist in a decade: Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu (19-years) has become the first teen US Open semi-finalist in a decade defeating Belgium's Elise Mertens to set up a battle with Belinda Bencic for a spot in the final. Bianca Andreescu (15th-seeded) from suburban Toronto rallied past 25th seed Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach a clash against fellow Slam semi-final debutante Bencic. Andreescu, a winner this year at Indian Wells and Toronto, is the first teen in the US Open's last four since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. She could become the first teen to win a Grand Slam title since Maria Sharapova captured the 2006 US Open.

6. Pakistan names Misbah-ul-Haq as head coach and chief selector: Former captain Misbah-ul-Haq has been appointed as head coach and chief selector of Pakistan's cricket team. He has been appointed for three years. Waqar Younis will join him as the team's new bowling coach. Misbah-ul-Haq has scored over 10,300 international runs in 75 Tests and 162 one-dayers for Pakistan and was also the most successful and longest-serving Test captain for Pakistan.

BANKING & FINANCE

1. CRISIL revises India's GDP growth to 6.3% in fiscal 2020: Rating agency CRISIL has revised India’s fiscal year 2020 GDP growth forecast to 6.3%. CRISIL has lowered the GDP growth forecast from 6.9% to 6.3%. The growth was revised as the first-quarter growth rate of India reduced to a 25-quarter low of 5%.

Note: Managing Director and CEO of CRISIL: Ashu Suyash.

2. RBI Makes External Benchmark Based Interest Rate mandatory for certain categories of loans: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for banks to link all new floating-rate loans for housing, auto and MSMEs (Micro and Small Enterprises) to external benchmark like repo from 1st October 2019. The banks are free to choose one of the several benchmarks indicated in the circular. Industry and retail borrowers have been complaining that banks do not pass on the entire RBI's policy rate (repo rate) reduction to them. In 2019, the Reserve Bank has already reduced the repo or short-term lending rate by 110 basis points, but the banks have reportedly passed on only up to 40 bps to borrowers.

3. Wipro bags $300-million deal from ICICI Bank: IT services major Wipro Limited has bagged a strategic contract valued at $300 million from the ICICI Bank. Under the contract, Wipro will offer a comprehensive suite of services to ICICI Bank for the next seven years, starting September 2019. Currently, Mumbai-based IT services firm Vara infotech provides these services to the ICICI Bank. As part of this strategic engagement, Wipro will absorb about 3,800 employees of Vara infotech along with its existing contracts, facilities and assets.

Note: MD & CEO of ICICI Bank: Sandeep Bakhshi; ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai; MD & CEO of Wipro: Abidali Z. Neemuchwala.

4. India among top 10 nations in gold reserves: India has surpassed the Netherlands to move into the list of top10 countries in terms of total gold reserves. According to the World Gold Council, India has gold reserves totalling 618.2 tonnes, which is marginally higher than the Netherlands’ reserves of 612.5 tonnes. According to the World Gold Council, the U.S. leads the country list with total gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes followed by Germany with 3,366.8 tonnes.  In terms of individual countries, India actually ranks 9th since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) occupies the third position after the U.S. and Germany.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Prof Muhammad Yunus conferred 'Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ' award: Nobel Laureate from Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus was conferred the 'Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ' award by the Vatican for his contribution towards establishing peace and harmony. The award is a recognition for distinguished work by an individual for promoting peace and dialogue among people. The ceremony took place at the historic Papal Basilica of Assisi in Italy.

Note: The Lamp of Peace award was first given to the Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa in 1981. Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev and Angela Merkel are a few other prominent persons who received this award earlier.