Daily GK Updates - 8th September, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India’s first ‘water-grid’ to come up in Maharashtra: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that India’s first-ever ‘water-grid’ will come in the parched Marathwada region of Maharashtra in the next five years as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JMM). The cost of the project is Rs 3,50,000 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also inaugurated the country’s first greenfield industrial smart city, Auric City [Aurangabad Industrial City] at Shendra in Aurangabad. It is India’s first ‘Walk-to-Work’ Smart City. It is projected to attract around Rs 70,000 crore in investments on completion.

2. Amit Shah chairs 68th Plenary session of the North Eastern Council 2019 in Guwahati, Assam: Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 2-day (8th & 9th September, 2019) event of 68th Plenary session of the North Eastern Council 2019 (NEC, a nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North East which consists of 8 states of the region) at the Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati, Assam. Governors and Chief Ministers of 8 northeastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim) participated in the event. Shah reviewed the ongoing development projects in the Northeast. He stressed on preparing a roadmap to enhance the rich culture and heritage of the North East region. He also affirmed that the central government will not touch Article 371 which grants special provisions to the North East.

3. SRB increased by 13 points in 4 years; Stood at 931 in 2018-19: Women and Child Development and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani notified that the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) incresed by 13 points nationally since the implementation of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme from 918 in 2014-15 to 931 in 2018-19. These figures vary from the second Health Index Report released by NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in June 2019 which showed decline in SRB in 12 out of 21 states between 2013-15 and 2014-16. It is based on the National Family Health Survey-4. It collected the information from household surveys too. As per the Aayog’s figures, based on sample registration data, in the 2014-2016 period, of the 21 large states, only 2 – Kerala and Chhattisgarh – had an SRB of above 950 girls per 1,000 boys.

4. President inaugurates 2-day National Youth Summit 2019 in New Delhi: The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the National Youth Summit 2019 held in New Delhi. It was organized by Youth Awakening Mission (a wing of Paavan Chintan Dhara Charitable Trust, Ghaziabad). The 2-day summit will conclude at the ALT Center in Rajnagar, Ghaziabad on 8 September 2019. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will be involved in this. Youth Awakening Mission (YAM) is the important project of Paavan Chintan Dhara Charitable Trust, whose aim is to inculcate confidence, will power, knowledge, and develop skills, logic, values, leadership qualities and patriotism among the youth between the ages of 18-40 years in India. Under it, youth are given training. The youth is also given a duty under the Rishikulshala project whose slogan is “Educate India Rebuild Nation”.

5. Vijay Kumar Chopra & Vineet Jain elected as Chairman and Vice Chairman of PTI respectively: At a meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) of Press Trust of India (PTI), India’s premier news agency, after the company’s 71st annual general meeting, Vijay Kumar Chopra & Vineet Jain were elected as Chairman and Vice Chairman of PTI respectively. Vijay Kumar Chopra, aged 87, who is the Chief Editor of the Punjab Kesari Group of newspapers, was unanimously elected Chairman of PTI succeeding N Ravi, publisher and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu. Vineet Jain, Managing Director (MD) of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), the publisher of Times of India, was elected as Vice-Chairman of PTI.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Literacy Day: 8 September: Every year on 8 September, International Literacy Day is observed to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. 2019 International Literacy Day Theme is Literacy and Multilingualism.  It was declared by UNESCO on 26 October 1966 at 14th session of UNESCO’s General conference and the first observation was made in 1967.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Kargil to Kohima ultra-marathon to mark 20 years of ‘Vijay Diwas’: In order to commemorate 20 years of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa has flagged off ultra-marathon named as ‘Kargil to Kohima (K2K): Glory Run’ spanning more than 4,500 km from Kargil War Memorial at Dras in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to Kohima War Cemetery in Nagaland commencing on September 21, 2019 & will culminate on 6 November 2019. The aim of this expedition is to spread awareness for the safety of pedestrians and ‘Fit India Movement’ launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 29, 2019 & paying homage to the Kargil martyrs and the war veterans who sacrificed and fought for the country. A team of 25 members, which was selected by two phases of training at Leh, Ladakh, comprising of officers and airmen, including 1 woman officer Flight Lietutant Rishab Jeet Kaur and Warrant Officer Indra Pal Singh led by led by Squadron Leader Suresh Razdan(Su-30 aircraft pilot) will cover the distance of over 4,500 mm in 45 days by running an average of 100 mm per day.
Note: Kohima and Kargil are the two forward most outposts in the East and in the North of India where 2 most fierce battle of modern India were fought in the years 1944 and 1999 respectively. The Kargil War was between India & Pakistan took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district and along the Line of Control (LOC) after which India launched Operation Vijay to clear the Kargil sector occupied by the Pakistani Army.

2. BKSP successfully lifts U17 Girls Subroto Cup International Football 2019 title: Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Prothishtan (BKSP) has successfully retained the 60th edition of the Under 17 Girls Subroto Cup International Football 2019 title by defeating Neelamani English School, Manipur with 4-0 scores in the final held in Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. BKSP won this title for the 3rd time in a row – 2017, 2018 and 2019.Key points: The prize money of the tournament was  Rs.4,00,000 and the runner up (Neelamani English School )won Rs.2,50,000.
Note: It is one of the famous inter-school football tournament in India, named after the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. It is conducted by IAF, with Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. It started in 1960 and has been conducted every year annually.

3. Afghanistan’s all-rounder Mohammad Nabi to retire from test cricket: Afghanistan’s all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, aged 34, will retire from test cricket after the conclusion of ongoing test match against Bangladesh. He has played only 2 test matches for Afghanistan (25 runs & 4 wickets).i. He played for Afghanistan for 18 years. He played 121 ODIs- One Day Internationals (2,699 runs & 128 wickets), 68 T20Is- Twenty20 Internationals (1,161 runs with a highest score of 89 & 69 wickets). In the ICC (International Cricket Council) Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, he took 10 wickets in 9 matches.

4. Canada’s Bianca Andreescu Defeats Serena Williams to Win US Open 2019: In Tennis, Canadian teenage newcomer Bianca Andreescu defeated tennis superstar Serena Williams in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, at the 2019 US Open women’s final. This is the first Grand Slam title for the 19-year-old Bianca.

5. Charles Leclerc wins the Italian Grand Prix 2019: Monacan based Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) has won the Formula 1, Italian Grand Prix 2019. This is his second F1 win this season and came within a week of the first win. Earlier this week, Leclerc won the Belgian Grand Prix also. Valtteri Bottas finished second, Lewis Hamilton third, Daniel Ricciardo fourth and Nico Hülkenberg fifth.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI selects Daffodil Software Pvt Ltd for developing mobile app for visually impaired: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) selected Daffodil Software Pvt Ltd to develop a mobile phone based application for visually impaired people to identify currency notes. It informed the Bombay High Court that an internet connection would not be required for its proposed mobile application. The proposed mobile app will help to identify the denomination of notes of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (New) series by capturing the image of the notes placed in front of mobile camera. It will generate “audio notification” intimating the currency note denomination to the user if image is captured correctly, else intimating the user to try again in case of image is not readable.

2. ADB will provide $200 million loans to Maharashtra for rural road project: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $ 200 million (about Rs 1,400 crore) loan to upgrade about 2,100 kilometers of rural roads to all-weather standards in Maharashtra’s 34 districts for better connecting rural areas with markets and services. Under the project, a provision of contractual maintenance for 5 years following construction has also been provided. In addition to the loan amount, $1 million will be provided for institutional strengthening of the Maharashtra Rural Roads Development Association in areas such as road asset management, road safety, climate-resilient design and construction, and web-based real-time project monitoring.
Note: Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai; Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis; Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Modi Government to Honour Lata Mangeshkar with ‘Daughter Of The Nation’ Title On Her 90th Birthday: The Narendra Modi government will honour legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar with the ‘Daughter Of The Nation’ title on September 28, which will mark her 90th birth anniversary. The title will be conferred on Mangeshkar as a tribute to her contribution to Indian film music over seven decades.

OBITUARIES

1. Bollywood actor and renowned Kathak dancer Veeru Krishnan passed away: Bollywood actor and renowned Kathak dancer Veeru Krishnan has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He worked in many films such as “Ishq”, “Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke” and “Raja Hindustani”. He mostly appeared in supporting roles in the films in the 1990s. Besides being an actor, he was also a famous kathak dancer. Many Bollywood celebrities like Katrina Kaif, Athiya Shetty, Karanvir Bohra, and others were trained in Kathak by him.

2. Veteran Lawyer and Former Union Minister Ram Jethmalani Passes Away: Eminent lawyer and former Union Minister, Ram Jethmalani, passed away in Delhi due to old age illness. He was 95. He died six days before his 96th birthday, which falls on September 14. Jethmalani He was the highest paid lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He became the Chairman of the Bar Council of India in 2010. He had served as Law Minister of India and Minister of Urban Development during the prime ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.