Daily GK Updates - 12th Oct, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Amit Shah inaugurates 14th Annual Convention of CIC: Home Minister Amit Shah has inaugurated the 14th annual convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC) in New Delhi. All the present and former Chief Information Commissioners, Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission, State Information Commission, RTI activists and NGOs associated with the implementation of the RTI Act will attend the Convention. The convention has three sessions: Gandhian thought and RTI, RTI as a tool for effective governance, and challenges ahead.

Note: The Central Information Commission (CIC) is the authorised body (established in 2005), under the Government of India to act upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer. The Chief Information Commissioner of India: Sudhir Bhargava

2. Govt collaborates with IIM Bangalore to launch Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship: The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced its partnership with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore to launch a new programme 'Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship'. The two-year Fellowship programme will be delivered by IIMB’s Centre of Public Policy (CPP). The programme will be launched on a pilot basis in Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Those who have a graduate degree from a recognised university and are citizens of India in the age group of 21-30 years will be eligible to apply for it.

3. PM Modi’s new aircraft with missile defence systems will land in June 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two brand-new special aircraft that will reach India next year may be placed under the Indian Air Force rather than Air India. The two long-haul Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are being customised at Boeing’s Dallas facility and are expected to arrive in New Delhi on June 2020. Missile defence systems that will make the aircraft as secure as the Boeing 747-200B used by US President Donald Trump. It will be India’s first dedicated aircraft for the three dignitaries - the President, Vice President and Prime Minister.

4. Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board organizes City Walk Festival in 11 cities: Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has organized a month-long City Walk Festival in 11 cities (from 12th October to 10th November). The City Walk Festival organized in Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Panna, Vidisha, Khajuraho, Chanderi, Jabalpur, Burhanpur and Orchha. In a unique way to promote tourism, local, national and international tourists of all age groups is participating in the festival.

More than 100 city walks organized during the festival on subjects including art, culture, heritage, food, textile, photography and spiritualism. In this festival, the tourists will be acquainted with the rich heritage, natural beauty, glorious history, traditions and ancient heritage of the Madhya Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India to extend over $60 mn line of credit to Comoros: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has signed an MoU with the island nation Comoros. As per MoU, India will extend over $60 mn line of credit to Comoros for Energy and Maritime Defence Cooperation. The Line of Credit consists of over USD 41.6 million for setting up of 18 MW Power Plant in Moroni and another USD 20 million for the procurement of High-Speed Interceptor Boats. The Vice President was also conferred ‘The Order of the Green Crescent’, the highest Civilian Honour of Comoros, by Azali Assoumani, President of Comoros in Moroni.

Note: Comoros Capital: Moroni; Currency: Comorian franc

2. 7th Edition of C40 World Mayors Summit 2019 Held In Copenhagen, Denmark: Climate Leadership Group C40, the group of major international cities that have banded together around making sustainable changes in transportation, energy use, and consumption held its 7th edition of C40 world mayors Summit 2019 at Copenhagen, Denmark from October 9- 12, 2019 with the aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve climate resilience.

Kolkata state Government has received the prestigious “6th C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards 2019 ” for the city’s green mobility at C40 World Mayor Summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has been selected among 7 winners announced by the Bloomberg Philanthropies, which celebrated the best projects across seven categories that define 2019 theme, ‘The Future We Want’.

C40: It has convened six Mayors Summits, hosted by London (2005), New York (2007), Seoul (2009), Sao Paulo (2011), Johannesburg (2014) and Mexico City (2016). C40 Cities connects more than 90 of the world’s leading cities to take bold climate action and build a healthier and more sustainable future.

Note: Denmark Capital: Copenhagen; Currency: Danish krone; Prime minister: Mette Frederiksen

3. India-China 2nd Informal Summit begins in Tamil Nadu: The 2nd “India-China Informal Summit” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping begins at Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. The 1st summit took place in Wuhan in the wake of the Doklam crisis in April, 2018.

4. World Migratory Bird Day: 12 October: World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) 2019 is being observed on 12th October (second Saturday of October). The WMBD is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds. Theme for 2019: ‘Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution!’

5. NASA launched ICON space weather satellite to study earth’s ionosphere: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) space weather satellite from Northrop Grumman’s L-1011 Stargazer aircraft, with the company’s Pegasus XL rocket attached beneath, from the Skid Strip runway at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. Ionospheric is the layer of the earth’s atmosphere that contains a high concentration of ions and free electrons and is able to reflect radio waves. It will study the dynamic zone in an atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above for 2 years. The cost of the satellite is $253 million, which weighs as much as a vending machine was built by Northrop Grumman.

Note: NASA Headquarters: Washington DC; Administrator: Jim Bridenstine; Launch director: Omar Baez

6. Bill Gates’ new book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need”: The founder of Microsoft Corporation and American philanthropist Bill Gates’ new book titled “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” will be released on June 2020. It will be published by UK-based Allen Lane publishers. The book is about climate change and the possible solutions to prevent an environmental crisis.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Mary Kom settles for bronze at World Women’s Boxing Championships: Mary Kom Settles for Bronze (in 51-kg division) medal after Losing Intense Semi-final at Women's World Boxing Championships 2019 in Russia. She lost her semi-final bout against Turkey's Buse naz Cakirogllu. The 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships are held in Ulan-Ude, Russia.

2. 1st India Sports Summit held in New Delhi: Minister of State for Youth and Sports Kiren Rijiju inagurated 1st India Sports Summit 2019 in New Delhi. He also underlined the need to induce a national sporting culture with the aim to make India a sporting powerhouse at the event. He also announced that a ‘Fit India’ mission office would be set up, with the help of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), to promote the aforementioned goals.

3. Jasprit Bumrah appointed as a brand ambassador of Cultsport: Bengaluru (Karnataka)-headquartered health and wellness start-up company curefit announced the appointment of Indian cricket player Jasprit Bumrah as the brand ambassador for its sportswear brand “cultsport”. As per the recently released International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s ODI (One Day International) Player Rankings 2019, Bumrah retained the top position in the bowler rankings.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Forbes India Rich List 2019: The business magazine Forbes has released “The Forbes India Rich List 2019” which has been topped by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani with net worth of $51.4 billion. Mukesh Ambani remained the richest Indian for the 12th year in a row. Industrialist Gautam Adani jumped 8 spots on the list to become the 2nd richest Indian with net worth of $15.7 billion. Overall, the total wealth of tycoons on the 2019 Forbes India Rich List decreased 8% to $452 billion from a year ago (2018).

5 of the Richest Indians in Forbes India Rich List 2019 are:

Rank	Name	Industry	Net Worth ($ bln)
1	Mukesh Ambani	Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)	51.4
2	Gautam Adani	Adani Ports & SEZ (Special Economic Zone)	15.7
3	Hinduja brothers	Ashok Leyland	15.6
4	Pallonji Mistry	Shapoorji Pallonji Group	15
5	Uday Kotak	Kotak Mahindra Bank	14.8

AWARDS & HONOURS

1. Ashleigh Barty wins ‘The Don’ Award: Ashleigh Barty has been awarded Australian sport’s highest individual honour ‘The Don’ Award at the annual Sport Australia Hall of Fame. With the award, she has joined legends like Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe in lifting the prestigious prize. Barty was the first Australian to win the French Open in 46 years and is now aiming to become the first Australian woman to end the season with the No.1 ranking since Margaret Court in 1973.

2. GOPIO honored 3 Indian-Americans with Health Council Award 2019 for contribution in the health sector: An International body named Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), presented the Health Council Award 2019 during the GOPIO health summit in New Jersey, United States (US), to people who have contributed in the health sector. The summit aims at improving the health of Indian diaspora people across the world. Among other awardees, 3 Indian Americans were awarded the Health Council Award. The GOPIO also honoured US-based firm Sabinsa Corporation, by Indian-origin Muhammed Majeed, for its achievement and contributions in the health supplements sector.

 Indian-American Awardees:

Name	Field	Awarded category
Rahul Shukla	Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of S S White Technologies and Shukla Medical, US.	Manufacturing of the latest medical equipment.
Hitesh Bhatt	CEO of Bhatt Foundation Inc, US.	Healthcare technology category.
H R Shah	Chairman and CEO of TV Asia,	Promoting health awareness among the Indian diaspora.

DEFENCE

1. 2nd version of India- Bangladesh maritime exercise CORPAT 2019 begins: The 2nd edition of Indian Navy (IN) –Bangladesh Navy (BN) Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) 2019 has been held in Northern Bay of Bengal from October 10-11, 2019 with the participation of INS (Indian Naval Ship ) Ranvijay, a guided-missile destroyer and INS Kuthar, an indigenously built missile as well as BNS (Bangladesh Naval Ship) Ali Haider, a Type 053 frigate and BNS Shadinota, a Type 056 stealth guided missile corvette. This 2-day CORPAT will be followed by the maiden edition of bilateral exercise between the navies at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh from October 12 to 16, 2019, which would additionally embrace air familiarisation of Bangladesh Navy aircrew and a 10-day training exercise between Indian Navy Marine Commandos and BN SWADS (Special Warfare Diving and Salvage). The India Bangladesh CORPAT commenced in 2018.

Note: Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Bangladeshi taka; Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina

OBITUARIES

1. Russian astronaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space passes away: Russian astronaut Alexei Leonov, who walked for the first time in space in 1965, died in Moscow, Russia after a long illness. He was 85. Leonov, the first human to walk in space. Born on 30 May 1934, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, the Soviet cosmonaut was a close friend of Yury Gagarin, the first person reached space in 1961. Four years later, in March 1965, Leonov and his other partner Pavel Belyayev flew to space under the Voskhod 2 mission. During this mission, on 18 March 1965, Leonov exited the spacecraft and walked for 12 minutes and nine seconds. Mr. Leonov described by the Russian Space Agency as Cosmonaut No. 11, was awarded the country’s highest honor ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’. Leonov led the Russian Soyuz vehicle in the Soyuz-Apollo mission sent in July 1975. This was the first joint space mission of the US (United States) and Russia.