Daily GK Updates - 14th October, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi Chaired Meeting on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ Programme: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the meeting on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ programme in New Delhi. The programme aims at enhancing interaction between people of different cultures from all the states and Union Territories. It is a personal initiative of PM Modi, highlighting India’s cultural diversity in unity and also aims to develop perspective on important issues and help in celebrating the nation’s regional culture. The programme was first announced during the Rashtriya Ekta Divas on October 31, 2015 on the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the first deputy prime minister of India who worked for the nation’s unity. Initiative on Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was announced by the then finance minister Shri Arun Jaitley during the 2016-17 budget speech.

2. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Launches SUMAN Scheme For Pregnant: The union health and family welfare minister Shri Harsh Vardhan launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) scheme during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCCHFW) in New Delhi, to provide free maternity healthcare benefits.  Website for SUMAN and grievance redressal portal was also launched during the event. The aim of this scheme is to bring down mortality in infants and maternal mortality in the country.

Note: CCHFW: It is an advisory body under Article 263 of the Constitution to advise the Department of Health (DoH), health and family welfare ministry on formulating health policies.

The first CCHFW meeting was held in 1998. All Central Council meetings held from the year 1988 up to 2010, were digitized by health & family welfare ministry in collaboration with the WHO Country Office for India.

3. 10th National Cultural Festival begins in Madhya Pradesh: 10th edition of the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav-National Cultural Festival is being organized by the Union Ministry of Culture from 14th to 21st of October under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ campaign in Madhya Pradesh. The National Cultural festival will display diverse forms of folk, art and culture of 22 states. The concept of National Cultural Festival was conceived in the year 2015.

Note: nion Minister of State for Culture and Tourism: Prahlad Singh Patel.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BRICS culture ministers’ meeting 2019 held in Curitiba, Brazil: Prahlad Singh Patel, the Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent charge) has participated in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Culture Ministers’ meeting 2019 held in Curitiba, Brazil. BRICS for India is a valuable platform for consultation, coordination and cooperation on contemporary global issues of mutual interest and the member countries have witnessed cultural cooperation reach new heights. A similar program called ‘Bonding Regions & Imagining Cultural Synergies’ is being organized by the National Gallery of Modern Art of India during November-December, 2019 under the aegis of BRICS Alliance of Museums and Art Gallerie.

2. Typhoon Hagibis strikes northern Japan: Typhoon Hagibis strikes Tokyo, capital of Japan after fierce rain and wind paralysed the capital. The cyclone Hagibis which caused floods, landslides and emergency disaster warnings, could be the strongest to hit Tokyo since 1958. Authorities issued evacuation advisories and orders for more than 6 million people across the country as the storm unleashed the heaviest rain and winds in years. Train operators has suspended bullet train services extensively. “Hagibis” means “speed” in the Philippine language Tagalog.

Note: Japan Capital: Tokyo; Currency: Japanese yen; PM: Shinzo Abe.

3. World Standards Day: 14 October: World Standards Day (or International Standards Day) is celebrated internationally each year on 14 October. The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardization to the global economy. The 2019 theme for WSD is “Video Standards Create a Global Stage”. In 1946 in London, the day October 14 was chosen to celebrate the WSD. The first world standards day was celebrated in 1970 by Mr. FarukSünter, the then President of ISO.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Manju Rani wins silver medal in World Women’s Boxing C’ships: Manju Rani settled for silver medal in World Women’s Boxing Championships at Ulan-Ude in Russia. Russian Ekaterina Paltceva defeated Rani 4 -1 in the 48-kilogram category in the final match of the tournament.

2. Overview of 9th YONEX Dutch Open 2019 held at Topsportcentrum in Almere, Netherlands: The YONEX Dutch Open 2019 was held at Topsportcentrum in Almere, Netherlands from October 8-13, 2019. It was the 9th Super 100 tournament of the 2019 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour and also part of the Dutch Open championships. It was organized by the Badminton Nederland, sanctioned by the BWF. The total prize money of the tournament was $75,000.

List of Winners:

Category	Winner	Runner
Men’s Singles	Lakshya Sen (India)	Yusuke Onodera (Japan)
Women’s Singles	Wang Zhiyi (China)	Evgeniya Kosetskaya (Russia)
Men’s Doubles	Vladimir Ivanov & Ivan Sozonov (Russia)	Mark Lamsfuss & Marvin Emil Seidel (Germany)
Women’s Doubles	Gabriela Stoeva & Stefani Stoeva (Bulgaria)	Rin Iwanaga & Kie Nakanishi (Japan)
Mixed Doubles	Robin Tabeling & Selena Piek (Netherlands)	Chris Adcock & Gabby Adcock (England)

3. Simone Biles breaks the record for most world medals won by any gymnast: American artistic gymnast Simone Biles (22-years) captures all-time medal record at the World Gymnastics Championship. Biles surpassed Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo's record 23 world medals (won in the 1990s), winning “her 24th and 25th world medals (both gold) at the World Championship competition in Stuttgart. Now, Simone Biles holds the record for the most World Championship medals (25), as well as the most gold medals (19) in World Championship history for an athlete of any gender.

4. Dutee Chand breaks her own national record: Star sprinter Dutee Chand (23-years) smashed her own national record in the women’s 100 m semi-finals at the National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi. She surpassed her previous timing of 11.26 second (clocking -11.22 seconds) which she had set at the Asian Championships in April this year. Dutee clocked 11.25 seconds in the final to claim the gold, leaving Archana Suseendran and Himashree Roy behind.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. ICICI Bank launches new FD scheme called “FD health”: Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI Bank) launched a new Fixed deposit (FD) scheme called “FD health” which provides investors a complimentary critical illness cover on 33 critical illnesses for the customers who are in the age bracket of 18-50 years. For the first year, free of cost insurance cover will be provided which can be renewed later. Critical illness cover of Rs 1 lakh from ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company will be provided on opening an FD of Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh for tenure of at least 2 years. Earlier, ICICI Bank had launched FD Life (FD offering a free term life insurance) and FD Invest where interest from FDs is invested in monthly Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) of a mutual fund.

Note: ICICI Bank: Headquarters: Mumbai; MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi

2. World Bank cuts growth forecast to 6% from 7.5%: As per reports on South Asia, The World Bank (WB) has sharply lowered India's economic growth projection for FY 20 to 6%. (earlier estimate -7.5%). The report identified softening consumption due to slow growth in rural incomes, domestic demand and credit from NBFCs as a key challenge. Structural factors behind the weak investment were the other concern flagged by the World Bank. Bangladesh (this fiscal year-7.2%) has become the second-fastest growing economy in South Asia after Bhutan.

India’s Growth forecast:

Major credit rating agencies	GDP growth (now)	GDP growth (earlier)
Moody’s	5.8	6.8
OECD	5.9	7.2
World Bank	6	7.5
RBI	6.1	7.2
ADB	6.5	7.2

AWARDS & HONOURS

1. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer jointly awarded 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) awarded the Sveriges Riksbank (Nobel) Prize in Economic Sciences 2019 in the memory of Alfred Nobel jointly to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to reduce global poverty. Mumbai-born American Banerjee & French-American Duflo are from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, United States of America (USA) and American Michael Kremer is from Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. Duflo became the second female economics winner in the prize’s 50-year history (after Elinor Ostrom in 2009) and she is the youngest to receive the award at the age of 46. The trio will share a prize money of 9 million Swedish krona.

DEFENCE

1. 10th edition of Indo-US joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar 2019 ‘ begins in Seattle, US: The joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ between India and the US (United States) begins at Seattle’s (in Washington, US) Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). This is the 10th edition of the joint exercise, which will run until 28 October 2019. It is held alternately in India and America. In 2018, the practice took place in Jaipur, Rajasthan. A 45-member Special Forces contingent of the Indian Army has reached the US to participate in this military exercise on behalf of India. Earlier on September 19, 2019, soldiers from both countries underwent joint military training exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas 2019‘ at the Lewis-McCord base. During the exercise, the US Army played the tune of ‘Jana Gana Mana’.

OBITUARIES

1. Sara Danius, First female head of Nobel’s Literature Award Body Passes Away: Sara Danius, the first women head of the prestigious Swedish body that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, has passed away. She was 57. A literature critic, professor and writer, Ms. Danius was elected to a lifetime position on the Swedish Academy’s board in 2013. She became the body’s first female permanent secretary in 2015 and resigned the position in 2018.