Daily GK Updates - 25th October, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Kovind visits Rajgir for Golden Jubilee celebration of Vishwa Shanti Stupa: President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated day long golden jubilee celebrations of Vishwa Shanti Stupa (World Peace Pagoda) in Rajgir, Bihar. More than 300 Buddhist monks, devotees and eminent personalities from Japan, Thailand, Srilanka, Bhutan, Nepal, US and other countries have arrived to take part in the function. During his brief visit, the President participate in prayers and also address the gathering at the venue.

Note: The Vishwa Shanti Stupa has completed 50 years of its establishment. Vishwa Shanti Stupa is situated on Ratnagiri hillock, constructed by Japanese Buddhist monk popularly known as Fujii Guruji in 1969. Ratnagiri hillock of Rajgir attaches important relation with Lord Buddha because after getting the enlightenment he spent a monastic life and preached his disciples at nearby Gridhakut Parvat.

2. First “Global Bio-India 2019” Summit to be held in New Delhi: The first-ever Global Bio-India 2019 Summit will be held at New Delhi (from 21 to 23 November 2019). It is for the first time that India will host a mega event for the biotech community to attract investments, showcase our indigenous strengths and more importantly fuel the hopes and aspirations of the indigenous talent pool. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India along with its Public Sector Undertaking, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is organizing this event.

3. BPRD releases “Data on Police Organizations (DoPO 2018)”: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy has released the Bureau of Police Research and Development’s flagship publication “Data on Police Organizations” (DoPO 2018) in New Delhi. The Data on Police Organisation in India is an important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and CPOs.

Major highlights of the DoPO 2018: There has been an increase of 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned strength of the State Police and 16,051 in the strength of CAPFs. There has been 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police which brings the total percentage of women in the Indian Police to 8.73%. Police Stations have increased from 15579 to 16422. This includes Cyber Police Stations whose number has risen from 84 to 120.

4. Chenani-Nashri Tunnel renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Tunnel: J&K’s Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, a 9 km-long tunnel that reduces the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 31 km has been renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Tunnel. The ‘Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel’ is not only India’s longest highway tunnel but also Asia’s longest bi-directional highway tunnel. The renaming of the tunnel aims to preserve Mukherjee’s heritage and memory as well as a tribute for his sacrifice for the nation.

5. Indian Railway launches One Touch ATVM: Indian Railways has launched ‘one touch ATVM’ at 42 suburban stations of Central Railway over Mumbai Suburban Network. The machine has been launched to render fast ticketing to millions of commuters. This new machine will reduce the waiting time of the passengers and allow passenger to avoid standing in long queues. The new machine is loaded with the user friendly procedure which will greatly ease the load on ticketing system of Mumbai Suburban Network. A total of 92 ATVMs has been installed at 42 suburban stations.

6. Yogi Adityanath to launch Kanya Sumangala Yojana: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has launched its flagship scheme Kanya Sumangla Yojna in Lucknow. The scheme will provide an amount of 15 thousand rupees in a phased manner to every family in which a girl child takes birth. The scheme has been designed in a way that parents have to take care of girl child’s health and education to get the benefit. Funds will be released in instalments when a girl child completes various achievements, like vaccination, admission in class 1, 5 and 9, graduation.

7. Ayurveda Day: 25th October: Government of India is celebrating 4th Ayurveda Day (Dhanvantari Jayanti) on 25th October 2019. The Ministry of Ayush has distributed “National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award” on National Ayurveda Day. The award comprises of trophy and cash reward of Rs 5 lakhs. Ayurveda Day is being celebrated as a part of the mission’s role in creating awareness about the medicines. Government has also upgraded a lot of Ayurvedic institutions as a part of AYUSH Mission.

8. Arvind Singh appointed the chief of Airports Authority of India: Senior IAS officer Arvind Singh has been appointed as the Chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI). The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a statutory body working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Senior IAS officer Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (1988-batch: Uttarakhand cadre) will head the National Highways Authority of India. The National Highways Authority of India (NIA) is an autonomous agency of the Government of India responsible for the management of a network of over 50,000 km of National Highways out of 1,15,000 km in India. Ganji Kamala V Rao has been named the chairman and managing director, India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Artist’s Day: 25th October: International Artist’s Day is being observed every year on October 25th to honour artists and all the contributions they make. The day also celebrates one of the most famous artists, Pablo Picasso. The Spanish artist was born on October 25th, 1881. Artists work hard to create their work. They add beauty to the world around us. Most artists work with many different mediums.

Note: Canadian artist, Chris MacClure started International Artist’s Day in 2004. Since then, October 25th has been a day dedicated to celebrating all the contributions artists have given to society.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. China to host the inaugural edition of expanded 24-team Club World Cup 2021: According to Gianni Infantino (FIFA president), China will host the inaugural edition of the expanded 24-team Club World Cup. Gianni Infantino (FIFA president) made the announcement after a meeting in Shanghai of the FIFA Council, the decision-making unit of football's world governing body. The FIFA Council has decided, unanimously, to appoint China as the host of the new FIFA World Cup for Clubs. The current Club World Cup features seven teams including the holders of the UEFA Champions League. Qatar will host the competition this year and in 2020.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. IRDAI forms working group to revisit the product structure of title insurance: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has set a 12 membered working group to revisit the product structure of title insurance. The panel will be headed by T L Alamelu.

Note: Title insurance is an insurance of indemnity. It basically provides indemnity to developers and the subsequent homeowners of the property against losses and risks related to defects in the title of the property.

2. IRDAI sets up panel to evaluate application under Regulatory Sandbox: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has set up an eight-member committee to evaluate applications filed under the Regulatory Sandbox approach to promote innovative ideas to foster growth in insurance sector. The committee will be headed by International Institute of Information Technology (Bangalore) Director S Sadagopan.

Note: Regulatory Sandbox (RS) refers to live testing of new products or services in a controlled/test regulatory environment for which regulators may permit certain relaxations for the limited purpose of testing.

3. ICICI Bank exits GST Network, sells entire 10% stake to 13 state govts: ICICI Bank which had 10% stake in GST Network, has sold its entire 10% stake to 13 state Governments. The stake sale is for aggregate cash consideration of Rs 1 crore. The bank will transfer 0.14 per cent stake to the Assam government and 0.81 per cent stake to the Telangana government. Besides, it will transfer Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal, Delhi, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh governments 0.82 per cent stake each. Presently, Central Government and State Government had a total of 49% stake in GSTN (with 24.5% stake of each) while the remaining 51% was divided between 5 private firms with, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and NSE Strategic Investment Co hold 10% each and LIC Housing Finance Ltd holding 11%.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Ilham Tohti Wins European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize 2019: The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. He has been awarded the Sakharov Prize for his attempts to “foster dialogue” between Chinese people and the Uighur. Ilham Tohti, who is from the Uighur minority, has been a fierce critic of China’s treatment of the Uighur people. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment in China for “separatism”. The outspoken former Professor of economics at a Beijing university was sentenced in 2014.

Note: Sakharov prize is named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. It was created in 1988 to honour individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.

OBITUARIES

1. Sports journalist and author K R Wadhwaney passes away: Veteran sports journalist and author K R Wadhwaney passed away at the age of 90 years. Wadhwaney was the Sports Editor of the Indian Express newspaper. He worked as a freelance writer for several Indian newspapers after his retirement.