Daily GK Updates - 4th October, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nationwide ‘Paryatan Parv 2019’ to promote tourism kicks off: The nationwide Paryatan Parv, 2019 kicked off to promote tourism in the country. The aim is to propagate the message of Dekho Apna Desh to encourage people to visit tourist destinations of the country and also spread the message of Tourism for All. This year’s event is dedicated to 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Tourism Ministry launches App “Audio Odigos” for 12 sites of India: Tourism Ministry has launched the Audio Guide facility “Audio Odigos” for 12 sites of India (including Iconic Sites) on the occasion of “Paryatan Parv 2019”.

Audio Guide: Audio Odigos, offers Government of India verified content, with visuals & voice over support. With Audio Odigos, tourists will now enjoy a more enriching experience and take back historical insights into the Indian culture and heritage. The Audio Odigos app contains an inbuilt map of the site for a smooth navigation during the tour. Listeners will be offered various versions of history like Synopsis, Detailed History and Podcasts. The audio can be chosen in their preferred language & version of history.

Note: Minister of State (I/C) of Tourism Ministery: Prahalad Singh Patel.

3. Meghalaya govt. signed agreement with Dalmia Cement:  The Meghalaya state government signed an agreement with Dalmia Cement a cement company, to make the state plastic-free by 2022. The objective of this agreement is to turn plastic waste into fuel for their cement plants and at the same time ensure that all the environmental standards are maintained. The agreement was signed during an official programme in Shillong to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Note: Meghalaya Capital: Shillong; Chief Minister: Conrad Sangma; Governor: Tathagata Roy

4. IRCTC to compensate passengers on delay of Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express: Passengers of IRCTC’s Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be compensated in case of delays, the Railway subsidiary, announcing a first of its kind offer from any national carrier. An amount of Rs 100 will be paid in case the delay is for over an hour and Rs 250 for delays of over two hours. This latest offer is in addition to the Rs 25 lakh free insurance that will be given to passengers of the train. This travel insurance also includes coverage of Rs 1 lakh against household theft and robbery during travel period of the passengers, again a first for those travelling onboard trains.

5. India’s first private train Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express flagged off: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off country’s first private train Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express started its maiden journey from Lucknow. It will be the first train of Indian Railways that will be entirely run by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The new Tejas Express will cover the distance between Delhi and Lucknow in six hours fifteen minutes. All passengers travelling by Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be provided free insurance of up to ₹25 lakh by IRCTC.

6. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative: Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik rolled out ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme which finds its roots in the Gandhian philosophy of giving people their voice in daily governance. The objective of ‘Mo Sarkar’ is to improve governance by collecting feedback on behaviour and professionalism displayed by the Government officers. “Mo Sarkar’ programme has been launched in 21 district headquarters hospitals and medical colleges at Cuttack, Sambalpur and Berhampur.

7. Uttarakhand CM launches awareness campaign ‘Urjagiri’ to stop power theft: Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat launched an awareness campaign “Urjagiri” which aims at stopping power theft and saving. The Chief Minister emphasised on the need to speed up the process for wider awareness to avoid power loss in Uttarakhand.

8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declares India open defecation-free: On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared India as Open Defecation Free (ODF). On 02nd October, the 'Swachh Bharat Divas' program was organized in Sabarmati, Ahmedabad where PM Modi announced the country to be open defecation free. During the event, the PM Modi released commemorative Rs 150 coins on Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. The status of Open Defecation Free (ODF) was achieved by India through the massive sanitation programme, Swachh Bharat Mission, under which, crores of toilets were built especially in poor households.

Note: Open defecation means defecating outside in the open environment and not in a designated toilet.

9. Sushil Chandra appointed as MD & CEO of Oil India Limited: Oil India Limited has appointed Sushil Chandra Mishra as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. He will replace Utpal Bora. Sushil Chandra Mishra started his professional journey as an executive trainee with OIL in 1984 and developed deep expertise in commercial matters. He also played a key role in framing and implementing procurement policies and procedures for inventory management, vendor development, framework agreement and its related strategies.

10. Tata Communications names Amur Lakshminarayanan as its MD and CEO: Digital infrastructure provider, Tata Communications has named Amur S Lakshminarayanan as Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer designate of the company. He comes with 35 years of experience in a broad range of leadership roles across industries and regions across the world. Prior to this appointment, Lakshminarayanan was President and CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Japan, Ltd. He also worked in the company as Global Head of Telecom, Media and Information Services, HiTech and Utilities, and Head of TCS UK (United Kingdom) and Europe.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM of India & Mauritius jointly inaugurated projects in Mauritius: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated 2 landmark projects in Mauritius via video conference. The 2 projects includes the phase-1 of the Metro Express and a new ENT Hospital. The Indian Government has granted $275 million for the Metro Express project and a grant of $14 million for the new Hospital Project. The grant was awarded as a special economic package for assisting five high-priority projects, which include the Metro Express project and a new ENT hospital.

2. Amrit Lugun appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Greece: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India was appointed Amrit Lugun as the next Ambassador of India to Greece. He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1989 batch. He will replace Shamma Jain.

Note: Capital of Greece: Athens; Currency of Greece: Euro.

3. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India notified that Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi was appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue, with residence in Wellington, New Zealand. He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1991 batch presently working as a High Commissioner of India to New Zealand. He will replace Sanjiv Kohli.

Note: Capital of Niue: Alofi; Currency: Niue dollar, New Zealand dollar.

4. Singapore is the world's smartest city: IMD Smart City Index:  According to the IMD Smart City Index, Singapore is the smartest city in the world. The first edition of the IMD Smart City Index 2019 ranks 102 cities worldwide. Zurich ranked second and Oslo is the third smartest city in the world. The other smartest cities in the list are Geneva (4th), Copenhagen (5th), Auckland (6th), Taipei City (7th), Helsinki (8th), Bilbao (9th) and Dusseldorf (10th). Indian city Hyderbad ranked 67 in the list, while the capital of India, New Delhi is the 68th smart city in the world. On the other hand, Mumbai is the 78th and Bengaluru is the 79th smart city in the world.

Note: The SCI is released by the IMD World Competitiveness Center’s Smart City Observatory, in partnership with Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). The index assesses a city’s efforts and success in embracing smart technologies to improve the lives of its citizens, thus being able to rate each city on a certain level of ‘smartness’.

5. Global Firepower Index: Indian military strongest in South Asia: In the Global Firepower's 2019 Military Strength Ranking, the Indian military has been ranked as the strongest military power in South Asia. While Pakistan has been ranked second and Bangladesh is ranked the third most powerful military power in South Asia. In the world ranking, the United States has topped the list, followed by Russia, and China. India has been ranked in 4th position, Pakistan at 15th, Myanmar at 37th, Afghanistan at 74th, Sri Lanka at 90th, Nepal at 120th, and Bhutan has been ranked at 137th- a least strong country in the world, as per the index. The military strengths of 137 countries in total have been considered in the GFP.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Abdul Quadir Khan Wins Silver Medal in Asian Body Building & Physique Sports Championship 2019: Maj Abdul Quadir Khan of the Corps of Signals has won the Silver medal at the 53rd Asian Body Building and Physique Sports Championship held at Batam, Indonesia. His accomplishment in the sport has brought glory to the Indian Army and Corps of Signals.

2. India gets its first-ever floating basketball court in Mumbai: The National Basketball Association installed India's first-ever floating basketball court in Mumbai. The basketball court set up in the Arabian Sea near the Bandra-Worli Sealink. India’s first NBA Game to be held in October. The first NBA game is scheduled to host from October 4 to October 5 in the SVP Stadium at Dome, NSCI, in Mumbai. The matches will be played under the Reliance Foundation Junior NBA program. Under this, the match will be played between the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers.

3. NBCC sign MoU with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to provide project management consultancy for the development of National Sports University at Imphal, Manipur. NBCC has bagged a Rs 400-crore contract to develop National Sports University.

Note: Manipur Capital: Imphal; CM: N. Biren Singh; Governor: Padmanabha Balkrishna Acharya.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI Fourth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Review 2019-20: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review reduced the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 5.15 percent from 5.40 percent with immediate effect. The MPC on its 4th bimonthly meeting has also decided to continue with an accommodative stance as long as it is necessary to revive growth while ensuring that inflation remains within the target. The key highlights of the bi-monthly monetary policy review is as follows:

The Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) reduced by 25 basis points to 5.15 percent from 5.40 percent with immediate effect.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands reduced to 4.90 percent.

The Bank Rate and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate are reduced to 5.40 percent.

Reserve Bank of India has also reduced the Real GDP Growth for 2019-20 from 6.9% to 6.1%.

The RBI kept reserved rates such as CRR and SLR unchanged at 4 percent and 18.75% percent respectively.

The RBI also retains retail inflation projection for the second half of year at 3.5-3.7%

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Kyrgyz human rights lawyer wins UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award: Azizbek Ashurov, A Kyrgyz human rights lawyer whose work has supported the efforts of the Kyrgyz Republic in becoming the first country in the world to end statelessness has been selected as the 2019 winner of the UN Refugee Agency’s Nansen Refugee Award. Azizbek Ashurov, through his organization Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders (FVLWB), has helped well over 10,000 people to gain Kyrgyz nationality after they became stateless following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Statelessness affects millions of people worldwide, depriving them of legal rights or basic services and leaving them politically and economically marginalized, discriminated against and particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

Note: UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award honours extraordinary service to the forcibly displaced. The award includes a commemorative medal and a US $150,000 monetary prize generously donated by the governments of Switzerland and Norway. In close consultation with UNHCR, the laureate uses the monetary prize to fund a project that complements their existing work.

UNHCR Founded: 14 December 1950; Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

2. Ben Stokes named PCA player of the year: England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been voted Professional Cricketers’ Association player of the year at the Professional Cricketers’ Association awards. All-rounder Stokes played a starring role in England’s maiden World Cup win before repeating his heroics to help salvage an Ashes draw with Australia. Tom Banton of Somerset picked up the PCA young player of the year, while England bowler Sophie Ecclestone collected the women’s player of the summer award. The 50th NatWest PCA Awards were held at the Roundhouse in Camden.

OBITUARIES

1. Padma Shri awardee HL Trivedi passes away: Renowned kidney transplant surgeon and Padma Shri recipient Dr H L Trivedi passed away. He was as an expert in handling kidney transplant surgeries and was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2015 for his contribution to the society as a nephrologist. He also established dialysis centre network in district hospitals across Gujarat with the help of the state government.