Daily GK Updates - 4th January, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. MEA sets up new emerging and strategic technologies (NEST): The External affairs ministry announced the setting up of new emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division. The division will work to increase investment coordination among the states of the country and also with the foreign countries. NEST will act as the nodal division within the ministry for issues pertaining to new and emerging technologies. It will help in collaboration with foreign partners in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence. The division will also hold responsibility for matters that involve negotiations with multilateral fora like the United Nations, G20. This will help to safeguard India’s interests as such forums govern the rules of access to such technologies.

Note: Union Minister of External Affairs: Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

2. Labour Ministry to launch 'Santusht' portal for the speedy resolution of grievances: The labour ministry has announced to launch a new portal 'Santusht' for the speedy redressal of workers as well as employer grievances and ensuring effective implementation of labour laws at the grassroots level. Initially, ‘Santusht’ would monitor all services provided by retirement fund body EPFO and health insurance and services provider ESIC to formal sector workers. Later, the portal would cover other wings of the ministry as well. It would also have data on a real-time basis to assess the performance of each and every official. Workers and employers can lodge their complaints on the portal, which would be managed by an internal monitoring cell comprising five to six officers.

3. Gujarat CM unveils world’s 2nd tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani unveils world’s 2nd tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the world at Ahmedabad. 50 feet tall bronze statue with a weight of 70 thousand kilograms has been unveiled at the Sardardham campus near Vaishnodevi Circle in Ahmedabad. The statue of Sardar Patel has also been designed by Padma Bhusan Ram V. Sutar, the same sculptor who had designed the Statue of Unity.

Note: Gujarat CM: Vijay Rupani; Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat; Capital: Gandhinagar.

4. ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative launched by the Maharashtra Government: Maharashtra Government has launched a ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative to ensure that women and children do not fall prey to these cyber-criminal activities. Under the initiative, various awareness camps will be held across all the districts of the state regarding cyber safety to help in educating women about how the web is used by anti-social elements and child predators to commit various types of crimes. The initiative has been launched to mark the 189th birthday of Savitribai Phule (19th-century social reformer).

Note: Maharashtra CM: Uddhav Thackeray; Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari; Capital: Mumbai.

5. Abhinav Kumar gets extension as BSF IG: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal of Ministry of Home Affairs for extending the deputation tenure of IPS Abhinav Kumar, Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF), up to June 27, 2021, in relaxation of IPS Tenure Policy.

Note: BSF formed: 1 December 1965; DG BSF: V K Johri.

6. Indian Railways launches integrated helpline number 139 for passengers: The Indian Railways has integrated its helpline numbers into a single number 139 for quick grievance redressal and enquiries by passengers during their train journeys. The new helpline number 139 will take over all the existing helpline numbers. It will be easy for passengers to remember this number and connect with Railways for all their needs during train travel. The Helpline 139 will be available in twelve languages. A call can be made on this number from any mobile phone and not just smartphones, thus, providing easy access to all mobile users.

7. KVIC opens 1st silk processing plant in Gujarat: The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) opened its first “Patola Saree” silk processing plant at Surendranagar in Gujarat. The aim of the plant is to make silk readily available to Patola saree manufacturers to boost its production. Patola is the trademark saree of Gujarat. They are highly expensive and were once worn only by royal aristocratic families. The Patola silk was founded by the Salvi caste (Scheduled) in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. They moved to Gujarat in the 12th century in order.

Note: Gujarat CM: Vijay Rupani; Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat; Capital: Gandhinagar.

8. PM Modi Launches Braille Version of his Book ‘Exam Warriors’: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Braille version of his book Exam Warriors on World Braille Day on 04 January 2020. The book is a guide to bust examination related stress, and has illustrations, activities and yoga exercises The braille version is in both Hindi as well as English.

9. India’s Malavath Poorna scales Antarctica’s Highest Peak: Indian mountaineer Malavath Poorna, the youngest girl to have climbed the world’s highest mountain Mt. Everest 5 years ago, accomplished another feat by conquering Mt. Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain peak (4,987 mts). With this, the 18-year-old becomes the first and youngest tribal woman in the world to set foot on the six tallest mountain peaks across six continents. She has already scaled Mt Everest (Asia, 2014), Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa, 2016), Mt. Elbrus (Europe, 2017), Mt. Aconcagua (South America, 2019), Mt. Cartsnez (Oceania region, 2019), and now Mt. Vinson Massif (Antarctica, 2019).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Iran names Esmail Qaani as new Commander: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace Qasem Soleimani as its commander. Soleimani was killed in a pre-dawn US strike in Baghdad. Qaani was one of the most decorated commanders of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Note: Iran Capital: Tehran; Currency of Iran: Rial; President of Iran: Hassan Rouhani.

2. WHO designated 2020 as “Year of Nurse and Midwife”: In the honour of 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization designated the year 2020 as the “Year of Nurse and Midwife”. This year, WHO is to focus on nursing and midwifery in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage. The organization is leading the development of “World Nursing Report” that is to be launched in 2020. The report is first of its kind. The year is being dedicated to the midwifery as well as WHO is also a partner of The State of the World’s Midwifery Campaign.

Note: WHO Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland, Director general: Tedros Adhanom.

3. Hillary Clinton appointed as the new chancellor of Queen's University Belfast in Ireland: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been appointed the new chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland for a five-year term. She became the university's first female chancellor. The position of chancellor has been vacant since the death in 2018 of Thomas J Moran, chairman, president, and chief executive of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

4. World Braille Day: 4 January: The World Braille Day is observed across the world every year on 4th January to mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. He was the inventor of Braille script or Braille code. It is celebrated since 2019 to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people. Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired.

Note: Braille users can read computer screens and other electronic supports thanks to refreshable braille displays. People can write braille with the original slate and stylus or type it on a braille writer, such as a portable braille notetaker (or computer) that prints with a braille embosser.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Cristiano Ronaldo Wins Best Men’s Player of the Year at Dubai Globe Soccer Awards 2019: Cristiano Ronaldo won the Best Men’s Player of the Year award at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai. Ronaldo has won the award six times out of its nine years of its existence. England international Lucy Bronze was crowned Best Women’s Player of the Year. The 2019 Awards were presented in 16 different categories.

Note: The Globe Soccer Awards are the annual awards given for excellence in football, organised by the EFAA (European Association of Player’s Agents) and the ECA (European Club Association).

2. Manav Thakkar becomes world no.1 in ITTF rankings: Indian paddler Manav Thakkar became world no.1 in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings in the Under-21 men’s singles category. With this, Thakkar became the fourth Indian to achieve the feat after Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan and Soumyajit Ghosh. Manav Thakkar achieved the top spot after clinching the Under-21 men’s singles title at the ITTF Challenge Plus Benemax-Virgo North American Open in Markham, Canada. He was also worlded no. 1 in the Under-18 category in February 2018. He was part of the Indian men’s team which won a bronze medal in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Note: President of ITTF: Thomas Weikert; Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland; Founded: 1926.

3. 4th All India Police Judo Cluster Championship 2019: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, inaugurating the 4th All India Police Judo Cluster Championship 2019, in New Delhi. The 4th All India Police Judo Cluster Championship organized this year by CRPF is being attended by 34 participating teams consisting of 1207 sportspersons from across the country, with a total of 15 Trophies and 214 Medals, including one Medal for the Best Gymnast, in contention. Earlier, this cluster has been organized by Sashtra Seema Bal (SSB) in 2016, West Bengal Police in 2017 and Odisha Police in 2018.

Note: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs: Nityanand Rai.

DEFENCE

1. General Bipin Rawat proposes the creation of Air Defence Command: Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has directed various branch heads to come up with recommendations for inter-service synergy and jointness in a time-bound manner. He also directed that a proposal to create Air Defence Command be prepared by 30th of June this year. Earlier, General Rawat held a meeting with important functionaries of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff on Wednesday. Some of the areas identified for jointness and synergy include the creation of common logistics support pools in stations where two or more services have their presence. Emphasizing collegiate system of functioning, General Rawat directed that all three services and Coast The Chief of the Defence Staff stressed that all must work towards accomplishing desired results and coming up with healthy views and ideas.