Daily GK Updates - 25th February, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Polls to 55 Rajya Sabha seats on March 26: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing the schedule of polling for 55 Rajya Sabha seats spread over 17 States set to be vacated in April will be conducted on March 26. According to the schedule for the elections, the notification would be issued on March 6, the last date of filing of nominations would be March 13 and polling would be on March 26, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The votes would be counted at 5 p.m. on the same day.

Note: The Vice President of India: Venkaiah Naidu is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

2. Ministry of Corporate Affairs launches SPICe+ web form: ‘SPICe+’ Web Form (pronounced ‘SPICe Plus’) has been launched by Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA) to offer 10 services by 3 Central Government Ministries/ Departments and of State Government of Maharashtra in a single web form. The three department/govt ministries are- Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance. Apart from this, the forms of Maharashtra State Government would also be available on the SPICe+ web form. Registration for EPFO and ESIC shall be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated through SPICe+ and no EPFO & ESIC registration nos. shall be separately issued by the respective agencies.

3. Andhra Pradesh govt launched ‘Jagananna Vasthi Deevena’ scheme: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched a scheme named ‘Jagananna Vasthi Deevena’ for students pursuing various post-Intermediate courses to meet hostel and mess expenses.  The scheme would provide financial assistance of Rs 2,300 crore in total. In total, 11,87,904 students pursuing ITI, polytechnic, under-graduate and post-graduate education would benefit from the scheme.  ITI students would get Rs 10,000 each, polytechnic students would get Rs 15,000 and under-graduates and post-graduates Rs 20,000 each.  The students would get the amount in two installments directly in their bank accounts. They will get in February and July every year.

4. ‘Death: An Inside Story’ book released by Venkaiah Naidu: The Vice President of India Shri M Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled ‘Death- An Inside Story: A book for all those who shall’ authored by Jaggi Vasudev, but famously known as Sadhguru, Founder of Isha Foundation. The book was released on the occasion of Mahashivaratri celebrations at the Isha Yoga Center, Tamil Nadu, where Vice-President Naidu was the Chief Guest.

5. Mumbai Airport Launches World's Largest Temp-Controlled Facility: The Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has announced the launch of the world’s largest airport-based temperature-controlled facility known as the ‘Export Cold Zone’ for processing and storage of agro and pharma products. The exclusive terminal can hold over 700 tonnes of such cargo at one time with a combined annual capacity of 5.25 lakh tonnes. MIAL a joint venture between the GVK led consortium (74%) and Airports Authority of India (26%).

6. Abhay Kumar Singh appointed CMD of NHPC: Abhay Kumar Singh has been appointed as the Chairman & Managing Director of NHPC Limited. NHPC is an Indian Hydropower generation company headquartered in Faridabad and was established in the year 1975. It is a Mini Ratna company. Singh took charge in place of Ratish Kumar who was holding additional charge of the post of CMD in addition to Director (Projects) in NHPC.

7. First anniversary of National War Memorial being observed on 25 Feb: The first anniversary of the iconic National War Memorial is being observed on 25 February by paying tribute to those fallen soldiers who made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty during various wars and internal security challenges since Independence. The monument was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th February 2019. It is situated in the India Gate region of New Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigns: Mahathir Mohamad (94-year) has announced his resignation from the Malaysia's Prime Minister designation. He was the oldest serving Prime Minister in the world. He will work as an interim PM of Malaysia. It is not clear who will be the next prime minister. He has submitted his resignation to the king. He has also resigned from Bersatu, the political party of which he was chairman. Mahathir’s decision follows a weekend of political wrangling, after it was reported on Sunday night that his party was planning to form a new government that would exclude his successor, Anwar Ibrahim.

Note: Capital of Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur; Currency of Malaysia: Malaysian Ringgit.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. India will host Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in 2022: India will host the Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in January 2022. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced this decision after the Executive Board meeting in London. The two events will be held in Chandigarh in January 2022, while the Birmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduled from 27th of July to 7th of August, 2022.

2. ICC bans Oman cricketer Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi for 7 years: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman cricketer Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for seven years. He was involved in match-fixing. Al Balushi accepted four charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The charges are all related to the ICC men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019 held in the United Arab Emirates. Yousuf has not been an active Oman player for a few years after being named among the reserves for the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Note: Chairman of ICC: Shashank Manohar; Chief Executive: Manu Sahney; Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

3. 11-year-old Jiya Rai creates world record in open water swimming: Jiya Rai, the 11-year-old girl created a world record by becoming the youngest and the fastest specially-abled girl to swim 14 kilometres in open water in 3 hours 27 minutes and 30 seconds. This record creates under the supervision of the Swimming Association of Maharashtra.

Note: Chairman of Swimming Federation of India: Glenn Saldanha; Swimming Federation of India Headquarters: Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Swimming Federation of India established: 1948.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. NABARD Sanctions Rs 400.64 cr to Boost Infrastructure in J&K: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount of Rs 400.64 crore to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir for 2019-20 to give boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas. The funding is a part of the NABARD’s ‘Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) XXV’ which aims at enhancing rural infrastructure. The fund sanctioned includes:

Rs 209.87 crore – for construction of 82 rural roads and 03 bridges

Rs 143.66 crore – for implementation of 38 water supply schemes

Rs 47.11 crore – towards improving the Animal and Sheep Husbandry sectors

Note: Chairman of NABARD: Harsh Kumar Bhanwala; Headquarters of NABARD: Mumbai.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. United States Surpasses China to Become India’s top trading partner: According to the data by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, United States has surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner. The data showed that China was India’s top trading partner since 2013-14 till 2017-18. But in 2018-19, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at nearly 88 billion dollars, while during the same period, India’s trade with China was at 87.1 billion dollars. Similarly, during April-December 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India was 68 billion dollars against a nearly 65 billion dollars trade with China in the same period. Also, in 2018-19, India has a trade surplus of 16.9 billion dollars with America, while it has a deficit of 53.6 billion dollars with China.

Note: President of United States: Donald Trump; Capital: Washington, D.C.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

1. Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020 announced: Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020 announced in Mumbai, Maharashtra to Honour and appreciate the creativity & talent of Indian Film and Television Industry. Actor Ravi Dubey served as the host of the event. Hrithik Roshan bagged the Best Actor award for film “Super 30”. List of Winners:

Sr. No.	Award	Award Winner
1	Best Film	Super 30
2	Best Actor	Hrithik Roshan (Super 30)
3	Most Promising Actor	Kiccha Sudeep
4	Best Actor in Television SeriesBest Actor in Television Series	Dheeraj Dhoopar
5	Best Actress in Television	Divyanka Tripathi
6	Most Favourite Television Actor	Harshad Chopda
7	Most Favourite Jodi in Television Series	Sriti Jha and Shabbir Ahluwalia (Kumkum Bhagya)
8	Best Television Series	Kumkum Bhagya
9	Best Playback Singer Male	Armaan Malik
10	Best Reality Show	Bigg Boss 13

2. Adline Castelino wins Miss Diva Universe 2020: Adline Castelino has been crowned as the winner of LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 competition at an event held in Yash Raj Films Studios, Mumbai, Maharashtra. She hails from Mangalore and will be representing the country at Miss Universe later this year. Aavriti Choudhary (Jabalpur) crowned as LIVA Miss Diva Supranational 2020 and Neha Jaiswal was selected as the Runner-up for LIVA Miss Diva 2020.

OBITUARIES

1. Former Lok Sabha MP Krishna Bose passes away: Former Lok Sabha MP Krishna Bose passed away. Krishna Bose was the wife of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s nephew Sisir Kumar Bose was serving as the chairperson of Netaji Research Bureau. She was a revered social reformer, renowned poet & a courageous educationalist. Krishna Bose was also elected as MP for 3 times from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat in 1998 and 1999 on TMC ticket and on congress ticket in 1996.