Daily GK Updates - 11th March, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. New Delhi hosts National Conference on Women in Police and CAPFs: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani has inaugurated the “National Conference on Women in Police and CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces)”. The national conference was held in New Delhi and was organized by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR & D). During the conference, a hand-out- ‘BPR & D Mirror- Gender Bender’ and a book titled “To Greater Heights” was also released by Smriti Irani.

2. GoI constitutes committee to decide modalities of Kisan Rail: The Union Government of India has constituted a committee to decide modalities of Kisan Rail. This committee has been formed under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare along with representatives of the Indian Railways. “Kisan Rail” is planned to be set up through the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode and will facilitate a cold supply chain to transport the perishable goods. It was proposed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech of 2020-21 to set up a seamless National Cold Supply Chain for perishables like fish, milk and meat.

Note: Union Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal.

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare: Narendra Singh Tomar.

3. Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in overall implementation of Poshan Abhiyan: Andhra Pradesh has been ranked 1st in the country for the overall implementation of Prime Minister’s Overreaching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyaan. The above ranking was released in a NITI Aayog’s report named as “Transforming Nutrition in India: POSHAN Abhiyaan”. The 2nd anniversary of POSHAN Abhiyaan is being recognized by celebrating Poshan Pakhwada from 8th-22nd March 2020. Tamil Nadu has topped the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the programme.

Note: Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy; Governor: Biswa Bhushan Harichandan; Capital: Amaravati.

4. Gujarat ranks 1st in domestic solar rooftop installations: Gujarat has topped the list for domestic solar rooftop installations with 64% of domestic solar installations. Nearly 50,915 systems being fixed on domestic rooftops in the State to achieve renewable power generation goals as on March 2, 2020. The State government of Gujarat has adopted a solar rooftop scheme “Surya Gujarat” to cover about eight lakh domestic electricity consumers under the scheme by 2022. Maharashtra stands on the second position with 5,513 installations as on the same date.

Note: Chief Minister of Gujarat: Vijay Rupani; Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat.

5. Govt suspends e-visa and existing visa's for France, Germany, Spain: The Union government has asked people to refrain from travelling to China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan, France, Spain and Germany. The Health Ministry advised them to avoid non-essential travel abroad. All passengers having travel history to China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany are advised to undergo self-imposed quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival.

6. Government Sets-up High level committee to prepare investigation manual for SFIO: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has set up a 12-member high level committee to prepare an investigation manual for probe agency Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). The panel would be chaired by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probes white-collar crimes such as wage theft, fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, labor racketeering, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery. The committee shall be responsible to devise a standard operating procedures and methodologies for the investigating officers for carrying out effective investigations in tune with provisions of relevant Acts.

7. CISF celebrated 51st raising day on 10th March: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) celebrated the 51st raising day on 10 March. The day was celebrated by CISF personnel and their families. On this day, the CISF was set up under an Act of the Parliament of India with a strength of 2,800 forces in 1969. CISF was subsequently made an armed force of the Republic of India by another Act of Parliament passed on 15 June 1983.

8. Culture Minister inaugurates an exhibition 'Jallianwala Bagh' in New Delhi: Culture  Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has inaugurated an exhibition titled 'Jallianwala Bagh' in New Delhi on 130th Foundation Day of National Archives of India (NAI). The exhibition is an endeavour to commemorate the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre covering a period from 1915 to 1950. The present exhibition is primarily presented with the help of original and digital copies of archival documents relating to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

Note: Chief Minister of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal; Lieutenant Governor: Anil Baijal.

9. Naveen Patnaik releases book titled “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat”: A comic book titled “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat’ has been released by the chief minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik on the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of former Odisha CM Late Biju Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The book is prepared by Kalinga Basis Belief and printed by New Delhi-based the Inventive Workshop, chronicles Biju’s childhood, his bicycle journey from Cuttack to Peshawar, his daredevilry as a pilot, his Kashmir mission function, his contribution for contemporary Odisha and Indian politics.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator” fund launched: “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator” is a new fund which has been launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard. The $125 Million fund has been launched to accelerate technologies to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and has been designed to identify, assess, develop and scale treatments to the COVID-19 disease outbreak. The fund aims to assess new and repurposed drugs and biologics to cure patients suffering from COVID-19 in the immediate term, and also capable of curing other viral pathogens in the future.

2. India remains second-largest arms importer in 2019: As per news report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India retains its position as the second-largest arms importer in the world followed by Saudi Arabia. The SIPRI report shows how Russia gradually lost the lucrative Indian arms market over the years, though the communist country remains a key supplier. On the other hand, China accounted for 51% of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2010-14 and for 73% in 2015-19. Pakistan was ranked at 11th position.

3. Joy Bangla to be national slogan of Bangladesh: The two-judge bench of High Court of Bangladesh has ordered that ‘Joy Bangla’ will be the national slogan of Bangladesh. The court also directed the authorities to ensure that teachers and students use the slogan after assembly. The government has been asked to submit the compliance report to the court within three months. ‘Joy Bangla’ was the main slogan during the liberation war of Bangladesh fought against Pakistan in 1971.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. PV Sindhu wins BBC Indian Sportswoman of Year Award: PV Sindhu has won the inaugural edition of BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Award for 2019. She was conferred the award during the BBC award ceremony held in New Delhi. She was nominated for the award along with four other contenders namely para-badminton player Manasi Joshi, boxer Mary Kom, sprinter Dutee Chand and wrestler Vinesh Phogat. BBC has also conferred former Indian sprinter PT Usha with the Lifetime Achievement award. She has been awarded for her contribution to Indian sports.

2. Mahim Verma to resign from BCCI VP: Mahim Verma will resign from the vice-president post of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Earlier, Mr.  Verma elected as the Uttarakhand Cricket Association (UCA) secretary. Mr. Verma was appointed as the BCCI's vice-president on October 23 last year.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. V Praveen Rao wins MS Swaminathan Award for the period 2017-2019: Telangana Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor V Praveen Rao has won the 7th Dr MS Swaminathan Award. He has won the award for the period 2017-2019. He has been awarded for his contributions in the fields of agricultural research, teaching, extension and administration. Praveen Rao handled 13 research & 6 consultancy projects on micro-irrigation in India, Israel and South Africa. This biennial national award was constituted by Retired ICAR Employees Association (RICAREA) and Nuziveedu Seeds Limited (NSL). It carries a prize of Rs. 2 lakh and a citation.

DEFENCE

1. Nupur Kulshrestha becomes 1st woman DIG of Indian Coast Guard: Nupur Kulshrestha becomes the first woman to be promoted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Indian Coast Guard. She joined Indian Coast Guard in 1999. The Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organization, conducting round-the-year real-life operations at sea and works in close coordination with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue (Customs) and the Central and State police forces.

Note: Director-General of Indian Coast Guard: Krishnaswamy Natarajan; Headquarters of Indian Coast Guard: New Delhi.

OBITUARIES

1. Swedish actor Max von Sydow passes away: Max von Sydow, the Swedish actor who was nominated for two Oscars during his career passed away. The actor featured in various films and TV series. Max Von Sydow was nominated for Oscars as best actor in 1988 for Pelle the Conqueror. He was also nominated for Academy awards in the category of best supporting actor for his role in movie “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”.