Daily GK Updates - 21st March, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Kerala all set to get tribal instructors for increasing literacy rate: In a first, Kerala government will rope in qualified tribal instructors to impart literacy in their respective settlements in a bid to improve literacy rates among tribal populations. The instructors will teach people who are above 15 years of age, Director of Kerala literacy mission PS Sreekala said. Around 370 instructors for 100 villages have been appointed for the initiative. 
Need to know:  Kerala has the second highest literacy rate(93.91 Percent) among the states of India just after Tripura (94.65%) Himachal Pradesh underwent a "Schooling Revolution" in the 1961–2001. Kerala has led the nation in literacy rates since the 19th century and seen sustained initiatives for over 150 years, whereas Himachal Pradesh's literacy rates in 1961 were below the national average in every age group. Have a look to the India’s literacy rate. compared to the world.

 

Country	Literacy rate
	Adult	youth
China	96.40%	99.70%
Sri Lanka	92.60%	98.80%
Myanmar	93.10%	96.30%
World Average	86.30%	91.30%
India	72.10%	90.20%

2.Agreement for Skill Development Programme for 690 Krishi Vigyan Kendra: The ministries of agriculture and skill development signed an agreement to conduct training programmes for agriculture and allied sectors at 690 Krishi Vigyan Kendras. The aim is to intensify the pace of skill development in 690 Krishi Vikas Kendras country-wide by training agricultural workforce.

Need to know:  Agriculture Minister - Radha Mohan Singh

3.   106th Indian Science Congress (ISC) to be held in Bhopal: General President-elect Manoj Kumar Chakrabarti announced that the 106th edition of the Indian Science Congress will be held in January 2019 at Barkatullah University Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The theme for 2019 ISC will be “Future India: Science & Technology”.
Need to know: 105th Indian Science Congress was held at Imphal.

4. Shri Atul M. Gotsurve appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:  Shri Atul M. Gotsurve (IFS: 2004), currently Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly. Moon Jae-in is the president of South Korea.

5.   The Union Home Ministry has given its approval to rename Robertsganj railway station in UP as Sonbhadra: This is the second railway station in the state to be renamed within a year, with the first one being the Mughalsarai railway station that was renamed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay station in August 2017. Station falls under the North-Central zone of the Indian Railways’ Allahabad division.

6.  “Delhi’s Date with Democracy” - Delhi launched app to find singing talent:   The Delhi government launched a mobile app called “Delhi’s Date with Democracy”. It’s aim is to allow applicants from all parts of the city to showcase their talent. “There is no age limit and interested candidates can start sending their entries in both categories- singing and dancing, from tomorrow onwards,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

7.  The world’s longest sandstone cave called ‘Krem Puri’, which is 24,583 metres long has been discovered in Meghalaya:  This underground cave is more than 6,000 metres longer than the world record-holder, the ‘Cueva Del Saman’ in Edo Zulia, Venezuela — a quartzite sandstone cave measuring 18,200 metres. The cave system has fossils of dinosaurs, that lived 66-76 million years ago.

8.   President Ram Nath Kovind gave away prestigious Padma awards to 89 winners at Rashtrapati Bhawan:  Ilaiyaraja got Padma Vibhushan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is among the nine Padma Bhushan recipients. Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan are the second and third highest civilian awards of the country respectively.

9. The Government of India has approved the setting up of a ‘Plastic Park’ in Deoghar District in Jharkhand:  A range of polymer products including woven sacks, moulded furniture, water tanks, bottles, pipes mosquito nets, etc would be manufactured in this plastic park. A plastic recycling unit will also be set up at Deoghar to tackle the menace of plastic waste.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  G20 ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires: The 1st G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank governors began on 19th March in Buenos Aires, with the presence of 57 delegations from countries and institutions. The topics under discussion are likely to be infrastructure and the future of work in the digital arena. This is the first of five such meetings to be held before Argentina hosts the G20 Summit.
Need to know: Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina. Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation.

2.   World Sparrow Day - 20th March: World Sparrow Day was observed on 20th March to create awareness about the protection of sparrows. The theme for this year’s day was ” I Love Sparrows”. The first World Sparrow Day was observed in 2010 across the globe. It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France).

3.  Austria’s capital Vienna once again defended its position as the city offering the best quality of life in the world in an annual survey from consulting firm Mercer:  Vienna is followed by Switzerland’s Zurich and then New Zealand’s Auckland and Germany’s Munich in joint third. The criteria to rank the cities were political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport.

OTHER UPDATES:

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY: 
1. Low-cost material developed to reduce air pollution: Scientists have developed a new low-cost and sustainable material that may displace activated carbon as the preferred choice for reducing water and air pollution. The material is synthesized inexpensively from solid wastes and a naturally abundant polymer. Activated carbon is the common adsorbent used to reduce both atmospheric and water pollution but is expensive to produce and regenerate.

AWARDS/ HONOURS:  
1. India’s National Cultural Audio Visual Archives (NCAA) has been certified as the world’s 1st trusted digital repository by the UK-based organisation: NCAA is the project of Ministry of Culture and is implemented by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. The objective of the NCAA is to identify and preserve the cultural heritage of India available in audiovisual form by digitization. 

2. Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands  wins Abel Prize: Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands won the prestigious Abel Prize for developing a programme connecting representation theory to number theory. The prize was established by the Norwegian government in 2002 to honour outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics. Along with the Fields Medal, it is one of the world’s most prestigious maths prizes.

Daily GK Updates - 20th March, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.     FCRA licence of 5,000 NGOs cancelled: Registration of the NGOs under FCRA was cancelled after they were found to be violating the laws. Nearly 5,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were barred by the government from receiving foreign funding after cancellation of their licences since April 2017, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said the registration of the NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was cancelled after they were found to be violating the laws. “Close to 5,000 FCRA registrations have been cancelled since April 1, 2017,” he said in a written reply.

2.   Lingayat issue - Modi govt to examine proposal to grant religious minority tag: The Congress state govt has recommended religious minority tag to the Lingayat and Veerashaiva Lingayat communities, months ahead of Karnataka elections. The Union home ministry will examine in detail the Karnataka government’s recommendation to grant religious minority tag to the Lingayat and Veerashaiva Lingayat community as and when it receives the proposal.

3.  India’s diversity makes its millennials happy – World Happiness Survey2018: According to the recently released World Happiness Survey 2018, “Happiness can change, and does change, according to the quality of the society in which people live.” India which ranks 133 out of 156 countries in this report is a nation which will by year 2020 become the youngest country. In order to understand what is it about India and its society that brings joy to its people, on this International Day of Happiness, a few millennials were asked what makes them happy about the country and why. Our diversity is the source of happiness for many.

4.    Kishanganga project – First unit commissioned: State-run power equipment maker has commissioned 1st unit of 110 MW of the Kishanganga hydroelectric project of NHPC in Jammu and Kashmir. Located on the river Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum in Bandipora district, all the 3 units of the 340 MW project will generate 1,350 million units of electricity annually. BHEL has commissioned 31 Hydro sets with a capacity of 1,257 MW in J&K.

5.     National Workshop on POSHAN Abhiyaan: The first National workshop on POSHAN Abhiyan involving all the states and union territories was held at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, New Delhi. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is organising the day-long workshop with participation from all the states/UTs. POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8th March 2018 by the Prime Minister in Jhunjhunu.

 INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.    India - US to bilaterally discuss steel import curbs - Suresh Prabhu: Trade minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement come amid growing concerns of escalating trade war over US steel import tariffs. India will bilaterally discuss import curbs on steel with the United States, trade minister Suresh Prabhu said on Tuesday, amid growing concerns of an escalating trade war over tariffs. Prabhu told reporters that the US was committed to the World Trade Organization (WTO), even as Washington has raised concerns about the functioning of the WTO and asked for reforms. US President Donald Trump has pressed ahead with import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10 %for aluminium, but exempted Canada and Mexico and offered the possibility of excluding other allies, backtracking from an earlier “no-exceptions” stance.

2.    International Day of Happiness – 20th March: The International Day of Happiness is celebrated worldwide every March 20. It was conceptualized and founded by philanthropist, activist, statesman, and prominent United Nations special advisor Jayme Illien. It aims to inspire, mobilize, and advance the global happiness movement.  It was endorsed by Secretary-General of the United Nations - Ban Ki moon.  “International Day of Happiness” has been adopted by the unanimous consensus of all 193 UN member states of the United Nations General Assembly on June 28, 2012. Finland is the happiest country in the world, according to the latest World Happiness Report. Norway, last year's winner, came in second place in the 2018 report. It's followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.

3.   China ready to enhance talks with India, says Xi Jinping: Chinese president Xi Jinping spoke with India PM Narendra Modi about bettering India -China relations. China is willing to keep up the good momentum of two-way cooperation with India, President Xi Jinping told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a telephone call. China is ready to enhance communication with Modi on long-term, strategic bilateral issues to promote political mutual trust.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1.   IRCTC – Ola tie up: To provide first-and-last-mile connectivity, IRCTC announced a partnership with cab aggregator Ola, giving commuters an option book taxi on its app. The Ola cab facility will provide all the services directly on the IRCTC Rail Connect App. The tie-up, a six-month pilot project, will give customers access to Ola booking services when they visit the IRCTC Rail Connect App.

2.    GE Power bags NTPC contract worth Rs309 crore for Telangana thermal plant: GE Power India has won a contract worth Rs309 crore by NTPC to install its flue gas desulphurisation system at Phase-I of its super thermal power project in Telangana. GE Power India on Tuesday said it has been awarded a contract worth Rs309 crore by NTPC to install its flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) system at Phase-I (2X800 MW) of its super thermal power project (STPP) in Telangana.

3.   UltraTech Cement likely to get support from Binani creditors: Banks support the UltraTech offer for Binani Cement as it is a better deal for them, despite the committee of creditors’ approval of the Dalmia Bharat bid. Aditya Birla Group’s UltraTech Cement Ltd is likely to get support from Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Binani Cement in the ongoing fight for control after the Birla company issued comfort letter worth Rs7,266 crore to Binani group for 98.43% stake.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.   Banks Board Bureau seeks more mandate, dialogue with finance ministry: The Banks Board Bureau has sought wider mandate from the government including advising it on PSU bank consolidation in the least disruptive manner.

2.    PNB fraud: Mehul Choksi again refuses to join CBI investigation: Gitanjali Group promoter Mehul Choksi told CBI he was held up in his business abroad and ‘working hard’ to resolves the issues it was facing due to the ‘unnecessary closure’ of business in India due to ‘untenable allegations’. The agency had asked him to appear before it for questioning in connection with first FIR in which Choksi is named as an accused along with his nephew Nirav Modi, Ami Modi, Nishal Modi. A separate FIR against him and his company Gitanjali group had also been registered by the agency.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1.   World’s last male northern white rhino dies: The world’s last male northern white rhino has died leaving only 2 females of its subspecies alive although scientists still hope they can save it from extinction. The world’s last male northern white rhino has died, the Kenyan conservancy taking care of it said, leaving only two females of its subspecies alive in the world although scientists still hope they can save it from extinction. Ol Pejeta Conservancy said in a statement it had made the decision with wildlife officials and his previous carers to euthanise on Monday the 45-year-old rhino, named Sudan, due to the rapid deterioration in his condition. Sudan was being treated for age-related complications that had affected his muscles and bones and also gave him extensive skin wounds.