Daily GK Updates - 14th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Children’s Day observed across India: Children’s Day is celebrated on the 14th of November in India as a tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru, who was born on November 14, 1889. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was fondly called Chacha Nehru or Chachaji, was known for his love for children. Prior to 1964, India celebrated Children’s Day on 20 November, which was observed as the Universal Children’s Day by the United Nations.

2. India to get its first ‘Air Dispensary’: Northeast is all set to get India’s first-ever “Air Dispensary” based in a helicopter. The Union Ministry of Development of Northeast has already contributed Rs. 25 crore funding for this initiative.

3. 37th India International Trade Fair begins in New Delhi: 37th India International Trade Fair (IITF) has begun at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The 14-day annual event has been organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). This year the theme of the fair is “Startup India Standup India”. Vietnam is the Partner Country, while Kyrgyzstan is the Focus Country.  Jharkhand is participating as a Partner State in the event.

4. Indian Railways to launch Project Saksham: Railways will launch the country’s largest time-bound “upskilling” exercise for government employees to upgrade the skill sets of its 13 lakh-strong workforce with a single drive spanning 9 months. Project Saksham will start in January 2018 and go on until September 2018.

5. Bharat Net, Phase 2 launched: Central Government launched the Phase 2 of Bharat Net project to connect 1.5 lakh gram panchayats with high-speed broadband by March 2019. Bharat Net Project, formerly known as National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) was launched by Central Government in October 2011 with an aim to deploy high-speed optical fiber cables across rural areas of India.

6. India Youth Development Index: Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore released the India Youth Development Index and Report. The objective of constructing YDI 2017 is to track the trends in Youth Development across the States. The Index enables recognizing the high and low performing states, identifies the weak domains and informs the priority areas of intervention for youth development.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. World Diabetes Day 2017: World Diabetes Day is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign. It is celebrated every year on 14th November. The theme of World Diabetes Day 2017 is Women and diabetes – our right to a healthy future.

2. Founding Ceremony of International Solar Alliance held in Bonn: A Curtain Raiser Event for the Founding Ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held in Bonn, Germany. The ISA is a treaty-based alliance of 121 prospective solar-rich Member Nations situated fully or partially between the Tropics & aims at the development of solar energy globally.

3. 10th South Asia Economic Summit begins in Kathmandu: The 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) has begun in Kathmandu, Nepal. The theme of the 3-day summit is “Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia”.

OTHER UPDATES

BANKING & FINANCE:

1. Asian Bankers Association summit to be held in Mumbai: For the first time, Mumbai is to host the 34th annual conference of the Asian Bankers Association on 16th and 17th November 2017. Summit will be hosted by State Bank. The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Asia’s turn to transform’.

SPORTS:

1. Pankaj Advani wins his 17th title at ISBF World Billiards Championships: Indian cueist Pankaj Advani has won his 17th world title at the IBSF World Billiards Championship 2017 in Doha, Qatar. Pankaj beat Mike Russell of England by 6-2 (0-155, 150-128, 92-151, 151-0, 151-6, 151-0, 150-58, 150-21) and won his 17th world title at the IBSF World Billiards Championship 2017.

2. Rafael Nadal receives ATP World No. 1 award: Tennis player Rafael Nadal was presented the ATP World Number 1 award on court, at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena, in London. Rafael Nadal replaced Andy Murray of Britain at Number 1 position on 21 August 2017.

Daily GK Updates - 13th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. India’s first Military Literature Festival to be held: India’s first Military Literature Festival (MLF) will be held in Chandigarh, between December7 and 9, 2017. It is a tribute to the armed forces, whose contributions to the nation remain etched in history as iconic events.

2. Child Rights Week to be observed: The Ministry of Women and Child Development will celebrate the Child Rights Week (Hausla 2017) from 16th to 20th November 2017. The commemoration of the festival “Hausla 2017” will provide an occasion to showcase the talents of children and to provide them with a space to express their dreams and aspiration.

3. Odisha, Bengal to hold joint exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’: The governments of Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal will soon organize a joint security exercise named as ‘Sagar Kavach’. It is to further tighten the existing coastal security mechanism along the 630 km long coastline. Sagar Kavach security exercise is a realistic drill to check the efficacy of the security parameters and preparedness of various security forces.

4. Cabinet approval for restructuring National Rural Drinking Water Programme: Cabinet has accorded its approval for continuation and restructuring of National Rural Drinking Water Programme. The scheme was launched to ensure good quality service delivery to the rural population. The restructuring will make the programme flexible and will enable the Ministry towards to reach the goal of increasing coverage of sustainable Piped Water Supply.

5. Award of President’s Standard & Colours: Mr. Ramnath Kovind will give the prestigious President’s standard to 223 Squadron and 117 Helicopter Unit during a ceremonial parade scheduled to be held at Air Force Station Adampur on 16th November 17. The Commanding Officer of 223 Squadron, Group and 117 Helicopter Unit will receive the President’s Standard. This honour is an acknowledgement of the meritorious service rendered by the selected units.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. World Pneumonia Day observed:  On 12th November 2017, World Pneumonia Day was observed all over the world. It was first observed in 2009 when over 100 organisations joined to form the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. It helps to highlight the severity of pneumonia and encourages more organisations to look at ways of fighting the disease.

2. APEC summit held in Vietnam: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting was held on 10th and 11th November, 2017 in Da Nang, Vietnam. Theme of this meeting was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’. Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim countries attended this meeting. This was the first APEC meeting for several leaders.

3. Global Climate Risk Index released: India is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of facing extreme weather events, according to global climate risk index.

Haiti, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are at top five positions in the fresh list of nations facing climate risk. The ranking was released here by ‘Germanwatch’, an independent Berlin-based development and environmental organisation.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Cartoon Network’s first amusement park to come up in Surat: Turner International India and Rajgreen Group are making Amaazia – India’s first Cartoon Network-branded amusement park, in Surat. Cartoon Network’s popular characters will be part of the amusement park. Amaazia will be divided into four major sections – a theme park branded by Cartoon Network, a water park, a family recreational hub and a service apartment and retail shopping area.

SPORTS:

1. Bharat Khandare to be the first India-born fighter in UFC: Bharat Khandare is all set to be the first Indian-born Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). He was first approached by UFC three years back but the deal did not go through because of his prior commitments. Earlier this year Arjan Singh Bhullar became the first Indian to sign up in the UFC.

2. New Ombudsman of AIFF named: Supreme Court appointed former captain of the football team, Bhaskar Ganguly, as ombudsman of All India Football Federation. Ganguly had served as captain of the Indian team at the 1982 Asian Games.