Daily GK Updates - 7th March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Indore awarded the cleanest city in Swachh Survekshan 2019 awards : Indore has been awarded India's cleanest city for the third straight year in the central government's cleanliness Swachh Survekshan 2019 (SS 2019) awards. The secon and third positions in the category were grabbed by Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh) and Mysore (Karnataka). The New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the 'Cleanest Small City' award, Gauchar (Uttarakhand) was adjudged the 'Best Ganga Town' in the central government survey. The 'Cleanest Big City' award has been bagged by Ahmedabad, while Raipur is the 'Fastest Moving Big City'. Ujjain has been the adjudged the 'Cleanest Medium City' and Mathura-Vrindavan bagged the tag of the 'Fastest Moving Medium Cities'. Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) has been declared as the cleanest capital. Swachh Survekshan 2019 covered all urban local bodies in the country, making it the largest such cleanliness survey in the world.

2. Uttarakhand CM Rawat lays foundation stone for Doon-Mussoorie ropeway project :  Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat laid the foundation stone for the Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway project to boost the tourism of Mussoorie. The Doon-Mussoorie ropeway would be among the five longest ropeway projects of the world. The ropeway project (cost Rs. 300-crore rupees) is expected to be completed in three years. Once completed, it will shorten the one-hour zigzag drive to just 15 minutes from Purkul village the base camp at Dehradun to Mussoorie.

3. PM releases new series of coins for Divyang kids : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released the new series of visually-impaired friendly circulation coins in the denomination of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20. Various new features have been incorporated in the new series of circulation coins to make it easy for the visually impaired to use them. The coins are characterised by the increasing size and weight from lower to higher denominations.

4. Notun Disha’ Initiated by Tripura Government : Tripura Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath has announced ‘Notun Disha’ for assessing the academic level of students in classes III-VIII and then improving their current level. Training will be provided by NGOs and educational institutions to 800 teachers. The duration of the project is 1 month. Rs. 28 crores have been allocated to the project.

5. IRDAI, NHA form working group to curb fraud in Ayushman Bharat scheme : The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) and the National Health Authority (NHA) jointly formed a working group on the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). The 10 members joint working group will be chaired by Dr Dinesh Arora (Deputy CEO of NHA).It will submit a report on how to detect and deter fraud through a common repository and capacity-building.

6. Janaushadhi Diwas is being celebrated across the country : Janaushadhi Diwas has been celebrated across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed five thousand Janaushadhi stores across the country through video-conferencing on the occasion. More than five thousand 50 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana Kendras(PMBJP) are functional in 652 districts. The Janaushadhi Kendras are providing quality medicine at an affordable price.10 to 15 lakh beneficiaries are getting medicines from Janaushadhi stores every day.

                                   INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Google launches 'Bolo' app to tutor children to read in Hindi, English :  Tech giant Google unveiled a new free app 'Bolo' that aims to help children in primary school learn to read in Hindi and English. The free app uses Google's speech recognition and text-to-speech technology. The app features an animated character 'Diya', who encourages children to read stories aloud and helps if the child is unable to pronounce a word. It also lauds the reader when she completes the reading.The users are a not asked for details like email ID and gender for logging into the app.

2. Mumbai airport tops in ‘over 40 m’ passenger category :  As per the Airport Council International (ACI) World, The GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has been awarded for the best airport by size and region in the ‘Over 40 Million’ passenger category. The award was in recognition of excellence in customer experience in the Asia-Pacific region. This is the highest possible reward for any airport operator covering more than half of the world's 8.3 billion passengers.The award ceremony will be held in Bali, Indonesia.

3. Malaysia joins the International Criminal Court : Malaysia has become the 124th member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC is the world’s only permanent war crimes court and aims to prosecute the worst abuses when national courts are unable or unwilling. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, establishment in 2002.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. United Bank, HDFC Life sign bancassurance deal : United Bank of India (UBI) has signed a bancassurance deal with private life insurer HDFC Life Insurance Company. United Bank’s customers will be able to take advantage of HDFC Life’s expertise in life insurance products, distribution and customer service. United Bank has a strong presence in rural and semi-urban areas, with over 2,000 branches and offices, while HDFC Life is India’s largest non-bank-promoted private life insurer.

SPORTS:

1. Manpreet Singh named the captain of Indian hockey team :  According to Hockey India, Manpreet Singh has been named as the Captain of the 18-member Indian hockey team to play in the upcoming 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Surender Kumar will be the Vice-Captain of the team. India will start its campaign against Japan on the opening day itself (23rd March). Participating nations in the tournament are India, Malaysia(host), Canada, Korea, South Africa, Asian Games gold medallist Japan.

Daily GK Updates - 6th March. 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.ISRO launches 'Yuva Vigyani Karyakram' for school children : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched Young Scientist Programme “Yuva Vigyani Karyakram”, for the School Children to be studying in the ninth standard. ISRO Scientists will impart basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the young ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities. Two weeks “Catch them young” residential training programme will be held during summer holidays to select 3 students from each State and Union Territory, covering CBSE, ICSE and State syllabus.

2. Maharashtra Cabinet clears 29-kilometre metro line for Thane : Maharashtra state cabinet chaired by Devendra Fadnavis approved the 29-kilometre metro line for Thane. It will feature 22 stations along a 29 kilometres route, connected to lines 4 and 5 of the Mumbai Metro. The project will take four years to be completed and will be built at a cost of nearly 13,095 crore rupees. The metro will start from the New Thane metro station in the old city area and will connect to Wadala-Kasarvadavli Metro at two places, namely the New Thane station and Dongripada. It will also have a link to the Thane-Bhiwandi- Kalyan Metro Line 5 at Majiwada junction.

3.  Karnataka launches ‘Jalamrutha’ scheme for water conservation : Karnataka chief minister ‘H D Kumaraswamy’ has initiated the ‘Jalamrutha’ initiative which is a water conservation scheme. The objective of the initiative to create awareness among the people of the state about the invaluable nature of water and the need to conserve it at any cost. The state of Karnataka has announced the year 2019 as ‘Jalavarsha (year of water)’.

4. Bhagwan Lal Sahni appointed Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes :  President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Bhagwan Lal Sahni as the chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). Kaushalendra Singh Patel, Sudha Yadav and Achary Talloju have been appointed as members of the commission. The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was given constitutional status by Parliament in 2018, after repealing the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kylie Jenner becomes a youngest self-made billionaire at 21 :  American reality television personality ‘Kylie Jenner’ (21-years) has been named the youngest-ever, self-made billionaire by Forbes magazine (move over Mark Zuckerberg).Facebook's Zuckerberg was 23 when he hit the big B mark. According to Forbes magazine, Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics is worth at least USD 900 million, and she owns it all. She has starred in the E! reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians since 2007 and is the founder and owner of cosmetic company Kylie Cosmetics.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. TVS Motor Company wins Green Era Award for Sustainability :  TVS Motor Company has won the International Sustainability Award ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ (second time) in Lisbon, Portugal. The company also won the ‘Quality and Business Excellence Award’ in acknowledgement of its endeavour to create new benchmarks in product quality. TVS Motor Company bagged the award because of its sincere commitment towards being a responsible manufacturer. The awards are based on the conclusion of the research team of Otherways Management & Consulting, France.

2. Google getting rid of the ability to unlock mobile phones with Voice Match : The search-engine giant ‘Google’ is getting rid of the ability to unlock mobile phones with Voice Match and the 'Ok Google' command. Google has decided to limit this unlock feature to only launch the Assistant interface on the lock screen instead of unlocking the Android device based on voice match. A few devices have already lost the functionality with the Google app's 9.27. For users, this will mean a loss of functionality, but a significant gain in terms of security.

3. Govt fixes sugar sale quota for March : The Union government has fixed sugar sale quota for March month to each of the 524 mills in the country. Sugar mills can sell 24.5 lakh tonne of the sweetener in the open market in the current month. According to Ministry, mills can sell sugar at a minimum selling price of 31 rupees per kg (earlier 29 rupees per kg) to realise maximum revenue and clear cane price arrears of farmers.

SPORTS:

1.  Yonex All England Championships 2019 begins :The Yonex All England Championships 2019 begins at Arena Birmingham in England, organized by Badminton England and sanctioned by the BWF (6th to 10th March 2019). Only the top 32 in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings qualify for the tournament. Prakash Padukone became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. It has a total purse of USD 1,000,000.

Daily GK Updates - 5th March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Rajnath Singh inaugurates project BOLD-QIT in Dhubri, Assam :   Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) under CIBMS (Comprehensive Integrated Border Management system) on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District of Assam. Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for the safeguarding of 4,096 Km long International Border with Bangladesh. In January 2018, Information and Technology Wing of BSFundertook the project BOLD-QIT completed it in record time with thetechnical support of various manufacturers and suppliers.

2. PM Modi launches Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana in Gujarat :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The national pension scheme for workers and labourers of the unorganised sector was announced in the Interim Budget in February this year. Under the scheme, a monthly pension of Rs. 3,000 per month is provided to workers in the unorganised sector over 60 years of age. The scheme will benefit 10 crore workers in the unorganised sector.

3. Coal minister Goyal dedicates 1,000 MW NTPL power project to the nation :  Coal Minister Piyush Goyal dedicated to the nation a 1,000-megawatt (MW) thermal power project of Neyveli Tamil Nadu Power Ltd (NTPL) and a 150-MW solar power projects of NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) in Tamil Nadu. The 1,000-MW coal-fired thermal power project of NTPL is a joint venture between NLCIL and TANGEDCO (equity participation of 89:11). NLC India Ltd has installed 591 MW of solar power and 51 MW of wind power plants in various parts of Tamil Nadu.

4.  IRCTC launches Its Own Digital Payment Gateway ‘IRCTC iPay’ : Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched its own digital payment aggregator called ‘IRCTC iPay’.IRCTC iPay will provide payment options like credit card, debit card, unified payment interface and international card. This will help reduce the gap between IRCTC and banks which will eventually lead to a substantial reduction in payment failures. The back-end support will be provided by Delhi based MMAD communications (IRCTC’s technology partner).

5. Haryana Govt. announces Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi Scheme : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched ‘Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi’ scheme in Chandigarh. Farmers of the state who cultivate on land with areas up to 5 acres and the families with an income of less than Rs. 15,000 per month. The scheme would provide a sum of Rs. 6,000 yearly, each family must nominate a member who will be provided with this amount. The scheme involves two categories of beneficiaries-in the age group of (18 to 40 years) and (40 to 60 years).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Vice President Venkaiah Naidu to embark on a two-nation tour :  Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu embarked on a two-nation tour to Paraguay and Costa Rica. The Vice President will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including KJ Alphons(Minister of State for Tourism), Members of Parliament and senior government officials This is the first high-level visit from India to two Latin American countries. Mr. Naidu will address the India-Paraguay business forum and interact with the Indian diaspora in Paraguay.

2. Pranay Kumar Verma appointed as India’s ambassador to Vietnam : Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has appointed Pranay Kumar Verma (Indian Foreign Services Officer-1994 cadre) as India’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Currently, Mr. Verma working as the Joint Secretary at Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

3. Russia suspends participation in Intermediate-Range Nuclear treaty with US : Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially suspended the country's participation in a key Cold War-era nuclear arms-control treaty with the United States. Mr. Putin signed a decree regarding the suspension of Russia's participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, INF treaty between the USSR and the US in 1987. The move was taken following a violation of the United States of its obligations under the treaty. Earlier, Both Countries have accused one another of breaching the INF treaty.

4. DRDO Chairman wins Missile Systems Award :  DRDO Chairman ‘Satheesh Reddy’ has been chosen by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has chosen ‘Satheesh Reddy’ (DRDO Chairman and Secretary of India’s Department of Defence R&D) as the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award. The other co-winner is Rondell J. Wilson who is a former Principal Engineering Fellow of Raytheon Missile Systems.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.  Indian Bank receives Best Bank Award from TN govt : Tamil Nadu government bestowed the Best Bank Award to the Indian Bank The award was based on the criteria that the bank met the needs of women’s self-help groups (SHGs).Chief Minister of the state K Palaniswami handed over the award to the executive director of the bank M K Bhattacharya in a function held in Salem.

OBITUARIES:

1. American actor Luke Perry passes away in California : American actor Luke Perry (52-years) passed away in California, U.S. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. From 2017 until his death, Perry starred as Frederick "Fred" Andrews, Archie's father, on the CW series Riverdale.

Daily GK Updates - 4th March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Piyush Goyal & Fadnavis launches the second phase of Monorail in Mumbai : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal jointly inaugurated the second phase (11.28 kilometre) of Monorail in Mumbai, extended from Wadala to Jacob Circle. With this, the entire 19.54 kilometres route (first phase-8.26 kilometre) of the country being implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is now functional. The fare for the entire 17-station route has been fixed at Rs. 10, Rs. 20, RS. 30 and Rs. 40. According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, all the railway stations will be connected through skywalks and subways. Now, The Mumbai Monorail  became the sixth-largest monorail system in the world.

2. Mahashivratri being celebrated with traditional fervour across the country : ‘Mahashivratri’ festival is being celebrated across the country with religious fervor and gaiety. Maha Shivratri is the most auspicious festival of devotees of ‘Lord Shiva’.Thousands of devotees celebrate the festival by fasting and offering special prayers in the various temple.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.World Hearing Day : World Hearing Day, on March 3rd, is a campaign held each year by Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the World Health Organization.Activities take place across the globe and an event is hosted at the World Health Organization on March 3rd. Theme :- ‘Check your Hearing’.

2.QS World Rankings : Manipal Academy of Higher Education has become only private University in India to be featured in the QS World rankings in the areas of Medicine and Pharmacy. Other three are AIIMS (Delhi), Jamia Hamdard (New Delhi) & Banaras Hindu University (Uttar Pradesh). QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.Ex-Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia appointed non-executive chairman of BoB :  Former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia (1981-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre) has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Bank of Baroda (BoB) for a period of three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as the part-time non-official director as well as non-executive chairman on the board of Bank of Baroda.Earlier, Mr. Adhia served as the Finance Secretary.

SPORTS:

1. Roger Federer claims 100th ATP title of his career :  Swiss great Roger Federer (37-years) has claimed the 100th ATP title of his career with after beating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer (20-time grand slam champion) is the second man, after American Jimmy Connors to claim 100 titles (record of 109). Tsitsipas saw the end of an eight-match winning streak as he arrived in the Gulf with the Marseille title from last weekend.

2. Shashank Shekhar wins 10 km race of Nepal's COAS Open Marathon :  Shashank Shekhar has won the 10-kilometre race of Nepal's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Open Marathon and Run for Fun held in Kathmandu. Shekhar is the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Contingent at Embassy of India in Kathmandu. RD Murgan (from CISF) got third place.

OBITUARIES:

1.  Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Bharat Mohan Adhikari passes away :Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and Senior leader of ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Bharat Mohan Adhikari (83-years) passed away in Kathmandu. Mr Adhikari was very popular among the common people for introducing "Aafno Gaun Aafai Banau", development programme aimed at developing villages across the country by giving them the authority to select local projects on their own. The scheme was launched in 1995 when he was Finance Minister in the Manmohan Adhikari government.

Daily GK Updates - 3rd March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi inaugurates Ahmedabad Metro service  : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has partially inaugurated the first phase of the 6.5 km-long Ahmedabad Metro train service in Gujarat. PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the 28.28 kilometres second phase of Ahmedabad Metro project and travel some distanceon the phase-I stretch. Total completion cost of Phase-II metro is estimated at Rs. 5,384.17 crores. Ahmedabad Metro is an under the construction mass-transit rail system for the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India.

2.  PM Modi inaugurates ordnance factory in Amethi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a factory to manufacture AK 203 rifles in Korwa area of Amethi. These Rifles will help the security forces to tackle terrorists and Naxals. The rifles will progressively replace the Army’s in-service INSAS and AK-47 rifles. Around 7.5 lakh units of the latest version of AK-47 will be manufactured in the new unit.

3. Maharashtra govt to appoint Lokpal in universities to resolve student grievances :  Maharashtra Government has appointed ‘Lokpal’ in all universities except agricultural universities to resolve student grievances. The appointment of the students' ombudsman would be made in the next two to three months. Maharashtra would be the first state in the country to have such a Lokpal for universities. The Lokpal will be a person related to the university and someone not below the rank of the retired district judge or a retired vice-chancellor.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Wildlife Day being observed : The World Wildlife Day has been observed across the world on 3rd March raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora.The theme of World Wildlife Day 2019 is “Life Below Water: For people and planet”.The day is celebrated and implemented by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.AN Jha replaces Shaktikanta Das as 15th Finance Commission Member : Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha (1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre) has joined as a member of the 15th Finance Commission. Jha has been posted in place of Shaktikanta Das, resigned after being appointed the RBI Governor. Mr. Jha was retired as a Finance Secretary to the central government.

SPORTS:

1. CISF creates Guinness world record in a single-line bicycle parade :  The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has created a Guinness world record in a single line bicycle parade to mark the 50 years of the paramilitary force. Personnel of the central force rode a total of one thousand 327 bicycles non-stop with a uniform distance between bicycles in a single line at the Yamuna Expressway in Noida.The bicycle parade covered 3.2 km distance non-stop. Earlier, this record was held by Hubballi bicycle club of India which had one thousand 235 bicycles in a single chain.The CISF was raised in 1969 and has about one lakh 80 thousand personnel in its ranks.

2. Wrestler Bajrang Punia wins gold in Bulgaria : India's star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65-kilograms freestyle in Bulgaria. Punia overpowered Jordan Oliver of USA 12-3 in the final. This was Punia's 10th medal in as many international tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris.Earlier, Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in women's 59 kg while Sarita Mor won a silver in the same weight category. In the men's freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar claimed silver in 61kg.

OBITUARIES:

1.Russian physicist and Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov passed away :  Russian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Zhores Alferov (88-years) passed away. In 2000, Alferov received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with US scientists Jack Kilby and Herbert Kroemer, for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed-and optoelectronics. He was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1972, and a full member in 1979.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi inaugurates Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-Conference : Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the two-day Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-Conference in New Delhi. The Construction Technology India Conference will provide avenues for stakeholders to open up new areas for collaboration and facilitate the conversion of ideas into market-ready products.The conference will also identify innovative and globally established technologies for use in the Indian context. Technology providers, researchers, start-ups, developers, academia, public sector agencies and other domain experts will participate in the event.

2. West Bengal launches ‘Banglar Shiksha’ portal : West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee has inaugurated a web portal ‘Banglar Shiksha’ to provide real-time data on state-run and aided schools. The portal ‘banglarshiksha.gov.in’ will be up and running in two months times. According to the school education department, the portal will store real-time data of 1.5 crore students, 5 lakh teachers and 1 lakh schools.

3. AYUSH Minister lays foundation stone for National Institute of Unani Medicine :AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone of National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) at Ghaziabad. It will be developed on a 10-acre area, costing about 300 crore rupees. Once 200-bedded hospital established, it will be one of the largest institutes of Unani Medicine in North India. The institute is an extension of the existing NIUM at Bengaluru.

4. Arun Jaitley releases a book titled ‘Mann Ki Baat - A Social Revolution on Radio’: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has released a book titled ‘Mann Ki Baat - A Social Revolution on Radio’ in New Delhi.  The Book is a compendium encompassing 50 editions of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over All India Radio.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India-Bangladesh joint military exercise 'Sampriti 2019' in Tangail : According to the Defence Ministry, Joint military exercise ‘Sampriti 2019’ between India and Bangladesh has been conducted at Tangail in Bangladesh (2nd-15th March 2019.)This will be the eighth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.The objective of the exercise to strengthen and broaden the aspects of interoperability and co-operation between the Armies of both countries. The exercise will involve tactical-level operations in a counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism environment under the UN mandate.

2. India ranks 47th in 'Inclusive' Internet list : India ranked 47th in the overall "Inclusive Internet Index 2019” (3i).The index has been prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook. Sweden topped the index which was followed by Singapore and the US. The index was expanded to include 100 countries which will represent 94% of the world’s population and 96% of global GDP.

3. US, N Korea fail to strike a deal at Hanoi Summit : The United States and North Korea have failed to reach a formal deal at two-day North Korea– United States Hanoi Summit 2019 held at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. The talk has ended with no agreement after the US refused North Korean demand to lift all international sanctions. This was the second meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump following the first meeting in June 2018 in Singapore.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Inland Waterways Authority of India and Indian Oil Sign MoU : Inland Waterways Authority of India and Indian Oil Sign MoU on Fuel Needs for National Waterways.The MoU includes jointly developing infrastructure for fuels, lubricating oil, LPG, Natural Gas and any other related fuel and gas for meeting the requirement of National Waterways. IWAI and IOCL have agreed to conduct techno-economic feasibility studies for preparation of detailed land requirement, storage facilities and other supporting infrastructure with details of the cost.

2. GST collection in February stands at Rs 97,247 cr : According to Finance Ministry release, The GST collection in the month of February stood at 97 thousand 247 crore rupees (January- one lakh crore rupees).The total number of GSTR 3B returns filed for the month of January up to 28th February is over 73 lakhs. The Government has settled 19,470 crore rupees to CGST and 15,747 crores to SGST from IGST as a regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of February 2019 is over 37 thousand crore rupees for CGST and around 40 thousand crore rupees for the SGST.

SPORTS:

1.Deepak Singh wins Gold at Makran Cup in Boxing : National champion boxer Deepak Singh has won a gold medal while five others claimed silver medals in the Makran Cup in Chabahar, Iran.Deepak (49-kilogram) defeated Jaafar Naseri in the finals. Silver medal winners were P Lalitha Prasad (52kg), Manish Kaushik (60kg), Duryodhan Singh Negi (69kg), Sanjeet (91kg) and Satish Kumar (91kg). Rohit Tokas (64kg) and Manjeet Singh Panghal (75kg) lost in the semi-finals to sign off with bronze medals.

2. Chris Gayle becomes the first player to smash 500 Sixes in International Cricket :West Indies opener Chris Gayle has become the first batsman ever to smash 500 or more sixes in International cricket.In the 4th ODI against England in Grenada, Gayle scored 162 runs. His innings contained a staggering 14 sixes and powered the Windies to their highest-ever ODI score of 389. Gayle also reached the 10,000-run milestone in ODIs and became only the second West Indian after Brian Lara (10,405 runs) to achieve the milestone.

Daily GK Updates - 1st March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary launched : The Union Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has launched the 2^nd Edition  of Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary in New Delhi. The Dictionary includes six thousand words under the categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and everyday terms. The dictionary is intended to serve as a resource for ISL teachers, ISL learners, teachers of the hearing impaired, interpreters, parents of hearing-impaired children and researchers.

2. Rajnath inaugurates NIA office in Hyderabad : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the new premises of the regional unit of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Hyderabad. The new office cum residential complex has been constructed at Khanamet area of Madhapur in Hyderabad. The NIA Hyderabad office has the jurisdictions in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

3. HRD Ministry launches SHREYAS Scheme :  The Union minister Prakash Javadekar has launched ‘Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills’ (SHREYAS) to provide apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates of 2019.The scheme aims to cover 50 lakh students by 2022. Courses will be available to the students from Academic year April-May 2019. The SHREYAS Scheme is a programme basket comprising the initiatives of three central ministries (the HRD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment).

4.  Govt approves Centre for Disability Sports in Gwalior : The union cabinet has approved the setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.It will develop a sense of belonging in Divyangjan to facilitate their integration in society. The centre will have a Governing Body comprising a maximum of 12 members, some of them experts from "National Level Sports Federations apart from experts in para games". At present, no specialised sports training facilities for Divyangjan are available in the Country.

5. NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission partners with Adobe : NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) & Adobe signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) to enhance creativity in Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) Schools. Adobe will help in developing creative skills and spreading digital literacy across all Atal Tinkering Labs in India. Adobe shall be adopting 100 schools under Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) initiative. ATLs are being established in more than 5,000 schools in India where students of class 6th to class 12th acquire problem-solving and innovation skills, developing innovative solutions.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Zero Discrimination Day: 1st March : Zero Discrimination Day is an annual day celebrated by the UN and other international organisations. The objective of the day to promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all the member countries of the UN. Campaigners in India have used the occasion to speak out against laws that make discrimination against the LGBTI community more likely, especially Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises homosexuality.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. IDBI Bank appoints Hemant Bhargava as non-executive Chairman : IDBI Bank has appointed LIC's Hemant Bhargava as non-executive, Chairman for three years. Currently, Mr. Bhargava is the Chairman (in-charge) and Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The life insurer is the majority shareholder in IDBI Bank with a 51% stake. LIC has also proposed a change of name of the bank to either ‘LIC IDBI Bank’ or ‘LIC Bank’.

2. RBI, Bank of Japan sign Bilateral Swap arrangement : Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bank of Japan have signed a Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA). This BSA provides for India to access 75 billion in US dollars whereas the earlier BSA had provided for USD 50 billion. With this, India can access the agreed amount of USD 75 billion for its domestic currency, for the purpose of maintaining an appropriate level of balance of payments or short-term liquidity

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Indian economy expected to grow at 7.3% in 2019-20 :  US-based Major credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service estimated that Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in calendar years 2019 and 2020. Moody's growth estimates are based on the calendar year. India measures its economic growth based on the fiscal year from April to March. Moody's said the announcement in Interim Budget 2019-20 on direct cash transfer programme for farmers and the middle-class tax relief measures will contribute a fiscal stimulus of about 0.45 per cent of GDP.

DEFENCE:

1. India successfully test fires QRSAM missiles off Odisha coast : Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired indigenously developed Quick Reach Surface-to-Air Missiles (QRSAMs) from ITR Chandipur off the Odisha Coast. QRSAM uses solid-fuel propellant and has a range of 25-30 km.The two missiles were tested for different altitude and conditions.