Daily GK Updates – 20th May 2015
1. Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai wins Man Booker Prize
i. Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won Britain’s Man Booker International Prize for career achievement on 
Tuesday, saying he hoped it would allow him to access a wider audience.
ii. In his acceptance speech at a ceremony in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the 61-year-old credited author Franz Kafka, singer Jimi Hendrix and the city of Kyoto in Japan for inspiration.
iii. “I hope that with the help of this prize I will find new readers in the English-speaking world,” he told AFP after receiving the award. Asked about the apocalyptic images in his work, he said: “Maybe I’m a writer who writes novels for readers who need the beauty in hell.”
iv. Best known in Germany and Hungary, Krasznahorkai is the author of Satantango (1985), which was later made into a film, The Melancholy of Resistance (1998) and Seiobo There Below (2008).
v. Previous winners of the Man Booker International Prize, which is awarded every two years, include US writer Philip Roth and Canada’s Alice Munro.
2. India assumes presidency of 68th World Health Assembly
i. India assumed the presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) held in Geneva after a gap of 19 years.
ii. The 68th WHA session began on 18 May 2015 and it will conclude on 27 May 2015. The WHA session is presided by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda who is also leading the high-level Indian delegation to the Assembly.
This edition of assembly is expected to deliberate on key issues of global interest that include:
Anti-microbial resistance.
Air pollution and health
Global health emergency, preparedness and surveillance.
Global strategy and plan of action on public health.
Innovation and intellectual property.
Research and development in neglected tropical diseases.
3. HDFC Bank launched HDFC Bank Apollo Medical Benefits Card
i. HDFC Bank in partnership with Apollo Hospitals on 18 May 2015 launched HDFC Bank Apollo Medical Benefits Card, a co-branded medical benefits card which allows corporates to disburse medical allowances to their employees and has insurance cover for accidents.
ii. The bank claimed that this is the first-of-its kind product in the country. The corporates can load the specified allowance onto the card every month which can be used by employees for medical expenditure at pan-India VISA/MasterCard outlets.
Highlights of this pre-paid medical card
The card comes with a free accidental death insurance of 3 lakh rupees.
It provides for free accidental death insurance and accident hospitalisation insurance apart from discounts at Apollo network including Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Pharmacies, Apollo Clinics and Apollo White Dental across India.
It offers access to additional benefits such as discounts and facilities, including free ambulance services.
4. Tathagata Roy sworn-in as 16th Governor of Tripura
i. Tathagata Roy on 20 May 2015 was sworn in as the 16th Governor of Tripura in Agartala. Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court Mr. Jc. Deepak Gupta administered the oath of office to him as per the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution of India.
ii. He replaced Padmanabh Balkrishna Acharya, Governor of Nagaland, who had held the additional charge of Tripura.
iii. Tathagata Roy was born on 14 September 1945 in Kolkata, West Bengal. He is veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from West Bengal and was president of the state unit of BJP from 2002 till 2006.
iv. He is also a writer and written both in English and in his native Bengali. He has authored two books- My People, Uprooted: A Saga of the Hindus of Eastern Bengal and The Life and Times of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
5. SBI ties up with Amazon
i. Amid a wave of e-commerce and surge in online payments, State Bank of India has partnered with global e-commerce firm Amazon to service its customers and small businesses.
ii. “SBI and Amazon will develop trusted, frictionless payments and commerce solutions for customers and small businesses, capitalising on the exponential growth in internet penetration to drive the adoption of ecommerce and m-commerce in India,” SBI said in a statement.
iii. “We are working on ways to enrich customers’ patent experience and opening up windows of e-commerce to our SME customers.
iv. We have a great opportunity to work tofwter to transform how India shops and sells,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman of SBI.
6. Meghalaya achieves 100% financial inclusion under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna
i. Meghalaya has achieved 100 percent success in implementing Union Government’s flagship scheme for financial inclusion-Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY).
ii. In the state, all eleven districts have been able to open at least one bank account of every household under the ambitious scheme. More than 5.53 lakh households have been covered with 1.55 lakh new bank accounts.
iii. The rural population has given more response to the financial inclusion scheme in the state compared to the urban population. Over 1.8 lakh bank accounts have been opened in rural areas, while in urban area the figure is over 47,000.
iv. All banks both from private and public sectors have contributed in successfully implementing the scheme. So far, under the PMJDY, banks have issued more than 1.31 lakh Rupay cards.
7. JICA agreed to lend 1165 crore rupees for Odisha Transmission System Improvement Project
i. India and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed an ODA (Official Development Assistance) loan agreement to provide up to 21787 million yen (about 1165 crore rupees) for the Odisha Transmission System Improvement Project (OTSIP).
ii. The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Finance S Selvakumar and JICA India Office Chief Representative Shinya Ejima in New Delhi.
iii. The purpose of the loan is to assist in establishing a stable power supply to the state in advance of an expected large increase in power demand in the coming years due to rapid industrialization.
Features of ODA to OTSIP
Transmission lines extending around 971 kilometers and 18 substations will be constructed to improve the power transmission efficiency and stabilize the power supply.
Technologies like low-loss conductors and outdoor Gas Insulated Substations (GIS) will be established for some of the transmission lines and substations respectively for the first time in the state.
The Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited will be the nodal agency to execute the project.
The JICA will charge 0.8 percent per annum interest rate and the loan repayment period is 20 years in addition a 6 years grace period.
The project will be completed by January 2020. JICA has extended about 3400 crore rupees in ODA loans since 1981 for all-round development in Odisha.
It has also provided for loans up to 65260 crore rupees in ODA loans since 1958 for enhancement of power generation and transmission infrastructure in India.
8. 25 companies to sell shares for the first time
i. The government has drawn up a list of 25 state-owned companies that could sell shares to the public for the first time, possibly raising more than a third of India’s record divestment target for the fiscal year.
ii. They include profit-making arms of Coal India and ONGC that could help the government get around Rs 25,000 crore in total.
iii. The unlisted firms may include ONGC Videsh, Southern Coalfields, Bharat Broadband, KIOCL and Mazagon Dock.
iv. Recently the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) approved a 10 per cent stake sale in the country’s biggest refiner and fuel retailer Indian Oil Corp. and 5 per cent in power producer NTPC.
9. IndusInd Bank Bank inks pact with payment processing company Worldpay
i. The UK-based payment processing giant Worldpay has partnered with IndusInd Bank to offer acquiring services in India.
ii. The association will assist both the companies in processing customers’ payments and marks the first step for Worldpay in entering the Indian market — a result of the growth in eCommerce across the country,IndusInd Bank said in a filing to the BSE.
iii. “We are delighted to offer eCommerce acquiring services in India in association with Worldpay. We are confident that the association will help both organisations to contribute to the growth of the growing Indian eCommerce industry,” IndusInd Bank, Head of Transaction Banking, Ramesh Ganesan, said.
iv. This partnership will allow each company to benefit from the other’s respective expertise in domestic and international payments, thereby, helping in promoting online payment services in India, he added.
v. Worldpay, Deputy Chairman, Ron Kalifa said: “India’s increase in card use has meant that more of our customers are looking to expand operations in the country.”
10. Centre to launch agri-training prog in 593 Sansad Adarsh Grams
i. To boost farm productivity, the Centre is planning to launch soon an agri-training programme in 593 villages under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, one of the flagship schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
ii. The nodal Agriculture Ministry is working out the training programme guidelines for implementation in each village adopted by Members of Parliament under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
iii. The agri-training programme, to be conducted for two days in each village, will be implemented by the National Centre of Organic Farming and Central Fertiliser Quality Control and Training Institute along with the support of the state governments, the official said.
iv. The training would aim to create awareness among farmers on how the use of farm technologies and balanced use of fertilisers and even organic inputs can help achieve better crop yields.
v. SAGY, which was launched in October 2014, is a rural development programme that primarily focuses upon the development in villages.
11. Shivani Agarwal and Maharaja Pandit selected for prestigious Radcliffe Fellowship by Harvard University
i. Two Indians from Indian Institute of Science, and University of Delhi have been named for Harvard University’s prestigious Radcliffe fellowship.
ii. Shivani Agarwal from Indian Institute of Science and Maharaja Pandit from University of Delhi are among 50 scholars, scientists, and artists who will begin their one-year fellowships along with 48 at the Radcliffe Institute in September 2015, a media release said.
iii. Considered as one of the most prestigious honors for faculty, only three per cent of applicants were accepted this year.
iv. Shivani, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellow has been selected for learning to make choices in the era of big data. Mr Pandit has been selected for his project life in Himalaya.
v. “It is an honor to provide these innovative thinkers with time, space, and intellectual stimulation to do their best work in ways that often defy expectations and disciplinary boundaries,” said Radcliffe Institute Dean Lizabeth Cohen.
12. Delhi Government to Launch ‘Pay and Play Scheme’ to Promote Sports
i. To promote sports among people of all age groups, Delhi government has decided to launch “Pay & Play Scheme” at the designated stadiums or sports complexes where they can play the game available there after paying a nominal fee of Rs 100.
ii. Apart from this, it has also been decided that academies or clubs or individuals will have access to government schools for sports promotion.
iii. Membership for sports facilities was already available in Thyagraj Stadium, Ludlow Castle Sports Complex and Chhatrasal Stadium. However, Ludlow Castle Sports Complex has been excluded as it is already full with members.
iv. The scheme would begin from July 1 in the morning session from 6 AM to 9.30 AM.
v. The facilities would be free of cost for school students and disabled persons, while persons up to 45-years of age would have to pay Rs 100 per month per discipline.
13. Government to award road projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore in six months
i. In a big push for infrastructure development, the government plans to award Rs 3 lakh crore of road projects this year as it looks to more than double highway construction to 30 km per day.
ii. As the NDA government completes one year in office, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari says innovative funding plans are being mulled to raise over Rs 3 lakh crore to give a fillip to the road sector.
iii. When the Modi government took charge in May last year, pace of road construction was 2 km per day. “Today it is 12 km a day, which would go up to 14 km per day by May end.
iv. Besides the plans to upgrade and expand National Highways, Gadkari is planning a 1,000-km Chaar Dhaam Yatra project to connect the four holy towns of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath with highways at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore.
v. The government is keen on selling 5,000 km road projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore and a high level meeting of top bankers will be held within a fortnight in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would be present, he said.
14. Infosys announced to become carbon neutral by 2018
i. Infosys announced to become carbon neutral by 2018. For this it earmarked an amount of 400 crore rupees. The company announced to achieve carbon-neutrality on commuting and travel by its nearly 1.8 lakh employees and in doing so deepens its commitment to sustainability.
ii. The company will offset 3.74 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide attributed to employees’ travel, and it will spend 70 crore rupees in 2015 on initiatives such as installing solar projects for rural electrification, biogas plants and distribution of smokeless cook-stoves in villages, besides afforestation.
iii. As part of its journey toward sustainability, Infosys will commission 55 MW of solar capacity, including 40 MW in Karnataka, in 2016. It will add another 110 MW of solar capacity in the coming years. It is already generating energy from 2.7 MW capacity solar panels on rooftops across its campuses in India.
iv. Infosys consumed 257 million units of electricity globally during 2014-15, and 30 per cent of this came from renewable energy sources.
15. India’s economic growth to surpass China’s in 2015-16: UN report
i. India’s economic growth is projected to surpass that of China’s, with the GDP expected to zoom by 7.7 per cent in 2016, according to a UN report which said India will help accelerate economic growth in South Asia.
ii. The mid-year update of the UN World Economic Situation and Prospects ( WESP), released today, said India’s economy is projected to grow by 7.6 per cent this year and 7.7 per cent in 2016, overtaking China.
iii. China is projected to grow by 7 per cent in 2015 and 6.8 per cent next year.
iv. The region’s GDP is projected to grow by 6.7 per cent in 2015 and 6.9 per cent in 2016, up from an estimated 6.3 per cent in 2014–a significant revision of the previous forecast.
16. Economist Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri passes away at 81
i. Eminent economist, noted academic and policy advisor Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, passed away in Pune. He was 81.
ii. He was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
iii. ‘MDC’ as Professor Chaudhuri was popularly and affectionately called, studied with Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen in Shantiniketan and furthered his education at Kolkata’s Presidency College before completing his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
17. Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards named England cricketers of the year 2014-15
i. Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards were named as England men’s and women’s cricketers of the year 2014-15 respectively.
ii. Root who was recently appointed vice-captain of England’s Test team was named as the cricketer of the year for scoring 1135 test runs at an average of 95 including four scores of 149 and above.
iii. His top test scoreof the season was of 200 not out against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. He also made three one-day international centuries.
iv. Charlotte Edwards, the women’s captain won the award for consecutive second year. She was chosen for averaging above 75 in ODIs and nearly 60 in Twenty20 internationals in the season. Under her leadership, England secured ODI series victories against India and New Zealand, alongside T20 series wins against South Africa and New Zealand.
v. She was also presented the silver England cap by the England and Wales Cricket Board to celebrate her 200th match as women’s captain against New Zealand in February 2015.
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