Daily GK Updates – 4th – 5th April 2015
1. Minor planet named after former Chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand
i. Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center on 1 April 2015 officially named a minor planet 
as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.
ii. The main-belt minor planet was discovered between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter by Kenzo Suzuki in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on 10 October 1988. Since its discovery, the planet remained unnamed.
iii. With this, Anand joined former world chess champions Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov who have had a similar honour bestowed on them. Other sports personalities on whom such honours have been bestowed include Donald Bradman, Jesse Owens, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
iv. The first minor planet discovered was Ceres in 1801. The orbits of 670000 minor planets were archived at the Minor Planet Center by 2015.
2. PM launches “Give it up” campaign for voluntarily giving up LPG subsidy
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 March 2015 launched Give it Up campaign. The campaign was launched at the annual energy-focussed summit Urja Sangam 2015. 
ii. The campaign seeks to extort the better off sections of society to forego their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, which would be utilised in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
iii. The Prime Minister asked companies and banks to encourage their employees to give up the subsidy on LPG. Gas cylinders surrendered by them would be transferred to the poor who use wood for cooking.
iv. The Give it Up campaign should be taken up on the lines of Swacch Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiatives.
3. West Bengal governor to be sworn in as Mizoram governor on April 4
i. West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who has been given the additional charge of Mizoram, would be 
sworn-in here on April four.
ii. State protocol officer David L Pachuau told PTI that a ceremonial reception would be accorded to Tripathi after he arrives at Lengpui Airport near Aizawl on April four and he would be sworn-in at the Raj Bhavan at 4pm on that day.
iii. Former state governor Aziz Qureshi, who was sacked by the Centre on Saturday last, would leave Aizawl on the same day, he said.
4. Pedro Cateriano Bellido appointed as 7th Prime Minister of Peru
i. Pedro Cateriano Bellido was appointed as the seventh Prime Minister of Peru on 2 April 2015. He was appointed
by the President Ollanta Humala in a ceremony held at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru.
ii. He replaced Ana Jara, who was sacked on 30 March 2015 after losing the vote of confidence in Congress. She was sacked by Peruvian Congress amid allegations of spying and corruption.
iii. At the time of this appointment, 56-year-old lawyer Bellido was serving as Defence Minister of Peru. He was serving as Peru’s Defence Minister since July 2012.
iv. A lawyer by profession with specialisation in Constitutional Law, he served as an agent of the Peruvian State to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Chavin de Huantar case in 2012.
v. From 2001 to 2002, he served as deputy Justice Minister and from 1990 to 1992 he was a member of the Parliament of Peru.
5. Delhi International Airport wins Golden Peacock award
i. Delhi International Airport Limited has won ‘Golden Peacock National Quality Award’ for 2015 for their concerted efforts in building a culture of Total Quality across Indira Gandhi International Airport.
ii. I Prabhakara Rao, DIAL CEO, in a statement said, “DIAL has won this accolade for its commitment and focus on excellence. It highlights the best in class quality process that we have been building up at DIAL over the years.”
iii. The award will be presented to DIAL by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development, Government of UAE at the “Golden Peacock Awards Night” on April 20, 2015 in Dubai, during the annual “25th World Congress on Leadership for Business Excellence & Innovation”.
iv. DIAL is a joint venture company of the GMR Group, Airports Authority of India, Fraport and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.
6. Central Bank tops list with highest NPAs among PSU banks
i. Central Bank of IndiaBSE 0.14 % has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances.
ii. According to the data provided by the RBI to the Finance Ministry, Central Bank of India’s 21.5 per cent assets are either bad or have been restructured to save them turning non-performing assets (NPAs).
iii. The other banks which have significant amount of gross NPAs and restructured loans include, United Bank of IndiaBSE 1.55 % (19.04 per cent), Punjab & Sind BankBSE 0.85 % (18.25 per cent) and Punjab National BankBSE -1.91 % with 17.85 per cent as on December 2014.
7. Centre extends food law deadline again by 6 months
i. The Union Government on 3 April 2015 extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states.
ii. The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4. The deadline was extended for the third time so that the remaining states adopt and implement the law within six months.
iii. Since passage by Parliament in September 2013, the NFSA has been implemented in 11 states and Union Territories (UTs). The rest 25 states/UTs have not implemented it yet.
iv. At present, the Union Government allocates foograins to 11 states/UTs as per the new food law, while the rest are getting foodgrains quota as per earlier PDS norms.
v. 11 states/UTs where the NFSA has been implemented includes Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Chandigarh, some of them fully and others partially
8. Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Smart Traveller
i. Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited on 3 April 2015 launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
ii. The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
iii. Bharti AXA GI offers comprehensive and affordable international travel insurance solutions for different segments of travelers.
iv. The Bharti AXA GI Advantage gives individual and family plans for several travel exigencies like medical emergencies, loss of travel documents (Passport, tickets etc.), loss of checked-in baggage, compassionate visit in case of medical emergency, financial emergency, daily allowance if hospitalization is needed, among others.
9. Diageo to buy Vijay Mallya’s remaining 50% stake in United National Breweries
i. Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, on Thursday, took full control of South African beer maker United National Breweries by acquiring the additional 50 per cent stake in the company from Vijay Mallya-controlled Pestello Investments for an initial payment of $22 million.
ii. Diageo has entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining 50 per cent share of United National Breweries’ (UNB) interest in the company, thereby making it a wholly-owned subsidiary.
iii. “Diageo will acquire this further interest from Pestello Investments Inc. for an initial payment of $22 million and a potential earn-out payment of up to $14 million,” a company statement said.
iv. It further said that the transaction was ‘conditional on consent from the South African competition authority’. The transaction was expected to be completed within the current fiscal, it added.
10. Ace Indian mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu found dead
i. Ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, missing since March 24 while on a solo expedition in the Andes, has been found dead in Argentina.
ii. His death was announced on the “Rescue Malli Mustan Babu” page set up on Facebook by his friends and well-wishers. “Mountains retained its favourite child..R.I.P. Malli Mastan Babu,” said a message posted on the page early on Saturday.
iii. The 40-year-old from Andhra Pradesh had become the world’s “fastest seven summiteer” in 2006 by climbing seven peaks on seven days of the week in each calendar month over a period of 172 days.
iv. He went missing while attempting to climb a mountain along the Argentina-Chile border from the base camp of Cerro Tres Cruces.
11. FM Global released Global Resilience Index 2015 Report
i. FM Global in the first week of April released Global Resilience Index 2015.
ii. The Index offers powerful insights to help business executives target their investments towards more reliable returns and to protect their customers from unforeseen disruption.
iii. Out of the 130 countries and regions assessed Norway topped the list in terms of business resilience.
The top ten countries in the Index are
Norway (1)
Switzerland (2)
Netherlands (3)
Ireland (4)
Luxembourg (5)
Germany (6)
Qatar (7)
Canada (8)
Finland (9)
the United States region (10)
The bottom five countries in the Index are
Dominican Republic (126)
Nicaragua (127)
Mauritania (128)
Kyrgyz Republic (129)
Venezuela (130)
12. Gujarat leads in implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) during 2014-15
i. Gujarat is leading the pack in the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission, according to a statement from the Ministry of Urban Development.
ii. During 2014-15, out of the 2.7 lakh household toilets constructed, Gujarat alone accounted for 60 per cent having built 1,65,376 household toilets. Madhya Pradesh constructed 99,151 household toilets followed by Karnataka with 4,697, the statement said.
iii. Gujarat also reported 100 per cent collection and transportation of municipal solid waste in 120 of the 195 towns in the state.
iv. Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on October 2, 2014 with the objective of ensuring cleanliness in all the 4,041 statutory cities and towns of the country by October 2, 2019.
13. Iran and P5+1 gave nod for nuclear agreement Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
i. Iran, the P5+1 and the European Union (EU) on 2 April 2015 conceded on a framework agreement called as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) intended to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
ii. The agreement was reached at Lausanne’s Beau-Rivage Palace hotel in Switzerland.
iii. The informal framework agreement will be used as the basis for evolving the final draft of JCPOA by 30 June 2015.
iv. P5+1 include all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) viz., the US, the UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany.
14. 12-year-old Muslim girl from Mumbai wins Bhagwad Gita contest
i. Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, a 12-year-old Muslim girl in March 2015 won the first position at the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita Champion League. She won the prize for explaining the teachings of the Bhagwad Gita.
ii. Siddiqui who studies in Class 6 of Cosmopolitan High School at Mira Road near Mumbai won the contest from among 4500 students of 195 schools.
iii. Mariyam said she learned from Bhagwad Gita that humanity is the biggest religion in this world.
iv. Shrimad Bhagwad Gita Champion League was an inter-school competition. It was organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in March 2015.
15. Doping scandal hits weightlifting, 21 lifters suspended
i. In what could be termed as one of the biggest doping scandals in recent years, as many as 21 weightlifters have been provisionally suspended by the Indian Weightlifting Federation after testing positive for banned substances.
ii. The lifters tested positive across different championships – both out-of-competition and in-competition. But the maximum number of offenders were caught at the National Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships, which was held in Yamunanagar in January.
iii. “Yes, 21 lifters have tested positive and have been provisionally suspended, pending the result of their ‘B’ sample tests. Their ‘B’ sample tests are awaited,” Indian Weightlifting Federation secretary general Sahdev Yadav said.
16. Saina Nehwal ends runner-up at Malaysia Open
i. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will lose her world no. 1 ranking after her gallant fight against Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals ended in heartbreak at the USD 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament, here today.
ii. World number one Saina squandered a one-game advantage as she lost 21-13 17-21 20-22 to world number three Li in a gruelling semifinal that lasted one hour and eight minutes at Putra Stadium.
iii. Saina, who won the India Open Super Series last week, once again failed to come good against Xuerui, who has now beaten the Indian nine times in 11 meetings.
iv. The girl from Hyderabad, who has been on a rampaging run ever since winning the China Open last year, played out of her skin in a match where fortunes fluctuated too often but in the end it was Li, who emerged victorious.
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