Daily GK Updates – 9th – 10th August 2015
1. Global satellite named ‘GlobalSat for DRR’ proposed to be named after Abdul Kalam
i. Global satellite called GlobalSat for DRR was in news in the first week of August 2015 as it was proposed to be
named after former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who died on 27 July 2015.
ii. The satellite to be used for earth observation and disaster risk reduction will be renamed as UN Kalam GlobalSat.
iii. The proposal to name the satellite after Dr. Kalam was made by Milind Pimprikar, Chairman of CANEUS (CANada-Europe-US-Asia) headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
iv. The proposed GlobalSat will be formally adopted by more than 150 world leaders at the UN Session in New York in September 2015.
2. Union Government launched School Nursery Yojana to bring students closer to nature
i. Union Government launched the School Nursery Yojana, an initiative to bring students closer to nature. The Yojana seeks to engage class VI to IX in raising of saplings in nurseries created in schools.
ii. The Yojana was launched by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi. The underlying theme of the Yojana is to plant a tree for sustainable future and to make the nation clean and green.
iii. The Minister also presented a sapling and a packet of seeds to students from each school for planting in their school.
iv. He exhorted the students to take the grown sapling planted by them along with their annual results to their homes.
3. Govt plans ‘Suraksha Bandhan’ drive to push social security
i. Seeking to tap ‘Raksha Bandhan’ festival, the Government plans to launch a ‘Suraksha Bandhan’ drive to push its flagship social security plans through innovative schemes like gift cheques and special deposits.
ii. A special enrolment drive will be launched by the participating banks and insurance companies during August-September, in the backdrop of the forthcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan, Finance Ministry said in a statement.
iii. Raksha Bandhan, to be celebrated on August 29, is a festival where brothers traditionally give gifts to their sisters and vow to protect them.
iv. The recipient of the gift cheque would deposit the instrument in his or her bank account for a realisable value of Rs. 342 (Rs 12 + Rs. 330) to cover one—year subscription to PMJJBY and PMSBY.
4. India has 1,866 registered political parties: EC
i. There has been a rush for registration of political parties, with as many as 239 new outfits enrolling themselves with the Election Commission between March, 2014 and July this year, taking their number to 1,866.
ii. According to the Commission, as on July 24, there are 1,866 political parties which are registered with it. Out of these, 56 are recognised as registered national or state parties, while the rest are “unrecognised, registered” parties.
iii. According to data complied by the Commission, in the last Lok Sabha election in 2014, 464 political parties had fielded candidates.
iv. According to the Election Commission, there were a total of 1,593 such parties in the country till March 10, 2014. 24 more such parties were registered between March 11 and March 21.
5. Raghavendra Gadagkar awarded with Germany’s Cross of Order of the Merit
i. Indian sociobiologist Raghavendra Gadagkar was awarded with the Germany’s highest civilian honour Cross of Order of the Merit at the German Consulate in Bengaluru.
ii. He was bestowed with the honour for his contribution in the field of behavioural ecology and sociobiology and for strengthening research corporation between India and Germany.
iii. Currently, Gadagkar is a professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
iv. He is also the president of the Indian National Science Academy and has published more than 270 research papers and two books.
6. Xiaomi ties up with Foxconn to set up facility in Andhra Pradesh through ‘Make in India’ intiative
i. China-based Smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc has tied up with Taiwan-based Foxconn to set first Assembly line in Andhra Pradesh under ‘Make in India’ initiative.
ii. These two Smartphone manufacturer giants has forayed together into Indian electronics market to roll out.
iii. Xiaomi’s first locally made Smartphone, the Redmi2 Prime as it seeks to expand its market share in India. The size of the investment made in setting up the assembly line was not disclosed.
7. Govt caps kerosene subsidy at Rs 12 per litre and Rs 18 per kg for LPG
i. On 10 August Central government has capped the subsidy payout on kerosene at Rs. 12 per litre and Rs. 18 per kg for LPG and notifies the upstream companies to bear about Rs 5,000-6,000 crore kerosene subsidy for the fiscal year.
ii. In public distribution system (PDS) Kerosene is sold at Rs. 14.96 per litre against its actual cost of Rs 29.91 in the market leaving burden of Rs. 14.95 per litre on government which is also called as under-recovery or revenue loss.
iii. Initially this under-recovery loss Rs. 14.95 per litre was paid by government to state owned retailer (ONGC and Oil India Ltd), but according to this new cap set at Rs 12 per litre these upstream companies will have to bear the difference of Rs. 2.95 per litre on them i.e. Rs. 5000 -Rs. 6000 crore for fiscal year.
8. China’s Phicomm to invest $1 billion to set up India units
i. Phicomm, a Shanghai-based smartphone maker has announced to invest around 6400 crore rupees in India by 2017.
ii. The company has decided to set up five business units in phased manner which includes units of – Mobile phones, Cloud services, Enterprise, SOHO- Small Office Home Office networking products and Intelligent Cities in India.
iii. Accordingly the company would set up an R&D unit in Gurgaon or Bengaluru, local brownfield assembly unit and contract manufacturing units in India.
iv. By October 2015, Company plans to launch its SOHO products such as routers in which it leads in China and aims to sell 1,00,000 Smart phones by the end of the year.
9. Telecom Minister launches mobile app ‘Disha’ to aid digital literacy in Bihar
i. On 10 August Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched a new mobile app ‘Disha’ to aid digital literacy in Bihar.
ii. The app was launched in Bihar that aims to help people learn about computers and Internet through self learning modules.
iii. The app envisages offering digital literacy to tribal and Dalit women in the State which is free and available on Google app store.
iv. To promote digital literacy government has initiated training program under “Digital Saksharta Abhiyan” in all states.
10. India tops in Beef export: US-DoA
i. As per recently released data by US Department of Agriculture (DoA), India has emerged as world’s largest exporter of beef.
ii. India has retained its top spot as the world’s largest exporter of beef. It should be noted that in this data of US-DoA has even considered buffalo meat as beef.
iii. According to the data, India exported 2.4 million tonnes of veal and beef in FY-2015, while Brazil exported 2 million tonnes and Australia exported 1.5 million tonnes.
iv. India accounted for 23.5 per cent of global beef exports in FY-2015 compared to 20.8 per cent share in FY 2015.
11. 10 August: World Bio-Fuel Day
i. Every year 10th August is observed as World Bio-Fuel Day in a bid to create awareness about non fossil-fuels (Green Fuels).
ii. On this day in 1893, Sir Rudalph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) for the first time successfully ran mechanical engine with Peanut Oil.
iii. His research experiment had predicted that vegetable oil is going to replace the fossil fuels in the next century to fuel different mechanical engines.
iv. Thus to mark this extraordinary achievement, World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th August.
12. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notifies changes in I-T rules to comply with FATCA pact
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has amended income tax rules to provide reporting of information with regards to financial assets and accounts to comply with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) pact signed between India and US in 9 July 2015.
ii. It must report the requirements starting from 2014 and report of all details from 2017 onwards.
iii. Financial Institutions in India and US shall begin reporting information of each other clients from September 30.
iv. India on 9 July 2015, signed Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the US under FATCA which seeks to facilitate flow of financial information between two countries.
13. Param Tyag Chakra Initiative launched to honour families of martyrs
i. The Param Tyag Chakra initiative was launched on 9 August 2015 by the Alumni Association of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology to honour family members of brave military men, who sacrificed their lives for the nation.
ii. Everyone including the general public, the government, corporates, the media can join this initiative in multiple ways like by identifying and referring such families or by channeling the support required for them etc.
iii. The initiative is planned in multiple phases. The first phase will be launched as part of the Independence Day.
14. Goa Tourism Minister D Parulekar conferred with PATWA 2015 award
i. Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar has been conferred with the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) and Safari India South Asia Travel Award 2015.
ii. He was bestowed with this award in the Best Tourism Minister category. With this he became first Goan tourism minister to win this prestigious award.
15. Poet, freedom fighter Kayyara Kinhanna Rai passes away
i. Eminent Kannada poet and freedom fighter Kayyara Kinhanna Rai passed away at Badiyadkka in Kasaragod district of Kerala. He was 101. He was an author, poet, journalist and Indian independence activist .
ii. Some of his famous poems are Aikyagana, Shreemukha, Chethana, Punarnava and Koraga.
iii. His other important works are Sahithya Drushti and Malayala Sahitya Charithre (History of Malayalam literature) which is a translation of an original work by P. K. Parameshwaran Nair.
iv. In 1998, he had served as President of 67th Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana which was held in Mangalore.
16. England beat Australia to regain Ashes
i. England ripped out the last three Australia wickets for 12 runs to win the fourth test by a crushing innings and 78 runs at Trent Bridge on Saturday and regain the Ashes.
ii. Ben Stokes had Mitchell Starc caught by Ian Bell at second slip for nought and Mark Wood bowled Josh Hazlewood for a duck.
iii. Wood produced another ferocious full-pitched delivery to shatter Nathan Lyon’s stumps and complete the rout, sparking wild celebrations on the pitch and all around the ground
17. Clarke to retire after final Ashes test
i. Australia captain Michael Clarke will retire after the final Ashes test against England this month, the cricketer announced on Saturday.
ii. Clarke was speaking after England won the fourth test at Trent Bridge by an innings and 78 runs to regain the Ashes. Clarke has played 114 tests and scored over 8,000 runs, including 28 centuries.
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