G.K. Update 23 May 2016 (English)

G.K. Update 23 May 2016 (English)

By :D.K. Choudhary

1. Anurag Thakur elected as new BCCI President

• Anurag Thakur (41-year) has been unanimously elected as President of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) by the board’s special general meeting held in Mumbai.
• He is 34th BCCI President and shall have tenure till September 2017.
• He succeeds Shashank Manohar who stepped down to take get elected as ICC’s first independent chairman.
• Anurag Thakur is the second youngest BCCI President after Fateh Singh Gaekwad who was the youngest BCCI President to get elected at the age of 33 in 1963.
• He is a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh.
• Ajay Shirke was named as successor of Thakur as BCCI Secretary.

Note:- 

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India.
• The board was formed in December 1928 as a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act.
• It is a consortium of state cricket associations and the state associations select their representatives who in turn elect the BCCI officials.
• The BCCI is India’s richest sporting body and the richest cricket board in the world.

Quick Review:

Q:- Who has been elected as new BCCI President?- Anurag Thakur

2. May 22: International Day for Biological Diversity

• Every year May 22 is being observed as International Biodiversity Day (IDB) across the world to promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
• To step-up understanding and awareness about biodiversity issues.
• To make people aware about the importance of biodiversity on the one hand and itsunprecedented loss on the other.
• 2016 Theme: “Mainstreaming Biodiversity; Sustaining People and their Livelihoods”.

Note:- 

• Biodiversity refers to the variety of flora and fauna that make up the ecosystem. The preservation of the ecosystem is vital to natural balance and human existence.

Quick Review:

Q:-which day  International Biodiversity Day  observed across the world?-May 22 

3.  Kiran Bedi Appointed as Puducherry Lt. Governor

• President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed BJP leader and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry as per Article 239 of the Constitution.
• She replaces Lieutenant-General AK Singh,who as the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, was given additional charge of Puducherry in 2014.
• Ms Bedi had joined the BJP in January last year, following which she was projected as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the Delhi assembly elections.
• Bedi is country’s first woman IPS officer, who served for 35 years before joining politics.
• She had considerable exposure to the office during her stint as the secretary to Delhi’s former Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna in 1998-99.
• On Thursday, the Assembly election results showed the Congress has won 15 of the 30 seats in Puducherry.

Note:- 

• Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry is a Union Territory of India (UTI).
• It was formed out of four exclaves of former French India, namely Puducherry, Karaikal,Yanam and Mahe.
• It is named after the largest district Puducherry.
• Historically known as Pondicherry, the territory changed its official name to Puducherryon 20 September 2006.
• President’s Police medal (1979), Ramon Magsaysay Award (1994), UN Medal for outstanding service (2004).

Quick Review:

Q:- Who has been appointed as Puducherry Lt. Governor?- Kiran Bedi

4. Gujarat Government launches Smart Village program

• Gujarat Government has launched Smart Village program to improve public facilities in the villages.
• It was launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on the occasion of completion of two years of her Government.
• Under this programme, 300 villages will be selected for Smart Village program.
• Villages will be shortlisted by the state-level committee consisting of experts on the basis of Gram Panchayat’s performance through a transparent process.
• It seeks to make villages ‘smart’ on the lines of Smart Cities that will help them becomeself-reliant, clean and hygienic.
• Toilets, cleanliness, drop-out rate in primary schools, malnutrition ratio, Anganwadi facilities, vaccination of children, ATVT services are some parameters on which village will be adjudged as ‘Smart Village’.
• These villages will get 80 lakh to 2 crore rupees cash assistance from the state government to improve public facilities in the villages.

5. India, Oman sign 4 bilateral agreements on defence cooperation

• India and Oman have signed four Memorandums of Understanding(MoUs)/agreements on defence cooperation.
• These MoUs/agreements were signed in Muscat during the visit of Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Oman.
• MOU on Defence Cooperation was singed between the Union Ministry of Defence of India and Ministry of Defence Sultanate of Oman.
• MOU in the field of Marine Crime Prevention at Sea was signed between the Indian Coast Guard and the Royal Oman Police (Coast Guard).
• MOU on Maritime Issues was signed between the Government of India and the Government of Sultanate of Oman.

Quick Review:

Q:- How many bilateral  agrements sign between India and Oman  on defence cooperation?-4

6. J. Jaiyalalithaa takes oath as Tamil Nadu CM for sixth time

• All  India Anna Dravida Munnetra kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Ms. J Jayalalithaa has sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for record sixth time after winning 2016 state assembly election with absolute majority.
• State Governor Dr.K. Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy to her at oath taking ceremony held at the Centenary Auditorium, Madras University.
• Besides, Governor also administered oath of office and secrecy to the 28 ministers of her government.
• She was first sworn-in as chief minister on June 24, 1991.
• This is J Jayalalithaa’s second consecutive term as chief minister and sixth overall.
• She is the second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after Janaki Ramachandran.

Note:

• Jayalalithaa Jayaram born 24 February 1948 commonly referred to as Amma by people of Tamilnadu.
• She became the first incumbent chief minister in India to be disqualified from holding office due to conviction in a disproportionate assets case on 27 September 2014.
• On May 11, 2015, the Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, and she resumed office as Chief Minister on May 23.
• She was subsequently re-elected by the electorate of the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency of North Chennai in a by-election held on 27 June 2015.

Q:- Name of the Governor of Tamil Nadu?- Dr.K. Rosaiah

7. Nepal confers literary award on Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling

• Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was conferred with the ‘Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award‘ for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India.
• The award was bestowed upon him by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India.
• The award ceremony was organised by Siddhicharan Shrestha Academy on the occasion of 105th birth anniversary of the late poet Shrestha.

Know about Award:

• Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award carries a certificate of appreciation and a sum of 100,000 Nepali Rupees.
• Pawan Chamling is an author of many books in Nepali, English and Hindi.
• He has been awarded twice by the Sikkim Sahitya Parishad for the best poem Chintan Puraskar in 1987 and Bhanu Puraskar in 2010.

8. U.S. House for greater defence ties with India

• The US House of Representatives has passed amendments to the National Defence Authorisation Act -2017 to enhance the country’s defence cooperation with India.
• The bill seeks to bring India at par with US’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for technology and equipment sale.
• Defence trade between the US and India is one of the strongest areas of the bilateraleconomic relationship.
• Over the past 10 years it has risen from $300 million to over $14 billion.

9. Ratan P Watal appointed as principal adviser for social sector in NITI Aayog

• Former Finance Secretary retired IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre of (1978-batch) Ratan P Watal has been appointed as Principle Adviser for social sector in NITI Aayog for three years.
• His appointment comes after his two-month extended tenure as Finance Secretaryended in April 2016.
• He was to retire in February 2016, but got a two-month extension.

Note:- 

• NITI Aayog National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) is premier policy think tank of Union Government.
• It has replaced erstwhile six decade old Planning Commission.
• Its aim is to foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process of the state governments and has adopted a bottom-up approach in planning.
• Advertisement Noted Economist Arvind Panagariya is Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog.
• Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat are its full-time members.

10. Union Government 11 member panel to relook Defence Spend

• Union Government has constituted 11 members committee to recommend measures to enhance the combat capabilities of the armed forces and re-balance the overall defence expenditure.
• The 11-member committee will be headed by Lt Gen D B Shekatkar (retd).
• It also includes several other top military officers as well as civilian experts.
• The overall aim of the committee is to ensure combat capabilities Indian armed forces and enhance their potential with a better teeth-to-tail combat ratio, within budgetary constraints. It also aims at ensuring leaner and cost-effective fighting forces of India.
• Background The committee was constituted owing to the present revenue componentin the defence budget.
• The revenue component usually outstrips the capital outlay every year and leaves a very little for new modernisation projects for the armed forces.
• Since the 1999 Kargil conflict, Union Government is trying to follow a policy of `save and raise’ in order to improve combat capabilities without manpower increases.
• For this purpose government is focusing on modernisation and induction of cutting-edge technologies, for optimisation of manpower.

11. Himachal Pradesh launches artificial propagation programme of mahseer fish for conservation

• Himachal Pradesh fisheries department has started an artificial propagation programme for rehabilitation and conservation of Golden Mahseer fish.
• Under this programme, a hatchery has been set up in the state with an outlay of Rs 6 crore to rear mahseer fish and release its fingerlings into the wild.
  About Golden mahseer:
• Golden mahseer is the longest-living freshwater fish. It is also known as the tiger of Indian rivers and belongs to the genus Tor.
• It is native to mountain and sub-mountain regions and is found at altitudes of up to 2,000 metres above sea level.
• During the southwest floods it migrates upstream for spawning and after spawning, it returns to the original feeding grounds International Union of Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) has declared it endangered.