G.K Update 10th April 2017

By: D.K Choudhary

1. Three-day children’s film festival begins

The second National Children’s Film Festival took off on a colourful note in Visakhapatnam.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the festival at VUDA Children’s Arena.

This 3-day long film extravaganza for the children will entertain them during the next two days.

Opening film “Shanu – The Optimist” directed by KNT Sastry and produced by CFSI in 2016, was screened after the inaugural session.

More than 40,000 children are expected to watch over 24 CFSI films at this festival across 12 screens in the city.

2. President of India inaugurates first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017 in New Delhi.

The slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit is, ‘Unite for a Healthy Mind’.

The President said that out of all the mental health disorders, depression is probably the most common.

Depression affects people of all ages from all walks of life and in all countries.

As per the National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 conducted by NIMHANS, 5.2% of the Indian adult population suffers from depression in some form or the other.

3. India and ADB Sign $175 Million Loan Agreement for Solar Transmission System

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $175 million loan agreement to support construction of high voltage transmission systems to evacuate power generated from new mega solar parks to the interstate grid, and improve reliability of the national grid system.

The loan will be given to the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) and will include subprojects in various locations in India.

This will be the ADB’s first breakthrough of the country system’s application to a specific project.

4. NEFT transfers to be faster as RBI cuts clearance time

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to slash clearance time for National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) in an attempt to enhance efficiency of the electronic payment system and add to customer convenience.

In line with the document on Vision-2018 for Payment and Settlement Systems, the NEFT settlement cycle will be reduced from hourly batchesto half hourly batches, the RBI said in the first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2017-18.

“Consequently, 11 additional settlement batches will be introduced at 8.30 am onwards, taking the total number of half hourly settlement batches during the day to 23,” the newly appointed deputy governor B.P. Kanungo said.

Points to Remember

National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is a nation-wide payment system facilitating one-to-one funds transfer.

Under this Scheme, individuals can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual having an account with any other bank branch in the country participating in the Scheme.

There is no transfer limit – either minimum or maximum – on the amount of funds that could be transferred using NEFT.

However, maximum amount per transaction is limited to Rs. 50,000/- for cash-based remittances within India and also for remittances to Nepalunder the Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility Scheme.

5. Canara Bank partners BSNL to upgrade bandwidth at all branches

Canara Bank, a public sector bank, has embarked upon an ambitious project of upgrading the bandwidth at all its branches to 2 Mbps in partnership with BSNL.

The project was officially inaugurated by Dina Bandhu Mohapatra, Executive Director, Canara Bank in presence of other top executives of the Bank and BSNL.

6. Malala Yousafzai to be United Nations Messenger of Peace

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has selected Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai to be a UN messenger of peace, the highest honor bestowed by the UN chief on a global citizen.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced that she will focus on promoting girls’ education worldwide.

Other messengers of peace include actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio, primatologist Jane Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma.

7. 64th National Film Awards

Best Feature Film- Kaasav (Marathi)

Best Actor – Akshay Kumar (Rustom)

Best Actress – Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)

Best Hindi Film: Neerja (Ram Madhvani)

Best Director – Rajesh Mapuskar (Ventilator)

Best Film on Social Issues – ‘Pink’

Best Supporting Actor – Manoj Joshi (Dashkriya)

Best Supporting Actress – Zaira Wasim (Dangal)

Best Debut Film of a Director – Deep Chaudari (Alifa)

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – ‘Sathamanam Bhavathi’

Best Children’s Film – ‘Dhanak’ (Hindi)

Best Child Artist – Adhish Praveen (Kunju Daivam), Saj (Noor Islam), Manohara (Railway Children)

Best Male Playback Singer – Sundara Iyer (Joker)

Best Female Playback Singer – Iman Chakraborty (Praktan)

Best Special Effect Award: ‘Shivaay’

Best Environmental film including agriculture – The Tiger Who Crossed The Line

Points to Remember

The most film friendly state award was given to Uttar Pradesh.

The best film critic award was given to G. Dhananjayan.

Best Book on Cinema award was given to Lata: Sur Gatha, authored by Yatindra Mishra. The book narrates Lata Mangeshkar’s life, seven decade career and its’ impact on Indian cinema.

The National Film Awards were established in 1954.

Shyamchi Aai, a Marathi film received an honour to be the first Indian film to receive President’s Gold Medal for the All India Best FeatureFilm, which now better known as National Film Award for Best Feature Film.

Mirza Galib was the first Hindi film to be awarded with National Film Award.

8. IOA grants affiliation to Boxing Federation of India

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has granted affiliation to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), ending a long-standing impasse between the two bodies.

The affiliation ends a logjam that goes back to September last year when BFI took charge of the sport after elections conducted in the presence ofInternational Boxing Association (AIBA) and Sports Ministry observers.

BFI now becomes the fully recognised body for Indian boxing, having already been granted affiliation by AIBA and the Sports Ministry.

9. Veerappa Moily presents copy of his new book to President

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily presented the first copy of his book ‘The Flaming Tresses of Draupadi’ to President Pranab Mukherjee.

The book Chronicles the epic character of Mahabharata, Draupadi