G.K. Update 25 june 2016 (English)

1. Brexit wins as Britain votes to leave European Union in historic referendum
i. The United Kingdom has voted by 52 % to 48 % to leave the European Union after 43 years in a historic referendum.

ii. According to a newspaper London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the Union but the remaining vote has been done against it which mainly contains the north of England. Voters in Wales and the English shires have backed Britain exit from the EU in large numbers.
iii. The decision launches what will be years of negotiations over trade, business and political links with the European Union, which will shrink to a 27-nation bloc. Meanwhile because of the referendum, the pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results. Referendum turnout was higher than at last year’s general election.

2. Union Government approved setting up of District Level Advisory and Monitoring Committees
i. Union Ministry of Urban Development has approved the setting up of District Level Advisory and Monitoring Committees to promote people centric planning and execution of new urban development schemes.
ii. These committees will comprise of elected representatives of the country, thus giving Members of Parliament (MP) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) a say in the implementation of the urban development schemes.
iii. In a first of its kind, these Committees will oversee, review and monitor implementation of urban development, affordable housing and urban poverty alleviation programmes. Programmes to be monitored under this – Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) etc.

3. Union Government launches India’s first pilot programme to run two-wheelers on CNG in New Delhi

i. Union Government has launched a pilot programme to run two-wheelers on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in New Delhi to curb air pollution in cities. ii. The project was jointly launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar at the CGO Complex CNG station.

iii. The first-of-its-kind pilot programme in India to run two-wheelers on CNG has been launched by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL). It is being implemented by IGL under its “Hawa Badlo” movement along with GAIL (Gas Authority of India Limited).

4. Odisha approves 500 new gram pancahyats
i. Odisha government has approved a proposal of the Panchayati Raj department to add 500 new gram panchayats  before the 2017 three-tier panchayat polls.
ii. The decision has been taken based on the recommendation received from the district level, said secretary to Panchayati Raj department Deo Ranjan Singh.
iii. The state presently has 6,211 panchayats.

i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its much awaited ‘Vision-2018’ document. The ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision-2018’ aims at building best of class payment and settlement systems for a ‘less-cash’ India and ensuring access to mobile banking services to even basic phone users.

ii. The current vision document is focussing on improving the infrastructure and regulations in the country to reduce cash transactions and increase use of technology. RBI said that its vision document focuses on responsive regulation, robust infrastructure, effective supervision and customer centricity.

iii. Service providers will be encouraged to use technology to provide innovative easy to use mobile-based payment solutions in an interoperable environment without compromising on security. RBI expects the Vision to result in a continued decrease in the share of paper-based clearing instruments.

i. India and Switzerland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skills development and vocational and professional education and training.

ii. The MoU was signed between Switzerland’s State Secretary Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Winterthur.

iii. The MoU seeks to institutionalize cooperation between the two countries in the field of skill development and aims to promote Swiss vocational and professional education and training internationally.

i. Millionaires in Asia are wealthier than their counterparts in other regions of the world, including North America and Europe.

ii. According to a report by the Capgemini consulting firm, Asian millionaires’ wealth was worth 17.4 trillion dollars in 2015, more than double the 8.4 trillion dollars in 2006.

iii. The report said there were 5.1 million Asian millionaires in 2015, the majority, 2.7 million coming from Japan and another one million from China. The US, by contrast, had 4.5 millionaires. Asian millionaires’ wealth is largely centered around financial services, technology, and healthcare.

8. Tech Mahindra Ltd acquires UK-based BIO Agency Ltd
i. Technology services provider Tech Mahindra Ltd (TechM) has acquired UK-based digital transformation firm The BIO Agency Ltd.
ii. The acquisition was carried out in an all-cash deal for an enterprise value of up to 45 million pounds.
iii. Tech Mahindra will acquire 100 percent of shares of the company. The move will help Tech Mahindra to strengthen its digital portfolio in providing better digital strategy, services and customer experience. The acquisition will also help The BIO Agency to make sizable inroads into the telecommunications and enterprise clients of Tech Mahindra.

i. IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay Mittal has been awarded the twenty-fifth GD Birla Award for Scientific Research for the year 2015.

ii. He has been bestowed with this award for his significant contributions have been in the area of Mechanics.

iii. He is Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. He also has worked in the area of sports aerodynamics.

10. M S Dhoni becomes brand ambassador of Exide Life Insurance
i. Exide Life Insurance has announced that they have signed India’s ODI and T20 cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador.
ii. Mr. Dhoni will feature in the Exide Life Insurance marketing campaign “Lamba saath, bharose Ki baat.” This is his first endorsement deal in the insurance category.
iii. As per the Director-Marketing of Exide Life Insurance Mohit Goel, Mr. Dhoni represents a unique blend of skill, commitment, and stability which are all personality traits that are relevant to the life insurance category. The private Life Insurance has commenced its operations in 2001-02 and is headquartered in Bengaluru.

i. Former Spinner Anil Kumble will be the new coach of Indian Cricket Team. The decision of his selection was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

ii. His tenure would be for one year. Selection of the bowling, batting and assistant coaches will be done soon.

iii. Kumble’s first assignment will be India’s four-Test tour of West Indies. Kumble’s international cricket career spans 18 years. He is the highest wicket-taker for India till date and third in the international list, behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.

12. Artemi Panarin wins 2015-2016 Calder Memorial Trophy
i. Russian hockey winger Artemi Panarin, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, has won the 2015-2016 Calder Memorial Trophy.
ii. The announcement was made by the US National Hockey League (NHL).
iii. In the selection process, Panarin received votes on all 150 ballots and was the top choice on 88 for 1258 voting points. He was followed by Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers (955) and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (858). The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.

13. Harika wins best women’s player in Kazakhstan Blitz
i. Grand Master Harika Dronavalli added another feather to her cap by winning the best women’s player award in the Eurasian Blitz chess tournament in Kazakhstan.

ii. The India number two player picked up a cash prize of $2500 and 60 ELO points to regain her position in the top 10. Harika had won the best woman’s prize at the Zalakaros International Chess Festival in Hungary last week to jump to world number 9 in the classical rankings list.
iii. The 25-year-old’s win is particularly impressive as the Blitz tournament saw an elite field, including world number one Hou Yifan of China. she was tied with Yifan with 12.5 points at the end of the tournament and ended up victorious in the tie-breaker