G.K Update 9 July 2016 (English)

G.K Update 9 July 2016 (English)

By: D.K Choudhary

1. India sets up apparel training centre in Nigeria
i. India has set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to support textiles industry of the west African country.
ii. This is a first of its kind centre in Nigeria set up in partnership with their government. The center is aimed to support and catalyze the initiative of Nigeria in realising the objectives to rebuild the cotton and textile value chain and address the need for the skilled workforce for domestic as well export-oriented apparel industry in the west African region.
iii. The centre has been established in Kaduna, Nigeria under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa which is being implemented by the Indian Department of Commerce. It was inaugurated on June 22.

2. Govt rolls out KVK portal for monitoring of farm centres
i. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has launched an online portal designed to monitor the functioning of nearly 645 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), known as farm-science centres, spread across the country.
ii. The KVKs, which have the mandate to assess agri-technology and demonstrate to farmers application and capacity development, are being set up in rural districts. Each KVK has direct interface with at least 1,000 farmers.
iii. The KVK portal will provide information related to all schemes, market development, and weather updates, besides advisory to farmers. This portal will also facilitate online monitoring of KVKs. The portal will have a provision for online monitoring of KVKs, which includes submission of monthly reports. It will also have information on different services being provided by different KVKs, weather and market updates, forthcoming programmes, besides question and answer facility for farmers. The agriculture details of the district will be made available on the portal.
3. India and Mozambique sign three agreements during PM visit
i. During the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the South African country Mozambique, India and Mozambique have signed three agreements in the area of drug trafficking (1st), pulse trading (2nd) and youth affairs & sports (3rd).
ii. These MoUs have been signed in the presence of PM Modi and Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique, between Secretary of Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Amar Sinha and Mozambique’s Finance Minister.
iii. The MoU is aimed at enhancing mutual cooperation between the two countries in combating illicit trafficking in narcotics, psychotropic substances, and their precursors through an exchange of information, expertise and capacity building. Under the MoU for pulse trading, pulses will be purchased by India at a mutually-agreed price. While the other MoUs on the cooperation in the field of youth affairs and sports and the next one is on the reduction of drug trafficking and psychotropic substances and related materials.
4. Maharashtra CM inducts 11 ministers including 10 news faces in Cabinet
i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has inducted 10 new faces in his cabinet today while one existing minister was elevated to cabinet rank. With this, the total strength of Maharastra ministers in the cabinet has become 39 now.
ii. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has administered the oath of the position for the 11  newly elected ministers at the Parishad hall in Vidhan Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister.
iii. The newly inducted ministers are six Ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party, two from Shiv Sena and one each from Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghatana and Rashtriya Samaj Party.
5. Govt to clean 10 iconic places under Swachh Bharat Mission
i. As per Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the government will carry out a drive to clean ten iconic places in the country as part of a pilot project under the Swachh Bharat mission, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
ii. The places which have been selected are Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir, Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, Golden Temple in Punjab, Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, Jagannath temple in Orissa, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Maharashtra, Manikarnika Ghat in Uttar Pradesh, Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu and Kamakhya Temple in Assam.
iii. Once this pilot project is completed, the govt will carry out a similar cleanliness drive at the remaining 90 places (100 places has been chosen under this drive).
6. The second phase of Haritha Haram programme launched today
i. The second phase of Haritha Haram programme of Telangana government has launched today. The  Haritha Haram programme aimed to plant 46 crore plants to improve green belt. The plantation programme which is two weeks long includes both the sides of over 163 kilometers long national highway between Hyderabad – Vijayawada.
ii. To launch this programme across the state, the Telangana Government has taken up this task with the help of all departments, institutions, NonGovernment Organisations, school children and individuals and to implement this programme smoothly AP borders was divided into 14 segments.
iii. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has also participated in this programme at Gundrampalli near Chityal in Nalgonda district. While Ministers, legislators and bureaucrats have also taken up similar plantations at several other places in the State, including government offices and open areas.
7. West Bengal to set up three biotechnology hubs 
i. The West Bengal Government has taken up a project to set up three biotechnology hubs across the state to bring in more biotechnology innovations to the State.
ii. The three proposed biotechnology hubs will come in Bardhaman, Kalimpong and Medinipur districts. They will help in the coordination of various departments with the Biotechnology Department in a better way.
iii. The Biotechnology Department of the State has already taken up an elaborate scheme to not only tie up with other departments like Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food Processing to increase the productivity and quality of various products but to also provide germ-free food to the common people.
8. Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the BRICS drug control meeting
i. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the second anti-drug Working Group meeting of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS countries in New Delhi today. The meet is organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Indian delegation will be headed by Shri Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau.
ii. In accordance with the ‘eThekwani Declaration’ adopted during the BRICS summit in March 2013 at Durban, South Africa, it was decided to explore, besides economic issues, various new areas of cooperation among the member States, including drug-related issues. It was decided that the heads of anti-drug agencies of the five member countries may meet regularly under the aegis of the BRICS anti-drug working group meeting (last held in Russia in November 2015).
iii. The meeting would evaluate the drug abuse situation in the member countries and analyze the legislation’s of BRICS member states as well as devise modalities to share the best practices of enforcement and demand reduction being followed in the member countries.
9. IMF sets $5.3 billion programs for Iraq
i. The IMF has announced a $5.34 billion program for Iraq to help strengthen the country’s finances, hit by the crash in oil prices and the fight against the Islamic State group.
ii. The International Monetary Fund said the three-year loan will see $634 million immediately allocated to Baghdad, which needs the money to stabilise its balance of payments and ensure it can keep up with its debt obligations.
iii. It will also focus on maintaining the peg of the Iraqi currency to the US dollar, while slowly removing exchange restrictions. The program will involve fiscal consolidation moves aimed at cutting inefficient capital expenditure and at the same time protecting social spending. The IMF added that the money under the new program will also support measures to protect the poor, strengthen financial management, and fight corruption.
10. Nasscom unveils India’s first IoT-focused centre
i. National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has unveiled India’s first centre of excellence focused on Internet of Things (CoE- IoT) at its Startup Warehouse in Bengaluru which is inaugurated by Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics, IT, Law & Justice.
ii. The CoE is a joint initiative between the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), education and research network (ERNET) and the IT industry body. It is also supported by Accenture, Cisco, Intel, HCL Technologies, Qualcomm, TCS and L&T Technology Services, among others.
iii. The centre was launched in a bid to encourage start-ups to come up with tech solutions centered on Internet of Things (IoT). It will function as an enabler of funding, accelerating, and mentoring for start-ups in this area. The CoE laboratory, along with the Nasscom 10,000 Startups Warehouse, has the capacity to incubate up to 40 start-ups. The CoE will also function as an enabler of funding, accelerate, and mentoring for start-ups in this area.
11. S K Kohli appointed chief defence accounts auditor
i. Senior bureaucrat S K Kohli has been appointed as Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA). He is an Indian Defence Accounts Service officer.
ii. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved Kohli’s empanelment for promotion to the post of CGDA.
iii. The CGDA is mandated to audit, payment and accounting of all charges pertaining to the armed forces, including bills for supplies and services rendered and for construction and repair works, pay and allowances and pensions, among others.
12. Vishal Kapoor to be the new CEO of IDFC MF
i. IDFC Mutual Fund has announced the appointment of Mr. Vishal Kapoor as its chief executive officer. He will take charge of his new position from September this year.
ii. Kapoor will be responsible for driving the accelerated growth of IDFC AMC, heading a seasoned senior management team including Kalpen Parekh (Managing director sales and marketing), Anoop Bhaskar and Suyash Choudhary.
iii. At present, Mr. Kapoor is working with Standard Chartered Bank as the managing director and head of wealth management for India business.
 
 
13. Srini Gopalan quits Bharti Airtel and going to join Deutsche Telekom
i. Consumer business director of Bharti Airtel Mr. Srini Gopalan has quit the company and is all set to join Deutsche Telekom from October 1st as a member of new board management for Europe business.
iii. In Bharti Airtel, Gopalan was the in charge of increasing data usage by Bharti’s subscribers, where he also led the rolling out of app services including Wynk.
iii. He had joined Bharti in 2013 from Vodafone UK, where he was working as the director for consumer business.
14. Veteran music director Om Prakash Sonik passes away
i. Veteran music director Om Prakash Sonik, also known as Omi, part of the Sonik-Omi duo, has passed away in Mumbai following a brief illness. He was 77 years old.
ii. Omi was the nephew of the blind music director Master Sonik and together they formed the noted Sonik-Omi team which provided music to nearly 125 Bollywood movies in the 1950-1980s.
iii. The duo was known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks. Some of their best-known works are Bhakti Mein Shakti, Dharma, Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, Sawan Bhadon, Aabroo, Truck Driver, Mehfil, Beti, Dharti Ki God Mein and Raftaar.
15. Dipa Karmakar named as the World Class Gymnast by International Gymnastics Federation
i. Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar was named a ‘Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile’ (World class gymnast) by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
ii. She has received the official letter confirming the distinction from the federation. With this, she also became the first-ever Indian gymnast to receive the honour.
iii. She rose to recognition when she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games becoming the first Indian female gymnast to do so in the history of the games. She also won 10 gold medals at two national games. She received the Arjuna Award in August 2015

 

About D.K Chaudhary

Polityadda the Vision does not only “train” candidates for the Civil Services, it makes them effective members of a Knowledge Community. Polityadda the Vision enrolls candidates possessing the necessary potential to compete at the Civil Services Examination. It organizes them in the form of a fraternity striving to achieve success in the Civil Services Exam. Content Publish By D.K. Chaudhary

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