GK Update 12th May, 2017

i. The 29th edition of  Co-ordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between India-Indonesia commenced in Port Blair.
ii. The Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Sutedi Senoputra has arrived at Haddo Wharf, Port Blair to mark the commencement of the IND–INDO CORPAT. The closing ceremony of the CORPAT is scheduled at Belawan, Indonesia from 22 – 25 May 2017.

Indian Navy ships; INS Karwar and Kakinada decommissioned
i. Two minesweepers of the Indian Navy INS Karwar and INS Kakinada were decommissioned after being in service for over 30 years.
ii. The two ships were bid adieu at a ceremony in the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai in the presence of Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.
iii. INS Karwar was the first of the ‘Natya’ class minesweepers acquired from the erstwhile Soviet Union. The ship was commissioned on July 14, 1986.INS Kakinada was the second of the class and was commissioned on December 23, 1986.

India, US officials discuss strengthening maritime security cooperation

i. Top Indian and American officials discussed ways to strengthen maritime security cooperation during the two-day India-US Maritime Security Dialogue in Rhode Island.
ii. The implementation of the decisions taken at the first Maritime Security Dialogue between the two countries.

IRCTC launches cash-on-delivery for train tickets

i. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is now offering home delivery of rail tickets and will allow passengers to make payment through any payment mode, including cash.

ii. Broad-basing the customer service, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has now introduced pay-on-delivery (PoD) service, allowing passengers to book train tickets online and pay at the time of delivery.

Railways to acquire EoTT system to run trains without guards

i. The Indian Railways will float global tenders worth over ₹100 crore for acquiring  End of Train Telemetry (EoTT) equipment to run 1,000 trains without guards.
ii. This equipment is used to establish communication between the locomotive driver and the last wagon of the train to ensure that the train is running with all coaches/wagons as a complete unit.
iii. EoTT system comprises two units — one unit called cab display unit (CDU) fitted on the locomotive and the other is sense and brake unit (SBU) fitted on the last coach or wagon of the train.

Sanjay Mitra appointed as Defence Secretary

i. The government has named Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra as its new defence secretary in a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.
ii. Mitra will take over as the secretary after the present incumbent, G Mohan Kumar, completes his tenure on May 24,2017 an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Twitter elevates Taranjeet Singh as Country Director for India

i. Microblogging platform Twitter has elevated Taranjeet Singh as its Country Director for India. Mr. Singh was earlier leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India.
ii. Recently, Twitter had launched a lighter version of its platform ‘Twitter Lite’ for users in India.

Konkona bags Best Director and Best Actress awards at New York Indian Film Festival
i. Konkona Sensharma has been named the best director for her directorial debut ‘A Death in the Gunj’ and the best actress for ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ at 2017’s New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).
ii. Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, the film festival took place from April 30 to May 7, 2017.

NBA inaugurates academy in India
i. In a promising step for Indian basketball, the national Basketball Association (NBA) inaugurated its first ever academy in Greater Noida.
ii. This is latest of the several steps that the National Basketball Association (NBA) the governing body of the game in US has taken to promote the game in India over the past few years.

Senior NCP leader A T Pawar Passes away
i. Senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Arjun Tulshiram Pawar passed away after prolonged illness.
ii. The leader, who had for many years represented Kalwan, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Nashik district, lost the 2014 state Assembly election.

Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-

• Railway Minister of India is Suresh Prabhu
• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation was founded in 1999
• IRCTC headquarter is in New Delhi.
• Road Transport and Highways Secretary is Sanjay Mitra
• Sanjay Mitra takes over as the new defence secretary after the replacing of  G Mohan Kumar.
• Railway Minister of India is Suresh Prabhu
• First Railway Minister of India is John Mathai.
• Jagdish Singh Khehar is the 44th Chief Justice of India after replacing of Justice Tirath Singh Thakur
• Supreme Court becomes Paperless moving towards Digital Court.
• Prof. Ashutosh Sharma is the chairperson of Technology Development Board
• The Government of India constituted the Technology Development Board (TDB) in September 1996, under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995
• Port Blair is the Capital of Andaman and Nicobar
• Sunil Lanba is the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of Indian Navy.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India was established on April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• Chairman of SEBI is Ajay Tyagi after replacing of U.K. Sinha
• Sebi headquarter is in Mumbai.

• The vice chairman of NITI Aayog is Mr. Arvind Panagariya
• Jack Dorsey is the CEO of Twitter
• Headquarter of Twitter is in California, USA.

• The official name for Russia is the Russian Federation
• Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake is in Russia
• Dmitry Medvedev is the current PM of Russia
• The capital of Russia is Moscow and its currency is Russian ruble.
• Dena Bank headquarter is in Mumbai
• Chairman of Dena Bank is Shri. Ashwani Kumar
• The tagline of Dena Bank is ‘Trusted Family Bank’.
• Full form of IFSC is International Financial Services Centre
• Full form of GNLU is Gujarat National Law University
• Full form of GIFT is Gujarat International Finance-Tec City.