Doubt Classes

Daily Gk By Doubt Classes

31th May

National:

Prime Minister Modi, Chancellor Merkel co-chair 4th India Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations in Berlin

·        India and Germany agreed on the need to resume free trade talks between India and the European Union soon, and signed a dozen wide-ranging but low-profile MoUs on the subjects of education, health, skill development and sustainability.

·        The two sides announced agreements on cyber policy, railway safety, and the training of Indian Skill Development Officers and Cluster Managers.

Dr Jitendra Singh addresses Northeast Health Ministers' Conclave at Guwahati

·        The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh has proposed PPP (Public-Private Participation) model to supplement and extend healthcare services up to district level in the eight States of the North-Eastern Region (NER).

·        Dr Jitendra Singh was presiding over a Conclave of Health Ministers from all the eight North-Eastern States in Guwahati.

Communications Minister Shri Manoj Sinha announces International mega event India Mobile Congress 2017, unveils Logo

·        The Union Minister for Communications Shri Manoj Sinha made the formal announcement of India Mobile Congress 2017 (IMC 2017), country’s first & the biggest platform to bring together all stakeholders from the domain of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and take the Indian telecom industry at par with its international counterparts.

·        The three-day IMC will be held from 27th to 29th September 2017 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and will see participation of government bodies, Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), telecom equipment manufacturers, handset manufacturers and app providers.

Darwaza Band for open defecation

·        MDWS launches a fresh national campaign led by Amitabh Bachchan.

·        The centre launched an aggressive new campaign titled 'Darwaza Band' to promote toilet use and freedom from open defecation across the country's villages. The campaign produced by the MDWS under Swachh Bharat Mission.

·        The 'Darwaza Band' campaign has been supported by the World Bank and is being rolled out countrywide immediately after the launch. It is designed to encourage behaviour change in men who have toilets but are not using them.

·        Actress Anuskha Sharma is also part of the campaign and will be seen encouraging women to stand up for this issue in their villages and assume a leadership role.

Ministry of Earth Sciences to launch ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ by January 2018

·        Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India is all set to launch ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ by January 2018. This will improve India’s position in ocean research field.

·        The program on Poly metallic nodules was initiated at CSIR-NIO with the collection of the first nodule sample from Arabian Sea on board the first Research Vessel Gaveshani on 26 January 1981.

·        India was the first country in the world to have been given the Pioneer Area for exploration of deep-sea mineral viz. Polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin in 1987. This was based on the extensive surveys carried out by the scientists of CSIR-NIO, on several research ships leading to the allocation of an area of 150,000 sq km to the country with exclusive rights under the UN Law of the sea.

Shri Gadkari lays foundation stone for eight connectivity projects worth 1117.3 crores at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust

·        The Minister of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadari laid the foundation stone for eight connectivity projects worth Rs. 1117.03 crores at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

·        All these projects will enhance connectivity of the hinterland   to JNPT. Port Connectivity is among the four pillars of Ministry of Shipping’s flagship Sagarmala programme.

Uttar Pradesh govt seeks Belgium's help to clean Ganga

·        The Uttar Pradesh government sought cooperation from Belgium in the cleaning of river Ganga before the Prayag Ardh Kumbh in 2019.

·        Yogi Adityanath said that his government was making all out efforts to clean river Ganga before the 2019 Prayag Ardh Kumbh and sought Belguim's cooperation.

·        The Chief Minister asked Belgium to provide new technique for cleaning the river.

International:

Russia building first 'floating' nuclear power plant

·        Russia is in advanced stages of building the world's first "floating" nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas and hopes FNPP technology will also interest South Asian countries like India.

·        FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system or in places hard to access by land.

·        "FNPPs are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas,”.

·        "The first floating NPP is to operate in Russia's extreme northeastern region of Chukotka, where there is plenty of oil and gas exploration, gold mining and other mineral resource enterprises,".

Business & Economy:

India Post Payments Bank prepares for a new life from money order to mobile banking

·        India Post, which has almost become extinct to a generation of people in urban India, prepares for a new life under the India Post Payments Bank by marrying its almost 1.5 lakh physical branches, of which 89% are in rural areas and 3 lakh employees with the latest technology available.

Banks urge RBI to soften qualifying norms for S4A scheme

·        Beleaguered bankers demanded that the Reserve Bank of India ease conditions on loans that would qualify for restructuring under the so-called S4A scheme and permit them to spread the losses arising out of such a deal over many quarters.

Star Sports launches first Tamil sports channel

·        Star Sports, the sports broadcast arm of Star India, has launched "Star Sports Tamil," the country's first Tamil sports channel.

India to be first in world to run all government ports on green energy

·        All 12 major domestic ports will soon switch to renewable energy to meet their entire power requirements, making India the first country to have all government-owned ports running on solar and wind energy.

·        The government plans to install almost 200 megawatt solar and wind power generation capacity at the ports by 2019.

Sports:

ICC goes hi-tech

·        The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched a series of technological innovations in partnership with Intel to be used during the Champions Trophy getting under way on June 1.

·        With the focus firmly on enhancing the tournament experience for fans, players, media and broadcasters, the innovations will use data, analytics and visualisation.

·        The technology being introduced at the ICC Champions Trophy include an Intel drone that will provide advanced pitch analysis, a bat sensor that will allow for profiling of the bat swing and a Virtual Reality experience for fans at the stadium.

Miscellaneous:

Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi appoints Shri George Kurian as Vice-Chairman of National Commission for Minorities

·        The Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has appointed Shri George Kurian as Vice-Chairman of National Commission for Minorities. Shri Kurian is a renowned social and educational activist from Kerala.

·        Earlier, noted social activist from Uttar Pradesh, Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi was appointed as Chairman of National Commission for Minorities.

Gen Rawat gifts ambulances, sniffer dogs to Myanmar Army

·        Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat handed over keys of 10 ambulances and gifted 15 sniffer dogs to the Myanmar Army.

·        He also visited the Defence Services Academy at Pwin Oo Lwin where he interacted with the officers and the faculty

Source :CL