Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.
Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.
Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!
APPOINTMENTS
Amar Singh appointed as Police Commissioner of Kuala Lumpur
Amar Singh has been appointed the police commissioner of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, the highest police rank achieved by a Sikh in the Muslim-majority country. Deputy commissioner Amar Singh, in his late 50s, will replace Tajuddin Mohamed, who will move to the federal headquarters as the deputy director of commercial CID (crime investigation department) next month. Amar is a third-generation policeman from his family. Amar Singh’s father, Ishar Singh, joined the Federated Malay States Police in 1939, a year after coming to Malaysia from Punjab and was a pioneer member of the police jungle squad established during the Emergency. His maternal grandfather, Bachan Singh, was a constable who joined the force in the early 1900s.
Quick Link – Amar Singh as Commissioner of KL
Udai Kumar appointed as full-time MD and CEO of MSEI
BANKING AND FINANCE
RBI extends currency swap arrangement with SAARC nations
In order to enhance economic cooperation and strengthen financial stability, RBI has extended the USD 2 billion currency swap arrangement to SAARC nations till mid-November 2017. The Reserve Bank said that it has decided to extend the SAARC Currency Swap Arrangement till November 14, 2017. Under the arrangement, RBI is to offer swap arrangement up to an overall amount of USD 2 billion both in foreign currency and Indian rupee. The SAARC Swap Arrangement was offered by the RBI to SAARC nations on November 15, 2012. The facility will be available to all SAARC member countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Quick Link – RBI has extended the USD with SAARC
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Katni in Madhya Pradesh to have India’s longest Railway Bridge
Katni in Madhya Pradesh will have India’s longest railway bridge, 14 km on the up line, almost three and half times longer than Vembanad rail bridge in Kerala that connects Edappally and Vallarpadam in Kochi and is 4.62 km long. Called Katni grade separator, down line of the bridge would be of 7 km. Its total length would be 21 km up and down side. Project received clearance from Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) recently along with other railway projects. Design and survey of the bridge has been completed and it will take 5 years for completion.Both goods and passenger trains would be benefitted from the bridge that would be equipped with digital signalling and maintained online.
Quick Link – India’s longest Railway Bridge
Haryana set to become first state to complete Aquifer mapping
Haryana to soon become the first state in the country to have aquifer mapping done for its groundwater resources by May. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock, from which groundwater can be extracted. The mapping will assist the state in estimating the quantity and quality of groundwater in an aquifer and would help it in assessment of sustainable level of water extraction. Haryana is one of the eight states selected for this kind of scientific mapping in the first phase. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka,Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telengana are the other states selected for the purpose. These are the states where the groundwater situation has already reached a critical level.
Quick Link – Aquifer mapping
India remains world’s largest arms importer
According to latest report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on global arms purchases, India continues to remain the world’s largest arms importer. India accounted for 14% of the global imports in the 2011-2015 timeframe. India’s arms imports remain three times greater than those of its rivals China and Pakistan. Its biggest suppliers are Russia, the US, Israel and France. After India, China ranks second in the global arms import list with 4.7%, followed by Australia (3.6%), Pakistan (3.3%), Vietnam (2.9%) and South Korea (2.6%). China used to top the imports chart earlier but has gradually built a stronger defence industrial base or DIB over the last couple of decades to even emerge as the world’s third largest arms exporter after the US and Russia.
Quick Link – World’s largest arms importer
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Cuba dispatches 9000 soldiers to keep Zika out
Cuban President Raul Castro announced that he is dispatching 9,000 soldiers to help keep the Zika virus out of Cuba, calling on the entire country to help kill the mosquito that carries the disease. Castro said Cuba’s fight to prevent the arrival of the virus had been hampered (hinder or impede the movement or progress of) by “the inadequate technical quality” of efforts against the mosquito, insufficient work to clean up areas where the mosquito propagates and poor weather conditions. Cuba prides itself on its system of free, neighborhood-level health care, which has included intensive efforts to limit the Aedes aegypti mosquito that also carries the tropical diseases dengue and chikungunya.
Quick Link – Zika Out
FOREIGN RELATIONS
India extends $1 million aid to cyclone-hit Fiji
Cyclone-hit Fiji will receive one million dollars as immediate assistance from the Indian Government. This was announced by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup. Fiji has been struck by “Cyclone Winston” which brought with it wind gusts of 325 kilometres per hour and sea and ocean waves up to 12 metres high. The area’s crops and several villages have been flattened completely by the natural calamity. So far, 29 people have reportedly died and many others have been shifted to evacuation centres.
Quick Link – Cyclone Winston
ENVIRONMENT
India’s pollution higher than China : Greenpeace
Canalysis of NASA’s data revealed that India has overtaken China’s air pollution levels in 2015 and the average particulate matter exposure was higher for the first time in the 21st century. Greenpeace India said “China’s strong measures to curb pollution have contributed to the biggest year-on-year air quality improvement on record while in contrast, India’s pollution levels continued a decade-long increase to reach the highest level on record”. Greenpeace research noted that 23 out of 32 National Air Quality Index (NAQI) stations in India had recorded more than 70% exceedance of the national standards, which puts public health at risk. Furthermore, as many as 15 cities showed levels of air pollution that greatly exceeded the prescribed national standards.
Quick Link – Greenpeace
High sediment mercury level in Artic: Study
A recent study has revealed that there is a high sediment mercury levels in Artic which is more prone for pollution in the region. The study was conducted on Kongsfjorden, one of the Fjord located at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, by a group of researchers from Kottayam Kerala School of Environmental Sciences affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University. The report was presented during fifth International Conference on Eco-toxicology and Environmental Sciences held in Kochi between February 15-17. The researchers Chandini PK, Mahesh Mohan and Gopalkrishnan VG claimed that the mercury contamination in the polar environment has increased since the industrial revolution.
Quick Link – High sediment mercury level in Artic
Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂
