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!!!
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Kerala-based NGO bags UNESCO literacy prize
Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS), an NGO based in Kerala’s Malappuram, will be conferred the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its literacy-linked skill development activities at a ceremony in Paris.
The NGO organises several activities in the field of lifelong education and skill development programme in rural areas. The JSS has bagged the award for its activities in the field of lifelong education and skill development programme in rural areas — aiming to help underprivileged individuals achieve better livelihood.
Quick Link – Unesco literacy award
Anjum Chopra – first Indian woman to become MCC member
Former Indian women’s team captain Anjum Chopra has been awarded an honourary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) along with former men’s team stalwarts Zaheer Khanand Virender Sehwag. She is the first Indian woman cricketer to get the prestigious life membership of MCC.
Quick Link – Anjum Chopra
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Mother Teresa International Film Fest kicks off in Shillong
Meghalaya celebrated Mother Teresa’s sainthood with a four day Mother Teresa International Film Festival(MTIFF) 2016 . The MTIFF 2016 celebrates the canonisation of Mother Teresa and the festival concludes on September 9 here before moving to Jowai from September 14 to 17.
Organised at the U Soso Tham Auditorium, the MTIFF 2016 celebrates her canonisation of Mother Teresa and will move to Jowai, the district headquarters of West Jaintia Hills on September 14 for another four-day spell.
Quick Link – Mother Teresa International Film Fest
Helpline no. 14401 for info on power cuts launched
Consumers in India can now dial 14401 and get an update from their respective power distribution companies about outages in their area through the ‘Urja Mitra Helpline’. DoT has created the helpline to facilitate power distribution companies to provide information about outages to customers.
Quick Link – Helpline no. 14401
Health Ministry launches campaign to eradicate leprosy
The Health Ministry launched a two-week-long massive campaign to eradicate leprosy by focusing on 149 endemic districts across the country. In a first, the Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC) aims to cover more than 1,600 blocks in the 149 districts across 20 states where nearly 3 lakh health teams will undertake door-to-door visits to detect leprosy cases. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for eradicating leprosy from the country by 2019, which is the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Quick Link – Campaign to eradicate leprosy
Govt. approves Rs.450 cr Swadesh Darshan projects
The government has approved projects worth about Rs 450 crore under ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme for five states. The scheme was launched with an objective to develop 13 theme-based tourist circuits in the country and the approval for five was given in a meeting of the central sanctioning and monitoring committee (CSMC).
The CSMC for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme has approved projects to the tune of Rs.450 crore for development of various circuits in Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.
Quick Link – Swadesh Darshan projects
Majuli becomes India’s first river island district
India got its first river island district when Assam’s Majuli was upgraded from a sub-division to the state’s 35th district. Majuli is also the world’s largest sweet water island.
The decision to elevate Majuli to a full-fledged district was taken in June. The island, perched on the confluence of Brahmaputra and Subansiri rivers, was declared the world’s largest river island by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Quick Link – Majuli
President signs GST Bill into law
President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, paving way for it to become law. GST’s signing into law comes after 16 of the 29 states ratified the bill. In August, the bill was unanimously passed both in the Rajya Sahbaand Lok Sabha.
The bill had to be ratified by a majority of states before it could become law. The implementation of GST will convert the country into “one seamless market” and facilitate smooth transfer of goods and services.
Quick Link – GST Bill into law
WHO certifies India Yaws, Maternal & Neonatal Tetanus free
India officially received certificates from World Health Organisation (WHO), declaring the country YAWS and maternal and neonatal tetanus free. The certificates were presented to Union health minister JP Nadda at the 69th Session of the WHO regional committee for south-east Asia region held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
India is the first country to be officially acknowledged as being yaws-free. The elimination of tetanus as a public health problem means that in India, the annual rate of maternal and neonatal tetanus is now less than 1 per 1000 live births.
Quick Link – WHO certifies India Yaws Free
BANKING AND FINANCE
ICICI Pru gets Sebi nod for India’s 1st insurance IPO
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company has received markets regulator SEBI’s approval to raise an estimated Rs.5,000 crore through an initial public offering. It is the first by an insurer in India and the biggest in nearly six years.
The insurer is a venture between banking major ICICI Bank and UK’s Prudential Corporation Holdings. Singapore’s Temasek and PremjiInvest also are shareholders. ICICI Bank has around 68 per cent stake in the insurer, while that of Prudential is 26 per cent.
Quick Link – ICICI Pru gets Sebi nod
RBI reshuffles ED portfolios
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has re-allocated the portfolios of its executive directors (EDs) following the induction of two new ones. RBI has increased the number of executive directors to nine from seven earlier.
*B Mahapatra has been given the charge of four departments, including the department of banking operations and development and department of government and bank accounts.
*P Vijaya Bhasker has taken charge of the department of banking supervision and the department of non-banking supervision, apart from the central security cell.
Quick Link – RBI reshuffles ED portfolios
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Dell completes $67 billion merger deal with EMC
Dell Inc has completed its $67-billion deal to acquire EMC Corp, creating the world’s largest privately-controlled technology company. The new company — Dell Technologies — will comprise Dell, Dell EMC, Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware. It employs about 1.4 lakh people globally and will be headquartered at Round Rock, Texas.
Quick Link – Dell
2016 G-20 Summit held in Hangzhou, China
The 11th G20 Summit 2016 began at the Chinese city of Hangzhou. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with various world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are participating in the meeting in the capital city of South Eastern Zhejiang province.
*Key topics to be discussed at the two-day summit include global economic slowdown, raising protectionism, structural reforms to expand global trade and creation of jobs, innovation, inclusive growth and climate finance.
*THEME : ‘Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy’.
Quick Link – G-20 Summit 2016
FOREIGN RELATIONS
India, Chile expand their Preferential Trade Agreement
India and Chile agreed to expand their bilateral preferential trade agreement (PTA) with both sides offering to lower or eliminate tariffs on a number of items traded with each other.
The agreement was signed in a meeting between Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia and the South American country’s Ambassador to India Andres Barbe Gonzalez.
Quick Link – India and Chile
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ISRO launches advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR
India has launched its advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR onboard GSLV-F05from the spaceport in Sriharikota. The 49.13-metre tall rocket lifted off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
INSAT-3DR will provide service continuity to earlier meteorological missions and further augment the capability to provide various meteorological, search and rescue services. INSAT-3DR would join INSAT-3A and INSAT-3D to provide operational search and rescue service.
Quick Link – INSAT-3DR
Indian scientists develop genetically modified cotton
A team of Indian Scientists has developed a genetically modified (GM) mustard variety of cotton. This is the country’s first GM food crop. The new variety will be launched commercially in the near future and can rival Monsanto’s Seeds.
Deepak Pental and his colleagues at the Delhi University worked on GM mustard for around a decade, and a government committee said that it found the seeds to be safe for “food/feed and environment”.
Quick Link – Genetically Modified cotton
Evidence of Zika virus found in tears
Eyes may be a reservoir for Zika virus, say scientists, including one of Indian origin, who found evidence of the virus in eyes and tears of infected mice, a discovery that raises the possibility that the infection may spread through tears.
Zika virus causes mild disease in most adults but can cause brain damage and death in foetuses. About a third of all babies infected in uterus with Zika show eye disease such as inflammation of the optic nerve, retinal damage or blindness after birth.
Quick Link – Zika virus
Toxic air pollution particles found in brains
Toxic nanoparticles from air pollution have been discovered in human brains in “abundant” quantities, a newly published study reveals.
The detection of the particles, in brain tissue from 37 people, raises concerns because recent research has suggested links between these magnetite particles and Alzheimer’s disease, while air pollution has been shown to significantly increase the risk of the disease.
Quick Link – Toxic air pollution
SPORTS
India participates in World Nomad Games
Forty nations, including India, are participating in the second World Nomad Games being held in Kyrgyzstan between September 3 and 8. Some of the events include eagle hunting, bone throwing as well as a form of polo where in two teams battle over a dead goat. The World Nomad Games are aimed at celebrating the nomadic heritage of Central Asian nations.
Quick Link – World Nomad Games
Paralympics flame lighted in Rio de Janeiro
The Paralympic Games flame was lighted at a ceremony on the eve of the Games’ inauguration making them the first Summer Paralympics to be held during the host city’s wintertime. The Paralympic Games will be held from September 7 to 18 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Quick Link – Paralympics
