Daily GK Update 16th February , 2017

Daily GK Update 16th February , 2017

Cabinet approves merger of five subsidiary banks with SBI

i. Cabinet has approved merger of five subsidiary banks with State Bank of India. Briefing reporters in New Delhi , Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that, the merger is likely to result in recurring saving, which is estimated at more than one thousand crore rupees in first year. 

ii. He said, SBI will acquire State bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. Mr Jaitley also said, existing customers of these subsidiary banks will benefit from access to SBI's global network. He said, the move is excepted to strengthen banking sector and improve its efficiency and profitability.

Tamil Nadu Governor appoints Edappadi K Palaniswami as chief minister

i. Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao appointed Edappadi K Palaniswami as chief minister after replacing of o panneerselvam .

ii. The governor requested the chief minister designate to seek the vote confidence of the assembly within 15 days.His appointment is in acceptance of the letter of submitted by Palaniswami that he was elected as the leader of the AIADMK  legislature party at a meeting of the party MLAs held.

2-day Global Investor Summit 'Momentum Jharkhand' begins in Ranchi

i. A two-day mega event of Global Investor Summit, branded as "Momentum Jharkhand" is kicked off at Khelgaon of Ranchi. 

ii. More than one thousands delegates, including many leading industrialists, both Indian and from other countries, will take part in this. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Submit through viedo-conferencing. A number of Central Ministers will also be present at the occasion.

India, Croatia signs agreement to boost bilateral trade & enhance economic cooperation

i. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Martina Dalic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy,Republic of Croatia have signed an agreement to boost bilateral trade and enhance economic cooperation in Zagreb, Croati. 

ii. To promote and develop bilateral trade and economic relations. This Agreement would be a step in continuity of the previous agreemebt which expired in November, 2009. India’s bilateral trade with Croatia during 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 stood at USD 148.86 million, USD 205.04 million and USD 148.44 million respectively.

Kerala: A group launches helpline number for waste management

i. In Kerala, Thanal, a city-based group in Thiruvananthapuram has launched a helpline for providing technical support in treating organic waste and managing non-biodegradable solid wastes.

ii. The helpline 94001 47150 will provide information and guidance for composting kitchen waste, terrace farming, organic farming, and pest/fungi control by organic means.Free demonstration and technical guidance on treating organic waste will be provided. In the case of organic farming, technical demonstration will be organised for groups.

5-day Indian Panaroma Film Festival organised in Port Blair

i. The five-day ‘Indian Panorama Film Festival’ being organised by the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, in association with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Directorate of Film Festivals/IFFI, New Delhi, Govt. of India got underway in Port Blair.

 ii. The Directorate of Film Festivals in India is an organisation that initiates and presents the International Film Festival of India, the National Film Awards and the Indian Panorama.

AP signs MoUs for 12 textile units

i. During the recent CII partnership summit in AP 12 MoUs were signed by the State Government with different companies for setting up 12 apparel units in the State entailing investment of Rs. 963 crores in all and generating 46,000 jobs. These 12 projects will come up in the next one to one-and-a-half years.

ii.  Four of the units will come up in the Brandix apparel park , including two by Chinese companies, five units in Anantapur district and the remaining in Chittoor district.  The Andhra Pradesh Government is encouraging the textile sector in a big way and entrepreneurs should make use of the benefits being offered by the State as well as the special package given by the Union Government in the Budget to set up more units, according to K. Srikanth Prabhakar, the Joint Director in the office of the Commissioner of Handlooms and Textiles, AP Government.

J&K govt launches e-Prison project

i. The Jammu and Kashmir government launched the e-Prison project to enumerate jail inmates in the State, where numbers of detainees keep swelling during unrest.State Minister for Information Technology Molvi Imran Raza Ansari, who inaugurated the project in Jammu stated that The information about jail inmates is currently being maintained manually. 

ii. To avoid delays in processing the information and manage all the jails efficiently, the automation of prison department has been started.The government has already digitised records of 500 inmates. The project will digitise 25 district jails, two Central jails and one sub-jail in the State. The second phase of the project will focus on videoconferencing between jails and prison headquarters, e-court, tele-medication in jails.

Mamata Banerjee declares Kalimpong as separate district

i. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee declared Kalimpong as 21st district of West Bengal  Kalimpong as separate district of West Bengal .

ii. The new district is from Darjeeling. On the same day Banerjee announced two projects for the development of newly created Kalimpong Rs 220 crore road link project to connect Kalimpong with Sikkim via the old Silk Route.Rs 50 crore water supply project to address Kalimpong’s water scarcity problem.

Madhya Pradesh government to set up Tourism Board

i. The state government of MP decided to set up a tourism board. The decision was reached at a meeting of the tourism cabinet in Pachmarhi.The chief minister Shivraj singh chauhan will be the chairman of the board. 

ii. According to the state government, the decision to constitute the Tourism Board has been taken to encourage and promote Madhya Pradesh tourism nationally and internationally. 

iii. The main work of the board would be implementation of the state's tourism policy, attract private sector participation, facilitate investors and extend benefits to them as is permissible under the tourism policy. The Board would also have to formulate new policies, monitor new tourism projects, select and increase land banks and organise fairs, food festivals, cultural programmes, cottage industry carnivals.

India Joins UN Network to Prevent Maternal, Newborn and Child Deaths by 2030.

i. India has become one of the nine members of the new ‘Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health’ that aims to improve the quality of care for new mothers and babies.

ii. The global health network is supported by World Health Organisation (WHO), UN International Children’s Fund (Unicef) and other partners.Besides India the other member nations of the network includes, Bangladesh, A Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. 

iii.The main aim of the network is to strengthen national efforts to improve the quality of care for new mothers and babies so that countries can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals targets to end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths by 2030.

2017 Cobra Gold Exercise Begins in Thailand

i. The 2017 Cobra Gold Military Exercise kicked off at the Sattahip Royal Thai Marine Corps Base in Chonburi Province, Thailand .Cobra Gold 2017 is the 36th edition of the multinational drill and is co-organized by  Cobra GoldUnited States and Thailand. It will expand regional cooperation and collaboration for disaster relief.

ii. The ten day exercise would continue till February 24, 2017 and the closing ceremony of the event will take place in Phu Lamyai Training area in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. As many as 30 nations are participating in the drill including China, India, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, who are either involved in or are observing the exercises.

Suguna Foods, Tata DoCoMo tie up

i. Suguna Foods has, with deployment of Tata DoCoMo data connectivity solutions managed to achieve operational efficiency across its offices in rural areas. The company, according to a release faced typical connectivity challenge as its offices are located in remote areas. 

ii. Tata DoCoMo provided domestic Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) to Suguna Foods in Coimbatore and 42 sites with traditional MPLS and 7 sites of Xpress Virtual Private Network (VPN).

SoftBank to buy Fortress Investment for $3.3 billion

i. Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp has agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for about $3.3 billion, looking to add investment expertise as it prepares to launch the world’s largest private equity fund.

ii. The all-cash deal is SoftBank’s first major investment in an asset manager and represents yet another unpredictable gambit for a group that has to date focussed on telecoms and technology.

IMF Launches South Asia Training and Technical Assistance Center in New Delhi

i. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched its first fully integrated capacity development centre, South Asia Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) in New Delhi.The SARTTAC was inaugurated by Shaktikanta Das, Secretary of India’s Ministry of  IMF's SARTTAC Finance.

ii. SARTTAC will help to assist the local member countries of South Asia including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.It has been financed jointly by the IMF, the member countries, and development partners (Australia, South Korea the EU and the UK).The main objective of SARTTAC is to help its member countries strengthen their institutional and human capacity to design and implement macroeconomic and financial policies that promote growth and reduce poverty.

HDFC Life Launches ‘Pragati’ Plan For Low Income Group

i. Life insurance firm, HDFC life launched a traditional life insurance plan 'Pragati' for low income group people.The plan has been designed especially to empower low income families by making the plan available at affordable rate to every person who has the desire to secure his family.

ii. Pragati will offer dual benefit. Firstly a systematic savings with guaranteed premium returns and secondly a wholesome life protection making it an ideal financial product for every Indian household.

Airbus signs MoU for setting up centre of excellence in Hyderabad

i. The multinational Airbus Group division Airbus joined hand with Telangana government, National Skill Development Corporation  Airbus signs MoU for setting up centre of excellence in Hyderabad. 

ii. India and AEROCAMPUS France for establishing a Centre of Excellence at at Begumpet Airport for aerospace skill development in Hyderabad.To enhance the employability of young aspirants by imparting the required skills to them.

First Ever Indian Genomics Beacon Launched in UK

i. The Global Gene Corp and Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) launched an Indian Beacon for Indian genomics data to enable the scientists in developing more effective drug delivery systems.

ii. It was launched by the Indian deputy high commissioner to the UK, Dinesh Patnaik at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Cambridgeshire. A beacon is an online web service that allows researchers to determine whether an institution has particular genomic data in its data set. Genomics is the science that will define healthcare in our lifetime.

Usain Bolt honored with ‘Sportsman of the Year’

i. Usain Bolt honored with ‘Sportsman of the Year ’Jamaica’s sprinter Usain Bolt won the ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award at the Laureus World Awards or the ‘Oscar of Sports’ held in Monaco .  

ii. Usain Bolt received his award from legendary Michael Johnson. This is the fourth time that the world’s greatest sprinter has won the honor. Earlier in 2009, 2010 and 2013 too he won the award.

Sandeep Singh Indian International Hockey Player Receives Honorary Doctorate

i. Indian professional hockey player Sandeep Singh has been honored with an Honorary Doctorate Degree by Desh Bhagat University, a private educational institution in Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib District of Punjab.

ii. He is the second Indian hockey player to receive this award. The only first player was Dileep Tirkey, former captain and sitting Member of Parliament, to receive an honorary degree for sporting excellence from Sambalpur University in 2010.

Pakistani Batsman Jamshed Suspended from all forms of Cricket

i. The Left-handed opening batsman of Pakistan Nasir Jamshed on February 13 has been provisionally suspended from all forms of cricket by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for violating its anti-corruption code.

ii. PCB is investigating into the corruption scandal that hit the Pakistan Super League.