Daily GK Update 24th February, 2017

9th BRICS Summit to be held in China's Xiamen city

i. The ninth BRICS Summit will be held in China's Xiamen city from September 3 to 5, 2017. The theme of this year's event is 'BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future'.
ii. The Xiamen BRICS summit will promote members strengthening solidarity and collaboration, and improving global governance, deepening pragmatic cooperation to achieve mutual benefit.

India and Japan ink pact on rail safety

i. India signed an agreement with Japan on enhancing railway safety in the Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety.

ii. The areas of cooperation include rail inspection, rail wielding and providing automatic railway track safety inspection, maintenance of rolling stock and “any other relevant railway safety matters jointly determined by both sides” with the aim to prevent major rail accidents.

74th Central Excise Day celebrated by CBEC

i. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) celebrated 74th Central Excise Day on 24th February in New Delhi. 

ii. CBEC is the single largest contributor to the national exchequer with the collection of Rs 8,50,000 crore a year. 

iii. Justice Satish Chandra, President, Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) was the chief guest. Olympic silver medalist, P.V. Sindhu was the guest of honour.

Sikkim becomes 22nd State to join UDAY

i. The Center and and the state of Sikkim has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) for operational improvement of the state’s power distribution department. 

ii. With the signing of the MoU, the total number of states covered under UDAY has reached 22. Andhra Pradesh is the first state to join UDAY Scheme.

Maneka Gandhi announces compensation fund for child abuse victims

i. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has announced the setting up of a compensation fund under Nirbhaya scheme to provide financial help to children who are victims of sexual crimes.

Visa signed MoU with AP to make Vizag, India’s first 'less cash' city

i. Global payments network Visa signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government to help transform Vishakhapatnam into India's first 'less cash' city. 

ii. This initiative is designed to provide the foundation for the city to emerge as India's 'Fintech Valley'.

Kerala to launch sex offenders registry, first in the country

i. The Kerala government will launch the country’s first sex offenders registry which will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in public domain.

ii.  A comprehensive victim relief fund will be set-up by the state government to provide interim relief for victims of sex crimes, both children and adults.

Oriental Bank Ties Up With Chola Mitsui Sumitomo To Sell Insurance Products

i. Haryana based Oriental Bank of Commerce has signed a corporate agency agreement with Chennai based general insurance provider Cholamandalam General Insurance Company for distribution of insurance products.

ii. The insurance products includes motor, health, home and travel.

Tata Power Renewable commissions 15 MW solar plant in Telangana

i. Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd has synchronised its 15 MW solar plant at Bellampally in Telangana, thereby taking the Tata Power's total installed operating capacity past 10,500 MW mark.

ii. The solar plant has been built over 80 acres of land and includes an 18 km transmission line.

China overtakes US, France as Germany’s biggest trading partner, for first time

i. China for the first time became Germany’s most important trading partner in 2016, overtaking the United States, which fell back to third place behind France in the data shown recently. 

ii. German imports from and exports to China rose to 170 billion euros ($180 billion) in 2016, Federal Statistics Office figures reviewed by Reuters showed. France remained the second-most important business partner with a combined trade volume of 167 billion euros. The United States came in third with 165 billion euros.

Nobel-Winning Economist Kenneth J. Arrow Dies At 95

i. Nobel-winning economist, mathematician Kenneth J Arrow has died in USA . He was 95.
ii. Kenneth  received the Nobel memorial prize in economic science for their pioneering mathematical work on general equilibrium theory in 1972 

Ravichandran Ashwin breaks Kapil Dev's record of most wickets in home season 

i. Premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, broked Kapil Dev's Indian record of most Test wickets in a domestic season. 

ii. Ashwin, the fastest in the world to reach 250 Test wicket mark recently and took his tally of wickets in the current home season to 64 in 10 Test matches broke Kapil Dev's record who took 63 wickets in 13 Tests.