Daily GK Update 16th May 2017

PM Modi launches river conservation project in Madhya Pradesh

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Narmada Seva Mission for the conservation of the crucial river, which is a lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. 
ii. Narmada river captured the attention of the nation when it became the center of a decades-long struggle to stop the raising of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. 
iii. Narmada Seva Yatra was launched on December 11, 2016, projecting it as the world’s “biggest river conservation campaign with public participation.” It was concluded on 15th May 2017.

HM Rajnath Singh inaugurates 2nd meeting of NPDRR in New Delhi

i. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the second meeting of National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) in New Delhi.  

ii. The Second meeting of NPDRR will be held over two days, i.e. 15-16 May 2017 on the theme 'Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development: Making India resilient by 2030'. 

‘Maa’ committee to check mid-day meal quality in UP schools

i. A Mother's Day gift has been given to lakhs of children in schools of Uttar Pradesh in the form of 'Maa' by forming the 'Maa Committee'.  
ii. It will be a committee of six mothers, from all sections of society stated by Uttar Pradesh basic education minister Anupma Jaiswal.


India-Chile expanded PTA comes into effect

i. The expanded Preferential Trade Agreement, PTA between India and Chile has come into effect.
ii. Under this trade agreement, both the countries have offered to lower or eliminate duties on a number of items traded with each other. Chile has offered duty concessions on about 1800 goods.  
iii. On the other hand, India has offered concessions to Chile on 1,031 products including vegetable oil, processed food, pharma, plastic, and pearls as against 296 earlier.

HDFC Life inks distribution tie-up with Catholic Syrian Bank

i. HDFC Life has entered into a bancassurance tie-up with Catholic Syrian Bank to distribute its individual life insurance products to the private lender’s customers. 
ii. With this partnership, HDFC Life will offer its leading range of individual life insurance, health and pension products to the Catholic Syrian Bank’s 1.5 million customer base across all its branches over a period of time.

India’s GDP projected to grow 7.4% in 2017-18: FICCI survey

i. In a survey conducted during March and April 2017, FICCI predicted India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be around 7.4% for fiscal 2017-18, with a minimum and maximum level of 7% and 7.6% respectively. ii. Agricultural sector is estimated to clock 3.5% growth in 2017-18, the pick-up in overall GDP growth will also be supported by an improvement in industry and services sector growth. The industry and services sector are expected to grow by 6.9% and 8.4% respectively in 2017-18.

Pawan Kumar Chamling conferred with first BS Shekhawat award

i. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was conferred with the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Lifetime Achievement Honour in Public Service by President Pranab Mukherjee. 
ii. The award was conferred during the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat memorial lecture delivered by the President. 

IIT-Hyderabad professor bags INSA Young Scientist award

i. Assistant Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad (IIT-H) Aravind Kumar Rengan has been awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal in the Young Scientist category for 2017. 
ii. The INSA Young Scientist Medal award carries a bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs25,000.

Nepalese woman breaks world record for most Everest summits
i. A 44-year-old Nepalese mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa has broken her own world record for the most Everest summits by a woman after scaling the world's tallest peak for the eighth time. 
ii. She bettered her own record of scaling Mt Everest seven times.

Emmanuel Macron names Edouard Philippe as French Prime Minister

i. France's newly-elected President Emmanuel Macron has named Edouard Philippe as Prime Minister of France. 
ii. The 46-year-old lawmaker and mayor of Le Havre is from the conservative Les Republicans party. 
iii. It is the first time in modern French political history that a president has appointed a Prime Minister from outside his camp without being forced to by a defeat in parliamentary elections.

Former Puducherry Chief Minister S Ramaswamy passes away

i. Former Puducherry Chief Minister S Ramassamy died after a brief illness, family sources said. He was 80 . 
ii. He became chief minister in 1974 heading the AIADMK-CPI coalition ministry for a brief period.

 Arjun Maini became first Indian to win a GP3 race

i. Arjun Maini, driving for Jenzer Motorsports, created history by becoming the first Indian driver to win a GP3 race.
ii. The 19-year old scored his first win in two years while finishing six seconds ahead of Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci and teammate Alessio Lorandi of Italy.

Lewis Hamilton Wins Spanish Grand Prix

i. Lewis Hamilton has won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position in the Formula One championship. 

ii. This is Hamilton’s 55th career win and second win of the season. 

iii. Mercedes’s Hamilton finished 3.4 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The event was currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona.

Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-

• Government of India has constituted a multi-stakeholder National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) vide Government's Resolution No.47-31/2012-DM-III dated 26th February 2013
• The aim of NPDRR to review the progress made in the field of disaster management from time to time
• Sardar Sarovar Dam is located in Gujarat and is built on Narmada River
• The Narmada originates from the Maikal hills and charts its way through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat finally draining into the Arabian Sea.
• CM of Uttar Pradesh is Yogi Adityanath 
• Two Deputy CM of UP is Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma
• Governor of UP is Shri Ram Naik.
• Mothers Day celebrated on 14 May.
• Chile is the country in South America
• Capital of Chile is Santiago
• Michelle Bachelet is the President of Chile.
• Managing Director of HDFC Bank is Aditya Puri and its Headquarter is in Mumbai
• Managing Director and CEO of Catholic Syrian Bank is CVR Rajendran and its Headquarter at Thrissur in Kerala.
• FICCI full form is Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
• FICCI President is Pankaj R. Patel.
• Governor of Sikkim is Shriniwas Patil
• Capital of Sikkim is Gangtok
• Khangchendzonga National Park is situated in Sikkim.
• The INSA Young Scientists Award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity, and excellence in a young scientist.
• The award will be presented to Professor Aravind by the INSA President during the Anniversary General Meeting in December 2017.
• Paris is the capital of France
• Emmanuel Macron is the newly appointed youngest President of France
• Arjun Maini is an Indian racing driver who received his first go-kart, an 80cc Comer Kart at the age of 5.
• Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton is a British Formula One racing driver from England
• He is currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.