Daily GK Update 09th October 2017

1. Complete list of Nobel Prize Winners 2017

i. The 2017 Nobel Prize were announced recently in 6 different fields viz. Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.

ii. Brief History of the Nobel Prize- On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace - the Nobel Prizes.

Find Complete List Here

2. 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Announced

i. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2017 was awarded to Richard H. Thaler "for his contributions to behavioural economics".

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) established the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.
• Amartya Sen (India) and John F. Nash Jr. (America) are the most famous recipients of Nobel Prize in Economics.

3. India's First Portal Dedicated to Para-Sports Launched

i. In a bid to create awareness about para-sports and provide a platform to para sportspersons to narrate their stories of triumph and adversity, "thenationspride.com", the country's first portal dedicated to para-sports was launched.

ii. thenationspride.com is a non-profit initiative, helmed by 17-year-old Mumbai student and sports enthusiast, Saachi Munot.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is the present minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.

4. Prime Minister Launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush

i. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat.

ii. Through this program, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation program. IMI is supported by 11 other ministries and departments.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Shri J P Nadda is the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

5. Rajesh Nath Gets Germany's Highest Civilian Honour

i. Rajesh Nath, Managing Director of VDMA India, has been conferred the ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest civilian honour awarded to individuals for their services to Germany.
ii. The award, also known as Bundesverdienstkreuz or Federal Cross of Merit was instituted in 1951 and is Germany’s only honour that is awarded to both Germans and foreigners for achievements in the economic, social, political or intellectual realms.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• The President of Germany is Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
• Berlin is the capital of Germany.

6. PNB MetLife Appoints Ashish Srivastava as MD & CEO

i. PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd (PNB MetLife), a life insurer, has appointed Ashish Srivastava as a new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the company.

ii. Prior to this elevation, Srivastava was an interim CEO at PNB MetLife. Srivastava joined PNB MetLife in 2013 as the Head of HR for the India business.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Chris Townsend is the Chairman of the Board of PNB MetLife

7. Aadhaar Made Mandatory For Small Saving Schemes as Post Office Deposits, PPF, KVP

i. The government has made biometric identification Aadhaar mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra. 

ii. According to the provision, which is already in effect, all depositors have been given time till December 31, 2017, to provide the 12-digit unique identification number and link it with their accounts.

Important Takeaways from the Above News: 

• Unique Identification Authority of India has its Headquarters (HQ) in New Delhi.
• The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UIDAI is Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey.

8. International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations – IV

i. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of Culture is hosting an international conference on “Dialogue of Civilizations – IV” from 8th to 15th October 2017 at Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira.  This conference is fourth in this series of ‘dialogues’ initiated by National Geographic Society in 2013.

ii. The objective of the conference is to encourage scholarly and public discourse about the five ancient, literate civilizations of the world, i.e. Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and Mesoamerica.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• The first conference of this series was inaugurated in Guatemala in 2013 followed by Turkey in 2014 and China in 2015. 
• Prof. B.B. Lal is a Padma Bhushan awardee on ‘Harappan Civilization’, which introduced the earliest civilization of South Asia to the scholars working on other ancient civilizations.

9. GoM Set Up to Review Composition Scheme

i. A group of ministers (GoM) has been set up under Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to make the composition scheme more attractive and also revisit GST rates on restaurants. The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had constituted the GoM.

ii. With only 15.50 lakh businesses out of the total 98 lakh registered under the goods and services tax (GST) regime opting for the composition scheme, the GST Council has decided to set up the GoM to examine measures to make it more attractive.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Jagdish Mukhi is the Present Governor of Assam.

10. Anupama Clinches World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship Title

i. India’s Anupama Ramachandran has clinched the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title at St. Petersburg in Russia.

ii. In the girl's category, second seed Anupama Ramachandran of India knocked out her compatriot and top seed Keerthana Pandian 3-1 to become World Open Under-16 champion.

11. Rafael Nadal Wins China Open Title

i. World number one Rafael Nadal (Spain) won his sixth title of this year. He defeated Nick Kyrgios  (Australia) at the China Open 2017.

ii. Nadal, a 16-time Grand Slam winner, came to the Chinese capital Beijing on the back of winning his third US Open.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• In US Open 2017 Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson (South Africa) in Men's Singles.