Daily GK Update 10th October 2017

1. World Mental Health Day: 10 October

i. World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

ii. 'Mental health in the workplace' is the theme of World Mental Health Day 2017.

2. Facts about the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Campaign ICAN

i. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) "for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons".

ii. Here are some Quick facts About the Campaign- The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty.

iii. This landmark global agreement was adopted in New York on 7 July 2017. ICAN began in Australia and was officially launched in Vienna, Austria in 2007. ICAN’s headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland. Beatrice Fihn is the Executive Director of ICAN.

3. Vice President Inaugurated 3rd International Conference on Yoga

i. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the third International Conference on Yoga in New Delhi. The theme of this year’s conference will be ‘Yoga for Wellness.’

ii. The two-day conference has six technical sessions and experts will deliberate on the scope of yoga in integrated medicine, and control of cancer, depression and gynaecological disorders and pain management.

Static Takeaways for IBPS PO Exam-

• The Ministry of AYUSH was formed on 9th November 2014.
• Earlier it was known as the Department of Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H) which was created in March 1995.
• Shripad Yasso Naik is the Minister of  Ministry of AYUSH.

4. Uttarakhand Government Launched 'Solar Briefcase' to Provide Electricity in Remote Areas

i. Uttarakhand State Government and a charitable funding agency named Swan Cultural Center and Foundation launched ‘Solar Briefcase’ in Kedarnath Dham.

ii. The initiative was taken to provide electricity to far-flung areas in the hill state.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Trivendra Singh Rawat is the present CM of Uttarakhand.
• Krishna Kant Paul is the present Governor of Uttarakhand.

5. Reliance Commercial Finance Inks Agreement with IREDA for Rs 300 cr Loan

i. Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd has signed an agreement with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) for Rs.300 crore loan, in Mumbai.

ii. RCFL finances wind and solar energy projects besides providing assistance for developing infrastructure and projects in renewable energy space backed by the government.

Important Takeaways from the Above News: 

• Devang Mody is the Executive Director and CEO of Reliance Commercial Finance. 
• KS Popli is the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of IREDA.

6. Union Home Minister Inaugurated First BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise

i. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the four-day First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) in New Delhi. The Exercise will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

ii. The BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 is being conducted in two phases in Delhi and NCR. The main exercise will comprise of Table Top Exercise (TTX), Field Training Exercise (FTX) and After Action Review (AAR). The main focus of the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• BIMSTEC stands for ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’, includes namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
• At the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting held in Kathmandu, Nepal in February 2017, it was decided that India would organize the first annual Disaster Management Exercise for the region.

7. GCMMF Awarded Best FMCG in Food Sector by IAA

i. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which manages brand AMUL, has been awarded as the best FMCG in the food sector at the 5th International Advertising Associations (IAA) Leadership Awards in Mumbai
ii. Amul is India's largest food brand with the annual brand turnover of Rs 38,000 crore. It is a cooperative milk federation of 3.6 million milk producers of Gujarat.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Headquarters of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is in Anand, Gujarat.
• Jethabhai P Patel is the chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).

8. India Slips to 8th Rank in Valuable Nation Brand List

i. India is ranked the eighth most valuable nation brand while the United States retained its top position and China took the second spot in the league of nations according to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017.

ii. India went down one spot over the previous year because the economy grew at its slowest pace. India switched places with Canada and its brand value dropped by one percentage point while that of Canada’s rose 14 percent. China, the fastest growing nation brand in 2017, saw valuation grow 44 percent.

The Top 10 Valuable Nation brands are:

1. United States 
2. China 
3. Germany 
4. Japan 
5. United Kingdom 
6. France 
7. Canada 
8. India 
9. Italy 
10. South Korea.

9. World Bank Reduces India GDP Growth Forecast to 7% for 2017-18

i. In the June quarter of 2017-18, the Indian economy decelerated to 5.7%, lowest since the economy grew at 5.3% in the March quarter of 2013-14. In its South Asia Economic Focus (Fall 2017), the World Bank reduced India’s GDP growth forecast to 7% for 2017-18 from 7.2% estimated earlier.
ii. Both the Asian Development Bank as well as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have also cut their growth projections for India to 7% and 6.7%, respectively, for fiscal 2017-18.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Jim Yong Kim is the President of World Bank.
• The World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., United States.

10. IIT Kharagpur Signs MoU with Samsung for Digital Academy

i. IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy on the institute’s campus.

ii. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the institute will host the Samsung Innovation Lab and train students on the Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances.

Important Takeaways from the Above News: 

• Samsung is an electronics company based in South Korea.
• Dr Oh-Hyun Kwon is the Vice Chairman & CEO of Samsung Electronics.

11. Facebook India MD Umang Bedi Resigns

i. In just over a year of joining Facebook as India MD, Umang Bedi has resigned from his position at the social networking giant. Sandeep Bhushan has been appointed as the interim Managing Director.

ii. Facebook had roped in Umang Bedi as its Managing Director, India from Adobe. He had taken over from Kirthiga Reddy. Prior to joining Facebook, Umang served as Managing Director of the South Asia region at Adobe.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is the founder and Chairman of Facebook.

12. PepsiCo India Chairman and CEO D Shivakumar Resigns

i. PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd’s Chairman and Chief Executive officer D. Shivakumar has resigned. He will be joining Aditya Birla Group as president (corporate strategy and business development).
ii. Ahmed El Sheikh, currently senior vice-president and general manager for PepsiCo Egypt and Jordan, will succeed Shivakumar as PepsiCo India CEO.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• PepsiCo entered India in 1989.
• PepsiCo headquarters in New York, United States.