Daily GK Update 18th April, 2017

The International Day for Monuments and Sites: 18th April

i. Every year on 18 April, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) celebrates the International Day for Monuments and Sites (also called as World Heritage day).
ii. The theme for 2017 is “Cultural Heritage & Sustainable Tourism".


Suresh Prabhu Launched 'Vistadome' Coaches 

i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched India's First Train With Glass Ceiling, LED Lights And Rotable Seats in 'Vistadome' Coaches.
ii. He has flagged off the train with Vistadome coaches between Visakhapatnam and Araku through video conferencing from Rail Sadan in Bhubaneswar.
iii. He Inaugurated the Life Line Express at Sindhudurg, Maharashtra of Konkan Railway.

PM Modi inaugurated Link-II of SAUNI project in Botad, Gujarat

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated phase-I of the Link-II pipeline canal of the ambitious Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana in Botad district of Gujarat.
ii. This will be the second milestone in the Rs 12,000 crore project to pump Narmada water in 115 dams of arid Saurashtra region after the PM dedicated to public phase-I of the Link-I canal in August 2016.

President inaugurates Kempegowda festival in New Delhi
i. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Kempegowda Festival in New Delhi.
ii. The festival is organized by the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Foundation.




BHEL commissions 2 units at Maharashtra thermal power project 

i. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has successfully commissioned two units of 270 MW at RattanIndia Nasik Power Ltd's, Maharashtra. 
ii. With the commissioning of these units, BHEL has commissioned eight sets for RattanIndia in Maharashtra in which 3 sets at Nasik and 5 sets at Amravati.

BEML bags Hindustan PSU award
i. Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) a defence public sector has received the Hindustan PSU Award under the category ‘Fastest Growing Organisation – Miniratna’.
ii. Umesh Chandra, Executive Director, received the award on behalf of the company. The award was presented by Nitin Gadkari a Union Minister of State for Road Transport.

PNB launches three new products on foundation day

i. On the occasion of its Foundation Day, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched three new products for its customers.
ii. The three new products are automated electronic toll collection to facilitate hassle-free toll payment/ collection, a credit card mobile App and a scheme for financing a grid connected Roof Solar Power Project.

SBI surpasses ONGC to become most valued PSU stock

State Bank of India (SBI) surpassed oil exploration major Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to become most valued public sector undertaking (PSU) stock in terms of market capitalization (m-cap) in intra-day trade. SBI with m-cap of Rs 239,808 crore was ahead of ONGC having m-cap of Rs 236,003 crore, BSE data showed.



ISRO, BHEL tie-up for lithium-ion batteries 

i. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to help develop low-cost lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.



Philippine President Duterte wins TIME 100 Reader Poll 

i. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has won Time magazine's readers' poll of the 100 most influential people in the world. 
ii. Rodrigo also known as Digong, is a Filipino politician and jurist who is the 16th and current President of the Philippines.

Gayatri Pullela wins twin crown at Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix

i. National Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta.
ii. Gayatri eked out a hard-fought win over her doubles partner Samiya Farooqui to win the girls U-15 singles title.
iii. She later teamed up with Samiya to clinch the U-15 doubles title with a straight-game 21-17, 21-15 win over Indonesian pair of Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola.

Sebastian Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix 2017

i. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) won the Bahrain Grand Prix 2017 by defeating Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
ii.  It was Sebastian's 3rd victory in Bahrain and 44th of his career. Sebastian Vettel belongs to Germany.




Important Takeaways from above GK Update are as follows

• SBI surpass ONGC to become most valued PSU 
• SBI headquarter is in Mumbai and it was founded in 1955
• ONGC headquarter is in Uttarakhand and it was formed in 1956
• SBI slogan is The Banker to Every Indian
• SBI chairman is Arundhati Bhattacharya 
• ONGC chairman is Dinesh K Sarraf
• BHEL and ISRO tie-up for lithium-ion batteries 
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is a full form of BHEL
• Indian Space Research Organization is a full form of ISRO
• BHEL headquarter is in New Delhi and was founded in 1964
• CEO of BHEL is Atul Sobti
• ISRO was founded in 1969 and its Headquarter is in Bengaluru
• ISRO founder is Vikram Sarabhai and CEO is Aluru Seelin Kiran Kumar
• Gayatri Pullela wins twin crown at Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta
• Samiya Farooqui was her doubles partner
• Gayatri Pullela is the daughter  of National Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand
• BHEL has successfully commissioned two units of 270 MW at Maharashtra
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is a full form of BHEL
• BHEL headquarter is in New Delhi and was founded in 1964
• CEO of BHEL is Atul Sobti.
• 16th Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has won Time magazine's readers' poll of the 100 most influential people in the world
• PM Modi had been named among the probable contenders for the annual list of the most influential people in the world. 
• Philippine Capital is Manila and Currency is Philippine Peso
• Sebastian Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix 2017
• He defeated Lewis Hamilton
• Sebastian Vettel belongs to Germany
• Bahrain is an Arabian country with its capital in Manama.
• India's First Train With Glass Ceiling, LED Lights And Rotable Seats in 'Vistadome' Coaches has been launched by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
• The train is running between Visakhapatnam and Araku 
• Inaugurated the Life Line Express at Sindhudurg, Maharashtra.
• The International Day for Monuments and Sites is celebrated on 18th April
• The day is celebrated by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites)
• The theme for 2017 is “Cultural Heritage & Sustainable Tourism”
• Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched three new products for its customers viz.  automated electronic toll collection,  a credit card mobile App, a Roof Solar Power Project.
• PNB CEO is Usha Ananthasubramanian
• PNB Headquarter is in New Delhi and was founded on 12th April 1895.
• PM Modi inaugurated phase-I of the Link-II pipeline canal of SAUNI Yojana
• Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation is full form of SAUNI

QUIZ-18

Q1. India-Malaysia has recently signed seven agreements including air services agreement and MoUs in education and sports. What is the capital of Malaysia?

(a) Penang

(b) Selangor

(c) Kuala Lumpur

(d) Malaysian City

(e) Mallacca

Q2. Name the state that has become the 27th State to join the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).

(a) Himachal Pradesh

(b) Mizoram

(c) Tripura

(d) Kerala

(e) Arunachal Pradesh

Q3. Name the person who has been recently appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

(a) KumariBhatnagar

(b) Jaya Biswas

(c) NeelamSulema

(d) Indira Banerjee

(e) SulekhaSubrato

Q4. The Government has recently launched a comprehensive scheme for power loom sector development at over 45 locations in the country. What is the name of that scheme?

(a) PowerTex India

(b) Loompower India

(c) TextilePower India

(d) Powerloom India

(e) None of the given options are true

Q5. Name the person who has been appointed as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

(a) SandeepJajodia

(b) B P Kanugo

(c) Sumit Kumar Rao

(d) Amit Gupta

(e) Rajiv Kumar Chander

Q6. The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an app named ____________ to provide various municipal services online.

(a) MP i-Seva

(b) MP e-Safai

(c) MP i-Safai

(d) MP e-nagarpalika

(e) MP e-Cleaning

Q7. Which of the following Indian Universities has topped the list of country's official higher education rankings, recently announced by the HRD Ministry?

(a) Banaras Hindu University

(b) Jawaharlal Nehru University

(c) IISc-Bengaluru

(d) Delhi University

(e) Aligarh University

Q8. Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist ___________ passes away, recently.

(a) LakshmikantBai

(b) Sarana Begum

(c) KishoriAmonkar

(d) Girija Lakshmi Pandit

(e) SuvarnalekhaKumari

Q9. FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) has recently banned Guatemala's former football chief Brayan Jimenez for lifetime. Name the President of FIFA.

(a) IssaHayatou

(b) SeppBlatter

(c) Stanley Rous

(d) Gianni Infantino

(e) JoãoHavelange

Q10. After the merger of subsidiary bank in the State Bank of India, the base rate or the minimum lending rate of the bank has been reduced from 9.25% to ___________.

(a) 9.10%

(b) 9.15%

(c) 9.20%

(d) 9.00%

(e) 8.95%

Q11. Name the Cab aggregator that has integrated with Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to simplify digital payment options for its customers.

(a) Uber

(b) Ola

(c) Meru

(d) Mycab

(e) Tesla

Q12. Phoenix India Research and Development Group launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in which of the following Indian cities keeping a flat fare of just Rs 1.

(a) Bengaluru

(b) Chennai

(c) Kolkata

(d) Mumbai

(e) Chandigarh

Q13. Name the country that has topped in a doping violation report published by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for 2015.

(a) Norway

(b) China

(c) Japan

(d) Russia

(e) Italy

Q14. A Malaysian company MTN has recently agreed to help set up a technology park in which of the following Indian State that’s expected to attract private sector investment of $100 million in the first phase.

(a) Andhra Pradesh

(b) Arunachal Pradesh

(c) Assam

(d) Maharashtra

(e) Tripura

Q15. Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have also recently joined the Centre’s power distribution company debt relief scheme, UjjwalDiscom Assurance Yojna (UDAY). UDAY scheme was launched in ___________.

(a) 2010

(b) 2012

(c) 2013

(d) 2014

(e) 2015

Solutions

S1. Ans.(c)
Sol. India-Malaysia have recently signed seven agreements including air services agreement and MoUs in education and sports. Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia.

S2. Ans.(b)
Sol. Mizoram has become the 27th State to join the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).

S3. Ans.(d)
Sol. Justice Indira Banerjee, a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. The Government has launched PowerTex India, a comprehensive scheme for power loom sector development, simultaneously at over 45 locations in the country.

S5. Ans.(e)
Sol. Rajiv Kumar Chander has been appointed as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Offices in Geneva.

S6. Ans.(d)
Sol. The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an app named ‘MP e-nagarpalika’ to provide various municipal services online.

S7. Ans.(c)
Sol. IISc- Bengaluru has topped the list of best universities of country's official higher education rankings, recently announced by the HRD Ministry.

S8. Ans.(c)
Sol. Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist KishoriAmonkar passes away. She was 84.

S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) has recently banned Guatemala's former football chief Brayan Jimenez for lifetime. Gianni Infantino is the President of FIFA.

S10. Ans.(a)
Sol. After the merger of subsidiary bank in the State Bank of India, the base rate or the minimum lending rate of the bank has been reduced from 9.25% to 9.1%. SBI cuts lending rates by 0.15%.

S11. Ans.(b)
Sol. Cab aggregator Ola has integrated with Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to simplify digital payment options for its customers.

S12. Ans.(c)
Sol. Phoenix India Research and Development Group launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping a flat fare of just Rs 1.

S13. Ans.(d)
Sol. India has been ranked third for the third year in a row in a doping violation report published by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for 2015. The list was topped by Russia.

S14. Ans.(a)
Sol. A Malaysian company MTN has agreed to help set up a technology park in Andhra Pradesh that’s expected to attract private sector investment of $100 million in the first phase.

S15. Ans.(e)
Sol. Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have also recently joined the Centre’s power distribution company debt relief scheme, UjjwalDiscom Assurance Yojna (UDAY). UDAY Scheme was launched in November 2015.