World Earth Day being observed today
i. The World Earth Day is being observed all over the world on 22 April with the message to protect the environment.ii. The campaign theme for 2017 is 'Environmental and Climate Literacy'. The first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launches Probono Services, Legal Aid Schemes, Nyaya Mitra
i. Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated three welfare initiatives of the Department of Justice. The services launched are-
1. Pro-bono legal services- Through the Pro bono legal services, lawyers who want to provide legal services free of cost can register themselves on a web-based platform.
3. Nyaya Mitra Project- It aims to reduce pendency in lower courts, with a special focus on cases which are more than ten years old.
1st ‘India Indonesia Energy Forum’ held in Jakarta
i. Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal and Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Ignasius Jonan met for the 1st ‘India Indonesia Energy Forum’, held in Jakarta, Indonesia.ii. The Energy Forum was preceded by 2nd Joint Working Group (JWG) on Oil and Gas, 4th Joint Working Group on Coal and 1st Joint Working Group on New and Renewable Energy. The reports of three Joint Working Groups were presented to two Ministers during the Energy Forum.
GIC Re- first insurance company to sets up base in GIFT City, Gujarat
i. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) has become the first re-insurer to open an office at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).China successfully launched first cargo spacecraft
i. China successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft named Tianzhou 1.ii. It is programmed to conduct scientific experiments after reaching the now-crewless Tiangong 2, China's second space station. China aims to build up the permanent space station by 2022.
iii. China becomes the 3rd country after US and Russia to Master the techniques of refueling in Space.
i. The Reserve Bank of India signed an MoU)on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with Bank of Guyana.ii. Earlier, RBI has signed 40 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one Statement of Co-operation.
AU Financiers converts to small finance bank
ii. As an NBFC, AU had a network of 300 branches spread across 10 States namely Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Goa.
NDMA conducted first mock exercise on forest fire in Uttarakhand
i. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted its first-ever mock exercise on forest fire in Uttarakhand to help improve the preparedness and response mechanism in the event of a forest fire.ii. The mock exercise was conducted on the principle of Incident Response System (IRS).
India, South Korea sign MoU for Defence Industry
i. India and South Korea have signed an Inter-governmental MoU for Defence Industry cooperation between their shipbuilding yards.ii. The Indian side was represented by Secretary of Defence Production A K Gupta and South Korea was represented by his counterpart Chang Miyung Jin, in New Delhi. India has nominated Hindustan Shipyard at Vishakhapatnam whereas South Korea is yet to nominate its shipyard.
i. The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) won the prestigious Golden Peacock Award 2017 in the category of Innovative Product/Service for pioneering a cashless township transformation model.ii. The Golden Peacock Awards were established by the Institute of Directors (IOD) in India in 1991.
iii. Rajiv Kumar Gupta, the managing director of the GNFC, was given the award at a ceremony at the 27th World Congress at the Dubai Global Convention.
Veteran Journalist Nora Chopra passes away
i. Veteran Journalist Nora Chopra passed away at 64 due to multi-organ failure.ii. A senior journalist and columnist, Smt. Chopra was widely admired and respected for her journalistic skills.
Important Takeaways from above GK Update are as follows
- World Earth Day is observed globally on 22 April
- The campaign theme for 2017 is 'Environmental and Climate Literacy'
- The first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970.
- Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad is Minister of Law and Justice
- He launched 3 welfare initiatives viz. Pro-bono legal services, Tele-law service and Nyaya Mitra project
- 1st ‘India Indonesia Energy Forum’ held in Jakarta
- Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia
- Currency of Indonesia is Indonesian rupiah
- GIC Re becomes the first insurance company to sets up base in GIFT City, Gujarat
- GIC Re is wholly owned by the government and was designated as the national reinsurer in 2001
- Mrs. Alice G Vaidyan is the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of GIC Re
- It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- China launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft named Tianzhou 1
- China becomes the 3rd country after US and Russia to Master the techniques of refueling in Space
- Capital of China is Beijing, its Currency is Renminbi and its President Xi Jinping
- RBI signs MoU with the Bank of Guyana
- The MoU was signed on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information
- Dr. Gobind N. Ganga is the Governor of Bank of Guyana
- Guyana Country in South America with its capital in Georgetown
- AU Financiers India converted itself into a small finance bank
- New Name is AU Small Finance Bank
- Mr. Mannil Venugopalan is the Chairman of Board of AU small financial Bank
- National Disaster Management Authority conducted its first-ever mock exercise on forest fire in Uttarakhand
- Mock exercise was conducted on the principle of Incident Response System (IRS)
- India and South Korea signed an MoU for Defence Industry cooperation
- The agreement was signed in New Delhi
- Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hanwa Techwin of South Korea signed a contract to manufacture the K9 Vajra-T tracked self-propelled artillery guns for the Indian Army
- GNFC won the Golden Peacock Award 2017
- Justice Dr. Arijit Pasayat was the Chairman of Jury
- Rajiv Kumar Gupta is the managing director of the GNFC
- Full form of GNFC is Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd
