Election Commission of India Launches National Contact Centre
i. The Election Commission of India has added feather to its cap with the launch of National Contact Centre with a toll-free No. 1800111950.
ii. Now any citizen from any part of the country can call 24*7 on the toll-free in English or Hindi with any query or complaint at any time of the day.
Aadhaar not mandatory for PAN, ITR in J&K, Assam & Meghalaya: Govt
i. The government has exempted the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Meghalaya and citizens above 80 years from mandatory quoting of Aadhaar to obtain PAN cards and file tax returns.
ii. As per the official notification of the Finance Ministry, the exemption has been given to an individual who does not possess the Aadhaar number or the enrolment ID. The exemption will also apply on non-residents and non-citizens.
Telangana first state with logo for hearing impaired drivers
i. Telangana has introduced a logo for identifying vehicles driven by persons with hearing impairment and has become the first state in the country to do so. ii. The state’s transport department has finalized the logo designed by Hyderabad-based graphic designer Manikanta Annapragada, who incidentally is the first person to obtain a driving license in the ‘hearing impaired’ category.
Ahmedabad to host biggest ever International Yoga Day event on June 21
i. Ahmedabad in Gujarat will host biggest ever International Yoga Day event on the 21st of June announced by Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev. ii. Chief Minister of Gujarat Mr. Vijay Rupani will inaugurate the event.
iii. The program will be conducted in partnership with Gujarat government which will also involve various social organizations.
Rajnath Singh launches mobile app for paramilitary forces to lodge grievances
i. Union home minister Rajnath Singh launched a mobile phone app 'MHA Mobile Application' to remain ‘just a click away’ from troopers of all central forces to address their grievances. ii. Rajnath Singh also launched a dedicated app for BSF personnel named 'BSFMyApp'. The app provides the mechanism to address issues related to pay, provident fund, leave or deputation of the personnel. The app will also help troopers with financial literacy.
Vinay Mohan Kwatra named India’s new ambassador to France
i. Vinay Mohan Kwatra currently a joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office has been appointed as the next ambassador to France.
ii. Mr. Vinay Mohan Kwatra has succeeded Mohan Kumar
Amitabh Bachchan appointed WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis
i. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed by the World Health Organisation as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to spread awareness about the disease.
ii. This is the first formal association between WHO and Amitabh Bachchan, who served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India.
Light Combat aircraft Tejas successfully test-fires air-to-air missile
i. Light combat aircraft 'Tejas' has successfully demonstrated an Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile firing capability by releasing Derby Air-to-Air BVR missile in RADAR guided mode.
ii.The objective of the test was to assess the Derby integration with aircraft systems on-board Tejas including the aircraft avionics, fire-control radar, launchers and Missile Weapon Delivery System and to verify its performance. The test was conducted on a Manoeuvrable Aerial Target at the Interim Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.
India test-fires ‘Spyder’ surface-to-air missile from Odisha test range
i. India test fired a surface-to-air missile ‘Spyder’ from a test range at Chandipur in Odisha as part of missile launch practice of a series of tests of the short-range quick reaction. ii. Spyder ( Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby) is an acquired missile system from Israel which is a short-range quick reaction surface-to-air missile to neutralize enemy targets up to a distance of 15 km and at heights between 20-and-9,000 meters.
Bahamas elects Hubert Minnis as new prime minister
i. The Bahamas has elected Free National Movement's Hubert Minnis as its new Prime Minister, defeating incumbent Progressive Liberal Party's leader Perry Christie in a 34-5 parliamentary split.
Forbes Middle East lists top 100 Indian business leaders
i. Retail Mogul Yusuff Ali and Pepsico executive Sanjeev Chadha are among the top 100 Indian business leaders in the Arab World 2017, according to a Forbes ranking for the Middle East.
ii. Ali, managing director of Lulu Group International topped the Indian business owners’ category and Chadha CEO of Asia, Middle East and Africa at PepsiCo International led the Indian executive’s category.
VVS Laxman awarded honorary life membership by MCC
i. VVS Laxman awarded with an honorary life membership by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). ii. The elegant Hyderabad batsman becomes the fifth Indian to receive the honour after fellow stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan.
Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-
- Dr. Nasim Zaidi is the 20th Chief Election Commissioner of India
- Election Commission of India was founded on 1950.
- Aadhaar number is a 12-digit random number issued by the UIDAI to the residents of India
- UIDAI full form is Unique Identification Authority of India
- Shri J. Satyanarayana is part-time Chairman of the UIDAI.
- CM of Telangana is Chandrasekhar Rao and the governor is E.S.L Narasimhan
- The capital of Telangana is Hyderabad
- Telangana is the 29th state of India and was founded in 2014.
- 1st International Yoga Day (IYD) was Hosted by New Delhi on 21st June 2015
- Ministry of AYUSH made the arrangements for 1st IYD
- Mr. Rajnath Singh is the Union home minister of India
- K K Sharma is the Director-General of Border Security Force
- Mr. Vinay Mohan Kwatra has succeeded Mohan Kumar
- Emmanuel Macron has been recently elected as President of France
- Paris is the capital of France and currency is Euro
- Margaret Chan is the Director-General of WHO
- WHO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
- Defence Minister of India is Arun Jaitley
- The first defence minister of independent India was Baldev Singh during 1947-1952
- Tejas is a Light Combat Aircraft that uses fourth generation technologies.
- Spyder full form is Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby
- Bipin Rawat is 27th chief of Army Staff.
- Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club of London and was founded in 1787.
- Anjum Chopra was the first Indian woman cricketer to receive MCC life membership.
