Daily GK Update 15th September 2017

Important Dates

1. International Democracy Day being observed today

• The International Day of Democracy is being observed across the world on 15th September every year to raise awareness about the democratic system.
• This year's theme of democracy and conflict prevention focuses on the critical need to strengthen democratic institutions to promote peace and stability.

Note:

• In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolved to observe 15th September as the International Day of Democracy with the purpose of promoting and upholding the principles of democracy.

2. 15th September: Engineer’s Day

• Engineers’ Day is celebrated on 15th September every year in India commemorating the birthday of one of the greatest engineers in India, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya.
• Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was an Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918.
• He is a recipient of the Indian’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna (1955).

International Affairs

3. New plastic Jane Austen 10-pound note launched in Britain

• A new plastic 10 Pound note featuring renowned author ‘Jane Austen’ has gone into circulation in Britain.
• Austen is the first female writer to feature on a British banknote, replacing a paper 10 Pound note which featured a portrait of naturalist Charles Darwin.
• The new 'tenner' is the first British banknote with a tactile feature involving a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner to help blind and partially sighted users.
• The move coincides with the 200th anniversary of the author's death.
• The new Jane Austen ten-pound note joins the Winston Churchill five-pound note in the first series of polymer Bank of England banknotes.

4. India & Pak begin high-level talks on Indus Waters Treaty

• Today, a high-level talk between India and Pakistan on technical issues of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has begun in Washington(USA).
• Under the IWT, India is permitted to construct hydroelectric power facilities on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions.
• Pakistan opposed the construction of the Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric power plants being built by India after the conclusion of secretary-level talks in August between the two countries on the IWT.

Note:

• The IWT was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.

5. India launches 'Operation Insaniyat' to help Bangladesh tackle Rohingya refugee crisis

• India has started ‘Operation Insaniyat’ to provided assistance to Bangladesh in response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of Rohingya refugees into that country from Myanmar.
• Under it, relief material consisting of items including rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, biscuits and mosquito nets will be provided to the affected people.
• The relief material will be delivered in multiple consignments, and the first tranche will be brought to Chittagong by an Indian Air Force plane.

National Affairs

6. President Ram Nath Kovind launches nation-wide campaign Swacchata Hi Sewa

• Today, President Ram Nath Kovind has launched a nation-wide campaign Swacchata Hi Sewa from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• He also administered nation-wide ‘Swachhta Hi Seva pledge’ initiating parallel action in all the two lakhs 50 thousand plus Gram Panchayats and cities in India.
• The objective of the campaign is to mobilize people and reinforce the public movement for sanitation to contribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India.
• Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, and Uttarakhand and nearly 200 districts around the country have become Open Defecation Free.
• The fortnight long campaign will conclude on Gandhi Jayanti (2nd of October).

7. NGT refuses to lift ban on 10-yr-old diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR

• National Green Tribunal (NGT) has refused to lift the ban on 10-year-old diesel vehicles in the Delhi-National Capital Region.
• The NGT has also dismissed the Centre's plea seeking modification of its ban order on diesel vehicles.
• According to the NGT, one diesel vehicle causes pollution equal to 24 petrol vehicles and 40 CNG vehicles.

Note:

• National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (NGT) is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.

8. Telangana govt. launches a comprehensive land survey for rectification of land records

• The Telangana govt. has launched a comprehensive land survey for rectification of land records in the state.
• The survey aimed at rectifying & updating the land records in all 10,733 revenues villages across the state and 1346 teams of officials will take part in the survey (till 2017).
• Teams of revenue and agricultural officers will stay in villages for 10 days, conduct gram sabhas and verify the land records in the presence of farmers.
• The rectified records will be displayed at village panchayat office and will also be digitized & uploaded online.

Note:

• The comprehensive land survey will ensure transparency in sale and purchase of land, registration, ownership rights and all other details pertaining to lands in the state.

9. HRD Minister announces Swacchata ranking of Higher Educational Institutions

• The union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister ‘Prakash Javadekar’ unveiled the Swacchata ranking of Higher Educational Institutions and presented awards to the top rankers.
• Three thousand five hundred institutions participated in the Swachhata ranking out of which best 25 institutions were selected in four categories.
• Four crores eighty lakhs toilets have been built around the country including in educational institutions with separate facility for girl students.
• Under the mission, more than 2 lakh villages and more than 160 districts have been declared Open Defecation Free.

10. Karnataka becomes the first Indian state to approve e-vehicle policy

• Karnataka state cabinet approved the Karnataka Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy to encourage production of electric vehicles to reduce pollution, promote research & development (R&D) of electric mobility.
• Now, Karnataka has become the first Indian state to have an electric vehicle policy.
• The state expects to create employment for 55,000 people through the policy.

Sports

11. Davis Cup: India to starts its campaign against Canada today

• Today, India will open its campaign against Canada in the Davis Cup World Group Playoff tie.
• In the first singles match Ramkumar Ramanathan (154- ranked) is up against the debutant Bradley Schnur while Yuki Bhambri will play the second singles against Denis Shapovalov (51-ranked).
• Earlier, India lost in the last three years to Serbia in 2014, the Czech Republic in 2015 and Spain in 2016 in the Play-offs.
• Rohan Bopanna with Purav Raja for the doubles rubber, to be played tomorrow.
• The present champion of Davis Cup- 2016 is Argentina who beatCroatia to win the title for the first time.

Note:

• The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis, run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in a knock-out format.
• The most successful countries over the history of the tournament are the United States (32 times) and Australia (28 times).
• By 2016, 135 nations entered teams into the competition.

 ''Thought of the Day''

"“When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself."

Current Affairs

Q1. PM of Japan Mr Shinzo Abe is in India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual summit meeting. This is the ____________ edition of the summit.

(a) 8th

(b) 9th

(c) 14th

(d) 12th

(e) 15th

S1. Ans.(d)

Sol. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, recently. Mr. Abe is in India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual summit meeting. The 12th edition of the summit will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Q2. The President of Belarus Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko was recently on the visit to India. What is the Currency of Belarus?

(a) Belarusian ruble

(b) Belarusian dollar

(c) Belarusian dinar

(d) Belarusian rupiah

(e) Belarusian pound

S2. Ans.(a)
Sol. The President of Belarus Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko was recently on visit to India. Mr. Lukashenko’s visit was significant as it took place in a year when Belarus and India are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Currency of Belarus is Belarusian ruble.

Q3. Name the newly appointed, first female President of Singapore.

(a) Sim Ann

(b) Halimah Yacob

(c) Joan Pereira

(d) Rahayu Mahzam

(e) Tin Pei Ling

S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. Halimah Yacob was sworn-in as the 8th President of Singapore. She became the country’s first female President and the first in five decades to come from the Malay ethnicity.

Q4. Finance Ministry has recently constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced in the implementation of GST. This GoM is headed by _______________.

(a) Arun Jaitley

(b) Raam Naik

(c) Nitinbhai Patel

(d) Dinesh Sharma

(e) Sushil Kumar Modi

S4. Ans.(e)
Sol. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced in the implementation of GST.

Q5. The Reserve Bank of India has recently announced to introduce denomination of _____________ rupees coin to mark the birth centenary of AIADMK founder Late Dr M G Ramachandran.

(a) 50

(b) 20

(c) 100

(d) 200

(e) 150

S5. Ans.(c)
Sol. As per the notification of Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India will introduce 100 rupees coin to mark the birth centenary (hundredth anniversary) of AIADMK founder Late Dr. M G Ramachandran.

Q6. With which of the following Payment gateway provider, IRCTC has announced its collaborations to provide users a safe and secure option to pay for rail tickets booked?

(a) Paytm

(b) PayU

(c) MobiKwik

(d) e-waale

(e) Oxigen

S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. Payment gateway provider PayU has announced its collaborations with the IRCTC to provide users a safe and secure option to pay for rail tickets booked via the IRCTC website.

Q7. Name the payment bank that has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card.

(a) IPPB

(b) Airtel Payment Bank

(c) Aditya Birla Payment Bank

(d) Paytm Payments Bank

(e) None of the given options is true

S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card. With the PPB Digital debit card, customers will now be able to transact at all merchants who accept credit and debit cards.

Q8. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has recently organized the second State Startup Conference in ___________.

(a) New Delhi

(b) Bengaluru

(c) Chennai

(d) Mumbai

(e) Kolkata

S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India organized the second State Startup Conference in New Delhi. The Minister of State, C.R. Choudhary inaugurated the conference. The conference was held mainly to deliberate on issues including incubation facilities and making regulations easier for budding entrepreneurs.

Q9. Name the city that will host the fifth edition of the ‘Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017’.

(a) Mumbai

(b) Goa

(c) Kochi

(d) Chennai

(e) Ahmedabad

S9. Ans.(c)
Sol. Kochi will host the fifth edition of the ‘Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017’. The summit will be an initiative to explore the immense potential of coastal shipping and waterways as well as an effort to build a shared commitment and decipher the role that each stakeholder will have to play in integrating the coastal and waterways transport infrastructure.

Q10. Name the capital city that has been named as the world’s top financial centre in the World, as per the recent survey.

(a) Washington D.C.

(b) Moscow

(c) Canberra

(d) London

(e) Beijing

S10. Ans.(d)
Sol. London retained its crown as the world’s top financial center in a ranking that surveys industry professionals, extending its lead over New York and Hong Kong despite ongoing uncertainty about the implications of Brexit.

Q11. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has recently launched a nationwide Hackathon named ______________ to support and showcase potential ideas/talent from inner India.

(a) DataHack

(b) OpenGovDataHack

(c) GovIndHackers

(d) AddHackers

(e) MeityHack

S11. Ans.(b)
Sol. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched a nationwide Hackathon named Open GovDataHack to support and showcase potential ideas/talent from inner India.

Q12. Turkey has signed a deal with which of the following country to buy S-400 missile defence systems in its first major weapons purchase?

(a) France

(b) Portugal

(c) Russia

(d) USA

(e) China

S12. Ans.(c)
Sol. Turkey has signed a deal with Russia to buy S-400 missile defence systems in its first major weapons purchase from Moscow, according to the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Q13. Name the Telecom services provider with which SK Telecom of Korea have announced a strategic partnership to build advanced telecom network in India.

(a) Bharti Airtel

(b) Vodafone India

(c) Reliance Communications

(d) Idea

(e) BSNL

S13. Ans.(a)
Sol. Telecom services provider, Bharti Airtel and SK Telecom of Korea have announced a strategic partnership under which Airtel will leverage the latter's expertise to build advanced telecom network in India.

Q14. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the President of ______________.

(a) Russia

(b) Portugal

(c) Brazil

(d) Turkey

(e) Argentina

S14. Ans.(d)
Sol. The President of Turkey is Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ankara is the capital city of Turkey.

Q15. Who is the present Minister of Electronics and Information Technology?

(a) J P Nadda

(b) Dharmendra Pradhan

(c) Ravi Shankar Prasad

(d) Suresh Prabhu

(e) Vijay Goyal

S15. Ans.(c)
Sol. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad is the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.

QUIZ-15

Q1. According to the data of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), India’s fiscal deficit at July- end touched 92.4 % of the budget. Who is the Controller General of Accounts (CGA)?

(a) Rajiv Kumar

(b) Dipak Misra

(c) Anthony Lianzuala

(d) Vishal Sikka

(e) Tapan Rey

S1. Ans.(c)

Sol. India’s fiscal deficit at July- end touched 92.4 % of the budget mainly because of front loading of expenditure by various government departments. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit- difference between expenditure and revenue - was Rs 5.04 lakh crore during April- July 2017-18, according to the data of Controller General of Accounts (CGA). Anthony Lianzuala is the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under the Finance Ministry.

Q2. Name the Bank of Pakistan that has been recently shut down by the US banking regulators for money laundering.

(a) Faysal Bank

(b) United Bank Limited

(c) Askari Bank

(d) Habib Bank

(e) Bank Alfalah

S2. Ans.(d)
Sol. US banking regulators ordered Pakistan’s Habib Bank to shutter its New York office after nearly 40 years, for repeatedly failing to heed concerns over possible terrorist financing and money laundering.

Q3. The first National Canine Seminar was organized by National Security Guard (NSG) in Manesar, Gurugram. The theme of the two days National Canine Seminar was _______________.

(a) Canine as Tactical Weapon in Fight against Terrorism

(b) Discuss and Deliberate on the Techniques of Dog Training and Strategies

(c) The NSG's Motorcycle Expedition

(d) Collective Responsibility towards the Fight against Terrorism. 

(e) None of the given options is true

S3. Ans.(a)
Sol. The Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju attended the first National Canine Seminar organized by National Security Guard (NSG), in NSG Campus, Manesar (Gurugram), Haryana. The theme of the two days National Canine Seminar is ''Canine as Tactical Weapon in Fight against Terrorism'' with an objective to discuss and deliberate on the techniques of dog training and strategies of deploying the dogs in Counter Terrorism/Counter Insurgency scenario.

Q4. Name the newly appointed chief coach of the men's Hockey Team.

(a) Roelant Oltmans

(b) Mike Babcock

(c) Sjoerd Marijne

(d) Bill Peters

(e) Phil Housley

S4. Ans.(c)
Sol. Women's national hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne was named chief coach of the men's side. He has replaced Roelant Oltmans.

Q5. Name the Indian Wrestler who has recently won the gold medal in Cadet World Wrestling Championship in Athens.

(a) Sakshi Malik

(b) Sonam Malik

(c) Geeta Phogat

(d) Annu Singh

(e) Jaspreet Kaur

S5. Ans.(b)
Sol. India Wrestler Sonam Malik won a gold medal by defeating Japanese Wrestler Sena Nagamoto by 3-1 points on the fourth-day of Cadet World Wrestling Championship in Athens.

Q6. Which of the following state government has signed an MoU with Google India to increase digital literacy across the State?

(a) Maharashtra

(b) Karnataka

(c) Kerala

(d) Assam

(e) Meghalaya

S6. Ans.(d)
Sol. In a bid to take Internet connectivity to the remotest part of the state, Assam government signed an MoU with Google India. Through the MoU with Google, the state government would work to provide Internet connection to 26,000 villages and 1,500 tea garden areas to increase digital literacy.

Q7. Name the city in which the first water ATM of the country has been inaugurated recently.

(a) Bengaluru

(b) Kochi

(c) Mumbai

(d) Delhi

(e) Hyderabad

S7. Ans.(e)
Sol. The First water ATM has been inaugurated by Telangana State Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy at Nalgonda X Roads, Hyderabad. A total of 200 ATMs will be set up to reach a targeted 150,000 people. In the first phase, 50 water ATMs will be operationalized by 2018.

Q8. Name the UIDAI chief executive officer who has been recently appointed as the interim chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).

(a) A.B. Pandey

(b) Vishal Kumar Singh

(c) Rajiv Khanna

(d) Surjit Singh

(e) Saurabh Kumar

S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. The Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) chief executive officer (CEO) A.B. Pandey was appointed the interim chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).

Q9. Unseeded American ______________ has lifted the US Open women's singles title 2017. 

(a) Chris Evert

(b) Venus Williams

(c) Sloane Stephens

(d) Madison Keys

(e) Serena Williams

S9. Ans.(c)
Sol. Unseeded American Sloane Stephens lifted the US Open women's singles title 2017. Sloane ranked 83rd completed a spectacular return from injury to beat 15th seed Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the finals.

Q10. Which country has won 2nd South Asian Basketball, SABA, Under - 16 Championship in Kathmandu, Nepal recently?.

(a) China

(b) India

(c) Sri Lanka

(d) Nepal

(e) Bangladesh

S10. Ans.(b)
Sol. India has won 2nd South Asian Basketball, SABA, Under - 16 Championship. India defeated Bhutan by 131-50 in its last league match at Kathmandu in Nepal. India remained unbeaten in its all four matches and accumulated 8 points. Bangladesh finished second and host Nepal third.