Daily GK Update 11th May, 2017

India celebrates National Technology Day: 11th May

i. On 11th May 1998 India achieved a major technological breakthrough by successfully carrying out nuclear tests at Pokhran, Rajasthan. 
 ii. Technology Development Board, Ministry of Science and Technology is celebrating 19th National Technology Day, at Vigyan Bhawan. The theme of the function is “Technology for inclusive and sustainable growth”.


PM launches integrated case management system of Supreme Court

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the integrated case management system of the Supreme Court in the presence of the Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar.

ii. The system will help litigants access data and retrieve information online and will be a step towards a paperless Supreme Court. 

iii. It will help usher transparency, reduce manipulation and help the litigant know about the progress of the case on a real-time basis.

Government sets up a high-level task force to compute timely data on employment

i. The government of India has set up a high-level task force to compute timely data on employment in the country, a move that will go a long way to help government frame policies and take steps that can create jobs in the country. 
ii. The task force has been created under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog's vice chairman Arvind Panagariya. The other members of the task force are labor secretary Sathiyavathy, secretary statistics T.C.A. Ananth, Pulak Ghosh of NITI Aayog and Manish Sabharwal (member RBI Board).

India, Russia agree to work closely in various sectors

i. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Rogozin arrived in New Delhi recently on a one-day visit to attend IRIGC-TEC meeting. 
ii. India and Russia agreed to work closely in various sectors, including security, nuclear energy, and disaster management.

IFSC at GIFT inks pact with GNLU to start course on IFSC regulations

i. India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance-Tec City (GIFT)  entered into an agreement with Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) to collaborate on efforts for Skill Development in the field of International Financial Services & Regulations. 
ii. Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), GNLU will introduce a new course on International Financial Services Centre from its June 2017 Semester. It will also organize a program for Lawyers covering IFSC, International Arbitration and related fields. 


Dena Bank classifies Videocon loan as ‘bad’ 

i. Dena Bank has become the first lender to classify Videocon Industries as a bad loan. With the default on payments, Dena Bank has declared Videocon Industries account as non-performing asset (NPA) in the fourth quarter ended March 2017. 
ii. The total exposure of lenders to the electronic goods maker has pegged at approx Rs 40,000 crore.

Sebi allows investors to buy mutual funds via digital wallet 

i. Markets regulator Stock Exchange board of India (Sebi) allowed investors to buy mutual fund schemes for up to Rs 50,000 through digital wallets, making it easier for them especially the young generation to purchase these instruments.  
ii. The move is part of the efforts to promote digital payments in the MF industry and channelise household savings into the capital market.

29th edition of CORPAT between India-Indonesia begins in Port Blair

i. The 29th edition of  Co-ordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between India-Indonesia commenced in Port Blair. 
ii. The Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Sutedi Senoputra has arrived at Haddo Wharf, Port Blair to mark the commencement of the IND–INDO CORPAT. The closing ceremony of the CORPAT is scheduled at Belawan, Indonesia from 22 – 25 May 2017.

Indian Navy ships; INS Karwar and Kakinada decommissioned
i. Two minesweepers of the Indian Navy INS Karwar and INS Kakinada were decommissioned after being in service for over 30 years. 
ii. The two ships were bid adieu at a ceremony in the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai in the presence of Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba. 
iii. INS Karwar was the first of the ‘Natya’ class minesweepers acquired from the erstwhile Soviet Union. The ship was commissioned on July 14, 1986.INS Kakinada was the second of the class and was commissioned on December 23, 1986.

India, US officials discuss strengthening maritime security cooperation

i. Top Indian and American officials discussed ways to strengthen maritime security cooperation during the two-day India-US Maritime Security Dialogue in Rhode Island. 
ii. The implementation of the decisions taken at the first Maritime Security Dialogue between the two countries.

IRCTC launches cash-on-delivery for train tickets

i. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is now offering home delivery of rail tickets and will allow passengers to make payment through any payment mode, including cash. 

ii. Broad-basing the customer service, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has now introduced pay-on-delivery (PoD) service, allowing passengers to book train tickets online and pay at the time of delivery. 

Railways to acquire EoTT system to run trains without guards

i. The Indian Railways will float global tenders worth over ₹100 crore for acquiring  End of Train Telemetry (EoTT) equipment to run 1,000 trains without guards. 
ii. This equipment is used to establish communication between the locomotive driver and the last wagon of the train to ensure that the train is running with all coaches/wagons as a complete unit.  
iii. EoTT system comprises two units — one unit called cab display unit (CDU) fitted on the locomotive and the other is sense and brake unit (SBU) fitted on the last coach or wagon of the train.

Sanjay Mitra appointed as Defence Secretary

i. The government has named Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra as its new defence secretary in a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.
 ii. Mitra will take over as the secretary after the present incumbent, G Mohan Kumar, completes his tenure on May 24,2017 an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). 

Twitter elevates Taranjeet Singh as Country Director for India

i. Microblogging platform Twitter has elevated Taranjeet Singh as its Country Director for India. Mr. Singh was earlier leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India.
ii. Recently, Twitter had launched a lighter version of its platform 'Twitter Lite' for users in India.


Konkona bags Best Director and Best Actress awards at New York Indian Film Festival
i. Konkona Sensharma has been named the best director for her directorial debut ‘A Death in the Gunj’ and the best actress for ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ at 2017's New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). 
ii. Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, the film festival took place from April 30 to May 7, 2017. 


NBA inaugurates academy in India
i. In a promising step for Indian basketball, the national Basketball Association (NBA) inaugurated its first ever academy in Greater Noida.  
ii. This is latest of the several steps that the National Basketball Association (NBA) the governing body of the game in US has taken to promote the game in India over the past few years.

Senior NCP leader A T Pawar Passes away
i. Senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Arjun Tulshiram Pawar passed away after prolonged illness. 
ii. The leader, who had for many years represented Kalwan, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Nashik district, lost the 2014 state Assembly election.

Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-

• Railway Minister of India is Suresh Prabhu
• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation was founded in 1999
• IRCTC headquarter is in New Delhi.
• Road Transport and Highways Secretary is Sanjay Mitra
• Sanjay Mitra takes over as the new defence secretary after the replacing of  G Mohan Kumar.
• Railway Minister of India is Suresh Prabhu
• First Railway Minister of India is John Mathai.
• Jagdish Singh Khehar is the 44th Chief Justice of India after replacing of Justice Tirath Singh Thakur
• Supreme Court becomes Paperless moving towards Digital Court.
• Prof. Ashutosh Sharma is the chairperson of Technology Development Board
• The Government of India constituted the Technology Development Board (TDB) in September 1996, under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995
• Port Blair is the Capital of Andaman and Nicobar
• Sunil Lanba is the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of Indian Navy.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India was established on April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• Chairman of SEBI is Ajay Tyagi after replacing of U.K. Sinha
• Sebi headquarter is in Mumbai.
• The vice chairman of NITI Aayog is Mr. Arvind Panagariya
• Jack Dorsey is the CEO of Twitter
• Headquarter of Twitter is in California, USA.
• The official name for Russia is the Russian Federation
• Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake is in Russia
• Dmitry Medvedev is the current PM of Russia
• The capital of Russia is Moscow and its currency is Russian ruble.
• Dena Bank headquarter is in Mumbai
• Chairman of Dena Bank is Shri. Ashwani Kumar
• The tagline of Dena Bank is 'Trusted Family Bank'.
• Full form of IFSC is International Financial Services Centre
• Full form of GNLU is Gujarat National Law University 
• Full form of GIFT is Gujarat International Finance-Tec City.

QUIZ-11

Q1. India and South Korea have signed an Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Defence Industry cooperation between their shipbuilding yards. What is the capital of South Korea?

(a) Beijing

(b) Seoul

(c) Pyongyang

(d) Bangkok

(e) Tokyo

Q2. Which among the following insurance company has become the first reinsurer to open an office at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City)?

(a) Oriental Insurance Company Limited 

(b) National Insurance Company Limited 

(c) United India Insurance Company

(d) The New India Assurance Company Limited 

(e) General Insurance Corporation of India

Q3. Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad has inaugurated welfare initiatives of the Department of Justice. These initiatives are-

(a) Pro-bono legal services

(b) Tele-law service-

(c) Nyaya Mitra Project

(d) All of the above

(e) None of the given options is true

Q4. The Reserve Bank of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with ____________.

(a) Bank of Guyana

(b) Bank of Japan

(c) Federal Reserve 

(d) People's Bank of China

(e) European Central Bank

Q5. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted its first-ever mock exercise on the forest fire in ___________ to help improve the preparedness and response mechanism in the event of a forest fire.

(a) Madhya Pradesh

(b) Punjab

(c) Uttarakhand

(d) Rajasthan

(e) Kerala

Q6. AU Financiers India, a non-banking finance company (NBFC), has converted itself into a small finance bank by the name AU Small Finance Bank. Who is the chairman of the board of AU Small Finance Bank?

(a) Mannil Venugopalan

(b) Vipul Reddy

(c) Utkarsh Kumar

(d) Varsha R Rama

(e) None of the given options is true

Q7. Which company has won the prestigious Golden Peacock Award 2017 in the category of Innovative Product/Service for pioneering a cashless township transformation model?

(a) Maharashtra Industries Directory

(b) Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC)

(c) Organic Fertilizers Kerala

(d) Rajasthan Handloom & Handicraft Industries

(e) None of the given options is true

Q8. Which among the following countries has successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft named Tianzhou-1?

(a) North Korea

(b) Japan

(c) China

(d) Russia

(e) Singapore

Q9. Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines _____________ and Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan met for the 1st ‘India Indonesia Energy Forum’, held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

(a) Harsimrat Kaur Badal

(b) Radha Mohan Singh

(c) Giriraj Singh

(d) Piyush Goyal

(e) Ram Vilas Paswan

Q10. Which city has been designated World Book Capital 2017? 

(a) Bern, Switzerland

(b) Nairobi, Kenya

(c) Madrid, Spain

(d) New Delhi, India

(e) Conakry, Guinea

Solutions

S1. Ans.(b)
Sol. India and South Korea have signed an Inter-governmental Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Defence Industry cooperation between their shipbuilding yards. Seoul is the capital of South Korea.

S2. Ans.(e)
Sol. 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).

S3. Ans.(d)
Sol. Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad has 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. 2. Tele-law service- It aims to connect marginalized communities with lawyers through video conferencing facilities, to be set up at Common Service Centres (CSCs). 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.

S4. Ans.(a)
Sol. The Reserve Bank of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with Bank of Guyana. 

S5. Ans.(c)
Sol. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted its first-ever mock exercise on the forest fire in Uttarakhand to help improve the preparedness and response mechanism in the event of a forest fire. The mock exercise was conducted on the principle of Incident Response System (IRS), which identifies stakeholders and clearly attributes roles and responsibilities to each one of them. It also generated awareness among the local population about the Do's and Don'ts to be followed to prevent and respond to a forest fire.

S6. Ans.(a)
Sol. AU Financiers India, a non-banking finance company (NBFC), has converted itself into a small finance bank by the name AU Small Finance Bank. AU obtained a fresh certificate of incorporation from the Corporate Affairs Ministry on April 13, 2017, and the Reserve Bank of India on April 19, 2017, notified the commencement of operations of this small finance bank. Mr. Mannil Venugopalan is the Chairman of Board of AU small financial Bank.

S7. Ans.(b)
Sol. 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. The Golden Peacock Awards were established by the Institute of Directors (IOD) in India in 1991. The GNFC won from among 313 applicants for Golden Peacock Global Award for Innovative Product/Service. Applicants for 2017 included SMEs, and public, private, and government enterprises.

S8. Ans.(c)
Sol. China has successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft named Tianzhou-1. 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. China becomes the 3rd country after US and Russia to Master the techniques of refueling in Space.

S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. 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. 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.

S10. Ans.(e)
Sol. Conakry, the capital of Guinea has been designated World Book Capital 2017.

Daily GK Update 10th May, 2017

World Migratory Bird Day: 10th May

i. The World Migratory Bird Day is observed every year on 10 May. 
ii. The theme of WMBD 2017 is “Their Future is Our Future – A Healthy Planet for Migratory Birds and People”. 

Supreme Court becomes paperless, digital court 

i. The Supreme Court has taken its first step towards becoming a paperless, digital court.

ii. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the digital filing system at a function in New Delhi where the Integrated Case Management System will be connected with the Supreme Court website.


SAMADHAN: Rajnath Singh coins an acronym to wipe out left-wing terror 

i. Presiding over a review meeting of the states affected by Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced a new strategy against the Maoists—SAMADHAN. 
ii. The Minister explained the acronym as S-smart leadership, A-aggressive strategy, M-motivation and training, A-actionable intelligence, D-dashboard-based KPIs (key performance indicators) and KRAs (key result areas), H-harnessing technology, A-action plan for eachtheatre and N-no access to financing.

DIPAM launches online investor facilitation platform

i. The Finance Ministry has set up an Investor Facilitation Platform that will provide information about stocks of public sector units. 
ii. Set up by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), the platform will be an interactive forum for all stakeholders, including investors, investment banks, law firms, public sector units and administrative ministries that are involved in stake sales. 

Cashkaro.com ties up with YES Bank to launch card-linked offers

i. Banking on the Government's drive to promote a cash-less economy, cashback portal Cashkaro.com has tied up with YES Bank to launch card-linked offers as part of its loyalty programme for both offline and online shoppers. 
ii. The offer will be currently available on all YES BANK debit cards, and will be extended to all other payment products of YES Bank in the near future.

Oracle launches cloud computing service for India

i. Technology giant Oracle has launched its cloud computing service for India, which aims to support the government's GST rollout in July and plans to open data centres in the country. 
ii. In an effort to simplify the tax regime in India and to ensure higher compliance with tax laws, Oracle's ERP solution aims to provide support for GST Network integration, statutory reporting, payment processing, among others. 

Moon Jae-In began his five-year term as president of South Korea

i. South Korea's liberal leader Moon Jae-In took the oath as president, tasked with navigating the country out of rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear program and the risk of a rift with the United States. 
ii. The National Election Commission said Moon, of the Democratic Party, took 41.1 percent of the votes, far ahead of Conservative Hong Joon-Pyo, his closest rival on 24.03 percent.

Apple tops $800 bn market cap for first time

i. Apple Inc became the first US company to top the $800 billion mark in market capitalization slightly more than two years after it crossed the $700 billion thresholds. 
ii. The iPhone maker's shares have gained 33 percent this year and almost 50 per cent since the US election in November 2016 and the company now represents about 4 percent of the $21.7 trillion that makes up the entire S&P 500 index.

Jhulan Goswami becomes world's highest wicket-taker in ODIs

i. Jhulan Goswami, India’s fast bowler, is now the leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs, going past Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick record of 180 wickets. 
ii. She now has 181 wickets in 153 matches at an average of 21.76 with two five-wicket and 4 four-wicket hauls. She won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award in 2007.

N'Golo Kante named Football Writers' Footballer of the Year

i. N'Golo Kante has been voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association. 
ii. Kante is the fifth player in six seasons to complete the awards double having last month been named Player of the Year by the Professional Footballers' Association.



Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-

• 2017 ICC Women's World Cup will be hosted by England
• 2013 ICC Women's World Cup  won by Australia
• In 2010 and 2012, Jhulan Goswami was conferred with Arjuna Award and Padam Shri respectively.
• Moon Jae-In has replaced Park Geun-Hye
• Capital of South Koria is Seoul and its Currency is Won (KRW)
• The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal
• The Supreme Court of India came into existence on 26th January, 1950
• The First Chief Justice of Supreme Court was Harilal Jekisundas Kania.
• Union Home Minister of India is Rajnath Singh
• Rajnath Singh announced a new strategy against the Maoists—SAMADHAN.
• DIPAM is headed by Finance Minister of India Shri Arun Jaitley
• From 27th May, 2004, the Department of Disinvestment is one of the Departments under the Ministry of Finance
• The Department of Disinvestment was set up as a separate Department on 10th December, 1999 and was later renamed as Ministry of Disinvestment from 6th September, 2001
• The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) from 14th April, 2016.
• The GST is governed by GST Council and its Chairman is Union Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley.
• GST is a destination-based tax on consumption of goods and services
• It is amalgamating a large number of Central and State taxes into a single tax
• Oracle headquarter is in the United States of America.
• World Migratory Bird Day is observed on 10th May
• The theme of WMBD 2017 is “Their Future is Our Future – A Healthy Planet for Migratory Birds and People”
• Yes Bank CEO and MD is Rana Kapoor 
• Headquarter of Yes Bank in Mumbai
• The tagline of Yes Bank is 'Experience our Expertise'.

QUIZ-10

Q1. Name the Indian/Indians who made it to the annual list of ‘100 most influential people in the world’ 2017 in the recently released list by the Time magazine.

(a) Narendra Modi

(b) Mukesh Ambani

(c) Vijay Shekhar Sharma

(d) Both (a) and (c)

(e) Both (a) and (b)

Q2. The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has recently awarded its Peace Prize 2017 to ________.

(a) Antonio Guiterrs

(b) Giuseppina Nicolini

(c) Ang Ban ki

(d) Takehiko Nakao

(e) None of the given options are true

Q3. United Nations International Day of Vesak 2017 will be hosted by which of the following countries?

(a) Sri Lanka

(b) India

(c) China

(d) Nepal

(e) Myanmar

Q4. Mongolia launched its first satellite named ____________ as a part of its efforts to make use of new technology to diversify its resource-dependent economy.

(a) Al Nagah- I

(b) Mongolian-I

(c) Mongol Sat-I

(d) Dharansuk Sat-I

(e) Azerkham Sat-I

Q5. Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced the introduction of Video gaming as full sports in Asian Games. It will be implemented fully in __________ Asian Games.

(a) 2018

(b) 2020

(c) 2019

(d) 2021

(e) 2022

Q6. Name the company that has recently regained its status as India’s most valued firm by market capitalization.

(a) TCS

(b) Tata Power

(c) Infosys

(d) Reliance Industries Ltd.

(e) Reliance Communications

Q7. The 3rd edition of International Conference and Exhibition on Steel Industry 'India Steel 2017' was held recently in ____________.

(a) New Delhi

(b) Bengaluru

(c) Gandhinagar

(d) Mumbai

(e) Chennai

Q8. Name the company that has recently signed an agreement with Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (AVVNL) for electricity distribution in Ajmer for 20 years.

(a) Reliance Power

(b) Tata Power

(c) TCS

(d) Havel’s Electricals

(e) None of the given options are true

Q9. United Nations International Day of Vesak 2017 will be hosted in one of the Asian countries from 12-14 May 2017. It will be _________ edition of Vesak Day.

(a) 10th

(b) 13th

(c) 11th

(d) 14th

(e) 16th

Q10. World Earth Day is observed globally on ____________.

(a) 23 April

(b) 21 March

(c) 18 April

(d) 24 March

(e) 22 April

Solutions

S1. Ans.(d)
Sol. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma were the only two Indians to make it to an annual list of ‘100 most influential people in the world’ 2017, released by the Time magazine.

S2. Ans.(b)
Sol. The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has awarded its Peace Prize to Giuseppina Nicolini, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa, for her commitment to saving the lives of migrants and refugees.

S3. Ans.(a)
Sol. The 14th Edition of United Nations International Day of Vesak 2017 will be hosted by Sri Lanka from 12-14 May 2017.

S4. Ans.(c)
Sol. Mongolia launched its first satellite named Mongol Sat-I, part of its efforts to make use of new technology to diversify its resource-dependent economy

S5. Ans.(e)
Sol. Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced Video gaming as full sports at the 2022 Asian Games which is scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from 10-25 September 2022.

S6. Ans.(d)
Sol. The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) regained its status as India’s most valued firm by market capitalization. RIL overtook Tata Group’s crown jewel TCS.

S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. The 3rd edition of International Conference and Exhibition on Steel Industry 'India Steel 2017' was held at Mumbai Exhibition center in Mumbai from 19th-21st April 2017.

S8. Ans.(b)
Sol. Tata Power has signed an agreement with Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (AVVNL) for electricity distribution in Ajmer for 20 years.

S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. United Nations International Day of Vesak 2017 will be hosted in one of the Asian countries from 12-14 May 2017. It will be the 14th edition of Vesak Day.

S10. Ans.(e)
Sol. World Earth Day is observed globally on 22 April.

Daily GK Update 09th May, 2017

India unanimously elected as President of UN-Habitat

i. India has been unanimously elected as the President of UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations Organisation.  
ii. Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu is chairing the four-day meeting of the 58-member Governing Council of UN-Habitat at Nairobi in Kenya that began on 8th May 2017. 
iii. The theme of the 26th meeting of the council is 'Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda' 

Haryana to start door-to-door survey to collect data of every resident

i. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has decided to gather a detailed data of every resident and issue a sleek identity for every house in Haryana. 
ii. The objective of this two-month long data generating exercise, to be launched on June 15, 2017 is to get details of land holdings and status of facilities. 
iii. The facilities includes social security pension, scholarship, MGNREGA, loans and LPG connection. During the survey, address of each house,  location, details of owner of the house, bank account numbers, IFSC code and Aadhaar and personal details will be gathered.

Techmagnate acquires BlogX, the largest blog conference in India

i. Techmagnate, India’s leading Digital Marketing Agency acquired BlogX, India’s largest blog conference where bloggers and content managers connect. 
ii. In the event, top bloggers from across the country share their experiences and stories of journey towards becoming successful bloggers. The blogger’s meet emphasizes on content, relationship and brand building.

Ola ties-up with Airtel to roll out integrated digital offerings to customers

i. India's largest cab aggregator Ola has partnered with Bharti Airtel to launch a range of integrated digital offerings to customers. 
ii. As part of the partnership, Ola will integrate Airtel Payments bank to its app and Airtel will integrate Ola's mobile wallet Ola Money as a payment solution on Airtel website and MyAirtel app for mobile recharges and bill payments. 

Oracle signs MoU with Jharkhand for cloud-based citizen services

i. The Government of Jharkhand and Oracle signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) intended to improve cloud-based citizen services and to make Jharkhand an attractive destination for start-ups. 
ii. Oracle will offer its support to the state through its vast portfolio of technology solutions, including Oracle Cloud. 
iii. As part of the MoU, the Government of Jharkhand and Oracle will jointly explore and identify areas in which Oracle’s latest cloud-based technologies can be used to deliver improved citizen services and to address the state’s citizen and business requirements.

DIPP & WIPO to set up Technology and Innovation Support Centers

i. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have signed an agreement to establish Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC). 
ii. WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) program provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high-quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP) rights.

India to grow at 7.7 per cent in 2018-19: IMF

i. India's growth is expected to rebound to 7.2 percent in the 2017-18 fiscal and 7.7 percent in 2018-19 after disruptions caused by demonetization, as per the IMF (International Monetary Fund) report. 
ii. According to the report, growth in Asia is forecast to accelerate to 5.5 percent in 2017 from 5.3 percent in 2016. Growth in China and Japan is revised upward for 2017 compared to the October 2016 World Economic Outlook.

Sohail Mahmood to replace Abdul Basit as Pakistan’s envoy to India
i. The government of Pakistan has approved the appointment of Sohail Mahmood as Pakistan’s next high commissioner to India. 
ii. Mahmood is a top diplomat of Pakistan and will replace the incumbent envoy to India Abdul Basit this month.


Edelweiss Tokio launches India's first life insurance Product

i. Edelweiss Tokio launched India's first and the simplest life insurance product that can be bought at a point of sale (PoS) has finally been launched. 
ii. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has recently launched PoS Saral Nivesh the first product to be approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India's (IRDAI) guidelines on point of sale-life insurance products. 
iii. PoS Saral Nivesh is a non-linked, non-participating endowment life insurance plan which offers both protection and saving. 

Jordan, US launch Eager Lion military exercise
i. Jordan and the United States kicked off Eager Lion, an annual military exercise in Jordan with about 7,400 troops from more than 20 nations taking part. 
ii. Jordan is a key recipient of US financial aid and a partner in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and Iraq. 


Venu Rajamony appointed India’s Ambassador to Netherlands

i. Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee and senior diplomat Venu Rajamony has been appointed India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands. 
ii. Mr. Rajamony will also be India’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Prevention of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague and cover the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other international organisations based in the Netherland.

Emma Watson bags first ever ‘genderless’ award

i. Hollywood actor Emma Watson picked up the first-ever Genderless Acting Award for the Best Actor category for "Beauty and the Beast" at the MTV Movie and TV Awards. 
ii. The star, who first became known for her role as Hermione in the Harry Potter films, is a feminist campaigner and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador. "Beauty and the Beast" also won movie of the year.

'Lion' actor Sunny Pawar named Rising Star at Asian Awards

i. Child actor Sunny Pawar, best known for his performance in the Oscar-nominated film Lion, has been chosen for the Rising Star Award. 
ii. The award will be presented to Sunny at the 7th Annual Asian Awards. He portrayed young Saroo Brierley in the film.


Adil Hussain’s Mukti Bhawan wins the Best Film award at the New York Indian Film Festival

i. “Mukti Bhawan”, a movie about a man who accompanies his father on a journey to Varanasi, has won the Best Film at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). 
ii. NYIFF was held in New York between April 30-May 7, 2017.

Logo and mascot of Asian Athletics Championships unveiled in Odisha capital

i. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has unveiled the logo and mascot of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar from July 6 to 9, 2017.
ii.  Mr. Patnaik also formally announced Bhubaneswar as the host for the sports event. The mascot, named Olly Turtle, depicts the Olive Ridley turtles.

Heena Sidhu wins bronze in Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championship

i. Heena Sindhu claimed a bronze medal in the women's 10m Air Pistol as India ended the Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championships in Czech Republic with seven medals. 
ii. On the final day of the championship, Heena shot 218.8 in the eight-woman final, won by Greek shooter Anna Korakaki claimed gold medal sot 246.3 to finish ahead of Germany's rising star, Michelle Skeries took silver with a score of 237.8.


Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-

• India is unanimously elected as President of UN-Habitat
• UN habitat was established in 1978
• India has been earlier elected as President in 1988 and 2007
• M Venkaiah Naidu is chairing the four-day meeting of the 58-member Governing Council of UN-Habitat at Nairobi in Kenya
• The theme of the 26th meeting of the council is 'Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda'
• Jharkhand govt and Oracle signed a MoU intended to improve cloud-based citizen services
• CM of Jharkhand is Raghubar Das and Governor is Draupadi Murmu
• Headquarter of Oracle is in the United States of America.
• India to grow at 7.7 percent in 2018-19 according to IMF report
• Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries
• IMF is Headquartered in Washington, D.C.
• Managing Director of IMF is Christine Lagarde.
• DIPP & WIPO have signed an agreement to set up Technology and Innovation Support Centers
• Full form of DIPP is The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion  and full form of WIPO is World Intellectual Property Organization
• DIPP comes under the Government Of India-Ministry Of Commerce & Industry
• WIPO headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Logo and mascot of Asian Athletics Championships unveiled in Bhubaneshwar
• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has unveiled the logo and mascot
• 22nd Asian Athletics Championships will be held in Odisha
• The mascot is named as Olly Turtle.
• India's largest cab aggregator Ola has partnered with Bharti Airtel
• Gopal Vittal is the MD & CEO (India & South Asia) Bharti Airtel
• Emma Watson bags first ever ‘genderless’ award for her role in "Beauty and the Beast"
• She is also the UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador
• "Beauty and the Beast" also won movie of the year at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.
• Haryana govt has decided start door-to-door survey to collect data of every resident and issue a sleek identity for every house
• CM of Haryana is Manohar Lal Khattar and Governor is Kaptan Singh Solanki. 
• Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance launched India's first insurance product Saral Nivesh  that can be bought at PoS
• Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance headquarter is in Mumbai.
• Techmagnate, India’s leading Digital Marketing Agency acquired BlogX
• Founder of BlogX is Manmeet Pal Singh and CEO of Techmagnate is SarveshBagla
• Venu Rajamony has been appointed India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands.
• The capital of Netherland is Amsterdam and its Currency is Euro.
• Heena Sindhu claimed a bronze medal in the women's 10m Air Pistol at Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championship
• Greek shooter Anna Korakaki claimed a gold medal and Germany's Michelle Skeries claimed a silver medal.