GK Updates - 31 May | Banking Quiz

World observes No Tobacco Day today

I.World No Tobacco Day is being observed today. This year, WHO and partners call on countries to raise taxes on tobacco.

II.The main goal of this day is to contribute to protect present and future generations not only from the devastating health consequences due to tobacco, but also from the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

III.The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987.

IV.The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.

V.Research shows that higher taxes are especially effective in reducing tobacco use among lower-income groups and in preventing young people from starting to smoke.

Govt's target is to provide housing for all by 2022: Venkaiah Naidu

I.The main focus of the new Government at the Centre would be to provide housing for all and public transport facility, according to M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Urban Development.

II.Addressing his maiden press conference after taking over as minister, Naidu said the target was to provide housing for all by 2022.

III.The Ministry would convene a meeting with all stakeholders in this regard to chalk out a strategy which would be followed by a State Urban Development Minister’s conference, he added.

IV.The people living in urban areas will go up from "the present 31 per cent to 50 per cent by 2050. We need to plan ahead from now,’’ the Minister said.

Fiscal deficit at 4.5% of GDP in 2013-14

I.The fiscal deficit in 2013—14 stood at 4.5 per cent of GDP, lower than 4.6 per cent projected in the revised estimate, mainly on account of curbs on government expenditure.

II.The fiscal deficit, the gap between government’s expenditure and revenue, in actual terms was Rs 5.08 lakh crore as against 5.24 lakh crore projected in the revised estimate.

III.“The fiscal deficit is 4.5 per cent of GDP. Revenue deficit is 3.2 per cent of GDP. Effective revenue deficit is 2 per cent of GDP,” the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said in the provisional accounts for 2013—2014.

IV.The government’s total expenditure worked out to be Rs 15.63 lakh crore in the last fiscal as against the original budget estimate Rs 16.65 lakh crore.

V.The expenditure estimate was later revised downwards to Rs 15.90 lakh crore in the interim budget.

VI.The revenue collection was Rs 10.15 lakh crore. The revised target was Rs 10.29 lakh crore.

Vice President presented Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar-2014

I.The Vice President of India Shri Hamid Ansari on 29 May 2014 presented the Malti Devi Gyan Peeth Puraskar-2014. The award was given to fifteen outstanding teachers from girls higher secondary schools in Punjab.

II.The awardees were facilitated with 1 lakh rupees cash, appreciation letter and a Robe of Honour. The initiative was mainly taken to promote the quality teaching in the schools besides encouraging the hundred percent attendance of girl students in the government schools.

starsports.com gets record 2.8 m views for IPL qualifier

I.The video streaming of Pepsi IPL 2014 on starsports.com, a multi-sports digital service, broke many records on Thursday, including notching up the highest traffic for a sporting event outside the Super Bowl in the US.

II.Showing two big playoff matches — Chennai Super Kings versus Mumbai Indians, and Kings XI Punjab versus Kolkata Knight Riders — the website hit a new high for a single day, attracting 2.8 million viewers who followed the video service online, the broadcaster said in a statement.

III.Earlier this year, NBC Olympics had claimed the record for the most watched stream for any Internet event when it generated more than 2.1 million unique video users on February 21, the day of the men’s semi-finals game between the US and Canada. Prior to this year’s tournament, the highest number of views for an IPL match was in April 2013, when Chris Gayle scored 175 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, a match that attracted 1.5 million sports fans.

IV.The biggest record for a single day worldwide, however, is still believed to be the 2014 Super Bowl streamed on 21st Century Fox’s website, which attracted 5.5 million unique visitors.

Ajit Kumar Doval appointed as new National Security Advisor

I.Former Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajit Kumar Doval, considered one of the finest operational brains, was on Friday appointed as the National Security Advisor (NSA) to Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

II.According to sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the decision to have Doval on board as the NSA was taken by Narendra Modi even before the election results were announced and he became the 15th Prime Minister of India.

III.Doval was the first police officer to be awarded the second-highest peacetime gallantry award, the Kirti Chakra.

IV.In 1989, he had led a team of Intelligence Bureau officials along with the Punjab Police and National Security Guards in "Operation Black Thunder" to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Kamal Nath appointed pro-tem Speaker of 16 Lok Sabha

I.Former Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has been appointed as the pro-tem Speaker in the new Lok Sabha.

II.A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed him to perform the duties of the Speaker.

III.The Narendra Modi government had recently conveyed its recommendation to Mr. Mukherjee to appoint Nath, who is the senior most member of the Lower House, as pro-tem Speaker.

IV.The pro-tem Speaker performs the duties of the office of the Speaker from the commencement of the sitting of the Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker.

Peter Mutharika is new Malawi presidential

I.Malawi's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Peter Mutharika has emerged winner of the May 20 presidential race in the southern African country, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) said Friday.

II.Mutharika, the 74-year-old brother of the late former President Bingu wa Mutharika, was elected president of the country after garnering 36.4 percent of the votes cast, Xinhua quoted MEC as saying.

III.The official announcement came after Banda attempted to nullify the election and call fresh polls on the ground that the vote was marred by irregularities.

IV.MEC chairperson Maxon Mbendera said "the rule of law compels us to release the results" although some commissioners expressed reservations about the results.

V.The democratic right of Malawians to elect their leaders is sacrosanct and must be respected," he said

Ajit Doval appointed as new National Security Adviser

I.Former Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajit Doval was appointed as the National Security Adviser on 30 May 2014. He will assume the office on 31 May 2014.

II.According to the official order, this appointment of 69-year-old Doval will be co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or till further orders, whichever is earlier. During his tenure, he will provide deep insight about the threats faced by the country from within and from outside.

III.Doval is the second key appointment made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he assumed charge of his office. The first appointment was of Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister.

8 Indian Soldiers posthumously awarded with prestigious Dag Hammarskjold Medal of UN

I.UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon on 29 May 2014 awarded the prestigious Dag Hammarskjold medal to the eight Indian soldiers, who lost their lives in peacekeeping operations in 2013. They were awarded along with the other 98 UN peacekeepers who lost their lives during service in 2013.

II.It was awarded at the annual celebration of International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 29 May 2014. The ceremony was attended by India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji and he accepted the medal on behalf of the eight Indian soldiers.

III.The eight Indian soldiers are Lt Col Mahipal Singh; Lance Naik Nand Kishore Joshi; Havildar Heera Lal; Naib Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal and Havildar Bharat Sasmal; Subedar Dharmesh Sangwan; Subedar Kumar Pal Singh; Sepoy Rameshwar Singh.

New chief for Asian biotech body

WL Sumathipala, Chairman, National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka has been appointed as the President of the Federation of Asian Biotech Association (FABA).

BG Srinivas, President and Member of the Board of Infosys resigned

I.BG Srinivas, the President and member of the board of Infosys resigned on 28 May 2014. The resignation will be effective from 10 June 2014. Srinivas has served Infosys for 15-years and was appointed as the company President in January 2014 along with UB Pravin Rao.

II.This resignation came at a time, when the company is on the search for the first-time non-founder CEO for the company.

NTPC to supply 325 MW power to UP

I.State-run NTPC will supply 325 MW of electricity from tomorrow to Uttar Pradesh which is reeling under acute power shortage amid soaring temperatures in the state this summer.

II.“UP has requisitioned power to the tune of 325 MW from NTPC which will be supplied to the state from June 1 to June 7,” a company official said.

III.The northern state has been facing acute power crisis since last week, generating a lot of political heat.

IV.UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the Central Government is not making available enough fuel for the power companies in the state.

Obama to meet Ukraine’s president-elect Poroshenko next week

I.US President Barack Obama will meet Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko in Poland next week, during a European tour dedicated to shoring up regional security amid the worst East-West crisis in years.

II.The meeting will come less than two weeks after the pro-European Poroshenko, a chocolate tycoon, was elected in the shadow of a showdown between Washington and Moscow over the fate of Ukraine that has brought relations to their lowest level since the Cold War.

III.The meeting will take place in Warsaw, where Obama will pay a highly symbolic visit to attend the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Poland’s first post-communist elections.

IV.“This is an important time for President Obama to affirm directly to president-elect Poroshenko our commitment to... Ukraine,” said Ben Rhodes, a deputy US national security adviser.

Uttarakhand CM announces Kedarnath temple's reconstruction plan

I.Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today announced an elaborate reconstruction and rehabilitation programme for Kedarnath temple and surrounding areas, including erecting protective walls around the famed temple.

II.The reconstruction plan will be carried out in two phases, the Chief Minister told reporters on his return from a visit to the Himalayan shrine and areas close to it which bore the brunt of last year’s natural calamity in Uttarakhand.

III.“We can’t wait any longer. Our objective is to protect the shrine from any perceived threat of floods,” Rawat said.

IV.An inner wall and an outer wall will be erected around the shrine to guard it against any natural calamity and the work will begin in the next 4-5 days, he said.

KAAPA to be introduced in next phase of ‘Operation Kubera’

I.Continuing its drive against those involved in illegal money lending business in Kerala, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala today said the stringent Kerala Anti-Social Acivities (Prevention) Act would be introduced against them in the next phase of ‘Operation Kubera’.

II.Illegal money lending business needs to be curbed, Chennithala said, while addressing a seminar here which was attended by District Collectors and top police officers of the state.

III.Pointing that efforts were being made to torpedo ’Operation Kubera’, he said the drive against the loan sharks would continue irrespective of political affiliations.

IV.Stern action would be taken against police officials found involved with the illegal money lenders, he said.

V.Chennithala said there were also plans to amend the Goondas Act to bring those involved in money-chain business under the Act’s purview.

Greece gets $4.6-bn IMF package

I.The International Monetary Fund has released $4.6 billion in aid to Greece, after a year-long delay to ensure that Athens was meeting the targets set by bailout lenders.

II.The disbursement followed the release at the end of April by the Euro group of €6.3 billion ($8.6 billion) in rescue programme support to Greece, in a firm nod to its progress in cleaning up its finances and narrowing its budget deficit.

III.The IMF funds are part of a four-year joint package with the European Union set in March 2012 and worth a total of $235 billion (€173 billion) to rescue the sinking Greek economy.

IV.The package has required extensive reforms and painful austerity budgeting by the government.

V.Two IMF disbursements were delayed over the past year — lumped into Friday’s single payout — amid questions over whether Athens was sticking to its promises on structural and financial reforms.

VI.The Greek Government though has fought to limit the austere demands of lenders, as it remained stuck in a grinding recession dating back to 2008.

VII.The economy remained in recession in the first quarter of 2014, contracting at a 1.1 per cent annual pace, but is expected to achieve overall growth of 0.6 per cent this year.

6.1 magnitude earthquake hits southwest China; 43 injured, 35,000 people evacuated

I.At least, 43 people were injured and 35,000 others evacuated after the 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted a county in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province.

II.The quake hit Yingjiang County under Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong yesterday.

III.About 150,000 residents in 15 townships were affected and of them, 35,000 have been relocated, Wang Junqiang, Communist Party chief of Dehong Prefecture, said.

IV.Meanwhile, 3,390 rooms were toppled and 18,000 more were severely damaged, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

V.Even though the quake had a higher magnitude compared to one a week ago, it did not cause bigger losses as local authorities had warned of aftershocks and secondary disasters and evacuated residents from damaged buildings, Wang said.

VI.The Yunnan Government has initiated a grade II emergency response, sending a work team of over 50 people for surveying, investigation and disaster evaluation.

VII.More than 3,500 soldiers, paramilitary officers and policemen are involved in the rescue work.

VIII.According to a statement from the provincial civil affairs department, the quake has cut off electricity in Kachang and the villages of Mengnong and Sudian, though communications have not been affected.

IX.More than 360 teachers and students from Wupai Primary School in Kachang have been relocated to safety zones.

IPL7: Kings XI to meet KKR in title clash tomorrow

I.Kings Eleven Punjab will meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of IPL cricket at Bangalore tomorrow.

II.Kings Eleven Punjab defeated Chennai Super Kings by 24 runs at Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai last night.

III.Earlier, Kings Eleven Punjab made 226 runs in their stipulated 20 overs.

Chasing a victory target of 227 runs, Chennai Super Kings could make only 202 runs with the loss of 7 wickets.

India to take on Belgium in Men’s Hockey World Cup opener

I.The Men's and Women's Hockey World Cup begin in The Hague, the Netherlands today.

II.While the Indian eves had failed to make it to the World Cup, the Indian Men's team led by Sardar Singh has been placed in Pool-A alongside defending champions Australia, England, Belgium, Spain and Malaysia.

III.In today's other matches, Australia will meet Malaysia, and England will play Spain.

IV.Pool-B comprises Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina and South Africa. Pool-B matches will be played tomorrow.