Daily GK Update: 18th July 2019

Honour & Award

1. Shah Rukh Khan to be honoured with an honorary doctorate degree from La Trobe University

• Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan (53-years) to be honoured with an honorary doctorate degreefrom La Trobe University on 9^thAugust at its Melbourne campus in Bundoora.
• The award is for his contributions towards underprivileged children, women empowerment initiatives through Meer Foundation.
• La Trobe University is the first Australian university to award Khan with an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters (honoris causa).

Source: Economic Times

2. Govt's ''Find the Incredible You'' campaign wins PATA award

• The "Find the Incredible You" campaign of the Tourism Ministry has won the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award, 2019.
• The campaign focuses on digital and social media and the promotion of niche tourism products of the country.
• The campaign won the award under the "Marketing - Primary Government Destination" category.
• According to an official release, this year's awards attracted 198 entries from 78 organisations and individuals worldwide.
• As part of the 2.0 campaign, five new television commercials were produced by the ministry, which was aired globally on television and social media.
• To take the campaigns to the next level, the 'Incredible India 2.0'campaign was launched in September 2017.
• The campaign strategy was to shift the focus from the external experience of tourist destinations to the internal experience of travellers themselves.

Note:

• PATA Gold Awards are given to tourism industry organizations and individuals making an outstanding contribution towards the successful promotion of the travel industry throughout the Asia Pacific Region.
• This series of transformative experiences was brought alive through unique storytelling in the format of autobiographies of travellers, with the tagline “Find the Incredible You.

Source: AIR News

Important Days

3. 18th July: Nelson Mandela International Day

• Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated every year on 18th July(Mandela's birthday).
• In November 2009, The Mandela day was officially declared by theUnited Nations.
• Mandela Day honour the legacy of South Africa's former PresidentNelson Mandela.
• Mandela Day is a global call to action that celebrates the idea that every individual has the power to transform the world, the ability to make an impact.

Banking and Finance

4. Andhra Bank launches AI chatbot in Telangana

• Andhra Bank MD & CE0 J Packirisamy has launched an Artificial Intelligence interactive assistant chatbot named ‘ABHi’ (www.andhrabank.in).
• Customers can connect and know details from 'ABHi' through website www.andhrabank.in over Mobile/Desktop browser, Facebook Messenger and over voice using Google Assistant.
• With ABHi, customers will be ableto get the information instantaneously 24x7.
• The Bank's AI-powered chatbot-ABHi uses latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithm to understand the customer query and fetch the relevant information from the possible knowledge base in a matter of milliseconds.

National Affairs

5. Cabinet approves Rs 1,600 cr for Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal

• Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved 1,600 crore rupees for Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The project is envisaged as a storage-based hydro-electric project with flood moderation as thekey objective.
• This is the largest ever Hydro Electric Projects to be constructed in India with a height of 278 metres, Once completed.
• The Union Cabinet also approved the doubling of a vital railway line connecting Guwahati with New Bongaigaon at a cost of 2,042 crore rupees.
• The project will be completed by 2022-23 and will be executed by the construction organisation of the Northeast Frontier Railway.
• It also cleared seven amendments to the insolvency law that seeks to put in place a 330-day deadline for the corporate resolution process.
• The changes would help in clearing various roadblocks for the resolution process and smoothen the process as well as save time.

Source: AIR News

6. Cabinet approves setting up of National Medical Commission replacing Medical Council of India

• The Union Cabinet has approved National Medical Commission Bill, 2019.
• The bill provides for setting up of a National Medical Commission in place of Medical Council of India and repeal the Indian Medical Council Act 1956.
• The features of the bill include, the Common final year MBBS Exams will be known as National Exit Test (NEXT) which would serve as Licentiate Exam, for entrance to Post Graduate medical course and as the screening test of foreign medical graduates.
• The bill provides that the national entrance test that is NEET, common counselling, NEXT will also be applicable to Institutes of National Importance (INIs) like AIIMS to have common standards in the country.
• The Commission will regulate fee and all other charges for 50 per cent seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities.
• These measures will ensure a transparent admission process and also bring down the admission fee.

Source: DD News

7. Cabinet extends 15th Finance Commission's term up to 30^th Nov

• The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the term of Fifteenth Finance Commission up to 30th November this year.
• It will enable the Commission to examine various comparable estimates for financial projections in view of reforms and the new realities to finalise its recommendations for the period 2020-2025.
• Cabinet has also approved the proposed amendment to enable Fifteenth Finance Commission to address serious concerns regarding the allocation of adequate, secure and non-lapsable funds for defence and internal security of India.
• Under the Terms of Reference, it is proposed to ensure an assured allocation of resources towards defence and internal security imperatives.
• The amendment provides that the Fifteenth Finance Commission shall also examine whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up and how such a mechanism could be operationalized.

Note:

• The Fifteenth Finance Commissionwas constituted by the President on 27th November 2017.
• It was to submit its report on the basis of its Terms of Reference by30th October this year covering a period of five years commencing from 1st April 2020.
• The constitution of the Commissionhas been in the backdrop of various major fiscal and budgetary reforms introduced by the Centre in the past four years like the replacement of the Planning Commission by NITl Aayog and removal of the distinction between Non-Plan and Plan expenditure.

Source: AIR News

Appointment

8. SC forms a panel to frame Emergency Plan to prevent the extinction of Indian birds

• The Supreme Court of India has constituted a three-member high powered committee to urgently frame and implement an emergency response plan for the protection of two Indian bird species namely ‘Great Indian Bustard’ and the ‘Lesser Florican’. that are facing extinction at an alarming rate.

The 3 Member panel comprising of

• Dr Deepak Apte – Director of Bombay Natural History Society.
• Dr Dhananjai Mohan – Chief Conservator of Forests of Uttarakhand.
• Dr Asad R Rahmani – Former Director of Bombay Natural History Society.

Note:

• The Supreme court also sought responses from the Centre and State governments, where these two species of birds are prominently found, on a plea of wildlife activists.

International Affairs

9. Palau becomes 76th Country to Join ISA

• Palau (an archipelago of over 500 islands in Oceania) has become the 76th signatory country to join the International Solar Alliance.
• According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), The organisation aims to deploy over 1,000 gigawatts of solar energy and mobilise more than USD 1,000 billion into solar power by 2030.

Note:

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is a group of 121 solar resource-rich countries with headquarters in Gurugram, India.

10. The UK expands its Go Global programme to India to boost startups

• The UK government has expanded its Go Global initiative to India with the aim of giving Indian Startups the most innovative and cutting-edge start-ups the skills they need to grow their business.
• This will also help the startups in India to build links with the UK’s digital sector and will pave the way for future economic partnerships.

Note:

• Go Global programme is an innovative scheme supporting start-ups to work with UK expertise to take their firms to the next level.

Source: Live Mint

Obituaries

11. Raja Dhale co-founder of Dalit Panther passes away

• Raja Dhale (78-years), one of the founders of the radical outfit Dalit Panther passed away at his residence in Mumbai.
• Mr. Dhale along with others in 1972 founded Dalit Panther with an aim to raise the voice of Dalits more aggressively in the State.
• Dalit Panther is a youth-based organisation inspired by the Black Panther outfit of African Americans in the US.

Sports

12. ISSF Junior World Cup: Anish Bhanwala claims gold medal in 25m rapid fire pistol

• Indian shooters Anish Bhanwala claimed the gold medal in 25m rapid fire pistol competition at ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.
• India has so far won eight gold, seven silver and three bronze medals in the tournament.
• Indian shooters, Adarsh Singh came fourth with a score of 17.

Note:

• The 2019 ISSF Junior World Cup is the annual edition of the ISSF Junior World Cup, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Source: AIR News

13. Athletics: Hima Das wins fourth gold in 15 days

• Star Indian sprinter Hima Das (19-years) has won a gold medal in the 200m race at the Tabor Athletics Meet in the Czech Republic.
• Hima won the race in 23.25 seconds, which had a mediocre field with most of the competitors representing clubs of the Czech Republic.
• Hima's compatriot VK Vismaya was second with a season of best 23.43 seconds.
• This was Hima's fourth gold since July 2 when she ran her first competitive race in Europe.
• In men's 400m, Muhammad Anas won in 45.40 seconds, while compatriots Tom Noah Nirmal came second with a season-best effort of 46.59 seconds.

14. Deepika Kumari clinches silver at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games test event

• India's top-ranked woman archer ‘Deepika Kumari’ clinched silver medal at the ‘2020 Tokyo Olympic Games test event’. 
• Deepika went down to Korean ‘An San’ in straight sets.
• The second seed San produced fine shooting including a flawless third set to clinch the match 6-0 in her favour.
• This was Deepika's first individual final in a world event since she won a gold at the third stage of the World Cup in Salt Lake City in June last year.
• In the men's category, India had a forgettable outing with country's top-ranked Atanu Das making a second-round exit, losing to Bae Jaehyeon of Korea 4-6.

Source: AIR News