Daily GK Update: 20th July 2019

 Honour & Awards

1. Former athlete P T Usha nominated for IAAF's Veteran Pin

• Former athlete P T Usha (55-years) has been nominated for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Veteran Pin.
• She will receive the pin during the opening ceremony of the 52nd IAAF Congress in Doha, Qatar.
• Usha's most memorable performance came in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the 400m hurdles but lost the bronze by one-hundredth of a second.
• She is often called the "queen of Indian track and field".
• Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha (retired Indian track and field athlete) has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979.

Note:

• The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
• Since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco.

Obituaries

2. Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit passes away 

• Former Delhi Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Shiela Dikshit (81 years) passed away at Escorts Fortis hospital in Delhi.
• She was suffering from a heart ailment for a long time.
• Dikshit served at the Chief Minister of Delhi for a period of 15 years from 1998 to 2013. 
• Presently, she was holding the office of Delhi Congress president. 

National Affairs

3. Haryana govt, NSE sign pact for growth of MSMEs

• National Stock Exchange (NSE) has signed a pact with the Haryana government to help boost the growth of MSME sector in the state.
• As per the memorandum of understanding, NSE will support the Haryana government in enhancing the financing opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) in the state, through listing on NSE's SME exchange platform, NSE Emerge.
• Haryana government would facilitate the listing of MSMEs on NSE Emerge through financial assistance.

Source: Economics Times

4. WB govt to sign MoU with British Council to brush up spoken English skills of polytechnic students

• The West Bengal government has decided to sign an MoU with the British Council for brushing up the English-Speaking skills of the students studying in Polytechnic Colleges in the state.
• The move is aimed to improve English speaking capacity for job seekers students.
• According to Technical Education Department sources, an enquiry to assess job readiness of students was conducted recently and communication in English was found as a major hurdle.
• At present, there are 148 Polytechnic Colleges across the state.

Source: AIR News

5. IFFI's Golden Jubilee Edition to be held from 20 to 28^th Nov in Goa

• The Golden Jubilee Edition of International Film Festival of India(IFFI) will be held in Panaji, Goa (from 20^th- 28th November 2019).
• Around 70 countries business exhibition will showcase the latest technology, film production and distribution and other aspects regarding films.
• Russia will be IFFI partner in this edition.
• To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a separate exhibition will be held.
• According to Mr Prakash Javdekar, President of Oscar Academy John Bailey and other eminent cinematographers and producers have been invited for the event.

About IFFI

• India’s most prestigious Film Festival and also the first International Film Festival held anywhere in Asia.
• It aims at providing a common platform to the world of cinema to project the excellence of the art of filmmaking.
• The key sections at IFFI include International Competition, Festival Kaleidoscope, World Panorama, Indian Panorama, Masterclasses, In-conversations, Special Retrospectives, Homages, Open Air Screenings, Film Bazaar - organized by NFDC, etc.

Source: PIB

6. Kerala will host Women Startup Summit 2019

• The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is hosting the Women Startup Summit on August 1.
• The summit will be hosted in association with the Indian Women Network floated by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), at the Integrated Startup Complex, Kochi.
• Successful women leaders, startup founders, policymakers and women entrepreneurs will participate in the summit.
• The theme of this summit is ‘Developing an Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem’.
• About 20 women startups shortlisted from the “She Loves Tech” national grand challenge will be showcased in the summit.

Source: Business Line

7. Tamil Nadu carves out two new districts taking total number to 35

• The Tamil Nadu government has announced the creation of two new districts in the state, taking the total number of districts to 35.
• Tenkasi District would be carved out of Tirunelveli
• Chengalpet District would be carved by splitting Kanchipuram district.
• Since Tirunelveli and Kanchipuram are vast in area, the government is splitting them for better administration. Special Officers would be appointed to govern the new districts.

Source: Indian Express

8. Google India's 'Internet Saathi' programme to empower rural women

• Google India's 'Internet Saathi' programme aimed to empower rural women on how to use the Internet has now added two more states - Punjab and Odisha.
• With this, the programme has now reached 2.6 lakh villages in 20 states.
• Launched as a pilot project in 2015, along with Tata Trusts, 'Internet Saathi' programme focuses on educating women on how to use the Internet.
• These women, in turn, impart training to other women in their community and neighbouring villages.

Appointment

9. Vivek Kumar appointed as Private Secy to PM Modi

• Indian Foreign Service officer Vivek Kumar (IFS officer-2004 batch) has been appointed as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Currently, Mr Kumar is working as the Director in the Prime Minister's Office.
• Mr Kumar's appointment will come into effect from the day of the assumption of charge.

Banking and Finance

10. NABARD to raise Rs 60,000 crore via non-convertible debentures in 2019-20

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will raise long-term funds of Rs 60,000 crore through nonconvertible debentures in the current financial year 2019-20.
• The own requirement of funds for NABARD is assessed at Rs 30,000 crore.
• The remaining Rs 30,000 crore will be for the Centre to cover the shortfall in various schemes in rural development and sanitation in FY20.
• NABARD has already raised Rs 11,000 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2019. Chairman of NABARD- Harsh Bhanwala.

11. Ebix to acquire Yatra online at an enterprise value of USD 337.8 mn

• US-based software firm ‘Ebix’ has announced the acquisition of travel portal Yatra Online for USD 337.8 million (around Rs 2,325 crore).
• Now, Yatra will become part of Ebix's travel portfolio ‘EbixCash’ and will continue to serve customers under the Yatra brand.

Source: The Times of India

12. HDFC Bank & CSC launch credit card for VLEs and small traders

• HDFC Bank and Common Services Centres launched a co-branded ‘Small Business Money-Back Credit Card’ for small traders and village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs).
• The card was launched by Aditya Puri (HDFC Bank MD) and Dinesh Kumar Tyagi (CSC Chief).
• The credit card is specifically designed for CSC’s VLEs and VLE-sourced customers.
• It will give users easy access to credit for their day-to-day business expenses.
• At present, as much as Rs 70,000 crore worth of business is transacted through the network of Common Services Centres (CSCs).

Source: The Hindu

13. No changes made in ITR forms after 1^st April 2019: CBDT

• According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official statement, no changes have been made in any of the Income-tax Return (ITR) forms since the notification made on 1st April 2019.
• There were reports in social media that the taxpayers were facing difficulties in filing return of income in ITR-2 and ITR-3 due to large scale changes in the ITR form.
• It said the impression that the taxpayers are not able to file a return due to changes in ITR form is not correct as over 1 crore 38 lakh taxpayers have already filed their returns till date.
• The software utility is a dynamic process and is continuously taken up as per the feedback received from the filers to ease their experience in electronic filing of returns. 

14. L&T Infotech acquires AI firm ‘Lymbyc’ for Rs 38 crore

• Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltdacquires AI firm Lymbyc for Rs 38 crore.
• Lymbyc’s expertise in data discovery, agile analytics and ability to process large data sets, will enhance LTI’s Mosaic platform to provide differentiated analytics solutions.
• Lymbyc is a Bengaluru-headquartered company known for its capabilities in analytics and data sciences space.

Source: Economics Times

International Affairs

15. China gifts warship to Sri Lanka

• China has gifted a warship to Sri Lanka, in the latest sign of its deepening military cooperation with the strategically located island nation in the Indian Ocean.
• The China-gifted frigate 'P625' arrived in Colombo last week.
• The Type 053 frigate was commissioned into China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy in 1994 as the Tongling.
• Also, China's rolling-stock manufacturer has announced that it would shortly deliver nine "new type" of diesel trains to Sri Lanka.

Sports

16. India to host ISSF World Cup in March 2020

• International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) has approved India’s application to host the ISSF World Cup stages.
• World Cup will be held at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad in New Delhi. (from 15 to 26 March 2020)
• The last edition of ISSF World Cup was held in Munich, Germany.
• In February this year, India had hosted a World Cup, which offered Olympic quota places for Tokyo.

Note:

• The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions.
• It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four competitions per year in each event.

Source: India Today