DAILY GK 6 JULY 2019

DAILY GK 6 JULY 2019

1. TOTAL FEMALE ENROLLMENT RATIO IN SECONDARY EDUCATION INCREASED TO 80.29% IN 2016-17: SMRITI IRANI

✔The Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani stated that the Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls in secondary education level has registered an increase of 80.29% in 2016-17 compared to 80.10 % in 2015-16.

✔Between 2015-16 and 2018-19, the sex ratio at birth witnessing an improvement from 923 to 931 at the national level.

✔When compared to the previous financial year 2017-18, SRB is showing an improving trend in 21 states or Union territory’s and stable in three states or UTs for 2018-19.

2. INDIA RANKS 86TH IN MOST POWERFUL PASSPORT INDEX 2019,

✔As per the recently released Henley Passport Index 2019, India ranks 86th in Most Powerful Passport index 2019.

✔Japan and Singapore secured the joint top spot as the most powerful passports in the world.

✔South Korea now holds second place on the index along with Finland and Germany and it is followed by Denmark, Italy, and Luxembourg.

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DAILY GK 5 JULY 2019

DAILY GK 5 JULY 2019

1. UIDAI started its first Aadhaar Seva Kendra in Delhi and Vijayawada

✔The Unique Identification Authority of India has operationalized its first “Aadhaar Seva Kendra” in Delhi and Vijayawada on pilot basis.

✔UIDAI has a plan to set up 114 such centres by the end of 2019 covering 53 Indian cities. The estimated cost of the project is between Rs 300-400 crore. i. It is owned by UIDAI.

✔ASK centres are addition to thousands of centers that are currently being run by post offices and banks and even in government premises (offering similar Aadhaar services).

2. Airtel Payments Bank ties up with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer the Bharti AXA Life POS Saral Jeevan Bima Yojana

✔The first live payments bank in the country, Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer Bharti AXA Life Point of Sale Saral Jeevan Bima Yojana, a pure life term insurance plan up to Rs 5 lakh which is aimed at the under-insured and uninsured segments in India.

✔The policy available at Airtel Payments Bank’s 25,000 retail outlets will be expanded to cover over 60,000 banking points.

✔The customers are offered the option of life cover between 3-5 lakh and it will soon be extended up to Rs 25 lakh.

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DAILY GK 4 JULY

DAILY GK 4 JULY

1. UNION CABINET GIVES NOD TO GRANT OGAS STATUS TO PARAMILITARY FORCES

✔The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal for grant of Organised Group ”A” Service status to Group ”A” executive cadre officers of Central Armed Police Forces  & extended the benefit of Non-Functional Financial Upgradation  and Non-Functional Selection Grade at an enhanced rate of 30%.

✔It will benefit around 1,200 officers and availed by the group ”A” officers of the Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, and the Sashastra Seema Bal.

2. INDIAN AIR FORCE AND ARMÉE DE L’AIR (FRENCH AIR FORCE) PARTICIPATING IN A BILATERAL AIR EXERCISE GARUDA VI AT MONT DE MARSAN IN FRANCE

✔Indian Air Force and Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) are participating in the Garuda VI bilateral exercise at Mont de Marsan in France.

✔The objective of this excercise is to validate the latest defence strategies by enhancing the interoperability level of the French and Indian crews in air defence and ground attack missions.

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DAILY GK 3 JULY 2019

DAILY GK 3 JULY 2019

1. N.S. VISHWANATHAN REAPPOINTED RBI DEPUTY GOVERNOR FOR ONE YEAR

✔N S Vishwanathan was re-appointed as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India for one more year with effect from July 4, 2019.

✔He is in charge of regulation of banks, non-banking finance companies and cooperative banks.

✔Besides N S Vishwanathan, B P Kanungo and M K Jain were the two other deputy governors of RBI.

✔He is a also a member of Bimal Jalan committee which look into the appropriate economic capital framework for RBI.

2. JAPAN OFFICIALLY RESUMES COMMERCIAL WHALING AFTER MORE THAN 30 YEARS

✔Japan officially resumed commercial whaling for the first time in more than three decades after Tokyo’s controversial decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission.

✔Japan joined Iceland and Norway as the only nations to allow commercial whaling despite the IWC moratorium.

3. WORLD UFO DAY: 2 JULY 2019

✔World UFO day was observed all over the world to increase awareness among people about the existence of UFO.

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DAILY GK 2 JULY 2019

DAILY GK 2 JULY 2019

1. ‘ONE NATION ONE RATION CARD’ SCHEME WILL BE AVAILABLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY FROM JULY 1, 2020

✔The central government’s ambitious project of ‘One Nation One Card’, under which beneficiaries can buy subsidized foodgrains from any ration shop in the country, will begin on 1 July 2020.

✔The Centre has given states and Union Territories time till June 30, 2020, to use point of sale machines in the ration shops and roll out the scheme.

✔Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Tripura are the states already providing portability of Public Distribution System entitlements.

2. PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI’S VISITED JAPAN TO ATTEND THE G20 SUMMIT 2019

✔The G-20 Summit 2019 was held at the International Exhibition Center, Osaka, Japan. It was the 14th meeting of the G20.

✔The 2018 G20 Summit was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the 2020 G20 Summit will be held in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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DAILY GK 1 JULY 2019

DAILY GK 1 JULY 2019

1. $250-M LOAN PACT SIGNED BY INDIA AND WORLD BANK FOR REBUILD KERALA INITIATIVE

✔The Government of India, State Government of Kerala and World Bank signed a loan agreement of $250 million (Rs 1,725 crore) for the Kerala Resilient Programme.

✔This will enhance the state’s resilience against the impact of natural disasters and climate change.

2. PB ACHARYA SWORN IN AS THE GOVERNOR OF MANIPUR

✔Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya was sworn in as the Governor of Manipur.

✔He is given the additional charge as the Governor of Manipur, in addition to his own duties as the Governor of Nagaland in the absence of Dr Najma Heptulla, Governor of Manipur.

3. GOVT CUTS INTEREST RATE ON SMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES

✔The GoI has reduced interest rates for small savings schemes by 10 basis points for the July-September quarter of the 2019-20 financial year.

✔Some schemes that will fetch lower interest rates are Kisan Vikas Patra (7.6%), Public Provident Fund (7.9%), Sukanya Samriddhi Account (8.4%).

4. IIT KANPUR HONOURS GOPICHAND WITH HONORARY DOCTORATE

✔IIT Kanpur honours India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand with honorary doctorate on the occasion of their 52nd convocation.

✔Former President APJ Abdul Kalam and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are past recipients of the honour.

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DAILY GK 30 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 30 JUNE 2019

1. FLOW OF RAW SEWAGE INTO RIVER GANGA WILL BE STOPPED BY 2022

✔Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in a national conference, exhibition and awards ceremony ‘Innovative Water Solutions’ in New Delhi announced that the flow of raw sewage into the Ganga river will be fully stopped by 2022.

✔States of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand have already achieved this and they have promised to make Ganga fit for holy rituals by December 2019.

✔Ernst & Young-ASSOCHAM report titled “Think-Blue” Effective Water Management: Integrating Innovation & Technology was released during the event.

✔India is ranked 122nd in the World in terms of contamination.

2. ALL GRAM PANCHAYATS BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY UNDER BHARATNET BY MARCH 2020

✔Electronics and IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad stated that all gram panchayats in the country will be connected with the high-speed broadband under BharatNet project by March 2020.

✔Its aim is to provide hassle-free high-speed broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across India.

✔Under phase 1 of BharatNet project,1 lakh gram panchayats were connected by the Government and it was completed in December 2017.

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DAILY GK 29 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 29 JUNE 2019

1. CABINET APPROVED BILL TO FINE PEOPLE WITH RS 10,000 FOR BLOCKING AMBULANCES

✔The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the bill to fine people with Rs 10,000 for blocking ambulances. The rule is the part of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill.

✔The Bill was approved as several cases were reported where ambulances were stuck for hours either due to agitation on roads, traffic or due to a minister’s visit.

2. INDIA AND WORLD BANK SIGN USD 400MN LOAN AGREEMENT TO ELIMINATE TB

✔The World Bank and the Government of India signed a loan agreement of $400 Million for the Program towards Elimination of Tuberculosis, which kills approximately half a million people in India every year. The program will cover nine States of India.

✔It will also support the government’s National Strategic Plan to end TB in India by 2025.

✔The $ 400 Million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development has a 19-year maturity which includes a 5-year grace period.

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DAILY GK 28 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 28 JUNE 2019

1. UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI AWAS YOJANA SCHEME, 81,03,196 HOUSES WERE APPROVED

✔Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri announced that 81,03,196 houses were approved under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme.

✔Central Assistance of Rs. 51,113 crores was released under the PMAY(Urban).

✔State Level Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary of the concerned State/Union Territories reviews the progress of implementation of the Mission ‘Housing for All by 2022’ at the State level.

2. RBI RECOMMENDS COMMERCIAL BANKS TO ADOPT EDUCATION LOAN SCHEME

✔India’s central banking institution, The Reserve Bank of India has advised all Scheduled Commercial Banks to adopt Education Loan Scheme which is formulated by Indian Banks’ Associatio.

✔The IBA scheme circulated to all member Banks including State Bank of India for providing financial support to meritorious students for pursuing higher education in India and abroad.

✔Loan up to Rs 10 lakh for study in India and upto Rs 20 lakh for study abroad. Collateral free loans upto Rs 7.5 Lakh under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans.

✔Repayment period of 15 years.

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DAILY GK 27 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 27 JUNE 2019

1. MHA RELEASED THE RANKINGS OF POLICE STATIONS FOR 2018; RAJASTHAN TOPS THE LIST

✔The Ministry of Home Affairs released the rankings of police stations for the year 2018.

✔The Kalu police station in Bikaner district of Rajasthan was ranked the best police station in the country. It was awarded the first rank for its performance in crime prevention, investigation and disposal of cases, crime detection, community policing and maintenance of law and order, women help desk facility, drinking water facility and WiFi.

✔Campbell Bay police station in Nicobar district of Andaman & Nicobar Islands was ranked second. iii. Farakka police station in Murshidabad, West Bengal was ranked third.

2. RBI PANEL LED BY U.K. SINHA SUGGESTS RS.5,000 CRORE STRESSED ASSET FUND FOR MSMES

✔The Reserve Bank released the report of the expert committee under former SEBI chairman U K Sinha on measures for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSMEs.

✔Inorder to support Venture Capitalists or PE (private equity) investing in the MSME sector, the committee recommended the formation of government-sponsored Fund of Funds of Rs 10,000 crore.

✔It also recommends the creation of a distressed asset fund of Rs 5,000 crore for small enterprises. The fund will operate on the lines of the Textile Upgradation Fund Scheme which makes equity investments that lead to reviving the sick & Debt-burden units.

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DAILY GK 26 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 26 JUNE 2019

1. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT MOVE TO SET UP KRISHI VIGYAN KENDRAS TO DOUBLE FARMERS’ INCOME BY 2022

✔The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar announced that central Government has decided to use digital technology in rural India to double farmers’ income by the year 2022.

✔The Government has set up 713 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and 684 Agricultural Technology Management Agencies at district level in the country for dissemination of technologies among the farming community.

✔Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, and Block Chair Technology, Internet of Things, etc are the technologies which will be used.

2. RBI LAUNCHES NEW COMPLAINTS PORTAL FOR FILING ONLINE COMPLAINTS AGAINST BANKS, NBFCS

✔The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has launched a Complaint Management System for lodging complaints against banks and NBFCs on its website. The online portal aims at improving customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.

✔The public can use the portal (https://cms.rbi.org.in), to lodge complaints against any regulated entity with a public interface such as commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies which would be directed to the appropriate office of the Ombudsman/Regional Office of the RBI.

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DAILY GK 25 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 25 JUNE 2019

1. QU DONGYU, THE FIRST CHINESE NATIONAL TO HEAD FAO

✔China’s agricultural deputy minister, Qu Dongyu elected as the new director general of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization at Rome, Italy.

2. RBI DEPUTY GOVERNOR VIRAL ACHARYA RESIGNS 6 MONTHS BEFORE HIS TERM ENDS

✔Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has quit his role six months before the end of his term.

✔Acharya, who was in charge of monetary policy, will return to New York University as an economics professor in August instead of February 2020.

✔He had raised concern over the importance of RBI’s independence in October 2018.

✔The RBI is now left with three deputy governors N S Vishwanathan, B P Kanungo and M K Jain.

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DAILY GK 24 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 24 JUNE 2019

1. MEXICO BECAME THE FIRST COUNTRY TO RATIFY THE TRADE DEAL TO REPLACE NAFTA

✔Mexico became the first country to ratify the trade deal to replace 25 year old North American Free Trade Agreement. The new trade deal is known as known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

✔The USMCA has been modified to include changes for automakers, stricter labor and environmental standards, intellectual property protections, and digital trade provisions.

2. INDIA’S ACE CUEIST PANKAJ ADVANI CLINCHED THE 35TH MEN’S ASIAN SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP IN DOHA

✔India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani, clinched the 35th men’s Asian snooker championship in Doha, Qatar. He defeated Thai’s Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon.

✔He became the only one to win the Asian and World championships in all formats.

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DAILY GK 23 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 23 JUNE 2019

1. BALAKOT AIRSTRIKES CODE NAMED AS ‘OPERATION BANDAR’ BY IAF

✔The Indian Air Force mission to bomb a terrorist hideout in Pakistan’s Balakot was codenamed ‘Operation Bandar’.

✔The codename was also chosen by the IAF to maintain top secrecy for the operation which involved 12 Mirage 2000 jets crossing over into Pakistani territory to completely destroy a large Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Balakot.

2. COUNTRY’S FIRST IRON ORE MINE DISCOVERED IN BANGLADESH

✔Country’s first iron ore mine was discovered at Isabpur village in Dinajpur of Bangladesh. The discovery was done by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh.

✔Percentage of iron is 60 in the mine, which is higher in quality in comparison to other iron ore mines in the world.

✔Other countries are Canada, China, Brazil Sweden and Australia which comprises less than 50 percent of iron.

✔With this discovery in Bangladesh, economic and employment opportunities will enhanced in the country.

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DAILY GK 22 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 22 JUNE 2019

1. FOR THE FIRST TIME, INDIA OPENS WATER CLINIC FOR ELEPHANTS IN MATHURA

✔India has opened its first specialized hydrotherapy treatment center for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments, in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

✔It is a collaboration of Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), Wildlife SOS.

2. INDIA RANKED 20TH AMONG THE TOP CAPITAL IMPORTING COUNTRIES

✔According to Knight Frank, India with the 20th rank among the top capital importing countries, globally. In terms of outbound cross-border investments, it was ranked 30th.

✔The United States was the top capital importing country, followed by Canada and Germany.

3. INDIA’S DATA USAGE PER SMARTPHONE IS THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD AT 9.8GB PER MONTH

✔As per the Ericsson Mobility Report of June 2019 edition, India‘s data usage per smartphone was the highest in the world at 9.8 Giga Byte per month up to December 31, 2018.

✔It is set to double to 18 GB by 2024.

✔ North East Asia stood at the second place with 7.1 GB per month and North America at third with 7 GB.

✔The 4G LTE subscriptions in India will grow from 450 million in 2018 to 1.16 billion in 2024.

4. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA 2019: JUNE 21

✔The 5th annual International Day of Yoga was observed on June 21, 2019.

✔There are two themes for World Yoga Day 201, United Nation has declared theme as “Yoga for Climate Action” and Ministry of Ayush, India has declared theme for Yoga Day is ”Yoga for Heart“.

✔Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga were given on the occasion of IDY 2019.

5. WORLD MUSIC DAY: JUNE 21

✔The world music day is being celebrated across the country on June 21, 2019.

✔The theme of world music day 2019 is “Music at the intersections”.

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DAILY GK 21 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 21 JUNE 2019

1. G20 MINISTERIAL MEETING ON ENERGY TRANSITIONS AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH HELD IN KARUIZAWA, JAPAN

✔G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth for the year 2019 was held at Karuizawa Prince Hotel Japan.

✔Ministers and Representatives exchanged views on the key themes of “Accelerating the Virtuous Cycle of Environmental Protection and Economic Growth by Innovation”, “Resource Efficiency Marine Plastic Litter” and “Adaptation and Resilient Infrastructure including Ecosystem-based approaches”.

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DAILY GK 19 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 19 JUNE 2019

1. 3RD EDITION OF NAMASTE THAILAND FESTIVAL 2019 CONCLUDES IN NEW DELHI

✔A two day event of Namaste Thailand Film Festival 2019 concludes its third edition at Select Citywalk in New Delhi.

✔It was organized by Royal Thai Embassy with an aim to strengthen bilateral ties and increase cultural exchange between India and Thailand.

✔The 1st edition of Thai film festival was inaugurated in 2017 to celebrate the 70 years of Indo-Thai diplomatic relations.

2. INDIA WILL OVERTAKE CHINA AS WORLD’S MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY: UN REPORT

✔ “World Population Prospects 2019” published by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs states that India is going to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2027.

✔India currently ranks second in the index (out of 230 countries), with over 17 per cent of the world population.

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DAILY GK 18 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 18 JUNE 2019

1. AS PER RBI, DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS WILL RISE FOUR TIMES BY 2021

✔The Reserve Bank of India stated that the digital transactions till March 2019 witnessed tremendous growth and they will rise by four times from Rs 2,069 crore in December 2018 to Rs 8,707 crore in December 2021.

2. DENMARK’S INGER ANDERSEN APPOINTED AS UNEP’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

✔Inger Andersen, Denmark’s Economist and Environmentalist took over as United Nations Environment Programme’s Executive Director.

✔Andersen was the Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

✔She worked at the United Nations for 12 years.

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DAILY GK 17 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 17 JUNE 2019

1. AKSHAY PATRA’S SCHOOL MEALS PROGRAM WINS BBC AWARD

✔The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a Non-governmental organizations based in Bangalore that runs school lunch programme across India has been awarded the BBC “World Service Global Champion Award” for the mid-day meal project.

✔The award was presented at the BBC Food and Farming Awards in Bristol in London, UK.

2. SUMAN RAO CROWNED AS MISS INDIA 2019

✔A 20-year-old model, Suman Rao, a resident of Rajsamand, Rajasthan was crowned Miss India 2019 held at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

✔Shivani Jadhav from Chhattisgarh won Femina Miss Grand India 2019 title and Shreya Shanker from Bihar won Miss India United Continents 2019 title.

3. PETER GILCHRIST LIFTED PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

✔Peter Gilchrist of Singapore defeated India’s Sourav Kothari to win the 2019 Pacific International Billiards Championship at the Yarraville Club in Melbourne, Australia.

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DAILY GK 13 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 13 JUNE 2019

1. CLEAN DRINKING WATER TO ALL BY 2024: CENTRE

✔The minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced that central Government committed to provide clean drinking water to all citizens by 2024.

✔only 18 per cent of rural households have accessed drinking water.

✔This is less than 5 percent in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha, while Sikkim has 99 per cent.

✔The scheme “Nal se Jal” launched by the Jal Shakti ministry, which aims to provide drinking water by 2024.

2. BANCHA BECAME THE FIRST SOLAR KITCHEN ONLY VILLAGE IN INDIA

✔Bancha in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh became the first village in India to have zero wooden stoves.

✔There was no use for Liquified Petroleum Gas cylinders as all 75 houses relied on solar-powered stoves to meet their cooking needs.

✔The solar-powered stoves were developed by IIT Mumbai.

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