DAILY GK 8 JUNE 2019

DAILY GK 8 JUNE 2019

1. PM NARENDRA MODI RECONSTITUTED NITI AAYOG

✔Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi approved the reconstitution of government’s policy think tank, National Institution for Transforming India Aayog.

✔Rajiv Kumar was retained as the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog whereas economist Bibek Debroy, a full-time member,was dropped from the team.

✔V K Saraswat, Ramesh Chand and Dr V K Paul will continue as the members of NITI Aayog.

2. DR HARSH VARDHAN REVIEWED THE STATUS OF NIPAH VIRUS DISEASE IN KERALA

✔Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, reviewed the status of Nipah Virus Disease in Kerala. As of now, 15 people are under observation in the state.

✔The Indian Council of Medical Research has permitted the Kerala Government to establish a regional Biosafety Level-3 laboratory in Kozhikode district. The estimated cost for the project is Rs. 8 crores.

✔Nipah virus is transmitted from animals to humans and then spreads through people to people contact, causing respiratory illness. Its symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, fever, dizziness, and nausea.

3. INDIA SIGNED RS 300-CRORE DEAL WITH ISRAEL TO BUY MORE 100 SPICE BOMBS

✔The Indian Air Force inked Rs 300-crore deal with the Israeli government to buy more than 100 SPICE bombs (Balakot bombs).

✔The newly ordered SPICE bombs are an advanced version of SPICE-2000 bombs that were used to attack the Madrasa of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot, Pakistan.

4. EQUATOR PRIZE 2019: UNDP

✔The United Nations Development Programme and partners announced the winners of the10th Equator Prize 2019.

✔The winners were selected from a pool of 847 nominations across 127 countries. Winners will each receive $10,000 and the opportunity for two community representatives to join a week-long summit in New York during the 74th United Nations General Assembly.

✔They will be awarded at the Equator Prize Award Ceremony on 24 September 2019, at the Town Hall theatre in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, US.

5. TELANGANA-BASED NGO WON UN’S EQUATOR PRIZE 2019

✔The women sangams (groups) of the Deccan Development Society bagged the United Nation’s Equator Prize for 2019.

✔They were selected for standing as ‘an outstanding example of a local, nature-based solution to climate change and sustainable development.’

✔The six women farmers are Maisanagari Ratnamma, Begari Tuljamma, Chilkapalli Ansuyamma, Nagwar Sunandamma, Yerrolla Kanakamma, and Nadimidoddi Anjamma.

6. RIHANNA NAMED AS WORLD’S RICHEST FEMALE MUSICIAN WITH $600 MILLION WEALTH

✔Singer Rihanna is named as the world’s richest female according to the Forbes magazine with an estimated fortune of $600 million.

✔She overtook Madonna and Beyonce who topped the list previously. She is from Barbados.

7. TAYARI JONES NOVEL AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE WINS WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION

✔US Novelist Tayari Jones received Women’s Prize for Fiction worth $40,000 for her novel An American Marriage.

✔The novel was praised by Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. This is her fourth novel based on a middle-class black couple torn apart by injustice.

✔She also received Aspen Words Literary Prize for the same novel in April 2019.

8. PRAMILA JAYAPAL FIRST SOUTH ASIAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO PRESIDE OVER US HOUSE

✔Indian-American Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington DC set a record by becoming first South Asian American woman to preside over the US House of Representatives as a temporary speaker.

✔She was first elected in 2016. The Congress holds about 17 Asian Americans, with 14 in the House and three in the Senate.

9. SIX-TIME GRAMMY-WINNING MUSICIAN DR JOHN PASSED AWAY

✔Musician Malcolm John Rebennack died due to a heart attack.

✔Dr John was nominated for 15 Grammy Awards and won six of them. He hailed from New Orleans, US state of Louisiana.

10. WORLD FOOD SAFETY DAY 2019: JUNE 7

✔The first-ever World Food Safety Day was celebrated on June 7, 2019. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018.

✔The theme for the year 2019 is “Food Safety, everyone’s business”.

✔Golden Temple Street of Amritsar was recognized as a ‘Clean Street Food Hub’.