DAILY GK 25 AUG 2019


DAILY GK 25 AUG 2019
1. GUJARAT TOPS IN NITI AAYOG REPORT ON ‘COMPOSITE WATER MANAGEMENT INDEX2019 (CWMI 2.0)’
According to the recently released report,” Composite Water Management Index 2019” for the year 2017-2018 by Government’s think tank NITI Aayog in association with Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Rural Development Gujarat has again performed better in water management practices to get top spot.
Uttar Pradesh(39), Bihar(38), and Jharkhand(34) continued to be in the low-performing category in the chart.

2. NATIONAL FOOD LABORATORY IN GHAZIABAD INAUGURATED BY HARSH VARDHAN
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated FSSAI’s National Food Laboratory in Ghaziabad on the occasion of 13th anniversary of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. This national lab is a result of a Public-Private-Partnership, the first-of-its-kind in the food laboratory sector.
The lab is equipped with the latest technologies and facilities to conduct analysis as per global accreditation standards for testing and calibration. NFL is one of the two premier referral laboratories under the direct administrative control of the apex food regulator named- Food Safety and Standard Authority of India.


3. 2019 HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX- INDIA SLIPS 5 SPOTS
Henley Passport Index for the year 2019 was released and India at 86th position of 189 countries in 2019 with a mobility score of 58. However, it slipped 5 places from 79th place in its previous index.
The report was topped by Japan and Singapore as the “world’s most powerful passport” in 2019 followed by South Korea, Germany & Finland at 2nd spot and Denmark and Italy at 3rd spot.
Only 8 nations were added to India’s list of visa-free access between 2010 and 2019, and is ranked lowest among BRICS nations. It shares the spot with Mauritania, and Sao Tome and Principe.

4. BANDHAN BANK JOINS HANDS WITH STANDARD CHARTERED FOR CO-BRANDED CREDIT CARDS
Bandhan Bank launched a co-branded credit card in association with Standard Chartered bank. This credit card would be offered to 40 lakh savings bank account holders across the 1,000 branches of Bandhan Bank.
As part of the tie-up, while Standard Chartered bank will take the credit risk, Bandhan Bank will be responsible for identifying and issuing cards to its customers.

5. GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES MEASURES TO BOOST INDIAN ECONOMY
A presentation was made by Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on measures to boost Indian Economy.
Corporate tax rate for companies with over Rs 400 crore turnover will be gradually cut to 25% and the government will support wealth creators.
The National Housing Bank can now extend up to Rs 30,000 crore credit lines to Non-Banking Financial Companies, instead of Rs 20,000 crore earlier.
Rs 100 lakh crores for developing modern infrastructure over 5 years initiative is expected to boost growth and creation of jobs. These projects would be monitored actively to accelerate capital expenditure and investments in the economy.

6. BHARATCRAFT PORTAL WILL GENERATE RS 10 LAKH CRORE REVENUES IN 2-3 YRS: NITIN GADKARI
Union Government is planning to launch an e-commerce portal named “Bharatcraft” for MSME’s.
The portal is based on other e-commerce portals like ‘Alibaba’ and ‘Amazon’. The portal will provide a platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and in turn boost the sector. As per the MSME Union Minister, the Bharatcraft portal has a huge potential to generate revenue worth ₹10 lakh crore in next 2-3 years.

7. EUROMONEY MAGAZINE NAMES DBS AS THE ‘WORLD’S BEST BANK’
English-language monthly magazine ‘Euromoney’ has named DBS bank as the ‘World’s Best Bank’.
DBS as of now is the only bank in the world to concurrently hold three global best bank awards.
Previous award winners by Euromoney are Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi, and UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland). DBS was also named Asia’s Best Bank and Singapore’s Best Bank in 2019 Awards for Excellence.

8. AMAZON TO ACQUIRE 49% STAKE IN KISHORE BIYANI-LED FUTURE COUPONS LTD
Amazon will acquire 49% stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Coupons Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
Amazon has agreed to make an equity investment in Future Coupons Ltd. It will have both voting and non-voting shares.

9. NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD MOVED TO PROTECT GIRAFFES AS ENDANGERED SPECIES
At the global meeting on endangered species, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland, CITES member nations have agreed to protect giraffes for the 1st time, which draws the praise from conservationists and angry expression from some sub-Saharan African nations.
The move would regulate the trade in giraffe, hunted for their skin, meat, bones, and tails, while stopping short of a full ban.
The US (United States) was the world’s biggest consumer of giraffe product.

10. FORMER FINANCE MINISTER ARUNJAITLY PASSED AWAY
Former Union finance minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley passed away. He was a lawyer by profession.
He held the portfolios of Finance Ministry, Corporate Affairs Ministry, Defence Ministry, and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank.

11. NEW BOOK DESCRIBING L FLIPKART’S UNTOLD STORY LAUNCHED
A new book recounting the story of how Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal (both-former founders of flipkart) built e-commerce giant Flipkart written by Mihir Dalal is launched.
The book is titled as “Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story” and is published by “Pan Macmillan India”.
It also depicts the story of big money, power and hubris, as both business and interpersonal complexities weakened the founders’ control over Flipkart and forced them to sell out to American multinational retail company Walmart.