Daily GK Potion – 18th and 19th February 2015

1. Croatia’s First Woman President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic Sworn in
   • Croatia’s first woman president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, has sworn in and pledged to help kickstart the EU member’s ailing economy.
     
2. Delhi airport ranked best by Airport Council International, Mumbai’s in top 5
   • Delhi Airport has been adjudged the best, among the world’s most performing airports in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category by the Airport Council International (ACI).
   • Indira Gandhi International Airport won the annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award, which recognises and rewards the best airports in the world.
3. Aero India kicks start
   • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the 10th ‘Aero India’ show here making a strong pitch to end India’s dependence on defence imports.
   • The Prime Minister said the country needs to increase its defence preparedness and modernize its forces due to security challenges that were well known.
4. India successfully testfires N-capable Prithvi-II missile
   • India on Thursday successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile from a military base in Odisha.
   • The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district.
5. Bihar government announces 35% reservation for women in non-gazetted government jobs
   • Bihar government has announced 35% reservation for women in non-gazetted government jobs in group C and D grade.
   • This decision was taken at state cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
   • Proposal to pay 13 months salary in place of 12 months to policemen upto inspector rank was passed.
6. Bharti Airtel partners with UNICEF to provide education content in Africa
   • Bharti Airtel has partnered with UNICEF to provide health, education and youth-focussed content to its customers in 17 African countries.
   • The company said this partnership aims at improving African population’s access to health and education-related information whilst pushing forward various innovative projects supported by UNICEF.
   • The agreement allows UNICEF to tap into Airtel’s mobile services to make health, education and youth-focused content available to Airtel customers across the 17 African countries.
7. Kalyani Group announces joint venture with Rafael Defence System
   • The Kalyani Group has announced a joint venture with Rafael Advanced Defence System of Israel.
   • This joint venture company will be based in India.
   • The initiative is in line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy and will enable the development and production of high-end technology in the country.
   • The joint venture will be a 51:49 partnership, with Kalyani Group holding 51 per cent stake as per the new FDI norms.
8. Delhiites get a mobile app SAFAR-Air to check air pollution levels
   • The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology based in Pune has developed an app to help assess the air quality of the national capital and produce associated health advisories.
   • The app, SAFAR-Air, will be launched on Tuesday and will initially be available on smartphones operating on Google’s Android system and later on devices using Apple’s iOS.
   • The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) was first launched in Delhi in 2010 during the Commonwealth Games.

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