Daily GK Potion – 3rd and 4th April 2015

1. Andhra Pradesh government approves Amaravathi as new capital
   • The Andhra Pradesh Government on Wednesday decided to name the new capital of the state which is coming up in Vijayawada-Guntur region as ‘Amaravathi’, after the ancient seat of power of the Satavahanas.
   • Amaravathi is located in Guntur district and the same name is adopted for the capital in view of its historical, spiritual and mythological significance. It is the city of Lord Indra, the king of the gods.
   • Amaravathi, located on the banks of river Krishna, derives its name from Lord Amareswara temple in the village and it is known as ‘Dakshina Kashi’.
2. Poster girl of India’s anti-tobacco campaign Sunita Tomar dies at 28
   • Sunita Tomar, 28 the face of India’s tobacco battle, died at her native village in Madhya Pradesh.
   • She passed away today, said a doctor at Mumbai’s Tata Memorial hospital where she was admitted few days ago, amid indication of relapse of cancer.
   • Two years ago, she had undergone a surgery for oral cancer at the hospital. She shared her experience in a video, which was used by the government for its anti-tobacco drive to warn people against consumption of smokeless gutkha and pan masalas.
3. Indian-origin nurse Subadhra Devi Rai named for 2015 International Achievement Award
   • Subadhra Devi Rai, a senior lecturer at the School of Health Sciences (Nursing) at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), has been named winner of the 2015 International Achievement Award by the International Council of Nurses’ Florence Nightingale International Foundation.
   • 51 year old Rai became the first Singaporean to get the biennial prize since its introduction in 1999.
4. India ranks 119 on global business resilience index
   • India has been ranked a low 119 out of 130 countries on an index that measures business resilience of nations based on economic, risk quality and supply chain factors, dropping seven notches from last year.
   • The 2015 FM Global Resilience Index has been topped by Norway for being the country best suited for companies seeking to avoid disruptions in their global supply chain operations.
   • Venezuela is ranked last on the list. Norway is followed by Switzerland (2), Netherlands (3), Ireland (4), Luxembourg (5), Germany (6), Qatar (7), Canada (8), Finland (9) and the US (10).
5. Government extends Food Security Act deadline by 6 months
   • The Centre has given six months more to the states for rolling out the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday.
   • The deadline, which has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, would end on Saturday.
   • Only 11 states and Union Territories have so far implemented the NFSA, which was passed by Parliament in September 2013. The rest 25 states/UTs have not implemented it yet.
   • The law aims at providing legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per person per month at Rs1-Rs 3/kg to two-thirds of the country’s population.
6. Snapdeal acquired RupeePower to launch financial service
   • Indian e-commerce company Snapdeal has acquired RupeePower, a provider of loans and credit cards, and will soon launch a financial service marketplace.
   • Snapdeal will likely provide one billion dollars of loans over the next two years through the platform.
7. Minor planet named after chess star Vishwanathan Anand
   • India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand has been granted the honor of having a minor planet named after him.
   • The minor planet, now known as Vishyanand, was previously identified as planet 4538 and is located somewhere between the planets of Mars and Jupiter.
   • With this privilege, Anand joins former world chess champions Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov who have had a similar honour bestowed on them.
8. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry unveiled Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020
   • The policy was unveiled by Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi.
   • The new five year Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-20 provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and services as well as generation of employment and increasing value addition in the country, in keeping with the Make in India vision of Prime Minister.
   • The focus of the new policy is to support both the manufacturing and services sectors, with a special emphasis on improving the ease of doing business.
9. Muslim girl in Mumbai wins Gita contest
   • Twelve-year-old Maryam Siddiqui, the class VI student has aced a written competition based on the Bhagwad Gita.
   • The Muslim girl has won the first position among over 3,000 participants at the ‘Gita Champions League’ contest, organized by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in January.
   • The 100 mark multiple choice question based test, evaluates children on their knowledge of the Gita.
10. Gujarat leads in implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission
    • Gujarat tops the list of states for the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission, while Odisha has done the best as far as construction of community toilets is concerned.
    • According to the Ministry of the 2,70,069 household toilets constructed during the last financial year under the Mission.
    • Gujarat alone accounted for 60 per cent of them having built 1,65,376 household toilets. Madhya Pradesh has constructed 99,151 household toilets followed by Karnataka with 4,697.
      

Read next : Daily GK Potion – 5th and 6th April 2015 ››

Read previous: « Daily GK Potion – 1st and 2nd April 2015

« Back to current affairs