Daily GK Potion – 10th March 2015

1. PM launches Rotavac vaccine
   • The oral rotavirus vaccine Rotavac, which has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and the department of biotechnology to combat diarrhoea, will be available for sale from next week in India.
   • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccine in New Delhi on Monday.
   • Half of the world’s rotavirus diarrhoeal deaths are reported from India.
   • The vaccine development partnership was supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Research council of Norway, and the UK Department of International Development.
2. Moily gets Saraswati Samman
   • Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily has been selected for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his Kannada work.
   • Divided into five volumes, the poem ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam’ was first published in 2007 in Kannada and has been translated into English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.
   • Instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991, the award is given annually for outstanding literary work in any Indian language.
   • The award carries a purse of Rs. 10 lakh, citation and a plaque.
3. Government launches digital gender atlas
   • Effective implementation and execution of schemes and programmes for girl education is set to get a boost with the launch of web-based tool ‘digital gender atlas’ which will identify low-performing geographic pockets for girls on specific gender-related indicators.
   • The atlas, prepared in active collaboration with Unicef and released by the human resources minister Smriti Irani in Chhatisgarh on March 8, is a visual representation of the vulnerabilities impinging education of girls.
   • It visualizes the vulnerability status of an area based on composite index of three parameters such as rural female literacy and percentage of boys and girls with disabilities, particularly girls.
4. Exercise Surya Kiran VIII : Joint India Nepal Exercise Concludes
   • Eighth India-Nepal Combined Exercise (Surya Kiran VIII) which commenced on 23 Feb 2015, concluded on 07 Mar 2015 at Salijhandi, Nepal.
   • The exercise was conducted under the aegis of Nepalese Army.
   • The exercise aimed to create a greater understanding between Indian & Nepalese Army and develop interoperability in Jungle Warfare and Counter Terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
   • It also focussed on the basics of Disaster Management with special reference to Pandemic/ Epidemic control and aviation aspects.
5. ICICI Bank offers unique remittance service to Bahrain NRIs
   • ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, has tied up with SADAD Electronic Payments WLL to offer remittance service for NRIs based in Bahrain.
   • It will enable NRI’s to transfer money instantly to India from the SADAD Electronic Payments WLL’s kiosks spread across the Kingdom of Bahrain.
   • ‘Touch n Remit’, is a 24X7 remittance service in Bahrain and is available to all NRIs, even if they don’t have an account with ICICI Bank.
   • Funds can be transferred by anyone, including non-customers of ICICI Bank, to over 100 banks in India, round-the-clock, 365 days a year.
     
6. Maharashtra launches ‘Bhagyashree’ scheme for girl child
   • Maharashtra Government on Sunday launched ‘Bhagyashree’ scheme in place of the Sukanya scheme which caters to girls from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
   • Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Bollywood actress Bhagyashree, the brand ambassador of the scheme, were present.
   • As per the Sukanya scheme, the state government was supposed to deposit an amount of Rs 21,200 in bank for a girl child born in a BPL family.
7. North-East’s first Kisan Call Centre opens in Tripura
   • Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has launched Northeast India’s first Kisan Call Centre in Agartala.
   • The Kisan Call Centre will give immediate solution and real time advisory to farmers if they need expert consultation regarding seed procurement, agro-metric, fertilizer, soil health, pesticides usage and marketing of the produces.
   • The Tripura government financed call centre will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry from 6 am to 10 pm daily.
8. Jharkhand CM announces Rs 1 lakh for alcohol-free villages
   • The Jharkhand government will grant Rs one lakh to villages which will become alcohol-free.
   • To end the curse of liquor in the state, Chief Minister Raghubar Das said those villages becoming alcohol-free would be given the grant and women groups would take the initiative.
9. India thrash Ireland to register record 9th successive World Cup victory
   • Shikhar Dhawan cracked a scintillating century as a rampaging India on Tuesday created a record winning their ninth consecutive ICC Cricket World Cup match by demolishing Ireland by eight wickets to seal the top spot in the Group B table.
10. DLF Ties Up With Snapdeal to Sell Flats Online
    • Realty major DLF has tied-up with online market place Snapdeal to sell its apartments and would offer 1 per cent discount to potential home buyers.
    • DLF will offer on Snapdeal about 50 flats in eight housing projects across the country in a price range of Rs. 34 lakh to Rs. 3 crore.
    • Customers of the country’s largest realty player will be able to buy flats at Rs. 30,000 booking amount on the Snapdeal.
    • These flats are in projects located at New Chandigarh, Panchkula, Lucknow, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi and Kolkata.

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