Daily GK Potion – 1st and 2nd March 2015

1. IRCTC ties up with Amazon for online shopping
   • In order to provide convenient online shopping experience to customers, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has tied up with Amazon.in to sell various products.
   • Customers who access the IRCTC portal can now buy products ranging from consumer electronics, books, shoes, apparel, bags to toys, exotic food products, personal hygiene products, pet supplies, musical instruments and many more, at the click of a button and benefit from Amazon.in’s wide distribution network.
2. Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy dies aged 83
   • Actor Leonard Nimoy, who won fans worldwide for his role as Mr Spock in the “Star Trek” television and film franchise, has died at age 83.
   • Nimoy, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, died at his home.
3. National science day celebrated on 28 February
   • This day marks the epoch-making discovery of Raman Effect by Indian physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (CV Raman) on February 28, 1928.
   • The theme of the day was “Science for Nation Building”.
4. Cash reward for inter-caste marriage raised in Haryana
   • Haryana government has decided to raise the cash reward under the inter-caste marriage scheme from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
   • This decision was taken at a meeting of the state level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee held here under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
   • It was constituted under Rule 16 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
   • Assistance should be provided through bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana.
5. Martin Crowe inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
   • New Zealand legend and player of the 1992 World Cup, Martin Crowe, was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Saturday for his service to the game.
   • Crowe became the third New Zealander, after Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley, and the 79th overall to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
   • Crowe also played 143 one-day internationals (ODIs) in which he scored 4,704 runs at an average of 38.55, with four hundreds and 34 half-centuries.
     
6. China kicks off $79.8 billion Silk Road infrastructure project in northwest province of Gansu
   • China has launched a massive $79.8 billion infrastructure project in the northwest province of Gansu which will facilitate trade and people exchanges between China and central Asia as part of its ambitious Silk Road plan.
   • The six-year development project will add more than 60,000 kilometres of road, including 4,070 km expressways, and improve the connectivity of the existing transportation network.
   • The province is also expected to build 12 civilian airports in the next six years, expanding the reach of its air service to 82 per cent of the province’s population, at 25.57 million in 2010.
   • The Silk Road projects involved a maze of roads and ports connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.
7. PDP’s Mufti Mohammed Sayeed takes oath as J&K CM
   • Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Monday was sworn in as state chief minister along with Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh and 23 other ministers from both PDP and BJP.
   • Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, former president Lal Krishan Advani, union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi, Dr Jitendra Singh, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar were among various dignitaries including senior BJP and PDP leaders leaders present on the occasion.
     
8. Arun Singh Named New Indian Ambassador to United States
   • India has named Arun Singh, currently its Ambassador to France, as its next top envoy to the US.
   • A 1979-batch IFS officer, Mr Singh will be replacing S Jaishankar, who was appointed as Foreign Secretary on January 28 this year.
   • Mr Singh, who has been joint secretary in-charge of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan devision in Ministry of External Affairs, has done postings in Japan, Israel among other countries. He has also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington for nearly five years.
9. Jagmohan Dalmiya returns as BCCI president, Anurag Thakur new secretary
   • Veteran cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya was unanimously elected president of the BCCI.
   • Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association chief Anurag Thakur elected as secretary.
   • Jharkhand Cricket Association’s Amitabha Chodhary was elected the joint secretary.
     
10. Wipro partners World Economic Forum for quantifying cyber risk
    • Country’s third largest software services firm Wipro has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to develop a cyber value-at-risk (VAR) framework that will allow organisations to assess threat landscape, the nature of assets needed protection and quality of defences.
11. Ficci ropes in Arvind Virmani as economic mentor
    • Noted economist, Arvind Virmani, who served as the country’s Chief Economic Advisor and Principal Advisor in the Planning Commission, will now mentor Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (Ficci’s) public policy & economic work.
12. Government gets 107 applications for allotment of 43 mines to PSUs
    • The Coal Ministry today received 107 applications from PSUs like NTPC, DVC and NLC for allocation of 43 coal blocks to be given to state-run firms.
    • The Palma II mine in Chhattisgarh got nine applications, the highest for a single block.
    • The companies which have applied for Gare Palma II mine in Chhattisgarh, include NTPC, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd, Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation.

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