Daily GK Potion – 23rd February 2016

Asian Indoor Athletics: Long jumper Prem Kumar wins silver

  • India’s Kumaravel Prem Kumar bagged a silver in long jump on the final day of Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha
  • Prem Kumar cleared a creditable 7.92m in his final attempt to win the silver. Zhang Yaoguang of China won the gold with a best effort of 7.99m.
  • Om Prakash Singh Karhana added a bronze in shot put by clearing a distance of 18.77m. Four of his attempts turned out to be fouls.

KN Vyas Appointed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Chief

  • Distinguished scientist KN Vyas on Friday was appointed Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the country’s premier multi-disciplinary nuclear research centre.
  • He succeeds Shekar Basu, who was in October appointed as Atomic Energy Secretary and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.
  • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Mr Vyas’ name for a period of three years.
  • Mr Vyas, who has made outstanding contributions in the area of design and development of a novel fuel, is a recipient of the Science and Technical Excellence awards.
  • The BARC is India’s premier nuclear research facility based in Mumbai.
Gromo Referal

MSEI appoints Udai Kumar as full-time MD and CEO

  • Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Ltd, formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) of India Ltd, appointed Udai Kumar as managing director and chief executive on a permanent basis after receiving regulatory approval.
  • The exchange, which once boasted of a significant share in the currency derivatives segment, had become a fringe player as operational and ownership concerns led to the volumes shift to other exchanges like the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) and BSE Ltd.
  • MSEI’s turnover in the currency derivatives segment declined to below Rs.1,000 crore after crossing Rs.10,000 crore in October 2009.

Indian-Origin Sikh Appointed Kuala Lumpur Police Chief

  • An Indian-origin Sikh officer has been appointed Kuala Lumpur’s commissioner of police – the highest police rank achieved by a Sikh in Malaysia
  • Amar Singh will replace Tajuddin Mohamed, who will move to federal headquarters as the deputy director of commercial CID
  • Amar Singh held the position of deputy director of CID when his new appointment was announced
  • Amar Singh’s father and maternal grandfather were both policemen. His father Ishar Singh joined the Federated Malay States Police in 1939, a year after coming to Malaya from Punjab.

Bihar becomes sixth State to join UDAY Scheme

  • The Government of India, the State of Bihar and the DISCOMs of Bihar (North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited, and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the Scheme UDAY — “Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana” here on Monday for operational and financial turnaround of DISCOMs.
  • Bihar is the sixth State to have accepted UDAY for bringing about a positive change in the power sector scenario of States.
  • Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have already signed the MoU under UDAY for operational and financial turnaround of DISCOMs.
  • With the signing of MoU, approximately 33 per cent of Bihar’s DISCOM debt, i.e. around Rs.1.40 lakh crore, would be restructured.

Swach Paryatan mobile app launched to keep tourist spots clean

  • Government on Monday launched a mobile app, which will enable travellers to send pictures of dirty spots at tourist places to the authorities for “immediate action” as part of Clean India Mission.
  • The ‘Swachh Paryatan Mobile App’, launched by the Union Ministry of Tourism, has been made available for 25 heritage monuments, including Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and Humayun’s Tomb, Qutab Minar, Red Fort, among others.
  • The ministry plans to extend the App to include other tourist destinations across the country
  • The cleanliness of the place would be restored in 1-2 hour duration. If the nodal officer fails to perform, action will be taken against them
  • Initially available on android phones, it will be accessible on Apple and Microsoft also. This mobile app shall be monitored by the project monitoring unit of Swachh Bharat Mission in Ministry of Tourism

Pak parliament becomes first in world to run entirely on solar power

  • Pakistan parliament on Tuesday became the first in the world to completely run on solar power, a venture supported by China with $55 million funding.
  • Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a simple ceremony switched on solar-powered building of the parliament in capital Islamabad.
  • China provided over $55 million to carry out the project.

India remains world’s largest arms importer, with 14% of total share

  • India continues to remain the world’s largest arms importer, accounting for 14% of the global imports in the 2011-2015 timeframe, in yet another indicator of the country’s enduring failure to build a strong domestic defence-industrial base (DIB).
  • After India, China ranks second in the global arms import list with 4.7%, followed by Australia (3.6%), Pakistan (3.3%), Vietnam (2.9%) and South Korea (2.6%).
  • China used to top the imports chart earlier but has gradually built a stronger DIB over the last couple of decades to even emerge as the world’s third largest arms exporter after the US and Russia.

Read previous: « Daily GK Potion –  21st and 22nd February 2016

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