Daily GK Potion – 9th and 10th May 2015

1. Dadasaheb Phalke award conferred on Shashi Kapoor
   • Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award on veteran actor-filmmaker Shashi Kapoor.
   • His family members were present for the occasion, along with actors Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan.
   • Shashi is the 46th winner of the honour conferred by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.
   • He made his debut as a leading man in the 1961 film Dharmputra, and went on to appear in more than 100 Hindi films.
   • In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, and he is also a proud recipient of three National Film Awards.
     
2. World Health Organization declares Liberia Ebola-free
   • Liberia is now free of Ebola after going 42 days – twice the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease – without any new cases.
   • President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf stated that Liberia had “crossed the Rubicon” and would be celebrating a concerted effort to stem the disease.
   • More than 4,700 deaths have been recorded in Liberia due to Ebola which is higher than in any other affected country.
3. PM Narendra Modi launches three mega social security schemes — 2 on insurance, 1 on pension
   • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched three ambitious social security schemes, relating to the insurance and pension sector and intended at widening the process of financial inclusion.
   • The three schemes are the “Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana” (accident insurance), “Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana” (life insurance) and “Atal Pension Yojana”.
   • The schemes target the poor and unorganized sector who are neither covered by any form of insurance nor get pension.
   • Under the accident insurance scheme, a person will be provided cover of Rs 200,000 for an annual premium of Rs 12. The cover is for accidental death or permanent total disability.
   • The life insurance scheme will offer a renewable one year life cover of Rs 200,000 to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 50 years, covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs 330 per annum per subscriber.
   • The pension scheme focuses on the unorganized sector and provides subscribers a fixed minimum pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000 or Rs 5,000 per month starting at the age of 60 years, depending on the contribution option exercised on entering at an age between 18 and 40 years.
     
4. Big development push for Chhattisgarh: MoUs worth Rs 24,000 cr signed
   • In a big push for infrastructure development in Chhattisgarh, MoUs worth Rs 24,000 crore were signed at Dantewada in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
   • MoU signed between Government of Chhattisgarh, NMDC, IRCON and SAIL for 140 km rail line between Rowghat and Jagdalpur. Estimated project cost: Rs 2,000 crore.
   • MoU signed between Ministry of Steel, Government of Chhattisgarh, SAIL and NMDC for 3 million ton Ultra Mega Steel Plant with an investment of approximately Rs 18,000 crore.
   • MoU signed between Government of Chhattisgarh and NMDC for Slurry Pipeline and 2MTPA Pellet Plant at Nagarnar in Bastar District with an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.
   • MoU signed between Government of Chhattisgarh and SAIL for setting up 1MTPA Pellet Plant at Dalli-Rajhara, Balod District.
5. NGT bills Delhi households for a cleaner Yamuna
   • For a cleaner River Yamuna, the National Green Tribunal has announced that every household in Delhi will have to pay environmental compensation every month.
   • The compensation to be paid would be directly proportional to the property or water tax, whichever is higher, paid by a particular household.
   • In case of households in unauthorised colonies which do not pay property tax or water bill, the amount would be Rs. 100 to Rs. 500.
6. Now Whatsapp the money to your friends
   • Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private sector bank now facilitates instant transfer of money on various social media channels like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Email list and phone contact list.
   • The bank’s Ping Pay service competes with other banks digital products like ICICI Bank’s Pockets and HDFC Bank’s Chillar.
   • The person to person funds transfer through Ping Pay would happen via NPCI’s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and currently the transaction limit is at Rs50,000 per day.
7. Haryana government includes Deaflympics in its Sports Policy
   • In a move to boost the morale of differently-abled sportspersons in Haryana, the government has decided to include Deaflympics in its Sports Policy so that the Deaflympian medalists would be able to get cash rewards, jobs and other benefits.
   • The Deaflympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf and International Games for the Deaf) are an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event, at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level.
   • The games have been organised by the Committee International des Sports des Sourds.
   • Deaflympics are held every four years and are the longest multi-sports event, excluding the Olympic themselves.
     

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