Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.
Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.
Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!
APPOINTMENTS
New envoys to Mexico, Vietnam appointed
Senior IFS officer Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi has been appointed India’s next Ambassador to Mexico. Pardeshi, a 1991-batch IFS officer, is currently posted as Joint Secretary (Passport division) in the Ministry of External Affairs. Government has also appointed P Harish, a 1990-batch IFS officer, as India’s next Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He is currently posted as Consul General in Houston, the US. Both of them are expected to take up their new assignments shortly.
Quick Link – Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi as New envoys
IPS officer Archana Ramasundram appointed SSB chief
Senior IPS officer Archana Ramasundram has been appointed as Director-General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the first woman to head a paramilitary force. Ramasundram is currently Director, National Crime Records Bureau. She has been appointed to the post till the date of her superannuation, September 30 next year. 58-year-old Ramasundram is the first woman police officer to have been appointed as the chief of a paramilitary force. The SSB is entrusted with guarding the country’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.
Quick Link – Archana Ramasundram as SSB Chief
BANKING AND FINANCE
CBDT Signs Two Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements with UK
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into two bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with United Kingdom. With this signing, CBDT has concluded three bilateral APAs the first one being a bilateral APA signed with Japan in December, 2014. The two bilateral APAs were signed with two Indian group entities of a UK based Multi-National Company (MNC). The APAs have been entered into soon after the Competent Authorities of India and United Kingdom finalised the terms of the bilateral arrangement under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) process contained in the India-UK DTAA.
Quick Link – CBDT in UK
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Vietnam Lifts Ban on Import of Indian Groundnut
Vietnam has formally lifted the ban on import of Indian groundnut, thereby providing market access after nine months. The Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (MARD) has formally communicated the decision to the Indian Government stating that the Plant Protection Department of Vietnam (PPD) will issue import permits for groundnuts for January 18, 2016. The country had temporarily suspended import of groundnuts from India from April 6, 2015, due to interception of quarantine pests — Caryedon serratus and Trogodrma granarium – in consignments exported since January, 2015.
Quick Link – Vietnam Ban on Groundnut
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
France to partner ISRO in Mars Mission
France will partner India in its next Mars mission, which the Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch in 2018. French space agency, CNES has signed a letter of intent with the ISRO for French participation in the next Mars mission. India’s first Mars mission was a technology demonstrator. Its success led to the planning of Mars-2 mission for carrying out more substantive scientific experiments. As the slot in 2016 is out of question because of the non-availability of a suitable launch vehicle, the plan is to have the second mission in 2018 when the reliable PSLV could be used. A lander and a rover is being thought of in the second Indian Mars mission.
Quick Link – ISRO in Mars Mission
SPORTS
Kohli replaces Finch as No 1 batsman in T20 Internationals
Virat Kohli was rewarded for his stupendous performance in India’s clean sweep against Australia in the T20 internationals as he replaced Aaron Finch as the top-ranked batsman in the ICC list for the shortest format. According to the latest list released by the ICC, Kohli, who had scores of 90 not out, 59 not out and 50 in the three-match series, gained 47 ratings points to move ahead of Finch with 892 ranking points to his credit.
Quick Link – Kohli replaces Finch
Song Young-han beats idol Spieth to Singapore title
South Korean Song Young-han held his nerve to edge his role model, world number one Jordan Spieth, by a shot to win the Singapore Open in a weather-delayed Monday finish. Song returned to par the last three holes of his final round for a one-under 70 and 12-under total of 272, claiming the first title of his career after a number of second place finishes on the Japan, Korean and OneAsia Tours.
Quick Link – Song Young-han beats idol
ICC T20 rankings: India rise to No. 1 after whitewashing Australia
India became the number one side in the ICC T20 rankings after whitewashing Australia in the three-match series. India, who are also the number one in Tests, overtook the West Indies to reach the top sport in the shortest format. India have 120 rating points, two more than the Caribbean unit. Sri Lanka also have 118 rating points like the West Indies but they are third in the charts. India have hit top form in the T20 format ahead of the World T20 to be held at home in March-April. They had famously won the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007.
Quick Link – ICC T20 rankings after Australia
OBITUARY
‘World’s best chef’ Benoit Violier dies aged 44
Benoit Violier – whose renowned three-star restaurant in a small Swiss town was in December ranked best in the world – was found dead in his in an apparent suicide. Mr Violier, 44, ran the Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier, near the city of Lausanne. It earned three Michelin stars and came top in France’s La Liste ranking of the world’s 1,000 best eateries. His death comes some six months after that of Philippe Rochat, his mentor and predecessor at the Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville. Having worked at the restaurant since 1996, Mr Violier took it over along with his wife Brigitte in 2012, before obtaining Swiss nationality. A keen hunter, he was known for signature dishes including game and produced a weighty book on game meat last year.
Quick Link – Benoit Violier passes away
Oscar nominated actor Frank Finlay dies at 89
Frank Finlay, the British actor known for his Oscar-nominated work as Iago in Othello and 1975’s The Three Musketeers, has died, at the age of 89. Finlay had over 100 credits to his name and last appeared in the U.K.’s television mini-series Four Seasons in 2009. Notable roles include Casanova in the similarly titled 1971 mini-series and 1976’s Bouquet of Barbed Wire. The actor was also once a member of Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre Company, where he first faced off against the iconic star in the stage production of Othello. The actor also appeared in the Richard Roundtree sequel “Shaft in Africa.” His TV credits include starring in “Bouquet of Barbed Wire” with Susan Penhaligon and in Dennis Potter serial “Casanova.”
Quick Link – Frank Finlay passes away
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