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!!!
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Ismail Mahomed conferred knighthood by French government
Ismail Mahomed, an Indian-origin art lover and playwright in South Africa has been conferred knighthood by the French government for his lifelong devotion to the promotion of arts. He was bestowed with ‘The Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres’ (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) by French Ambassador Elisabet Barbier in Johannesburg. Mahomed is the Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, Mahomed has received numerous other awards in his 30-year career. He has also been honoured with Merit Honour Award from the US State Department’s Africa Bureau for consistent high cultural programming.
Quick Link – Ismail Mahomed as conferred by French govt
APPOINTMENTS
KN Vyas takes over as Director, BARC
KN Vyas, Distinguished Scientist and Associate Director, Reactor Projects Group of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) took over as Director, BARC from Dr. Sekhar Basu, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy. Vyas graduated from the 22nd batch of the BARC Training School and joined Fuel Design & Development Section of Reactor Engineering Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. During the past 36 years, Vyas has gained a vast experience in design and analysis of nuclear reactor fuels. Subsequently, as Head, Reactor Projects Division, he has also worked for design and analysis of reactor systems.
Quick Link – KN Vyas as Director of BARC
Mortaza set to become UNDP’s goodwill ambassador
Bangladesh limited-overs captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is set to be named as the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) “national goodwill ambassador for youth”. The appointment will be made official on February 25, 2016 following a signing ceremony. Mashrafe, who is currently the ODI and Twenty20 skipper, said that he had received the proposal a month ago and was extremely excited to receive the opportunity. The UNDP was founded on the 22nd of November 1965 with the merger of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance or EPTA and the United Nations Special Fund. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations’ global development network.
Quick Link – Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as UNDP’s ambassador
BANKING AND FINANCE
Mastercard to launch payments by selfie
Mastercard is launching new mobile technologies that will allow customers to authenticate their online purchases using selfies or fingerprints. The technology will be rolled out by big banks in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and some European countries over the next few months. People from around the world will be regularly using this authentication technology within five years, said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise security solutions at MasterCard. Mastercard plans to roll out the technology to the UK, US, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
Quick Link – Payments by selfie
SBI launches new branch for e-commerce loans
Banking giant SBI has taken another leap in this space with the launch of SBI e-Smart SME, a working capital loan offering for sellers on ecommerce platforms. With this development, sellers can apply for the loan online on the e-commerce platform and get instant sanctioning of the loan. This product uses proprietary platform data and surrogates information from public domain to assess the seller’s creditworthiness for loan sanctioning. The product was launched in partnership with ecommerce platform Snapdeal in the presence of bank’s chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya & Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl.
Quick Link – SBI e-Smart SME
PNB declares 904 firms as wilful defaulters
State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has declared 904 borrowers who owed it a combined Rs.10,869.71 crore as of December-end as wilful defaulters. The bank added 140 companies to the list of wilful defaulters over the last quarter. At the end of September, 764 companies who owed the lender Rs.9,200 crore had been classified as wilful defaulters. Prominent among the wilful defaulters to PNB are Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery, which owes Rs.900.37 crore, Forever Precious Jewellery and Diamonds (Rs.747.98 crore), Zoom Developers (Rs.410.18 crore), Nafed (Rs.224.26 crore) and S. Kumar Nationwide (Rs.146.82 crore). The bank recently declared Kingfisher Airlines and its guarantors UB Holdings and Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters. Kingfisher Airlines owes PNB Rs.1,500 crore.
Quick Link – PNB declares wilful defaulters
INS Arihant – India’s first nuclear submarine ready to operate
INS Arihant, India’s first nuclear armed submarine is now ready for full fledged operations. The submarine has passed several deep sea diving drills as well as weapons launch tests over the past five months. The formal induction into the naval fleet is only a political call away. The Arihant, which is the first of five nuclear missile submarines or SSBNs planned for induction, has also undergone deep sea dives off Vishakhapatnam where it was build. A Russian diving support ship – the RFS Epron that arrived on October 1 – has been accompanying the Arihant on its deep sea dives and launch tests.
Quick Link – India’s first nuclear submarine
India to induct women in combat roles : President
The Government has decided to induct women in all military combat roles in the future. The announcement has been made by President Pranab Mukherjee during the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The President said, “In our country, shakti is the manifestation of female energy. This shakti defines our strength. My government has approved the induction of women as short service commission officers and as fighter pilots in the IAF. In the future, my government will induct women in all fighter streams of our armed forces.” It should be noted that even the US army does not have women in infantry and armoured units.
Quick Link – Induct women in combat roles
Hyderabad India’s top city for quality of life
Hyderabad ranks highest among Indian cities on a quality of life survey by consulting firm Mercer, but is only at number 138 on a global list of 230 cities. Pune follows at 145. Big metros Delhi and Mumbai rank 154 and 152 respectively. Mercer notes that “considerable population increases in Mumbai and New Delhi in recent decades have increased existing problems, including access to clean water, air pollution, and traffic congestion.” China’s Beijing is ranked higher than any Indian city at 118. And Sri Lanka’s Colombo is at 132. Among Asian cities, Singapore tops the list at number 26, followed by four Japanese cities led by capital Tokyo. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is number 84.
Quick Link – India’s top city for quality of life
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Saudi Oil Minister Rules Out Possibility of Production Cuts
Oil fell below $33 per barrel after Saudi Arabia ruled out production cuts. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said production cuts would not happen although more countries would join a deal to freeze output. Oil has slid from more than $100 a barrel in mid-2014, pressured by excess supply and a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to abandon its traditional role of cutting production alone to boost prices. Mr. Naimi is widely considered the most influential voice in energy policy in Saudi Arabia, which dominates the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Quick Link – Saudi Arabia ruled out production cuts
Obama submits Guantanamo closure plan to US Congress
President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility after delivering his plan to Congress to achieve a goal that has long eluded his presidency. The President wants to transfer the remaining 91 detainees to their home countries or to US military or civilian prisons. But Congress is deeply opposed to terror suspects being held on US soil and is expected to block the move. The prison costs $445m (£316m) to run annually and closing it was a 2009 promise from President Barack Obama. Human rights campaigners have repeatedly complained about the prison in Cuba, which has held 780 detainees since it opened in 2002.
Quick Link – Guantanamo bay to US Congress
Vienna World’s Top City for quality of life
Vienna, Austria’s grand capital on the Danube river, offers the highest quality of life of all cities in the world, while the Iraqi capital Baghdad, once more took its place at the bottom of a liveability list compiled by consulting firm Mercer. The survey of 230 cities helps companies and organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport.
Quick Link – World’s Top City for quality of life
Pakistan Parliament becomes first in world to run entirely on solar power
Pakistan parliament became the first in the world to completely run on solar power, a venture supported by China with $55 million funding. First announced in 2014, the venture has been funded by the Chinese government as an act of friendship, with the solar power plant costing around $55 million. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a simple ceremony switched on solar-powered building of the parliament in capital Islamabad. Chinese ambassador to Pakistan was also present during the ceremony. The project to run parliament on solar power was launched last year when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited and addressed the parliament. The parliament’s solar panels will generate 80 MW power.
Quick Link – Solar in Pakistan parliament
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Facebook launhced Telecom Infra Project
Facebook has announced the Telecom Infra Project, which will look at developing new and alternative technologies to build and deploy telecom infrastructure, with partners including Aricent, HCL Technologies, Intel, Nokia and T- Mobile. The Project is working on providing currently unserved rural communities with wireless network efforts. A pilot 4G network is already underway in the Philippines, and Facebook has a project in planning for the Scottish Highlands.
Quick Link – Telecom Infra Project
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