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 HONORS
Former DRDO DG Dr Avinash Chander conferred Aryabhata Award
Dr Avinash Chander, Former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and ex-DRDO chief, has received the prestigious Astronautical Society of India’s Aryabhata Award. He received the award from Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India, and Dr AS Kiran Kumar, Chairman ISRO, at ASI-ISRO Awards function held at Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad. The Aryabhata Award, named after the fifth century Indian astronomer and mathematician and also in commemoration of the first Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, is presented annually to an individual for outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronautics in India.
Quick Link – Aryabhata Award
Father Agnel School in Greater Noida school is India’s ‘greenest’
Father Agnel School in Greater Noida’s Sector Beta 2 pipped 500 schools from across the country to emerge as the ‘greenest school’. The award given away by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on February 23 came as part of a green school programme promoted by the CSE. Father Agnel had been systematically turning green over the last two years after signing up with the CSE’s programme. The second prize went to Queen’s Valley School, Dwarka (Delhi), and the third to the Government Senior Secondary School, Devnagar (Shimla).
Quick Link – Greenest school
APPOINTMENTS
Gianni Infantino elected as new FIFA President
World football’s governing body elected the Swiss-Italian lawyer Gianni Infantino after he defeated nearest rival Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in the second round of voting. Infantino, 45, succeeds Sepp Blatter, who stepped down last year with the organization mired in allegations of corruption and wrongdoing. General secretary of European governing body UEFA, Infantino won the first round of voting but without the necessary two-third majority to secure an immediate victory. He received 88 of the 207 votes with Sheikh Salman three behind on 85.
Quick Link – Gianni Infantino as FIFA President
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Hyundai launches India’s first digital car outlet
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has inaugurated India’s first Digital Automotive Experience Outlet called Unity Hyundai in the national capital. The company has taken a ‘New Thinking, New Possibility” approach which is aimed at offering customers a completely new way to shop for a car by adopting digital-screens and artworks according the varying tastes of different buyers. The experience has been designed keeping the customer as the primary focal point. The experience will allow visiting customers to research, test-drive, or part-exchange their old cars while buying a new Hyundai product.
Quick Link – First digital car outlet
Block porn sites showing child pornography: SC
The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to make a plan to block websites showing child pornography and sought its response to a plea to ban viewing of porn at public places. The SC has also ordered additional solicitor general Pinky Anand to spell out the government stand on whether people should be barred from watching porn in public. On adult pornography, the top court said the Centre has to draw a distinct line between art and obscenity. Anand said it was not possible for the government to define pornography. “Any sort of clampdown could lead to invasion of privacy. It is difficult to ban pornographic websites as they do not fall under any country’s jurisdiction,” she told the bench, submitting a procedure was being worked out to block child pornography.
Quick Link – Child pornography: SC
Kerala becomes the first Digital State of India
President Pranab Mukherjee has declared Kerala as the first digital state of the country. Now the God’s own country, that boasts of many firsts in the human development index, has pinned another feather on the cap. The president noted Kerala’s progress in becoming digitally enabled, right from the launching of a pilot Akshaya e-literacy project in Malappuram district in 2002 to now when the state revenue department alone is issuing about 30,000 digital certificates to the citizens daily. The Akshaya project, which has since expanded all across the state, was the first district-wide e-literacy project in India. There are currently about 2500 Akshaya centres across the length and breadth of the state, which also provide internet access and e-service delivery to the people.
Quick Link – First Digital State of India
Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal penalised for selling medicines
The Maharashtra government has taken action against e-commerce giants Snapdeal, Amazon and Flipkart which were selling medicines online without valid licences. Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra has taken regulatory action against these three companies, which were found to be selling or distributing medicines to consumers through internet without valid sales bill and requisite licenses. In accordance with provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, the sale of drugs in the country is regulated by state licencing authorities. Accordingly, drugs specified in Schedule H, H1 or Schedule X cannot be sold except on and in accordance with the prescription of a registered medical practitioner.
Quick Link – Penalised for medicines
Vedanta wins India’s first ever gold mine auction
Vedanta Limited has won India’s first-ever gold mining lease auctioned by the Chhattisgarh government. The gold mine at Baghmara in Baloda Bazar district, about 140 km north-east of Raipur, is one of the oldest explored deposit of the precious metal in Central India. India imports about 1,000 tonnes of gold every year and the precious metal is the second-highest component of the imports bill after crude oil. Vedanta quoted the highest bid of 12.55% of the Indian Bureau of Mines price of Rs 74,712 per troy ounce. One troy ounce — a unit denoting the value of the precious metal— is 31.10 gram.
Quick Link – Vedanta wins
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
UN urges Pakistan to resolve Afghan refugees’ status
The UN has urged Pakistan to resolve the status of more than 2.5 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan whose registration cards have expired or who remain unregistered. While Europe has grappled with the exodus of people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Pakistan hosts the world’s largest long-term refugee population. In December, registration cards providing temporary legal stay to more than 1.5 million Afghan refugees expired, and were granted a six-month extension by the government. But Afghans say they are hassled by police for carrying the expired cards, and members of the estimated one million Afghans who are still unregistered also face difficulties with the authorities.
Quick Link – Afghan refugees
Samsung wins $119.6 mn patent case against Apple
A US appeals court has handed Samsung a win over Apple in a long-running patent fight, overriding a jury verdict ordering it to pay $119.6 million to the iPhone maker. The court ruled that two Apple patents at issue were not valid, according to a copy of the decision posted online. Apple originally filed the suit against Samsung in early 2012, accusing the South Korean consumer electronics giant of infringing on an array of patents related to smartphones. Samsung denied it had done anything wrong and filed a countersuit saying that Apple had infringed on some of its patents. The number of patents involved was whittled down during the lengthy litigation process.
Quick Link – Samsung against Apple
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ISRO to set up Satellite Centre in Vietnam
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is working towards the establishment of a Satellite Tracking & Data Reception Station and Data Processing Facility in Vietnam for ASEAN Member countries. This facility is intended to acquire and process Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data pertaining to ASEAN region and disseminate to ASEAN Member countries. On completion this will enhance the Space Cooperation between India and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Under this initiative, all ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam will be allowed to access processed remote sensing data pertaining to their country. Ground facility is designed in such a way that it will not allow Indian data to be accessed and processed by the system.
Quick Link – Satellite Centre in Vietnam
OBITUARY
Oldest Indian Cricketer BK Garudachar passes away
Malayalam filmmaker Rajesh Pillai passes away
South Indian filmmaker Rajesh Pillai died due to liver problem at the age of 42. His latest film Vettah, starring Kunjacko Bobban, Manju Warrier and Indrajith, released recently. The director was admitted to hospital several times during the course of making the film, contracting pneumonia while Vettah was in the final sound mixing stage. He had been suffering from liver cirrhosis for a long time. Pillai had been adviced to go in for a liver transplant but asked by the doctors to reduce weight first. The director chose to wait for his film’s release instead, which aggravated his condition. Rajesh hit the headlines with his film Traffic in 2011 which was then remade in other South Indian languages while its Hindi remake was made by the director himself.
Quick Link – Rajesh Pillai passes away
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