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
Margaret Atwood wins 2016 Pen Pinter Prize
has won this year’s Pen Pinter Prize, which celebrates champions of free speech. The Canadian novelist and poet is well known for her environmental campaigning. Judges praised Atwood’s political activism, and described her as an “exemplary public intellectual”. Atwood will formally receive the award at the British Library on 13 October, where she will also deliver an address. Atwood said she was “humbled” to be the recipient of this year’s prize.
Quick Link – Pen Pinter Prize
APPOINTMENTS
Supriya Sahu appointed as Director General of Doordarshan
Senior IAS officer Supriya Sahu has been appointed as Doordarshan’s Director General, a post lying vacant for nearly two years. A 1991 batch IAS officer, Sahu is currently working in her cadre state Tamil Nadu. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal for appointment of Sahu as Director General, Doordarshan.
Quick Link – Supriya Sahu as D G
Anne Hathaway appointed UN Women Goodwill Ambassador
Anne Hathaway is the latest Hollywood figure to be appointed by the United Nations as a global goodwill ambassador to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Oscar-winning actor joins Nicole Kidman, Emma Watson and Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand as fellow women’s goodwill ambassadors. She will advocate for the adoption and implementation of policies worldwide that will bring measurable change, including affordable childcare services and shared parental leave at both government and corporate levels.
Quick Link – Anne Hathaway as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador
Peter Thomson elected as President of 71st session of UNGA
In a rare secret ballot vote, the United Nations General Assembly has elected Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of Fiji, as President of its upcoming 71st session. Mr. Thomson, who will replace current General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, will begin his tenure in September at the commencement of the 71st General Assembly session.
Quick Link – Peter Thomson as President
BANKING AND FINANCE
RBI approves common rural bill payment centres
People residing in rural areas would soon be able to make bill payments at common service centres (CSCs) as the Reserve Bank of India has granted in-principle approval to the centres as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit. The Bharat Bill Payment System will allow CSCs to operate the bill payment system with a single brand image providing convenience of ‘anytime anywhere’ bill payment.
Quick Link – CSCs
BRICS bank to issue maiden local currency bond
The New Development Bank (NDB), established by the BRICS group of emerging nations, plans to issue its first bond as a yuan denominated issue in China. The bank will also issue bonds in other member currencies in order to mitigate the foreign currency risk of funded infrastructure projects and help develop local currency fund- raising markets.
Quick Link – BRICS to bonds
INDIAN AFFAIRS
PM Modi inaugurates 1st conference of CBDT, CBEC
PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the two-day ‘Rajasva Gyan Sangam’, the first joint annual conference of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). The conference will also be attended by the top brass of Income Tax department. While CBDT is responsible for collecting direct taxes, CBEC recovers the indirect taxes.
Quick Link – Rajasva Gyan Sangam
BSNL extends free roaming service by one year
BSNL has extended its free roaming service by one more year enabling its mobile customers to receive calls at no extra cost while roaming. The decision to extend the facility has been taken in view of overwhelming response of its customers in mobile number portability (MNP) and achieving highest growth of the customer in February and March months as per Trai report.
Quick Link – BSNL extends free roaming
Five Indian women die per hour in childbirth: WHO
According to WHO, nearly five women die every hour in India from complications developed during childbirth, with heavy blood loss caused by haemorrhage being a major factor. Nearly 45,000 mothers die due to causes related to childbirth every year in India which accounts for 17 per cent of such deaths globally, according to the global health body.
Quick Link – Five women die every hour
Centre cancels licence of Teesta Setalvad’s NGO
The FCRA licence of an NGO run by activist Teesta Setalvad was cancelled by the government for alleged violation of various provisions of law. In an order, the Home Ministry said during inspections, various irregularities were found in Sabrang Trust, where Ms. Teesta and her spouse Javed Anand work as chief functionary or trustee, and after careful examination of the NGO’s response, its registration was cancelled.
Quick Link – Teesta Setalvad
‘Vidyanjali’ school volunteer programme launched
To boost community participation in government schools, HRD ministry has launched Vidyanjali scheme inviting volunteers to hold public speaking, story telling, play acting sessions and participate in other co-scholastic activities. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani said 21 states and 2,200 schools will be participating in the pilot launch of the programme and hoped that by December it will be expanded to include every school in the country.
Quick Link – Vidyanjali
NITI Aayog to set up 500 ‘Atal Tinkering Labs’
To cultivate scientific temperament and a spirit of innovation in young minds, the NITI Aayog has decided to set up 500 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) in schools across the country. These laboratories will provide a work space to the young students for shaping their ideas by hands on doing themselves models and learning innovation skills. The vision of the scheme is to ‘Cultivate 1 Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators‘.
Quick Link – ATL
Facebook, Deepika launch suicide prevention tool
Social networking giant Facebook has introduced tools and educational resources to help people in India who may be struggling with self-injury or experiencing suicidal thoughts. These tools are already available in countries like the US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
First launched in the US with the help of Forefront, Lifeline and Save.org, the tools were developed in collaboration with mental health organisations and with inputs from people who have personal experience with self-injury and suicide.
Quick Link – Suicide prevention tool
IISc, IITs in top 50 QS Asia university rankings
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and four Indian Institutes of Technology – Mumbai, Delhi, Madras and Kanpur – have made it to the top 50 in the Quacquarelli Symonds University Rankings Asia 2016. The global higher education analysts had evaluated 920 universities from all over Asia for this year’s rankings. No Indian university made it to the top 10, though.
Quick Link – Asia university rankings
Railways signs pact with Odisha for rail infrastructure
Indian Railways has signed a pact with the Odisha government for setting up a joint venture company for development of rail infrastructure in the eastern state. Under the agreement, Railways will have 49 per cent stake while the state government will own 51 per cent in the JV company which will identify projects for development and mobilisation of financial resources for their execution.
Quick Link – Odisha for rail infrastructure
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Arktika, the most powerful nuclear icebreaker launched by Russia
Russia’s new Project 22220 nuclear-powered icebreaker dubbed “Arktika” was launched from the Baltic Shipyard in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg. Built at the Baltic Shipyard, which belongs to Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation, project 22220 is the world’s largest and most powerful vessel of its kind.
Quick Link – Arktika
FOREIGN RELATION
Airtel, Singtel partner for global data business
Singapore Telecommunications and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to deliver high-speed, secure enterprise data network coverage in the Asia-Pacific, West Asia, Africa, Europe and the US. The two companies have combined their resources into one network to provide data connectivity in 325 cities across the world through 370 points of presence (PoP). This will form one of the world’s largest Internet Protocol Virtual Private Networks (IP VPNs).
Quick Link – Global data business
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
New tools for energy-efficient mobile browsing
Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a new, open-source computer programming framework that could make the web significantly more energy efficient, allowing people to save more battery power while browsing on mobile devices.
Jupiter-like planet Kepler1647b orbiting two suns discovered
Scientists, using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, have discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a system of two stars, making it the largest such cosmic body ever found. The planet Kepler1647b, located in the constellation Cygnus, was discovered by astronomers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU) in in the US.
Quick Link – Kepler1647b
ENVIRONMENT
Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change
Australian researchers say rising sea levels have wiped out a rodent that lived on a tiny outcrop in the Great Barrier Reef, in what they say is the first documented extinction of a mammal species due to human-caused climate change.
The rodent was known to have lived only on Bramble Cay, a minuscule atoll in the northeast Torres Strait, between the Cape York Peninsula in the Australian state of Queensland and the southern shores of Papua New Guinea. The long-tailed, whiskered creature, called the Bramble Cay melomys, was considered the only mammal endemic to the Great Barrier Reef.
Quick Link – Great Barrier Reef
OBITUARY
Renowned Hindi writer Mudrarakshasa passes away
Distinguished Hindi writer, activist, thinker and cultural personality Mudrarakshasa passed away following a prolonged illness in Lucknow. He was 82. He has about 30 stage productions to his credit and his works of theatrical criticism include Rang Bhumikayen and a book on Nemichandra Jain.
Quick Link – Mudrarakshasa passes away
Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂
