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
Neela Banerjee conferred with Edgar A Poe award
Neela Banerjee, an Indian-American journalist has been felicitated by US President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle. Neela Banerjee and three of her colleagues from Inside Climate News were presented with the prestigious Edgar A Poe award. The annual award by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) honours journalistic work of national or regional significance.
A Washington DC-based journalist Banerjee, before joining Inside Climate News, was energy and environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times’ Washington bureau. She covered global energy, the Iraq War and other issues with The New York Times. A graduate of Yale University, she also served as a Moscow correspondent with The Wall Street Journal.
Quick Link – Edgar A Poe award
IISc professor Sriram Ramaswamy became Royal Society Fellow
Physicist Sriram Ramaswamy, Director of TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad, has been elected as the Fellow of The Royal Society. His name appeared on the list of 50 new fellows and 10 new Foreign Members announced by the Royal Society. Besides, biochemist Ramanujan Hegde, MRC Laboratory of Microbiology, U.K. and applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, Harvard University, are the other two Indian names who were also elected as the fellows of the premier scientific academy of the U.K. and the Commonwealth.
Sriram directs the TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences in Hyderabad, and is on leave from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His research helped found the field of Active Matter, which studies the collective behaviour of objects, such as motile organisms.
Quick Link – Royal Society Fellow
INDIAN AFFAIRS
PM launches Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana at Ballia. The scheme aims to provide cooking gas connections to five crore below-poverty-line beneficiaries over the next three years. Noting that May 1st is observed as Labour Day, the Prime Minister said that in this century, the aim of all workers across the world should be to unite the world.
The Prime Minister recalled that Ballia is the land of the revolutionary Mangal Pandey, and said that while the development of Eastern Uttar Pradesh has suffered for decades, connectivity is now being strengthened in the region. He said the Union Government is allocating tremendous resources for the development of Uttar Pradesh. He mentioned the rapid progress that has been made in rural electrification. He said the fruits of development must reach the eastern part of India, for us to gain strength in the fight against poverty.
Quick Link – Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
Andhra Pradesh CM launched Chandranna Bima Yojana
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has launched Chandranna Bima Yojana in Vijayawada. The Yojna launched on the occasion of May Day is an insurance scheme for the working class people. The state government scheme will cover about 1.5 crore workers of the state. Under the scheme any insured worker who meets an accidental death and permanent disability will be paid 5 lakh rupees. That worker who suffers partial disability will be paid a sum of 3 lakh rupees.
The Chief Minister asked officials to conduct enumeration and enroll all the eligible workers under the scheme. He said, government would earmark 132 crore rupees for its implementation.
Quick Link – Chandranna Bima Yojana
India’s Kalvari stealth submarine starts sea trials
‘Kalvari’ (Tiger Shark), the first of the six French Scorpene class submarines being built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd for the Indian navy, went to sea for the first time. The submarine sailed out at about 10 am under her own propulsion for her first sea trial, off the Mumbai coast. During the sortie, a number of number of preliminary tests on the propulsion system, auxiliary equipment and systems, navigation aids, communication equipment and steering gear were performed, the official said, adding various standard operating procedures were also validated.
- Over the next few months, the submarine will undergo a barrage of sea, surface, diving, weapons, noise trials, etc testing her to the extremes of its intended operating envelop.
- Later, she will be commissioned into the Indian Navy, giving a major boost to the ‘Make In India’ initiative of the government.
Quick Link – Kalvari
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Craig Wright revealed as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto
Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has publicly identified himself as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. His admission follows years of speculation about who came up with the original ideas underlying the digital cash system. Mr Wright has provided technical proof to back up his claim using coins known to be owned by Bitcoin’s creator. Prominent members of the Bitcoin community and its core development team say they have confirmed his claims.
At the meeting with the BBC, Mr Wright digitally signed messages using cryptographic keys created during the early days of Bitcoin’s development. The keys are inextricably linked to blocks of bitcoins known to have been created or “mined” by Satoshi Nakamoto. Soon after Mr Wright went public, Gavin Andresen, chief scientist at the Bitcoin Foundation, published a blog backing his claim.
Quick Link – Bitcoin
Siddhartha Dhar a senior commander of ISIS: report
A Yazidi teenager who was held as a sex slave by Isis says she was kidnapped and trafficked by the British jihadist and likely masked executioner Siddhartha Dhar. Nihad Barakat said the man who is widely suspected to be the so-called “new Jihadi John” from Isis propaganda videos is now one of the most senior commanders among foreign fighters in Mosul, the group’s Iraqi stronghold. Dhar, a former British Hindu who preferred to go by the nickname Abu Rumaysah after his conversion to Islam, skipped police bail to travel to Syria with his wife and young children in 2014.
Nihad Barakat was held as a sex slave by the group, was quoted as saying by the Independent that she was kidnapped and trafficked by Siddhartha, who is now based in Mosul, the groups Iraqi stronghold. She spoke out in March about how she was beaten, raped and forced to marry a militant in Syria before she was able to escape – only to be recaptured and abused all over again, the second time becoming pregnant.
Quick Link – Siddhartha Dhar
FOREIGN RELATIONS
India and New Zealand ink deal for direct flights to boost tourism
India and New Zealand have signed an air services agreement in a bid to boost connectivity, tourism and trade between both countries. The agreement was signed by India’s Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan and Simon Bridges, Minister of Transport and Minister of Energy and Resources of New Zealand in Auckland. The ceremony took place in Auckland’s Langham Hotel.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key witnessed the exchange of agreement on air services. The agreement is set to improve better connectivity between the two countries especially for about 23, 000 Indian students studying in New Zealand. Air New Zealand, Air India and Singapore Airlines are among the operators which have the potential to run such a direct service. For code-sharing operations, India will have any point in New Zealand. As intermediate points, India can have Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok and any two points in Australia.
Quick Link – India and New Zealand
SIDBI inks MoU with SAARC Development Fund
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed an MoU with SAARC Development Fund (SDF) for mutual cooperation and collaboration. The MoU was signed by SIDBI Deputy Managing Director A K Kapur and SDF CEO Sunil Motiwal. The MoU envisages SDF and SIDBI to work together in co-funding of projects in Indian MSMEs on risk sharing basis in identified sectors. The MoU also focuses on the development of suitable financial products for SME financing for MSMEs of other Saarc states. The MoU further deals witt technology transfer and making available software to MFIs regarding loan tracking systems in other SAARC states.
Quick Link – SIDBI-SDF
Reliance Defence signed agreements with 3 Ukranian companies
Reliance Defence has signed an agreement with three Ukrainian state-owned firms — Ukroboronprom, Spetstechno Exports and Antonov — to collaborate on a range of military products including transport aircraft, armoured vehicles, maritime gas turbines and unmanned aerial vehicles. This follows Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani’s meeting with the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine this week, where they discussed issues of strategic interest between Indian and Ukrainian Defence and Aerospace industries.
- Under the agreement with Antonov, credited as the manufacturer of largest transport aircraft in the world, Reliance and Antonov will jointly bid for the Medium Military Transport Aircraft program of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
- Besides, both companies will also collaborate for the assembly and manufacture, and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of Antonov series of aircraft to address the requirements of the Indian market and agreed global markets.
Quick Link – Reliance Defence in 3 Ukranian companies
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ISIS developing Google-style driverless cars for attacks
ISIS technicians are working to develop a Google-style driverless car that could navigate itself into a crowded area before detonating an explosive device, a NATO security expert has warned. ISIS’s research and development department in the terror group’s de facto Syrian capital, Raqqa, is believed to be producing the vehicles at the same time as US Internet giant Google attempts to perfect the same technology.
If successful, the invention could prove to be a major headache for security services in Britain and throughout Europe and North America, where self-driving cars are expected to become commonplace. Thousands of driverless cars are expected to be on Britain’s roads within the next few years and there is a very real prospect ISIS fighters could prey on the new technology to launch attacks in the UK.
Quick Link – ISIS
World’s largest telescope may be set up in Ladakh
Hawaii’s loss may turn out to be Ladakh’s gain. After protests in Hawaii in the US against the proposed Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project, the largest to be built, alternative sites are being explored which includes Hanle in Ladakh. The project, aimed at exploring the universe, was to come up at Mauna Kea in Hawaii. But protests by the locals and indigenous population has stalled the project.
However, given the importance of the project, in terms of finance and its scientific value, the project partners are also looking at alternate sites, both in the northern and southern hemispheres. These include sites in Chile, Hanle, Ladakh and others which are all being evaluated for technical and logistical suitability.
Quick Link – TMT
SPORTS
Nico Rosberg wins Russian Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg dominated the Russian Grand Prix to take his fourth win in a row this season as Lewis Hamilton fought back to finish second. Hamilton started 10th after an engine failure in qualifying but after repairs he drove a superlative race to limit the damage to his title hopes. But Rosberg’s victory extended his championship lead to 43 points. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel crashed out on the first lap after being hit twice by Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat.
Hamilton closed dramatically on Rosberg in the mid-part of the race but had to back off to protect his engine. Last year’s Russian Grand Prix was held later in the season, with Hamilton taking his ninth win before going on to clinch the title at the next round in Austin.
Quick Link – Russian Grand Prix
Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂
