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
Indian scientist bags SGD 3 mn grant from Singapore’s NRF
Dr. Manvendra K Singh, an Indian scientist from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur city, has been awarded a grant of SGD 3mn (about Rs. 14.7 crore) by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, to research in congenital and adult cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Singh, who works as an assistant professor in the cardiovascular and metabolic disorders programme at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, said he is among the seven young scientists from across the world to be endowed with the Singapore NRF fellowship to carry out cutting-edge research this year.
Quick Link – SGD 3 mn
APPOINTMENTS
Senior Advocate Atma Ram Nadkarni appointed as Additional Solicitor General
Senior advocate of Bombay High Court Atma Ram Nadkarni has been appointed as Additional Solicitor General. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Nadkarni as Additional Solicitor General in Supreme Court for a period of three years. An Additional Solicitor General acts as law officer to advice the Central government on various legal matters. Solicitor General and Additional Solicitor Generals assist the government’s top legal adviser Attorney General.
Quick Link – Atma Ram Nadkarni as Additional Solicitor General
Mrugank Paranjape took charge as MD and CEO of MCX
Deutsche Bank executive Mrugank Paranjape took over as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), which has been headless for two years. For the past two years, the affairs of the exchange had been handled by joint managing director P.K. Singhal, who was re-deisgnated as the president and whole-time director of the exchange on 1 April.
Prior to joining MCX, Paranjape was the India Head of DB Centre of Deutsche Bank across all business divisions and business aligned control functions for 14 years.
- Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) is an independent commodity exchange based in India.
- It was established in 2003 and is based in Mumbai.
- It is India’s largest commodity futures exchange and the turnover of the exchange for the year 2015 was 55.52 trillion rupees (865.55 billion US dollars).
Quick Link – Mrugank Paranjape as MD and CEO of MCX
BANKING AND FINANCE
Wilful defaulters’ list to be made public :RBI
Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said the central bank is working on a new system for making public the list of wilful defaulters and new mechanism for out-of-court settlement of bad loan-related disputes. The central bank was in favour of protecting privacy in cases where there is no wrongdoing, he said, adding a blanket edict that everybody’s name should be made public on the website might not be desirable. He further said it might not be correct to flash the name of all and sundry, including those who forgot to pay their credit bills.
Indian banks are grappling with record non-performing assets as several projects have failed to take off and several companies are saddled with excessive debt but low revenue flow from their businesses as demand too has remained weak. RBI has been pushing banks to classify several accounts as non-performing, which has impacted the profitability of lenders and pushed several of them – from Bank of Baroda and Bank of India to IDBI and Indian Overseas Bank into losses.
Quick Link – Wilful defaulters
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Parliament Passes Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2016
Hijacking of an aircraft will now entail capital punishment in the event of death of “any person” as Parliament passed a bill to provide widen the ambit of the law in dealing with this crime. The Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014, was approved by the Lok Sabha by voice vote. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha earlier. In the earlier bill, hijackers could be tried for death penalty only in the event of death of hostages, such as flight crew, passengers and security personnel.
In the amended law, the definition has been expanded to include death of ground staff as well. Following the amendments, the perpetrators of hijacking would now be punishable with death penalty where such an act result in the death of “any person”. Under the bill, any aid to the hijacker will be prosecuted for abetting the crime. Directing someone else to commit or agreeing with the crime is also an offence under the Anti-Hijacking Bill
Quick Link – Anti-Hijacking Bill
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte wins the Philippines Presidential Election
Maverick anti-crime candidate Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte has won the Philippine presidential elections, following the withdrawal of his opponents. Although the official result has not yet been declared, main rival Mar Roxas admitted defeat after polls gave Mr Duterte an unassailable lead. Mr Duterte said he accepted the mandate with “extreme humility”. The 71-year-old stirred controversy during campaigning with his incendiary comments.
He has credited his success to his tough stance on law and order. His record as the crime-crushing mayor of the southern town of Davao, once notorious for its lawlessness, earned him the moniker The Punisher and resonated with voters.
Quick Link – Digong
World Migratory Bird Day : May 10
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) was initiated in 2006 and is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. Each year, on the second weekend in May, people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions to celebrate WMBD.
2016 Theme : Stop the Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds
World Migratory Bird Day has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.
Quick Link – WMBD
Indian-origin Murali Pillai elected to Singapore Parliament
An Indian-origin man from Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) was elected member of the parliament following his victory in the by-election held at suburban Bukit Batok constituency. Murali Pillai garnered 61.21% of the votes, while Singapore Democratic Party’s Chee Soon Juan got 38.79% of votes. The Elections Department said a total of 24,192 votes were cast, including 622 rejected votes, which made up 94.03% of the 25,727 registered electors. Chee, a vociferous opposition leader, had challenged the ruling party in the one-on-one contest.
The Bukit Batok single seat was vacated when previous PAP MP David Ong resigned in March, following an alleged extramarital affair with a PAP activist. PAP, led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has absolute majority in the house.
Quick Link – Murali Pillai to Singapore Parliament
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Google launches Free Public Wi-Fi Service at 5 Railway Stations
Google has announced the launch of its free high-speed public Wi-Fi service at Ujjain, Jaipur, Patna, Guwahati and Allahabad railway stations. This is in continuation with its project to provide high-speed public Wi-Fi service at 100 Railway stations across India by end of the year. Google said it has been deploying the service over the extensive fibre network of Indian Railway’s arm Railtel which provides Internet services as RailWire.
Stating that Google is committed to working with Indian Railways and Railtel to deliver high-speed Wi-Fi network that will be available to 10 million Indians by the end of the year, covering 100 of the busiest train stations in India, it said the project will be eventually rolled out to cover 400 train stations across India.
Quick Link – Wi-Fi at 5 Railway Stations
Oxygen on Mars detected by flying space observatory
For the first time in 40 years, NASA researchers have detected atomic oxygen in Mars‘ atmosphere, thanks to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which soars on a plane 13.7 kilometres (45,000 feet) above Earth.
The oxgyen atoms were found in the Martian upper atmosphere – known as the mesosphere – and the discovery could help astronomers identify how gases escaped from the Red Planet long ago. While this is super exciting for our understanding of Mars – humanity’s potential new home – the researchers found only half the amount of oxygen they expected, but this could be the result of variations in the atmosphere. The last time atomic oxygen was observed in the Martian atmosphere was during the Viking and Mariner missions of the 1970s.
Quick Link – SOFIA
SPORTS
Djokovic beats Murray to win record 29th Masters
Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Madrid Open final to win a record 29th career Masters title. Djokovic saved seven break points in the final game and converted on his third match point of the night to secure the win over the defending champion, moving one victory ahead of Rafael Nadal in Masters tournament victories. It was Djokovic’s second title in Madrid, and fifth of the year this season. He reached 33 wins, the most on tour in 2016.
The top-ranked Serb has won four of the past five Masters titles, including three this year. He had already won in Indian Wells and Miami, and had also clinched the Australian Open in a final against Murray. Djokovic had won in Madrid for the first time in 2011.
Quick Link – Djokovic beats Murray
Shashank Manohar steps down as BCCI president
Shashank Manohar has stepped down as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) barely seven months after his appointment for a second term in place of the late Jagmohan Dalmiya. He is all set to take over as the first independent chairman of the International Cricket Council. Manohar leaves at a time when the Board is being directed to comply with the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha panel’s reform recommendations.
- As per norms, Manohar has also resigned from the ICC chairman’s post as he was a BCCI representative at the apex body and resignation in a country’s board effectively means that he does not stay as ICC’s chairman.
- His tenure was supposed to end in June 2016, after which he was set to take over as the first independent chairman of ICC.
Quick Link – Shashank Manohar steps down
OBITUARY
Former MLA Rajeshwara Rao passes away
Veteran freedom fighter and former Sircilla MLA Chennamaneni Rajeshwara Rao was passed away at 93 in Hyderabad following prolonged illness. The senior leader, who is the elder brother of present Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, is survived by wife and a son. Rao hailed from Marpaka village of Vemulawada mandal in Karimnagar district and participated in Telangana’s armed struggle against the Nizam.
- He started his political career as a communist and was elected as a CPI legislator from Sircilla assembly constituency in Karimnagar in 1967, 1978, 1985 and 1994 assembly elections.
- Subsequently, he quit the party and represented TDP from Sircilla seat till 2004 before he took retirement from active politics.
- His only son Ch Ramesh is a TRS MLA from Vemulawada assembly constituency in Karimnagar district.
Quick Link – Rajeshwara Rao passes away
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