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!!!
APPOINTMENTS
Obama appoints Indian-American Manjit Singh to key administration post
US President Barack Obama has appointed an Indian-American engineer to a key administration post. Manjit Singh, co-founder of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund has been appointed as the member of President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
President of Agilious, a software technology consulting firm he founded in 2013, Mr Singh is also the co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national Sikh American media, policy and education organization. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation and also as a Member-at-Large of The Board of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan in Washington.
Quick Link – Manjit Singh to administration post
Anil Kumble re-appointed ICC Cricket Committee chairman
Former India captain Anil Kumble has been re-appointed ICC Cricket Committee chairman for a second term of three years while his one-time team-mate and batting great Rahul Dravid was named member of the top panel. Kumble, the all-time highest wicket-taker for India, who was appointed as the chairman for his first term in 2012, will now continue to head the panel until 2018.
Meanwhile, another former India captain Dravid and ex-Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene have been appointed to the ICC Cricket Committee, adding even more cricketing experience to the list of eminent people already on the panel.
Dravid has been elected by the current Test captains as current player representatives, replacing former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, who has completed his final three-year term.
Quick Link – Anil Kumble re-appointed as ICC chairman
Fatma Samoura named first female secretary general of FIFA Council
FIFA named an African woman with no experience in soccer administration as its second most powerful official. This is one of the changes made by the sport’s ruling body to move on from a major corruption scandal. However, FIFA’s Congress also passed a resolution which gives its board, known as the FIFA Council, the power to fire the heads of its independent committees at almost any time.
Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura of Senegal, the United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative in Nigeria, was appointed as secretary general and will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation. Samoura’s appointment was announced by president Gianni Infantino, hosting his first Congress since he was elected in February to lead the scandal-plagued federation out of its crisis.
Quick Link – Fatma Samoura as first female secretary general of FIFA
BANKING AND FINANCE
ICICI Bank launches country’s first contactless credit card for SMEs
ICICI Bank has launched the country’s first contactless business credit card in association with Jet Airways for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their employees. Christened ‘Jet Airways ICICI Bank Business Advantage Card’, India’s largest private sector bank said this co-branded credit card will help customers to save on their business expenses.
It will also provide customers opportunities to earn JPMiles on both spends as well as repayments of credit card on a list of business expense categories, including travel, dining, office stationery, online advertising and vendor payments. The reward will be in the form of JPMiles, that is allocated to both the SME and the cardholder/s as per the Miles Split Ratio Module (MSRM) chosen by the SME.
Quick Link – First contactless credit card
INDIAN AFFAIRS
Cabinet Approvals
The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for signing an inter-governmental agreement between India and Mauritius on cooperation in cooperatives and related fields. The agreement promotes cooperation through short and medium term programmes. It will be will be for five years after which it will be automatically extended for another five years. A work plan will be drawn up between the two parties to give effect to the objectives of the agreement.
Quick Link – Cabinet Approvals
SC upholds constitutional validity of penal laws on defamation
The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of penal provisions on defamation law, observing that the right to freedom of speech is “not an absolute right“. The bench passed the judgement on a batch of petitions filed by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and others.
Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC, dealing with the criminal defamation, and section 119 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are constitutionally valid, the court ruled. Section 500 deals with the provision of punishment for defamation which entails upto two years imprisonment or fine or both.
Quick Link – Penal laws on defamation
NITI Aayog to replace 5-year plans with 15-year vision document
The National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has decided to get rid of the Nehruvian five-year plans, and replace them with 15-year vision documents. These will be framed keeping in mind the country’s social goals and the sustainable development agenda. According to a senior official, the issue was discussed at length and a decision was taken at the highest level.
The NITI Aayog has been directed to prepare a vision document at the earliest. The current 12th Five-Year Plan will be terminated in the current financial year, 2016-17. The first 15-year vision document will start from 2017-18, along with a seven-year National Development Agenda which will lay down the schemes, programmes and strategies to achieve the long-term vision.
Quick Link – NITI Aayog
Cabinet approves country’s first National Intellectual Property Rights Policy
The Cabinet has approved the national intellectual property rights (IPR) policy with a view to promoting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. The aim is to create awareness about economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs among all sections of society.
The Policy, to be reviewed every five years, aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial asset, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, while protecting public interest including ensuring the availability of essential and life-saving drugs at affordable prices.
Quick Link – IPR
India inks Project Collaboration Agreement with WHO
India has signed an agreement with World Health Organisation for cooperation in promoting traditional medicine, a move which will deliver for the first time WHO benchmark document for training in yoga, ayurveda, unani and panchakarma. AYUSH Ministry and WHO have signed a historic Project Collaboration Agreement (PCA) for cooperation on promoting the quality, safety and effectiveness of service provision in traditional and complementary medicine.
Quick Link – India with WHO
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Italian Parliament approves same-sex civil unions
After decades of struggle by gay rights groups, and months of contested political negotiations, the Italian Parliament gave final approval to a law recognizing civil unions of same-sex couples. The vote — 372 to 51, with 99 abstentions — was followed by long applause in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament. At the Trevi Fountain in Rome, people with rainbow flags gathered to celebrate.
It was a historic occasion for a nation that is still dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, which opposed the measure, and where traditional family norms are still strong. It was also a victory for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who supported the bill.
Quick Link – Same-sex civil unions
Kenya to close Dadaab, world’s biggest refugee camp
The Kenyan government will close Dadaab refugee camp, which has hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees and is often referred to as the world’s largest camp, the East African country’s interior security minister. The decision has been condemned by domestic and international rights groups and organizations dealing with refugees.
- Dadaab camp, with an estimated 328,000 refugees mostly from Somalia, compromises Kenya’s security because it harbors some of Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamic extremists and is a conduit for smuggling weapons.
- Recently the Kenyan government announced it intends to close Dadaab as well as Kakuma, a refugee camp housing 190,000 people, mostly South Sudanese fleeing civil war.
- The UN has urged Kenya to reconsider its decision to close Dadaab camp.
Quick Link – World’s biggest refugee camp
US activates land-based missile defence station in Romania
The US has activated a land-based missile defence station in Romania, which will form part of a larger and controversial European shield. The US says the Aegis system is a shield to protect Nato countries from short and medium-range missiles, particularly from the Middle East. But Russia sees it as a security threat – a claim denied by Nato.
Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula in 2014. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other senior officials from the military alliance attended the opening ceremony at an old Romanian air base in Deveselu., 180km (110 miles) south-west of Bucharest.
Quick Link – Defence station in Romania
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Everything you need to know about 2016 Red Flag Aerial combat exercise
Red Flag Alaska 16-1, which was an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska (a successor to the previous COPE THUNDER exercise series) held in the Alaska region, concluded on 14 May 16. The main phase of the exercise had commenced on 28 Apr 16 with a mix of combat and support elements participating from IAF, USAF and USN. Over the last decade, IAF has been actively participating in various operational exercises hosted by various countries wherein its capabilities has been pitted against the best air forces in the world.
Quick Link – Red Flag Aerial combat
PM Modi, Sri Lankan President release Simhastha Declaration
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena have released ‘Simhastha Declaration’ at Ninora village in Ujjain. Both leaders addressed the concluding session of the three day International Vichar Mahakumbh held on side-lines of the month-long Simhastha mela. PM Narendra Modi in his address appealed saints to conduct Vichar Kumbh every year with devotees and discuss social issues like the need to educate the girl child or plant trees. He also called Kumbh as the biggest example of excellent management and he advised academic institutions to adopt Kumbh as a management case study.
Quick Link – Simhastha Declaration
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ISRO’s big leap, embarks on launching Indian space shuttle!
For the very first time in its history, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is actually growing wings as it embarks this month on a never before space flight that would make history. The Indian space agency is all set to undertake the maiden launch of its very own indigenous version of a space shuttle, a fully made-in-India effort. Scientists at ISRO believe that they could reduce the cost of launching stuff into space by as much as 10 times if reusable technology succeeds, bringing it down to USD 2,000 per kg.
Quick Link – ISRO’s big leap
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