Daily GK Update - 15th March 2017

Appointments

1. Manohar Parrikar sworn in as the Chief Minister of Goa.

• Manohar Parrikar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Goa for the 4^th
• BJP had secured 13 seats in the Goa elections, second to Congress with 17 seats, but was successful in forming a ruling alliance.
• Out of the 9 council of ministers, BJP has only 2 more ministers apart from Parrikar, Francis D’Souza and Padurang Madkaikar.

 2. Union Government appoints Narendra Kumar as the Chairman of Central Water Commission.

• Narendra Kumar is a Central Water Engineering Service Officer of 1979 batch and he became a member of CWC (River Management) in October 2014.
• He took over G. S. Jha, upon his superannuation.

National Affairs

3. Lok Sabha passed Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016

• The aim of the bill is to establish a legal framework, in order to consolidate the existing laws related to admiralty jurisdiction of courts, admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, arrest of vessels and related issues.
• The Bill also provides for prioritization of maritime claims and maritime liens while providing protection to owners, charterers, operators, crew members and seafarers at the same time.

 4. India’s largest floating solar plant installed in Kerala by NTPC.

• The floating photovoltaic project, installed by NTPC at Kayamkulam, has a capacity of 100 Kilowatt.
• NETRA (NTPC Energy Technology Research Allaince, the R&D unit of NTPC has developed this technology, in collaboration with CIPET (Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology).

 5. Enemy property bill passed by Lok Sabha.

• Lok Sabha passed the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2006 after incorporating the changes made by Rajya Sabha.
• The act provides for the prevention of claims to any properties in India by the successors of people who migrated to Pakistan and China during partition.

International Affairs

6. World Consumer Rights Day observed.

• 15 March is observed as the World Consumer Rights Day to mark the date in 1962 when John F. Kennedy, US President, first gave the definition of Consumer Rights, with four basic consumer rights – Right to Safety, Right to Choose, Right to Information and Right to be Heard.
• Theme for World Consumer Rights Day this year is ‘Building a digital world consumers can trust’.

7. Joanna Rowsell Shand, Double Olympic Gold Medalist retires.

• Joanna also won 5 world titles in her 10 year long international cycling career.
• She fetched gold in cycling in Olympics of London 2012 and Rio 2016.
• She belongs to Great Britain.

8. Google marks the 140 years of Test Cricket with a Doodle.

• The first ever, officially recognised test cricket match was played between the England and Australian Team from 15^th – 19^th March at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• The match was won by Australian Team by 45 runs in 1877.
• Charles Bannerman scored 165 runs to become the first centurion.

 9. Final approval for Brexit Bill announced by UK Government.

• UK House of Lords has given its final approval for the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union.
• A royal assent is now awaited for the legislation, post which Prime Minister Theresa May would be free to withdraw the country from the world’s largest economic union and begin a 2 year negotiation period as mentioned in the Article 50 of European Union’s Lisbon Treaty.

Awards and Honors

10. IIT Madras awarded IEEE’s ‘Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society’.

• The honour has been presented by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
• The award was presented for a solar direct current power unit developed by IIT Madras.

"Thought of the Day"

“You will never have this day again, So, make it count”

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GK Quiz (for previous day’s news only) Take the quiz below to find out how well-versed you are with current affairs. You can also go through the Daily GK Update: 13-14th March 2017 before attempting the quiz.