Daily GK Update : 11th May 2017

Important Dates

1. National Technology Day observed today

• The ‘National Technology Day’ is being celebrated every year on 11^th May by the Ministry of Science and Technology to commemorate achievements of innovation and technology in the country.
• This year’s theme for celebrations of the Technology Day is ‘Technology for inclusive and sustainable growth’.

Note:

• The day celebrate the anniversary of first of the five tests of Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear test, held on 11th May 1998 in Pokhran, Rajasthan.

National Appointment 

2. Sanjay Mitra appointed as new Defense Secretary

• The appointments Committee of the cabinet has approved the appointment of senior IAS officer (1982-West Bengal cadre) Sanjay Mitra (58- year) as the new defence secretary for two years tenure.
• He will take over as the secretary after G Mohan Kumar (incumbent) completes his tenure on 24th May.
• Earlier, He was the secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways.

Note:

• The Defence Secretary is the head of the Department of Defence is the senior most civil servant in the Ministry and is responsible for co-coordinating the activities of the four Departments in the Ministry.
• Defence Secretary is assisted by Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries to Government of India posted in the Ministry.

National Affairs

3. Govt. sets up a high-level task force to compute timely data on employment

• The union govt. has set up a high-level task force under the chairmanship of Arvind Panagariya (NITI Aayog's vice chairman ) to compute timely data on employment in the country.
• It will help government to frame policies and take steps that can create jobs in the country.
• The other members of the task force are Sathiyavathy (labour secretary), T.C.A. Ananth (secretary statistics), Pulak Ghosh(NITI Aayog) and Manish Sabharwal (member RBI Board).

4. Home Minister launches MHA Grievances Redressal App & BSFMyApp

• Th Union Home Minister ‘Rajnath Singh’ has inaugurated two important mobile applications ‘MHA Grievances Redressal App’ and ‘BSFMyApp’ in New Delhi.
• Now, all the Paramilitary Force Jawans and BSF personnel will be able to raise their problems on ‘BSFMyApp’.
• An arrangement has been made in this app that the Jawans download it and then verify it.

5. Ahmedabad to host biggest ever International Yoga Day event

• According to the Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev ‘Ahmedabad’ will host the biggest ever International Yoga Day event on the 21st June this year.
• About 5 lakh people will be participate in the event.
• This will be a non-political programme in partnership with Gujarat government which will also involve various social organizations.
• GMDC ground and AES ground of Ahmedabad will jointly host the event.

Note:

• On 11^th December in 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21st as the International Day of Yoga.

6. Punjab CM approves online transfer policy for teacher

• The Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh has approved a policy for online transfer of government teachers from the next academic session.
• Singh also suggested posting of teachers, especially in primary schools, in their villages or surrounding areas to enable them to discharge their duties with dedication and honesty.
• He has also directed the inclusion of foreign languages such as Chinese, Japanese, French and German as optional subject in the school curriculum from class X onwards to enable students to complete globally.

Banking & Finance

7. I-T dept launches e-facility to link person's Aadhaar with PAN

• The Income Tax (I-T) department has launched a new e-facility to link a person's Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number(PAN) a mandatory procedure for filing IT returns now.
• The department's e-filing website https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in has created a new link on its homepage making it easy to link the two unique identities of an individual.
• The link requires a person to punch in his PAN number, Aadhaar number and the exact name as given in the Aadhaar card.

Note:

• The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of income tax returns.
• Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017.

8. DIPAM launches online investor facilitation platform

• The Finance Ministry has set up an Investor Facilitation Platform to provide information about stocks of public sector units.
• The platform will be an interactive forum for all stakeholders, including investors, investment banks, law firms, public sector units and administrative ministries that are involved in stake sales.
• All users will have to register on the platform, which will then be authorized by Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

Sports

9. Shashank Manohar set to complete his full term as ICC Chairman

• According to International Cricket Council (ICC) Shashank Manohar (ICC chairman) will complete his term which runs till June 2018.
• Last March, Manohar had decided to step down from chairman's post citing personal reasons.

Note:

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965 and took up its current name in 1989.

10. India's Harpreet Singh wins bronze in Greco-Roman weight category

• India's Harpreet Singh has won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman weight divisions of Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi.
• He beat his rival Jun Ji Na(China) in 80 kg category.
• Gurpreet had earlier entered the bronze medal play-off round of Greco-Roman weight divisions in the 75 Kg category.
• India had bagged 9 medals (1 Gold, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze) in the last edition of the tournament in Bangkok.

Note:

• The 2017 Asian Wrestling Championships at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi in India.
• The event will took place from May 10 to May 14, 2017

 "Thought of the Day"

“Life is for one generation; a good name is forever.”

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