Daily GK Update : 4th August 2017

National Appointment

1. Mohammad Mustafa appointed as CMD of SIDBI

• Senior bureaucrat Mohammad Mustafa (1995 batch-IAS officer of UP Cadre) has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for a period of three years.
• Earlier, Mustafa was working as a Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services.
• In 2014-2015, Mohammad served as the Chairman of the Board of National Housing Bank.

Note:

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is an independent financial institution aimed to aid the growth and development of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) in India.

National Affairs

2. 2nd Agri UDAAN, food & agribusiness accelerator program to be launched

• The union govt. has launched 2^nd ‘AGRI-UDAAN’ program to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture in New Delhi.
• It will mentor start-ups and help them connect with potential investors.
• The program focuses on catalyzing scale-up stage food and agribusiness start-ups through rigorous mentoring, industry networking and investor pitching.
• This 6-month program is a unique platform for scale up stage innovators, entrepreneurs and startups in the Food and Agribusiness sectors.

Note:

• The application will be available at www.aidea.naarm.org.in and top 40 startups will be shortlisted and allowed to pitch in front of panel of evaluators during cohort finalization programme.
• About 8 to 12 startups will be selected for a final cohort for capacity building workshop.

3. Government disinvests 6.83% of equity in Hindustan Copper Limited

• The union Govt. has disinvested 6.83% of the paid up equity in Hindustan Copper Limited through offer for Sale.
• Govt. is likely to get approximately 400 crore rupees from this disinvestment.
• The floor price was fixed at 64.75 rupees per share and retail investors were offered a discount of 5% on the cut off price for the Non-Retail Category.
• The retail portion of HCL got good response from the retail investors and the revised offer size of 1.26 crore shares also got fully subscribed.

4. Bihar govt decides compulsory retirement for non-performing teachers above 50 years

•  Bihar Govt. has decided to compulsory retire non-performing head masters, teachers, and education department officials above the age of 50 years.
• Those teachers had failed thrice in the assessment test would also be removed.
• The state government is in process of identifying non-performing institutions and all those responsible for a poor show will be given compulsory retirement.
• The government will also go in for the merger of two or more schools in the same building in urban areas. The surplus teacher will be relocated elsewhere for rationalization.

5. Maharashtra govt gives the approval to pay compensation to tune of Rs 142 Cr to toll operators

•  The Maharashtra cabinet has given its approval to pay compensation to the tune of 142 crore rupees to the toll operators in the state for the losses they suffered during the demonetization period last year.
• During the demonetization, toll operators were told to stop collecting toll as there was a shortage of cash with the public.
• They were also given the commitment to be compensated for their losses.

Note:

• Toll operators were shut between 9th November and 30^th November last year to avoid inconveniencing people who were short of cash after demonetization.

6. Tata Memorial ties up with IDA for prevention of oral cancer

• Tata Memorial Centre has joined hands with the Indian Dental Association (IDA) to start India's first digital initiative for prevention and early detection of oral cancer.
• Tata Memorial Centre and The Indian Dental Association (IDA) together have launched a special course on ‘Oral Cancer’ on 27th last month.
• The day is celebrated as the World Head and Neck Cancer Day to create awareness and early detection of oral cancer.
• The IDA is the largest recognized body of dental professionals in India with a presence in 29 states and seven Union Territories and over 450 local branches spread across the country.

7. Govt. proposes to establish 14 new AIIMS

• According to health Minster JP Nadda, the union Govt. has proposed to establish an additional 14 new AIIMS under various phases of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana in different parts of the country.
• An additional 1,563 new beds will be added in the existing capacity of AIIMS at Delhi and 73 existing medical institutions are being upgraded by setting up of super specialty blocks, trauma centres in the country.

8. Helitaxi service launched by MoS for Civil Aviation Jayanth Sinha in Bengaluru

• Today, the union minister of state for Civil Aviation Jayanth Sinha has launched ‘helitaxi service’ for Civil Aviation Jayanth Sinha in Bengaluru.
• The helicopter service will provide air transit from Kempegowda International airport to Electronic City within Bengaluru city.
• The commercial operations will begin in another couple of months.

Science & Defence

9. Israel launches first environmental research satellite VENμS

• Israel launched the country’s first environmental research satellite from a launch site in French Guiana.
• It in a joint venture between the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and its French counterpart CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales).
• The goal of the VENµS satellite is to obtain high-resolution photographs of specific sites to track environmental issues such as desertification, erosion, pollution, natural disasters, and other phenomena linked to climate change.
• The satellite uses an Israeli-developed electrical propulsion system that allows it to navigate with more accuracy than older satellites.

10. ISRO, NASA working towards realization of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar Mission by 2021

• ISRO and NASA are working towards the realization of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission by 2021.
• In the mission, NASA is responsible for the development of L-band SAR and ISRO is responsible for the development of S-band SAR.
• It will be integrated with ISRO’s spacecraft and launched on board India’s GSLV.
• It will also provide variety the coastal erosion, coastline changes, assessment of mangroves, surface deformation studies and ice sheet dynamics.

Note:

• The L & S band microwave data obtained from the satellite will be used for the variety of application, which includes estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods & oil slicks.

Sports

11. World Athletics Championships begins in London

• The ten days grand event World Athletics Championships will begin in London.
• 25 Indian athletes are taking part in this event.
• India has taken part in every championship since the first one in 1983.
• Legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George's bronze in Paris 2003 has been the lone medal at this global stage.

12. Manju Kumari wins bronze medal at Jr World Wrestling C'ship

• India's Manju Kumari has won the bronze medal with a 2-0 victory over Ilona Prokopevniuk of Ukraine in the Junior World Wrestling Championship in Tampere, Finland.
• Manju, competing in 59kg, started her campaign off with a dominating 5-1 victory over Bulgaria's Aleksandrina Nikolaeva Kashinova but was outclassed 0-10 by Japan's Yuzuru Kumano in her quarterfinal bout.
• In her repechage bout, Manju got the better of Tianna Grace Kennett of Canada 4-0 to storm into the bronze-medal playoffs.

 "Thought of the Day"

“Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.”

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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: 2nd August 2017 before attempting the quiz.