Daily GK Update : 21st August 2017

Honours & Awards

1. K Chandrasekhar Rao gets global agriculture leadership award

• Chief Minister of Telangana ‘K Chandrashekhar Rao’ has been selected for the prestigious Agriculture Leadership Award-2017 for his innovative services rendered to the welfare of farmers and the farm sector.
• The Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) Committee headed by agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan has recommended the CM’s name.
• The award will be presented on 5th September at Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi.

Note:

• The award instituted by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) in 2008.

2. Indian-Origin Rahul Doshi Crowned Child Genius in UK

• Indian-origin school boy from north London Rahul Doshi (12-year) has been crowned as the UK’s ‘Child Genius’ in a popular television quiz competition.
• He won the Channel 4 show 'Child Genius' by defeating his nine-year-old opponent Ronan 10-4 in the programme's finale.
• Rahul has an IQ of 162, which is believed to be higher than the likes of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
• Now, he qualifies for a member of Mensa club, the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world.

Obituaries

3. US comedian Jerry Lewis passes away in Las Vegas

• Hollywood's one of the most successful comedians Jerry Lewis (91-years) passed away at his home in Las Vegas USA.
• He was started out on New York's Borscht Belt comedy circuit as a singer at the age of five.
• Jerry Lewis was one of the most popular comic actors of the 1950s and '60s.
• He became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, chalking up hits such as The Bell Boy, Cinderfella, and The Nutty Professor.

4. Polish-US writer Janusz Glowacki passes away

• Noted Polish-US playwright and screenwriter Janusz Glowacki (78-year) passed away.
• Glowacki was the author of award-winning plays “The Fourth Sister” and “Antigone in New York”.

Science & Defence

5. US and South Korea begin annual military exercises

• The United States (US) and South Korean forces have begun joint ‘Ulchi Freedom Guardian’ drills in the South (till 31st of this month).
• 17,500 US soldiers and about 50,000 South Korean troops are participating in the drill.
• This year's drills will center on war games to confirm arrangements to coordinate their command systems by using computers.

National Affairs

6. Mobile app for Karnataka teachers: Meghshala

• Social education start-up ‘Meghshala Trust’ has launched an offline mobile app ‘Meghshala’ on Google Play Store for Karnataka teachers.
• The app empowers teachers with the necessary tools and resources to create classroom learning experiences.
• It is preloaded with over 2,500 of Meghashala’s ‘TeachKits’, aligned to the Karnataka State curriculum for science, maths, English and social studies in Kannada, English, and Hindi.
• The teach kits will have new pedagogical techniques, teaching ideas, activities, videos, and pictures that help teachers engage with the students.

7. JP Nadda to launch 15 medical outlets of AMRIT Deendayal in Assam, UP & Punjab

• Today, the union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda has launched 15 medical outlets of ‘AMRIT Deendayal’ in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab through Video Conference from Shimla.
• Mr. Nadda has also inaugurated one outlet of AMRIT Deendayal at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla.
• The purpose of AMRIT Deendayal program is to provide a different kind of medicines and equipment’s on cheap rates to the patients.
• The discount up to 60% on MRP is provided to the patients.

Note:

• The flagship program was launched in November 2015 and 84 outlets have been opened in 18 states.
• During the period around 33 lakh patients were served medicines through these outlets which saved more than 170 crore rupees to them.

Banking & Finance

8. SBI, PNB account for 40% of bad loans

• State Bank of India(SBI) accounts for over 27% of the total amount owed to public-sector banks by wilful defaulters as many as 1,762 wilful defaulters owed SBI Rs 25,104 crore
• Punjab National Bank (PNB) is next on the list.
• Together these two banks account for 40% of the total outstanding loans.
• According to the Finance Ministry data, total outstanding loans due to PSU banks by wilful defaulters amounted to Rs. 92,376 crores.
• The total outstanding loans by wilful defaulters rose to Rd. 92,376 crore at the end of the financial year 2016-17, from Rs. 76,685 crores at the end of last fiscal 2015-16.

Note:

• Nonperforming assets- When loan interest/installment remained due more than 90 days
• Restructured loans- When loan is restructured by giving extra time, lower the interest rate etc.
• Written off assets- When inventory assets lose some or all their value.

Sports

9. Shapath Bharadwaj wins bronze at Junior Shotgun World Cup

• Shapath Bharadwaj (15-year) has won a bronze medal in the double trap event at the ISSF Junior Shotgun World Cup in Porpetto, Italy.
• Lakshay Sheoran and Manisha Keer combined to win a bronze in the mixed team trap competition.
• He shot a 48 in the final to finish behind gold-medal winning Briton James Dedman and silver medalist Finland's Miki Ylonen.

 "Thought of the Day"

“Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.”

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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: 19th August 2017 before attempting the quiz.