Daily GK Update - Current Affairs

Daily GK Update - Current Affairs - 12th January 2016

1. Union Railway Ministry inaugurated Implementation of E-enabled Track Management System

i. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 11 January 2016 inaugurated implementation of E-enabled Track Management System (TMS) and Mobile Application of TMS on Indian Railway at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.

ii. Indian Railways brought in these initiatives to bring efficiency and effectiveness in management practices which involve handling of huge volumes of data statistics as well as dynamic analysis of various measurement and defects and planning, deployment of large resources.

iii. Along with these two initiatives, the minister also inaugurated pilot implementation of Track Inventory Management System on Northern Railway to track materials inventory, construction and track machines organization in entire 225 units of Northern Railway.

iv. It is an important milestone in promoting e-working in civil engineering department of Indian Railways. It is implemented on all the 68 divisions of Indian Railways. With the implementation of this system, various activities of Track Inspection, Monitoring and Maintenance came on IT platform. It is the first of its kind Organization Wide Asset Management IT Application.

v. It is designed for decentralization of data capturing and speedy information dissemination along with centralized data keeping and analysis. It will eliminate more than 100000 manual record keeping registers and make the area of working almost paperless. It provides alerts in the form of Short Message Services (SMS) and E-mails to all concerned officials right from Junior Engineer in field upto the Railway Board.

vi. Database and application servers are established in CRIS Data Center at Delhi. Required infrastructure like Netbooks/mini laptops along with requisite Internet connectivity/mobile data cards provided to all Junior and Senior Engineers.

2. ADB to fund $840-m corridor between Vizag, Chennai

i. The Asian Development Bank will extend a $625 million loan to the proposed $840 million Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, according to Teresa Kho, Country Director – India, ADB. She said the industrial corridor, meant to boost manufacturing activity and help economic growth of the hinterland, will have four nodes: Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Gannavaram-Kankipadu, and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti.

ii. The building blocks of the corridor would be node-centred development and trade and transport. The VCIC, she said, was anchored on nearly 800 km of National Highway 16, which was highly congested. Arterial roads would have to be developed. The VCIC would be part of the proposed East Coast Economic Corridor, from Kolkata in West Bengal to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Kho said, addressing a plenary session, ‘Sunrise Andhra Pradesh: turning aspirations into reality’, at the CII Partnership Summit now underway here.

iii. M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister, said the Housing and Urban Development Corporation would help build Andhra Pradesh’s capital at Amaravati with an assistance of Rs. 7,500 crore. Naidu said a metro rail was under consideration for Visakhapatnam, while tenders would be invited for one in Vijayawada.

iv. He and Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha emphasised that the Centre would provide assistance to Andhra Pradesh. They pointed out that like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State had an able and decisive leader in Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Thanks to this, Andhra Pradesh would be at the forefront of India’s economic growth, he said.

v. Outlining his vision for Andhra Pradesh’s development, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said this time around his strategy would be to go in for inclusive growth.

3. Constro 2016 to focus on 'Smart City' concept

i. The 2016 edition of the Constro exhibition will be held in Pune from January 14-17 and will focus on the Smart City concept. Organised by the Pune Construction Engineering Research Foundation (PCERF), this is the 14th edition of the bi-annual event which is one of the biggest international fairs on construction machinery, materials, methods and projects.

ii. Shrikant Nivasarkar, President, PCERF, said, “In view of Government’s mission of creating 100 smart cities, ‘Constro 2016’ will focus on two themes: 'Emerging Technologies for Smart City’ and ‘Skill Development'.”

iii. The exhibition will provide an insight of the current state of the modern city and the measures that need to be taken to create a smart city. It will consist of six pavilions, and 250 stalls with a special focus on featuring the tools and materials connected with skill development.

iv. The other highlights include a seminar series and a display and demonstration of wall & floor tiling and bricklaying by Parshuram Naik, a bronze medallist who won the Bricklaying Medallion of Excellence in Brazil.

4. Telangana became first State to make gender education compulsory at graduate level

i. Telangana became the first State in India to introduce compulsory gender education at the graduate level. In this regard, the state in second week of January 2016 introduced a bilingual textbook titled, Towards a World of Equals. The book was introduced on a pilot basis in engineering colleges affiliated to the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU-Hyderabad).

ii. The book discusses gender in its composite form without limiting itself to crime against women. The book attempts to cover information on unacknowledged women writers of Telangana to problems of sex selection and women’s work in politics and economics.

iii.  It also touches upon complex subjects like female-centric history and male-female relationships. The book is structured in simple language and form to suit under-graduates. The book discusses different strands of women’s movements across the world, introducing students to political movements of Afro-American, Caribbean, African, Dalit and minority women.

iv. The book is coupled with a collection of visual teaching tools which include documentary films. The book is being taught over 14 weeks in a semester at the rate of two classes per week.

5. Ashish Saraf appointed as Airbus Group’s vice president

i. Airbus Group on 11 January 2016 announced the appointment of Ashish Saraf as Vice-President - Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships and Offsets.

ii. Saraf will look over the Group's existing Make in India initiatives and conceive new ones for all the businesses of Airbus Group India with the aim to increase their industrial footprint in the country. The move comes close on the heels of Airbus Group uniting its Divisions in India under a single company.

iii. Ashish Saraf holds an extensive experience in offsets, industrial relations, greenfield start-up development and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Airbus Group, he was the India head of the Tata Sikorsky joint venture since 2010. He led Sikorsky's industrialisation and strategic partnerships in India.

iv. He started his career with Dassault Systems and Deloitte Consulting. He is an alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune and the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Nagpur.

6. RINL inked MoU with Andhra Pradesh Government for investment of 38500 crore rupees

i. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, on 11 January 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Andhra Pradesh government.

ii. The MoU envisages investment of around 38500 crore rupees to take up various projects at Visakhapatnam. The deal was signed during the 22nd CII Partnership Summit & 1st Sunrise AP Investment Meet, which is being held in Visakhapatnam.

iii. The investments by RINL will include expansion capacity of Vizag Steel to 7.3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) with a modernisation that may cost approximately 3600 crore rupees. At an investment of 3400 crore rupees, construction of Coke Oven Battery and other projects are also expected to be modernised.

iv. The overall investment figure of 38500 crore rupees also includes further total expansion capacity of RINL to around 11.5 MTPA to 12 MTPA. The company will also spend 6100 crore rupees on a slurry pipeline and pellet plant in a joint venture with NMDC & others.

v. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, also known as Vizag Steel, is an Indian government-owned steel producer. The company is based in Visakhapatnam. It has been awarded the Navaratna status, with accompanying autonomy of operations, due to its strong financial performance.

vi. The plans for a steel plant in Visakhapatnam were announced in 1971 by then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. Originally, intended as a plant of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited, RINL was established as a separate company in 1982.

7. Illumina, Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos launched startup GRAIL to develop blood-based cancer tests

i. Illumina, the world’s largest DNA sequencing company, on 10 January 2015 announced the launch of the startup named GRAIL to develop blood-based cancer tests. The company was launched in association with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s venture fund Bezos Expeditions and Arch Venture Partners.

ii. The company will develop blood tests that cost 1000 US dollars or less for detecting many types of cancer before symptoms arise. The test, which is also called as liquid biopsy, will use high-speed DNA sequencing machines to scour a person’s blood for fragments of DNA released by cancer cells.

iii. All the partners in the startup raised around 100 million US dollars among themselves, in which Illumina will have the majority stake holder. The newly developed tests are expected to reach the market by 2019. GRAIL will operate from San Diego in California, the USA.

8. Binny Bansal appointed as CEO of Flipkart

i. India's biggest e-commerce company, Flipkart, on 11 January 2016 announced the promotion of current Chief Operating Officer Binny Bansal to the post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). On the other hand, Sachin Bansal, who has been the CEO since inception, will now take on the newly-created role of Executive Chairman.

ii. The major restructuring of its top management will see Mukesh Bansal report to Binny. Mukesh will continue to be chairman of Myntra, which he co-founded, and head Flipkart's commerce platform. He has also been given additional responsibility of the overall ads business.

iii. The current ads business head Ravi Garikipati will report to Mukesh. Binny Bansal is an Indian Software engineer and Internet entrepreneur. In 2007, he co-founded the e-commerce platform Flipkart with Sachin Bansal.

iv. Before co-founding Flipkart, Binny was previously employed with Amazon for 9 months. Prior to joining Amazon, he was rejected by Google twice. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering.

9. Kullu Folk Dance Finds Place in Guinness Book of World Records

i. The colourful Kullu folk dance (Nati), which saw participation of 20,000 dancers during Kullu Dussehra festival on October 26 last year, has entered the Guinness book of world records. In the Nati, 10,000 men and women attired in traditional Kullu dress performed at Dhalpur Ground during Kullu Dussehra festival on October 26 last year.

ii. The jamboree of over 20,000 people danced to spread the message of 'Beti Hai Anmol' (Girl child is precious). The Guinness Book authorities were informed about the show and the entire programme which lasted about an hour was monitored.

iii. The intimation regarding recording the event in Guinness Book was received today by Kullu Deputy Commissioner, Rakesh Kumar, the man behind the show.

iv. Kanwar confirmed the information and said that it was possible due to initiative and enthusiasm of the people who participated enthusiastically in the programme, rehearsed for days and made it successful.

v. Similar folk dance was performed last year (2014) also in which 8,600 dancers participated and it was recorded in Limca book of World records.

10. Balkrishna Garg conferred with 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award

i. Veteran hindi poet Balkrishna Garg was on 8 January 2016 conferred with the 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award in New Delhi. He received the award for his Baa Geet, which is a collection of poems for children.

ii. The award was presented by Sahitya Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari and National Book Trust (NBT) Chairman Baldeo Bhai Sharma.

iii. It was the second award to be conferred since its inception in 2014 and consists of a cash prize of 75000 rupees, a shawl and a citation.

iv. The award was instituted in the memory of Harikrishna Devsare, a renowned Hindi writer known for his work in the field of children’s literature, who passed away in 2013.

11. Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi wins Ballon d'Or award for world's best player for fifth time

i. The Barcelona and Argentina forward finished ahead of Ronaldo and Brazil forward Neymar as he scooped the award for the fifth time overall, having previously won it four years in a row from 2009 to 2012. Messi helped Barcelona to a Spanish league, domestic cup and Champions League treble plus the Club World Cup and also led Argentina to the Copa America final, where they lost to Germany.

ii. "It's incredible, much more than anything I dreamed of as a kid," said Messi as he received the award. "I want to thank my team-mates, without them none of this would have been possible." Barcelona's Luis Enrique was voted coach of the year.

iii. United States World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, who scored a hat-trick in the final against Japan, was named women's player of the year. Ronaldo ended last season trophyless with Real Madrid, although he helped Portugal qualify for Euro 2016.

iv. Neymar won a treble alongside Messi at Barcelona but had a less happy time with Brazil, receiving a four-match international ban after he was sent off during the Copa America. Brazilian footballer Wendell Lira received the Puskas Award for best goal of the year, for his bicycle kick goal for Goianesia against Atletico-GO in March 2015.