DAILY GK UPDATE 14-15TH FEB

DAILY GK UPDATE 14-15TH FEB

 Make in India Week: 3 MoUs worth Rs 21000 crore signed

• Three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) envisaging total investment of 21,000 crore rupees were signed on the first day of the Make in India Week in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• These MoUs were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
• TwinStar Display Technologies subsidiary of Sterlite Group Company has inked MoU with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to set up an LCD manufacturing unit in technical collaboration with Autron of Taiwan with an investment of 20,000 crore rupees. 
• Raymond Industries and MIDC have inked MoU as part of ‘Farm to Fabric’ initiative. 
• Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, Jain Irrigation Pvt Ltd and Department of Agriculture and Marketing of Maharashtra have inked MoU for setting up a juice manufacturing facility to support farmers growing oranges in Vidarbha region of state.

 Indo-Seychelles joint military exercise begins 

• The Seventh Joint Military Training Exercise between the Indian Army and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) – LAMITYE 2016, began at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Victoria, Seychelles from 15 February to 28 February 2016. 
• India and Seychelles have been conducting joint exercises since 2001 & ‘Exercise Lamitye’, which means friendship in Creole (local dialect), is conducted biennially with the aim of enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between the two countries. 

BHU celebrates Diamond Jubilee 

• Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founded by Freedom fighter Pt Madan Mohan Malviya has turned 100 years on 13th February 2016. BHU was founded as important seat of higher education in 1916. During time of its establishment it was first university in India that was the result of a private individual’s efforts. 

For the first time Scientists discover Gravitational Waves 

• Scientist for the first time have discovered Gravitational Waves (GW) that were hypothesised by Albert Einstein in 1916. 
• These waves were detected by the scientists working at two LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) facilities in United States. 
• LIGO scientists have detected these gravitational waves produced by collision of two black holes located 1.3 billion light years away from earth. 
• The LIGO experiment has 4km long L-shaped tunnels and uses lasers to measures changes in the distance between two ends. 

Vilas Tonapi appointed as Director of IIMR 

• Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi has been appointed as Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR). 
• Prior to this appointment, he was working as the Principal Scientist at Seed Science and Technology of the IIMR. 
• IIMR is the central agency to work on all aspects of millets research and development under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

 UK daily “Independent” to go online-only 

• One of Britain’s leading daily newspapers, “The Independent”, announced it will end its print edition and switch to digital only mode from next month amid falling readership. 
• Launched in 1986, the editorial team at The Independent is currently led by an Indian-origin editor Amol Rajan and is known as a campaigning voice among media outlets in the UK. 
• The Independent has a total circulation of around nearly 60,000, making it one of Britain’s least-read newspaper.

India third most disaster prone in 2015: UN report 

• India has been ranked third among the top five most disaster-hit countries in 2015. 
• After China and the US, which have been hit by 26 and 22 disasters respectively last year, India is the most affected country having suffered 19 disasters in 2015, according to a study released by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). 
• The head of UNISDR, Robert Glasser, said 2015 was the hottest year on record and this has confirmed that weather and climate-related disasters now dominate trends linked to natural hazards. 

Canada, US, Mexico ink MoU to Cooperate on Climate Change 

• Canada, United States (US) and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Climate Change and Energy Collaboration to tap into energy cooperation among three countries. 
• The MoU was signed at the North American Energy Ministers Meeting held in Winnipeg, Canada and hosted by Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr.

Vidya Balan awarded Pride of Kerala Award 

• Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has been awarded with the ‘Pride of Kerala’ Award by the World Malayalee Council and Kairali TV. 
• National award-winning actress hails from Kerala and had made her debut in Bollywood in 2005 in Parineeta. 

West Indies wins ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2016 

• West Indies for the first time has won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating three time champions India by five wickets played at Mirpur (Bangladesh). 
• Man of the match: Keacy Carty (West Indies) 
• Player of the tournament: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Bangladesh)

Film on conservation efforts by Nagaland villagers wins award 

• ‘Nagaland is changing, But…’ film has won the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at the 6th National Science Film Festival held in Mumbai. 
• It also has received the technical excellence award for best sound design at the festival. 
• The film is based on conservation efforts by villagers and has been directed by Gurmeet Sapal.

Vinita & Nilesh of Lupin win EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 

• Vinita Gupta, Chief Executive Officer and Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director of Lupin Ltd, who brought about a phenomenal transformation at Lupin with spectacular growth in global and domestic markets, while creating tremendous value for stakeholders in a relatively short span of time, were named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015.
• They will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 7-12 June 2016. 
• F. C. Kohli, former Vice-Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering contribution towards the Indian software industry and nation-building. 

President presents Infosys Prizes

• President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday felicitated six winners of Infosys Science Foundation Prizes 2015 for their outstanding contribution in their fields. 
• The winners are Umesh Waghmare in engineering and computer science category, Jonardon Ganeri for humanities, Amit Sharma in life sciences, Mahan Maharaj in mathematical sciences, G. Ravindra Kumar in physical sciences and Srinath Raghavan in social sciences.

69th BAFTA Awards 2016 

• The 69th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held at the Royal Opera House in London. 
• This year the BAFTA awards were conferred for the outstanding performances in films and documentaries screened at British Cinemas in 2015.
•  Best Film: The Revenant. 
• Outstanding British Film: Brooklyn. 
• Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant). 
• Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant). 
• Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room).

Indian Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad passes away 

• India’s Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad passed away following a massive cardiac arrest. 
• He was the youngest Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer to be appointed as India’s Ambassador to any country.

Jnanpith-winning poet O.N.V Kurup passes away 

• Noted Malayalam poet and lyricist O N V Kurup passed away in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• He was 84. He was popularly known as “ONV”, Ottaplakkal Nambiyadikkal Velu Kurup and had made significant contributions to the Malayalam film music.

USTDA, Andhra Pradesh government ink pact to develop Visakhapatnam as Smart City 

• VISAKHAPATNAM: US Trade and Development Agency ( USTDA) today inked an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh Government to develop infrastructure, communications and data systems in Visakhapatnam, in line with its goal to become a Smart City.
• The grant agreement was inked in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. 

Bonanza for Maharashtra on first day of Make In India Week

• Mumbai: Maharashtra got a bonanza on the inaugural day of the Make In India Week expo on Saturday with three major MoUs, worth over Rs 21,400 crore, signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

• They include one between Sterlite Group`s TwinStar Display Technologies and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to set up a LCD manufacturing unit - Panel FAB - in technical collaboration with Autron, Taiwan.

• The project entails an investment of Rs 20,000 crores and the location of the proposed plant will be decided shortly.

• The second MoU is between Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Jain Irrigation Pvt. Ltd and the Maharashtra government to set up a juice manufacturing facility to support farmers growing oranges in Vidarbha, or the eastern part of the state.

• The project intends to offer higher value to orange growers, generate gainful employment and benefit 5,000 farmers with an average landholding of two acres each.

• The third agreement was signed between Raymond Industries and MIDC as part of the `Farm to Fabric` initiative of the government.

• Raymond will invest Rs 1,400 crore for a plant to manufacture linen yarn and fabric and garmenting in Amravati district of eastern Maharashtra.

• The plant will come up at the Nandgaon Textile Park which will procure cotton from farmers in the district and other parts of Vidarbha region hit by farmland suicides.

• The MoUs were exchanged in the presence of Modi, Governor C.V. Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Industry Minister Subhash Desai, Minister of State for Industry Pravin Pote, Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya, senior state government and departmental officials and executives of the concerned companies attending.

Facebook’s first employee in India, Managing Director Kirthiga Reddy steps down

• Facebook India’s Managing Director, Kirthiga Reddy, on Friday announced that she is quiting from her current position to relocate to Facebook’s headquarters at Menlo Park, California.

• Kirthiga Reddy joined Facebook in 2010 as its first employee in India. According to an update on her Facebook page Reddy said she would be relocating to the United States in the next 6-12 months.

M. Devaraja Reddy is new ICAI president 

NEW DELHI: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has elected M. Devaraja Reddy as its new President. Reddy, who has been a chartered accountant for 28 years, has as Vice President of ICAI for the Council Year 2015-16. He'll have tenure of one year, a statement from ICAI, the apex body of Indian Chartered Accountants said in a statement.