Daily GK Update 11th And 12th April 2015

Asteroid 316201 named after Malala

(i) The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education campaigner Malala

Yousafzai now has an asteroid named after her, media reported.

(ii) Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala, Dawn online reported.

(iii) Mr. Mainzer discovered the asteroid in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter which gives her the right to name it. It orbits the Sun every 5.5 years.

Lt. Gen. Hanut Singh, a 1971 war hero, passes away

(i) Lt. Gen. Hanut Singh (Retd), a hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, died while in meditation, in Dehradun.

(ii) He who was known to be a spiritual person, and lived in an ashram. He went into meditation two days back, and passed away while he was meditating.

(iii) He commanded the 17 Horse, or the Poona Horse regiment in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. 

(iv) He was honoured with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC). He retired from the Army in 1991.

President of India inaugurated Songs and Dances of Northeast event in New Delhi

(i) The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 11 April 2015 inaugurated the first ever Songs and Dances of Northeast event in New Delhi.

(ii) The purpose of the event is to showcase the various facets of Northeast to people living outside Northeast.

Key features of Songs and Dances of Northeast

• It denotes a series of events planned by the North-Eastern Council (NEC) and Union Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) with an aim to attract investors and visitors to the region. 

• A series of events will be held by rotation in different parts of the country in the coming months. 

• Each event will be held in collaboration with one of the eight States of the region. 

• The present event was organised in collaboration with Meghalaya. 

The theme of events in this series will be determined on the basis of the characteristics of whichever State is hosting the event and the city in which it is being held. 

• The necessary financial resources will be provided by the NEC.

Bharat Hari Singhania became the president of JK Organization

(i) Bharat Hari Singhania assumed the presidency of JK Organization. The company issued a formal statement on 9 April 2015 in this regard.

(ii) He succeeded Gaur Hari Singhania who died on 4 April 2015.

(iii) The JK Group is 125-year-old and has footprint in 100 countries. It has overseas manufacturing operations in Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Belgium, Portugal and the UAE.

SBI cuts home loan interest rate by up to 0.25%

(i) Its competitor HDFC Ltd, State Bank of India on Sunday announced a cut in home loan interest rate by up to 0.25 per cent for new borrowers.

(ii) For women borrowers the rate has been aligned to the base rate at 9.85 per cent per annum, State Bank of India (SBI) said in a statement.

Supreme Court ordered free treatment for acid attack victims

(i) The Supreme Court (SC) of India on 10 April 2015 directed all the private hospitals in the country to provide for full and free medical treatment to acid attack victims.

(ii) The verdict was delivered by a social justice bench of the court comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and UU Lalit in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Laxmi vs Union of India filed under the Article 32 of the Indian Constitution.

(iii) The court, in its judgment, elaborated that the term treatment includes reconstructive surgery, free medicines, bed, rehabilitation and aftercare.

Arun Kumar Jha appointed as CEO of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

(i) Arun Kumar Jha was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

(ii) The decision in this regard was taken on 10 April 2015 by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

(iii) As the CEO of KVIC, he will oversee the day-to-day functioning of the commission and report about its activities to the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

(iv) Before this appointment, he had been working as the Director General of National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) functioning under the Union Ministry of MSME.

Shooter Jitu Rai wins bronze at ISSF World Cup

(i) Ace shooter of Indian Army Sub Jitu Rai has won a bronze medal in the 10 meter Air Pistol (Men) event in the ongoing ISSF World Cup Rifle/ Pistol Shooting competition being held at Changwon in South Korea.

(ii) Jin Jongoh of South Korea has won the gold medal in the same event by scoring 206 points while Naung Ye Tun of Malaysia has won the silver by scoring 201 points. Jitu's score was 181.1 points. 

(iii) Jitu Rai after winning won silver in the 50m Free Pistol event in 2014 at the World Championships in Granada, Spain had qualified for the 2016 Olympics.

Indian football team climbed to 147 position in FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings

(i) Indian men’s football team climbed 26 places to occupy the 147th position in the April edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking out of 209 football playing nations or regions.

(ii) The rankings were released on 9 April 2015 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

(iii) Indian team could improve its position due to its commendable performance in two matches against Nepal held in March 2015.

(iv) India defeated Nepal 2-0 and drew 0-0 in those matches which were held as part of 2018 World Cup Qualifiers Round One.

(v) The present improvement of 26 positions is the third biggest for India since the FIFA rankings started in 1993. 

(vi) The previous two biggest were 29 and 30 places in October 1993 and February 1996 respectively.

(vii) Among the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) countries, India is at third spot behind Afghanistan (135) and Maldives (141).

Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix

(i) Lewis Hamilton led teammate Nico Rosberg home for a Mercedes one-two finish in the 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

(ii) World champion Hamilton took his second victory of the season and his fourth.

(iii) Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel beat teammate Kimi Raikkonen to the third spot, reports formula1.com.

(iv) Hamilton was in full control of the race by opening up a healthy 10-second lead over Rosberg.