DAILY GK 25 AUG 2019
1. GUJARAT
TOPS IN NITI AAYOG REPORT ON ‘COMPOSITE WATER MANAGEMENT INDEX2019 (CWMI 2.0)’
✔According
to the recently released report,” Composite Water Management Index 2019” for
the year 2017-2018 by Government’s think tank NITI Aayog in association with
Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Rural Development Gujarat has again
performed better in water management practices to get top spot.
✔Uttar
Pradesh(39), Bihar(38), and Jharkhand(34) continued to be in the low-performing
category in the chart.
2. NATIONAL
FOOD LABORATORY IN GHAZIABAD INAUGURATED BY HARSH VARDHAN
✔Union
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated FSSAI’s National Food Laboratory in
Ghaziabad on the occasion of 13th anniversary of the Food Safety and Standards
Act, 2006. This national lab is a result of a Public-Private-Partnership, the
first-of-its-kind in the food laboratory sector.
✔The
lab is equipped with the latest technologies and facilities to conduct analysis
as per global accreditation standards for testing and calibration. NFL is one
of the two premier referral laboratories under the direct administrative
control of the apex food regulator named- Food Safety and Standard Authority of
India.
3. 2019
HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX- INDIA SLIPS 5 SPOTS
✔Henley
Passport Index for the year 2019 was released and India at 86th position of 189
countries in 2019 with a mobility score of 58. However, it slipped 5 places
from 79th place in its previous index.
✔The
report was topped by Japan and Singapore as the “world’s most powerful
passport” in 2019 followed by South Korea, Germany & Finland at 2nd
spot and Denmark and Italy at 3rd spot.
✔Only
8 nations were added to India’s list of visa-free access between 2010 and 2019,
and is ranked lowest among BRICS nations. It shares the spot with Mauritania,
and Sao Tome and Principe.
4. BANDHAN
BANK JOINS HANDS WITH STANDARD CHARTERED FOR CO-BRANDED CREDIT CARDS
✔Bandhan
Bank launched a co-branded credit card in association with Standard Chartered
bank. This credit card would be offered to 40 lakh savings bank account holders
across the 1,000 branches of Bandhan Bank.
✔As
part of the tie-up, while Standard Chartered bank will take the credit risk,
Bandhan Bank will be responsible for identifying and issuing cards to its
customers.
5. GOVERNMENT
ANNOUNCES MEASURES TO BOOST INDIAN ECONOMY
✔A
presentation was made by Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt.
Nirmala Sitharaman on measures to boost Indian Economy.
✔Corporate
tax rate for companies with over Rs 400 crore turnover will be gradually cut to
25% and the government will support wealth creators.
✔The
National Housing Bank can now extend up to Rs 30,000 crore credit lines to Non-Banking
Financial Companies, instead of Rs 20,000 crore earlier.
✔Rs
100 lakh crores for developing modern infrastructure over 5 years initiative is
expected to boost growth and creation of jobs. These projects would be
monitored actively to accelerate capital expenditure and investments in the
economy.
6. BHARATCRAFT
PORTAL WILL GENERATE RS 10 LAKH CRORE REVENUES IN 2-3 YRS: NITIN GADKARI
✔Union
Government is planning to launch an e-commerce portal named “Bharatcraft” for MSME’s.
✔The
portal is based on other e-commerce portals like ‘Alibaba’ and ‘Amazon’. The
portal will provide a platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and
in turn boost the sector. As per the MSME Union Minister, the Bharatcraft
portal has a huge potential to generate revenue worth ₹10 lakh crore in next
2-3 years.
7. EUROMONEY
MAGAZINE NAMES DBS AS THE ‘WORLD’S BEST BANK’
✔English-language
monthly magazine ‘Euromoney’ has
named DBS bank as the ‘World’s Best Bank’.
✔DBS
as of now is the only bank in the world to concurrently hold three global best
bank awards.
✔Previous
award winners by Euromoney are Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi, and UBS
(Union Bank of Switzerland). DBS was also named Asia’s Best Bank and
Singapore’s Best Bank in 2019 Awards for Excellence.
8. AMAZON
TO ACQUIRE 49% STAKE IN KISHORE BIYANI-LED FUTURE COUPONS LTD
✔Amazon
will acquire 49% stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Coupons Ltd for an undisclosed
amount.
✔Amazon
has agreed to make an equity investment in Future Coupons Ltd. It will have
both voting and non-voting shares.
9. NATIONS
AROUND THE WORLD MOVED TO PROTECT GIRAFFES AS ENDANGERED SPECIES
✔At
the global meeting on endangered species, the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland,
CITES member nations have agreed to protect giraffes for the 1st time, which
draws the praise from conservationists and angry expression from some
sub-Saharan African nations.
✔The
move would regulate the trade in giraffe, hunted for their skin, meat, bones,
and tails, while stopping short of a full ban.
✔The
US (United States) was the world’s biggest consumer of giraffe product.
10. FORMER
FINANCE MINISTER ARUNJAITLY PASSED AWAY
✔Former
Union finance minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley passed away. He was a
lawyer by profession.
✔He
held the portfolios of Finance Ministry, Corporate Affairs Ministry, Defence
Ministry, and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
✔He
also served as a member of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank.
11. NEW
BOOK DESCRIBING L FLIPKART’S UNTOLD STORY LAUNCHED
✔A
new book recounting the story of how Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal (both-former
founders of flipkart) built e-commerce giant Flipkart written by Mihir Dalal is
launched.
✔The
book is titled as “Big Billion Startup:
The Untold Flipkart Story” and is published by “Pan Macmillan India”.
✔It
also depicts the story of big money, power and hubris, as both business and
interpersonal complexities weakened the founders’ control over Flipkart and
forced them to sell out to American multinational retail company Walmart.
