Gk Update 13 June 2016

1. World Day against Child Labour has been observed on 12th June

i. Every year the World Day against Child Labour has been organised on 12th of June by all the countries. 
ii. Initially in the year 2002, it had launched by the International Labour Organisation to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. 
iii. The theme for this year is 'End child labour in supply chains - It's everyone's business.' 

2. President embarks on a six-day visit of three African nations

i. President Pranab Mukherjee has begun his six-day three-nation visit to Ghana, Cotd’Ivory and Namibia. 
ii. This is the maiden visit of any Indian President to Ghana and Ivory Coast whereas to Namibia, such a visit comes after two decades. Even though Mukherjee has toured a number of countries in the African continent, he will be visiting these countries for the first time in his long political career.
iii. In the tightly packed schedule spread till Jun 14 afternoon, Mr. Mukherjee has already reached the Ghanaian capital Accra. During his visit, in the delegation level talks both the countries counterpart are likely to do discussions on agreements on the visa waiver and about two Line of Credits could also be deliberated. Mukherjee will also pay homage to Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah at his mausoleum there. He will also be unveiling a statue of Mahatma Gandhi which has been gifted by ICCR.

3. PM to inaugurate 2-day Conference of Tax Administrators on June 16

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the two-day Annual Conference of Senior Tax Administrators of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) & Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) on 16th of at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. 
ii. Mr. Modi is expected to motivate the revenue officers towards achieving high standards in taxpayer friendly service in view of fast-paced changes in the world economy and he is also likely to address some of the challenges faced by these departments. 
iii. The Annual Conference has been given the brand name "Annual Conference of Tax Administrators”. It is for the First time that two Revenue Boards are holding the conference simultaneously.

4. Panel to list RBI Governor candidates 

i. The government has made a selection committee headed by cabinet secretary P K Sinha to shortlist the candidates for Reserve Bank of India governor post. 
ii. The decision in this regard was taken earlier by the Prime Minister in consultation with the finance minister
iii. Earlier, chiefs of other regulatory bodies like Sebi have been shortlisted by financial sector regulatory appointment search committee (FSRASC). But this will be the first time the RBI governor will be appointed similarly. The FSRASC was set up last year.

5. SEBI issues stricter KYC, disclosure norms for P-Notes

i. Markets regulator SEBI has put in place a stricter KYC norms and disclosure regime for Participatory Notes. 
ii. The aim is to make it tougher to use these offshore instruments without disclosing the money-trail and details of their users. The measure comes after taking into account suggestions from SIT on black money to ensure this route is not used for money laundering.
iii. Under the new norms, all the users of P-Notes would have to follow Indian KYC and Anti Money Laundering Regulations, irrespective of their jurisdictions. The P-Note issuers will be required to file suspicious transaction reports with the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit.

6. Govt proposes yoga medals for paramilitary force

i. The Home Ministry has proposed instituting ‘yoga medals’ for central paramilitary troops for displaying exceptional skills in the discipline. 
ii. Further, the Ministry plans to re-employ retiring personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces as Master Yoga Trainers to create a constant resource pool of teachers. 
iii. Around 30,000 personnel will take part in the International Yoga Day on June 21.

7. Sikkim becomes India’s first State to launch open government data portal

i. Sikkim became the first state in India to have an open government data portal linked ‘sikkim.data.gov.in’. 
ii. The portal was launched by Lok Sabha MP, P D Rai. 
iii. The portal has been developed by Government of Sikkim’s Information Technology Department and NIC team from Delhi. The open government data portal facilitates free to use, reuse, and redistribution of data produced or commissioned by the government or government controlled entities by anyone.

8. Tata Power acquires Welspun's renewable energy assets

i. Tata Power Company has announced that a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Power, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) has  acquired the renewable energy (RE) subsidiary of Delhi-based Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt Ltd (WREPL). 
ii. It is estimated to be a Rs 9,900-crore ( rs 10,000 Cr.) deal. This represents the largest transaction in renewables space in India till now.
iii. WREPL has one of the largest operating solar portfolios in India spread across ten states. It has about 1,140 megawatts (MW) of renewable power projects comprising about 990 MW solar power projects and about 150 MW of wind power projects.

9. China launches 23rd BeiDou Navigation Satellite

i. China has launched its 23rd satellite it the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). 
ii. The satellite launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province will support China’s global navigation and positioning network.
iii. The satellite was taken into orbit by a Long March-3C carrier rocket. It was the 229th launch of the Long March carrier rocket. The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is being developed as an alternative to US GPS. 

10. Satya Pal Jain appointed as Law Commission member

i. Additional Solicitor General of India and former Parliamentarian Satya Pal Jain was appointed as a part-time member of the 21st Law Commission of India.
ii. The appointment will be in addition to his charge as an Additional Solicitor General of India.
iii. He is a noted constitution lawyer and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. He has been the Dean of the Law Faculty of Panjab University and is a Member of the Panjab University Senate for the last 40 years.

11. New MD Of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation

i. Dr. M Beena, has been appointed as Managing Director of the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA), a statutory body of the Kerala Government. 
ii. KINFRA aims at bringing together all the suitable resources available in the state and developing infrastructure to woo the industrial growth of the state. KINFRA is dedicated to catalysing industrial growth in Kerala by providing the best industry-specific-infrastructure.
iii. Dr. Beena is currently the Managing Director of KSIDC (Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation) and KSIE (Kerala State Industrial Enterprises).

12. Actor Achyut Lahkar passes away

i. Veteran theatre actor Achyut Lahkar has passed away at his resident, Pathsala in Barpeta district. He was 85 years old. 
ii. He was born in 1931 at Pathsala, Lahkar had established Nataraj Theatre in 1963 and gave a rebirth to moving theatre in Assam. Now Assam has over 50 number of mobile theatre groups.
iii. As a producer, writer, director and actor of his theatre company, Lahkar toured across Assam and many other states to perform plays for nearly four decades. Some of his famous dramas are -Black Money, Usha, Sankardev and Doctor Babu. He also published and edited a magazine 'Deepawali' and was conferred the Kamal Kumari National Award in 1997.

13. Saina Nehwal Clinches Second Australian Open Title 

i. Indian ace badminton player, Saina Nehwal received a huge boost ahead of the Rio Olympics as she clinched her second Australian Open title after defeating China’s Sun Yu in a thrilling three-game final of the Super Series badminton tournament. It was Saina's first title of the season and overall second Australian Open title of her career. She won her first Australian Open title in 2014.
ii. London Olympics bronze medallist, Saina, who had beaten two world champions — Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon (2013) and China’s Yihan Wang (2011) in the quarterfinals and semifinals — thus clinched her maiden title of the season and pocketed a cheque of USD 56,250.
iii. For winning the Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced a reward of 10 lakh Rupees for Saina Nehwal.