Gk update 7 June 2016

1. RBI has announced Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement

i. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has announced the Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for the year 2016-17. 
ii. This time he keeps the  repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, reverse repo rate stays at 6.00 %, and CRR remains at 4%. While, LAF will remain unchanged at 6.0 %, and the MSF rate and the Bank Rate at 7.0 %. 
iii. The central bank's decision to maintain status quo is the step to see the impact of delayed monsoon rains. The RBI said April inflation reading makes its future trajectory somewhat more uncertain. The decision could have to do with rise in inflation and global crude oil prices.  

2. Himachal Pradesh becomes first state to launch green-concept based State Data Centre

i. Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to have a State Data Centre (SDC), designed using green data centre concept to minimize power requirement and increase power utilization efficiency.
ii. It was launched by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla.   
iii. It will offer 101 people-oriented services online through an integrated database. It would help in saving time and money spent on creation of infrastructure as all services would be provided online in digital format thus, giving boost to paperless governance.

3. Guwahati declares Gangetic River Dolphin as its ‘city animal’

i. Guwahati has become the first city in the country to have its own ‘city animal’ with Kamrup metropolitan district administration declaring Gangetic River Dolphin as its mascot.
ii. Gangetic River Dolphin is locally known as ‘Sihu’ and remain in the River Brahmaputra along Guwahati.
iii. The district administration had organised online and off-line voting among three protected creatures to decide the ‘city animal’. These three creatures are Gangetic River Dolphin, Black Softshell Turtle (Bor Kaso) and Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila) and are on the verge of extinction.

4. Swachh Yug campaign to make gram panchayats along Ganga open defecation free

i. As part of its efforts to make villages located along Ganga open defecation-free, Government has launched a campaign ‘Swachh Yug’, a collaborative effort of three Union Ministries, to bring about behavioral change among people staying in villages along the holy river.
ii. There are 5,169 villages located along Ganga falling under 1,651-gram panchayats (GPs) in 52 districts of five states – UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal from where the holy river flows through.
iii. Youth agencies under the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs such as the Bharat Scouts and Guides, Nehru Yuva Kendras and National Service Scheme will be deployed for the campaign.

5. Rajasthan Government launches Mobile App RajVayu on Air Quality Index

i. Rajasthan Government has launched mobile application RajVayu for sharing information about air quality index of Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur. 
ii. The app was launched by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on the eve of World Environment Day. The information provided on RajVayu app is based on the data collected by sophisticated air quality monitoring equipment and weather sensors. The app has been designed by Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) jointly with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). 
iii. With this, Rajasthan becomes the first state in the country to launch such app for sharing information about air quality index of cities.

6. Govt, ADB sign $120 mn loan agreement for Odisha

i. The government and multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $120 million loan agreement to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure in Odisha. 
ii. The loan is the second tranche of a $157.5 million financing facility and will result in improved irrigation facilities in 1,00,000 hectares. 
iii. The projects are due for completion by September 2018.

7. Facebook Appoints Former Adobe Executive Umang Bedi As India MD

i. Facebook India has appointed Umang Bedi as managing director. 
ii. He will take over from Kirthiga Reddy, who will be returning to the US to take on a new role at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters.
iii. Prior to joining Facebook, he was the managing director, South Asia, at Adobe. He was responsible for making India one of Adobe’s leading markets.

8. Ashok Ganapathy appointed as Director of Airtel Business

i. Ashok Ganapathy has appointed as the Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd. 
ii. He will take over the post with effect from 1 July 2016. In this new role, Ashok will be responsible for driving the growth of Airtel's B2B portfolio that serves top corporations, government entities and other corporate with end-to-end solutions.
iii. Ganapathy succeeds Manish Prakash as Director (Airtel Business). Prakash has been appointed as Director (strategic alliances). He will report to Gopal Vittal, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel.

9. Kulmeet Bawa appointed Adobe MD for South Asia

i. Adobe has announced the appointment of Kulmeet Bawa as Managing Director (MD) for South Asia. 
ii. He will begin his new role on 24 June 2016. Bawa currently serves as the Head of Sales for Adobe in India.
iii. Bawa will take over the position from Umang Bedi, who is leaving the company after five years of service. Bawa will report to Paul Robson, President of Adobe Asia Pacific. Bawa will lead Adobe's customer-facing engagements in India.

10. IOC honours IOA chief N Ramachandran with Olympic Order

i. Indian Olympic Association president N. Ramachandran has been awarded with the prestigious Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement. 
ii. The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement which is awarded in recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport.
iii. Mr. Ramachandran has been serving as Indian Olympic Association president since February 2014. Prior to this he was serving as President of World Squash Federation (WSF) since 2008. 

11. Dia Mirza named Ambassador for Swachh Saathi programme

i. Bollywood actress Dia Mirza has named as the ambassador for Swachh Saathi (student internship) programme. 
ii. It is a youth-based programme of Swachh Bharat Mission. Under this Programme, more than 2000 interns would be enrolled to coordinate around 10000 schools across India. They will also ensure that all students in the schools take the pledge for Clean India.
iii. Dia was selected because she is a youth icon and has been an active campaigner for Swachh Bharat. She would help the programme to reach out to more youngsters as it was aimed to make it a viral youth led movement.

12. US Army Reserve officer Deshauna Barber crowned as Miss USA 2016

i. Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer of United States (US), has crowned as the Miss USA 2016 at the Miss USA competition 2016 held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip.
ii. She represented the US capital as Miss District of Columbia. 
iii. Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin came in as the first runner-up and Miss Georgia Emanii Davis was the second runner-up. With this, Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA title. She will now represent the USA at Miss Universe Competition 2016.

13. Walmart retains top position in Fortune 500 list

i. In 2016 rankings, Walmart has topped  the Fortune 500 list  for the fourth consecutive year. 
ii. Rounding out the top 10 in the 62nd annual rankings, based on total revenues for their fiscal years- ExxonMobil, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, McKesson, UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health,General Motors, Ford Motor and AT&T.
iii. Apple, which was the most profitable company on the list, with $53 billion in profits, was among companies making big moves this year, jumping to No. 3 from No. 5 last year. 

14. Serena pips Sharapova world's top paid sportswoman

i. According to Forbes Magazine report, Serena Williams has overtaken Maria Sharapova as the world's highest-paid sportswoman. 
ii. She earned USD 28.9 million over the past 12 months. While, Sharapova earned USD 21.9 million over the past 12 months. 
iii. American mixed martial arts star Ronda Rousey was third on the list with USD 14 million, just ahead of NASCAR stock car driver Danica Patrick, who earned USD 13.9 million.