GK Update 2 July 2016

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address 'Mann Ki Baat' to be broadcast in Bangladesh

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ will now also be telecast to Bangladesh. The programme which reaches crores of people in real time featuring PM Modi talking on various subjects related to social, economic and political  which have international audience soon. 
ii. Mann Ki Baat will be broadcast in Bangladesh on All India Radio's upcoming Bangla language service channel Akashvani Maitree, for which AIR has made arrangements to receive comments and voice messages from Bangladeshi citizens. 
iii. The purpose behind this soft diplomacy is to strengthen bilateral ties and break the stranglehold of Pakistani and Chinese radio channels in the neighbouring country.

2. Ministry grants recognition to Paralympic Committee of India

i. The Sports Ministry has announced that it has granted recognition to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), giving a huge confidence boost to the several para-athletes who have qualified for Rio Paralympics. 
ii. The ministry's move comes less than a month after the International Paralympic Committee (PCI) announced temporary lifting of suspension imposed on the national body last year so that Indians can take part under the tri-colour in the showpiece event in September. 

3. RIL, SBI sign shareholder agreement for payments bank JV

i. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has signed a shareholder agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) have signed Subscription and Shareholders Agreement to set up payments bank.
ii. According to the agreement, Reliance Industries will be the promoter with a 70 % equity contribution in the payments bank and SBI as joint venture will have 30 % equity contribution.
iii. Payments banks are small deposit-taking institutions that can accept deposits (initially up to 1 lakh rupees per individual). The minimum capital requirement is Rs. 100 crore. For the first five years, the stake of the promoter should be 40% minimum.

4. President Pranab Mukherjee presents BC Roy National Awards for 2008, 2009 & 2010

i. President of India, Pranab Kumar Mukherjee has  presented the Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Award national awards for 2008, 2009 and 2010 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
ii. These awards were presented on the occasion of National Doctors’ Day observed on July 1 to pay honour and tribute to India’s most famous physician Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.
iv. Top Five Awardees are: 1. Dr. Mammen Chandy  2. Prof. Rajeshwar Dayal  3. Dr. Rohit V. Bhatt 4. Dr. Neelam Mohan 5. Prof. Mohan Kameswaran

5. Maharashtra target of planting 2 crore trees in state crossed

i. Maharashtra government started an initiative for plantation of about 2 crores trees. The initiative was flagged off by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis along with Finance and Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.
ii. The campaign will benefit the environment as well as also counter problem of soil-erosion, help the wild animals in their growth.

6. India jumps 19 places on World Bank Logistics Performance Index; moves to 35th rank

i. India improved its ranking in the World Bank group's (WBG) bi-annual "Logistics Performance Index 2016", jumping from 54th in 2014 to 35th in 2016. This was announced by the World Bank Group in its recent launch of the report.
ii. In the latest ranking India has gone past countries like New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Latvia and Indonesia who were ahead of it in the index. India's jump of 19 positions in the ranking demonstrates the commitment of various Ministries and agencies of Government of India to make it easy to do business in India.

7. Radha Mohan Singh launches a web-based App CMRS

i. The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) a web-based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers in a program organised at ICAR-RCER in Patna.
ii. Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) is a web-based App which can be used with computer, mobile and tablet and aims to increase farmer's net income and sustain the productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Bihar, India.
iii. CMRS provides irrigated and rainfed farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop and nutrient management guideline customized to the needs of an individual farmer.

8. State Bank of India launches two new digital offerings

i. The country's largest lender State Bank of India has launched 2 new digital offerings on the occasion of 61st State Bank Day.
ii. SBI has partnered with Flipkart to offer its consumers the facility of pre-approved EMI Facility on purchases. Under this partnership SBI will provide overdraft facility to pre-qualified set of customers for transacting on Flipkart for a minimum purchase of Rs. 5000. 
iii. The bank also launched a social media banking platform for Facebook and Twitter users, called ‘SBI Mingle’ which will help the customers with a host of banking services on their social media accounts, at their own convinience.

9.  Rapid Rural Police Response System launched in Punjab

i. A Rapid Rural Police Response System was launched across Punjab to ensure prompt and effective police response in the state's over 12,000 villages.
ii. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who launched the scheme, also flagged off 400 new motorcycles and 220 new Bolero jeeps under the new system.
iii. under the system, police will respond to any crime or law and order situation within 20 minutes of it being reported.

10. Renowned Marathi literary scholar R C Dhere no more

i. R C Dhere, a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award in 1987 for his book 'Sri Vitthal- A Mahasamanvayak (Lord Vitthal- A great coordinator)', carved a niche for himself by tracing the roots of Maharashtra's folk traditions and literature with an extensive research that highlighted the influence of saints on Maharashtrian ethos.
ii. Dr. R C Dhere Born on 21 July 1930 at Nigade village near Pune. He had completed his graduation in 1966. He got his Ph.D. in 1975 and was honored with D.Lit. in 1980 by Pune University. 
iii. He has written about 105 books based on his research work on various subjects. Some of his famous books are History of Nath Cult, Chakrapani, History of Datta Cult, Lajjagauri, Khandoba, Shree Tulja Bhavani and In Search of Indian Theater.