GK Update 24 July 2016

1. Kerala Government launches first ever Water Metro project in the country

i. Kerala Government has launched Kochi Water Metro project, the first ever Water Metro project of the country. It was launched by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Kochi, Kerala.
ii. The project aims to provide water connectivity to people living between islands in the Kochi agglomeration area and the city.
iii. The Water Metro project would be dedicated to the nation in four years.
iv. It will be built at an estimated cost of rs. 747 crore. The Water metro project involves the purchase of two variants of air-conditioned and WiFi-enabled catamaran passenger ferries with a capacity of 50 and 100 passengers.
v. The project will be implemented by the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) and funded by German Development Bank (Kfw). In this regard, KMRL has also signed an agreement with German Development Bank (Kfw). It will become operational in two years.

2. Foundation stone laid for MSME technology center in Visakhapatnam

i. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, along with Union Ministers Kalraj Mishra and Venkaiah Naidu have laid the foundation stone for a Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises technology centre under Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP) at Pudi in Visakhapatnam district.
ii. Its main focus is to support industries, particularly MSMEs, through access to advanced manufacturing technologies, skilling manpower and providing technical and business advisory support to entrepreneurs.
iii. The programme is funded by the World Bank and the government of India.
iv. Naidu also laid the foundation stone for 400 houses being built by the AP Housing Board for those who lost their dwellings in the 2014 Hudhud cyclone.
v. He also inaugurated 200 houses built by Infosys.

3. First green rail corridor opens in Tamil Nadu

i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has inaugurated 114-km long Rameswaram-Mana Madurai route as the country's first green rail corridor with zero toilet discharge section.
ii. Accordingly, 10 passenger trains consisting of 286 coaches moving in the section have been provided with bio-toilets enabling the rail corridor free from the discharge of human waste on the track.

iii. Stepping up the Swachh Bharat drive launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railways have taken up a mammoth task of providing human waste discharge free bio-toilets in all its coaches and the same would be completed by September 2019.

4. A 3-day meeting between BSF & Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) begins in Agartala

i. A three-day meeting between Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has begun in Agartala today to sort out problems along the border.
ii. The meeting is a 21-member BGB delegation, led by Brig Gen Mohammad Habibul Karim, arrived in Agartala.

iii. The 'Border Coordination meeting' was a routine affair to identify problems and sort them out. IG, BSF, Tripura Frontier, JB Sangwan is leading the 21-member BSF delegation at the meeting.

5. Motorcycle rally ‘Ride for Accessibility’ flagged off in Delhi

i. A motorcycle rally named Ride for Accessibility was organized in the national capital today with a message to empower differently abled persons, Divyangs.
ii. The rally which saw 500 young men and women motorcycle riders was flagged off at India Gate by Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Science and Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot.
iii. Accessible India Campaign also known as Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is aimed at creating universal accessibility in built environment, public transportation and Information and Communication Technology eco-system for Divyangs.

6. Maharashtra CM launches pilot project of e-complaint system

i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a pilot project of e-complaint system on an experimental basis in Pune.  After the pilot project, the system will be launched across the state within 8 months.
ii. It has been launched during the concluding ceremony of 14th Maharashtra Police Duty Meet at SRPF ground at Ramtekdi.
iii. Citizens can now register a police complaint online at any city police station from anywhere. As per current laws, FIRs have to be registered at the police station only.
iv. Also, a new SMS gateway has been launched wherein people get an acknowledgment of the FIR on the phone through a system generated SMS, and also when accused are arrested, charge sheet/final report submitted to the court.

7. NSE revamps board appoints three new public interest directors

i. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has revamped its board, appointing three new public interest directors including chairman of Manipal Global Education Services and Infosys' former director Mohandas Pai, former secretary at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Naved Masood and KPMG India's former deputy chief executive Dinesh Kanabar on the NSE's board as public interest directors.
ii. The board of the National Stock Exchange of India has 10 directors with Ashok Chawla, former chief of Competition Commission of India, as its chairman till January. He took charge from S B Mathur as NSE board chairman in May.
iii. Former NSE managing director and chief executive Ravi Narain is the vice chairman of the exchange's board of directors, which also includes Chitra Ramkrishna, the present serving MD and CEO of the exchange.

8. Goutam Ghose, Bappi Lahiri conferred Bengal's 'Mahanayak Award'

i. Renowned Music Director and singer Bappi Lahiri and Critically-acclaimed filmmaker Goutam Ghose have been honoured with 'Mahanayak award' by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee.
ii. The award has been conferred to them on the occasion of 36th death anniversary (24th July) of Uttam Kumar. The awards were instituted in 2012 in the memory of Bengali matinee idol Uttam Kumar who is revered in this part of India as "Mahanayak (Great hero)".
iii. In addition to Ghose and Lahiri, director-actor Kaushik Ganguly was also honoured with the award for best director.
iv. While Paran Bandyopadhyay and Jishu Sengupta received the best actor (male) awards while Sohini Sarkar received the best actor (female) award and Bengali films “Bela sheshe” and “Shankhachil” were jointly awarded as the best Bengali films of the year.

9. Neeraj Chopra becomes 1st Indian to set world record in Jr athletics Championship

i. India’s Neeraj Chopra has won the javelin gold at the IAAF World under-20 athletics championship in Poland, setting a world record of 86.48m while South African Johan Gobler (80.59m) took the silver and Anderson Peters (79.65m) of Granada finished third.
ii. With this, the 18 years old has created history by becoming first Indian Junior athlete to create a World Record in Poland.
iii. He is from Panipat in Haryana bettered the previous U-20 record of 84.69m held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais by nearly two metres.
iv. Chopra is only the third Indian athlete after discus throwers Seema Antil Punia a Bronze in 2002 and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon a Bronze in 2014 to have won a medal in the U-20 World Championships.
v. He had also won the gold at the South Asian Games in Guwahati earlier this year with a personal best 82.23m, making him the world’s best junior thrower this season.