GK Today

GK Today(04-09-2015)

SAARC countries’ conference on Disaster Mitigation begins in New Delhi

1.    Disaster Mitigation conference of member counties of South Asian Associatio on Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has begun in New Delhi on 3 September 2015.
2.  The two day conference seeks to chalk out and undertake various joint efforts on various issues related to disaster mapping and mitigation in the member nations.
3.   The conference is being held by keeping in mind the prevalent geo-climatic conditions as well as increased frequency of natural disaster and calamities in the SAARC region.

RBI to issue Rs 5 coin on golden jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war

1.  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to issue coins of 5 rupees denomination to commemorate golden jubilee year of Indo-Pak War 1965.
2. These coins will be issued under in The Coinage Act, 2011 and will be considered as legal a tender.
3. Obverse side: It will bear Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar in the centre and Satyamev Jayate will be inscribed below it.
4. Reverse side: In the centre it will bear image of ‘Amar Jawan’ monument along with the design of olive leaves branch on its left and right sides. The year 2015 will be written below the image of the monument.
5. It will bear inscription ‘VALOUR AND SACRIFICE’ in English on the right upper periphery and ‘Veerata Aur Balidan’ in Devnagri script on the left upper periphery.
6. GOLDEN JUBILEE 1965 OPERATIONS in English will be inscribed on the lower periphery on the reverse side of coin. 

Haryana Government wins Skoch Order-of-Merit National award for implementing e-governance, IT

1. Haryana Government has won the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award for implementing 6 e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state.
2. It was announced by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the state Assembly on the second day of the monsoon session. The award will be presented to the state government on 22-23 September, 2015.

Punjab Government establishes Special MGNREGA cell

1.  Punjab Government has established a special MGNREGA cell to coordinate effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the state.
2.  It has been established by Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Department at Chandigarh with an outlay of 233 crore rupees.
3. This cell will monitor implementation of Union Government’s flagship 100 days employment guarantee scheme of MGNREGA.

India, Australia agree to deepen bilateral Defence Partnership

1.  India and Australia have agreed to deepen their bilateral defence partnership based on their shared strategic interests by setting up of a joint working group on defence research and material cooperation.
2. This decision was taken after the delegation-level talks between Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his visiting Australian counterpart Kevin Andrews in New Delhi. Focus on maritime security ties in the Indian Ocean region and acknowledged the importance of freedom of maritime navigation. 

ONGC buys 15% stake in Russia’s 2nd-largest oil field from Rosneft

1. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has bought a 15 per cent stake in Russia’s second-largest oil field Vankor from Rosneft for about 1.35 billion US dollars.
2.  In this regard, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) the overseas investment arm of ONGC has signed agreements to buy 15 per cent stake in the Vankor oil field located in East Siberia.
3. The agreement to buy stake in Vankor was signed by the OVL Managing Director Narendra Verma and Chairman of Rosneft Management Board Igor Sechin in Vladivostok.
4. OVL will get two seats on the Board of Directors of Vankor, a subsidiary of Rosneft that operates the Vankor field.

Union Government cancels registration of Greenpeace India

1.  Union Government has cancelled licence of Greenpeace India, a non-profit Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to receive foreign donations.
2. The license was cancelled by Union Ministry of Home Affairs as per under Section 13 of Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA), 2011. Henceforth, Greenpeace India will be not able to receive any kind of foreign donations from its international network.
3. Earlier in April 2015, MHA had suspended the license of Greenpeace India for six months for mixing foreign and domestic funds and not disclosing the movement of its funds.
4. Greenpeace India had filed a petition challenging this suspension in the Delhi High Court. The court had allowed the NGO to use two of its accounts for the purpose of receiving and utilising fresh domestic donations for its day-to-day functioning.