Daily GK update : 15th July 2015

1. PM Modi launches 'Skill India' campaign

i) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched the 'Skill India Mission' in the national capital. The Prime Minister will formally launch the National Skill Development Mission, unveil the new National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 and roll out on all-India flagship scheme.

ii) Narendra Modi’s ambitious Skill India Mission targets 40.2 crore workers by 2022 .Pushing ahead with its ambitious Skill India mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 'Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana' on Wednesday to create skilled manpower at grass-root level by providing them vocational, technical and skill development education.

iii)These include a redesigned Model Skill Loan Scheme, Skill Card for persons certified under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and the new National Policy for Skill Development.

2.Boeing, Tata Advanced Systems ink aerospace partnership deal.

i) A collaboration in aerospace and defence manufacturing and potential integrated systems development opportunities has been inked between Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and Boeing. The deal will include unmanned aerial vehicles.
ii) The framework agreement was signed by Shelley Lavender, President of Boeing Military Aircraft, and Sukaran Singh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TASL.

iii) TAL has also provided ground support equipment for the C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter.

3. India’s first railway-line built under PPP model inaugurated in Gujarat

i) Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu on 14 July 2015 inaugurated the broad-gauge railway-line between Gandhidham and Tuna-Tekra Port in Gujarat by flagging off a goods train.

ii) The rail line is India’s first railway-line built with private sector participation under Non-Government Railway (NGR) Policy 2012 of Indian Railways. The rail line has been built at a cost of approx 185 crore rupees for M/s Kandla Port Trust (KPT) to bring about better and faster rail connectivity to Port of Tuna & Tekra.

iii) The rail-line between Gandhidham, a town in Kutch district of Gujarat, and Tuna-Tekra Port, a port 20-km west of Kandla in Gulf of Kutch, was funded by M/s Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and Western Railway Zone of Indian Railways coordinated and pioneered it.

4. Maharashtra assembly passed Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015

i)Maharashtra legislative assembly on 14 July 2015 passed the Maharashtra Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015. The bill was unanimously passed by the assembly in the absence of Congress and NCP members.

ii)Features of the Bill 

• It empowers citizens to avail their rights in stipulated time with less efforts and cost. 

• It will pave way for curbing corruption, bringing transparency and empowering citizens. 

• It ensures essential services are delivered in a time-bound manner and at nominal charges. 

• In case of failure in delivery in the stipulated time, the government employee will be penalized for default, which ranges between 500 rupees to 5000 rupees. 

iii) It provides for three-tier Appellate Authorities with first two being Government Officials or Designated Officers and third will be a Right to Service Commission.

5. Skill Development Ministry inks pact for using Railway infra for training.

i)Ahead of the Prime Minister’s launch of the Skill India Mission on Wednesday, the Railways has tied up with the Ministry of Skill Development to offer ‘sparable’ space for training in its infrastructure, such as wayside stations, railway training centres, railway schools and institutes.

ii)An agreement in this regard was signed here on Tuesday between the Railway Ministry and the Skill Development Ministry. “Our schools can be made available and our employees can teach as part of their social duties,” said Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, adding that the Railways otherwise will have a ‘limited role’ to play.
iii) The Railways already has 300 training centres and 150 schools, of which about 70 per cent have optical fibre cable network connections

6. Andromeda acquires apnapaisa.com in stock and cash deal.

i) Andromeda, one of the country's largest loan distributors, has acquired the apnapaisa.com, an online loan solutions space in a stock and cash deal, the company said. 

ii) Apnapaisa.com, promoted by Harsh Roongta, a personal finance professional, has worked with several financial lending institutions.

iii) Andromeda's acquisition of apnapaisa is in line with the increasing trend of digitization and the tech-edge that apnapaisa brings would drive the growth of Andromeda 

7. Krishnapatnam Port receives Golden Peacock award for environment management

i)Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh has been awarded Golden Peacock environment management award for its achievements and initiatives in the field of environment.

ii) The award was presented during the 17th World Congress on Environment Management to C Sasidhar, Managing Director of Krishnapatnam Port by Union Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.
iii) Green initiatives of Krishnapatnam Port  are Plantation of over 20 lakhs trees within the port and more than 50,000 trees in the surrounding villages, Installation of solar lights in the port and solar water heaters in the employee colony, Establishing gas connections for villagers so as to discourage them from cutting of mangroves as fuel wood.

8. Iconic musician Joan Sebastian passed away

i) Iconic Mexican musician Joan Sebastian passed away on 13 July 2015 after battling bone cancer for more than 15 years in Juliantla, Mexico. He was 64. He was also known as El Rey del Jaripeo (the King of Mexican Rodeo).

ii) Born as Jose Manuel Figueroa, he was best known for his sentimental love songs such as Secreto de Amor and Tatuajes On Billbord’s Regional Mexican Albums chart, he placed 10 hit albums at No 1 position, second only to Vicente Fernandez with 15 hit albums. He was also honoured by Billboard multiple times, first with Hall of Fame honors at the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards and then Voice Award at the 2013 Billboard Mexican Music Awards.

iii)He won seven Latin Grammy Awards and five Grammy Awards, making him the most awarded Mexican performer in Grammy's history.