Daily GK Updates: 27th August 2014

 

1.   Supreme court: People facing criminal, corruption charges shouldn't be made ministers

i. Sending a strong message that people against whom criminal and corruption charges have been framed be not inducted as ministers, the Supreme Court today said Prime Minister and Chief Ministers should desist from making such appointments and act in “national interest“.

ii. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha, however, stopped short of prescribing disqualification for such people from becoming ministers, leaving it to the wisdom of the PM and CMs not to recommend such names to the President and Governor.

iii. Observing that it cannot add disqualification in Article 75 (1) (appointment of PM and Council of Ministers), the Bench, however, said that the PM and CMs should not consider people with criminal antecedents and against whom charges have been framed in serious offences, including corruption, for appointment as ministers.

iv. It further said that the Constitution reposes immense trust in the PM and CMs and they are expected to act with constitutional responsibility and morality.

2.   Mother Dairy, SBI launch 'SmartChange Card'

i. Dairy products major Mother Dairy and the State Bank of India today announced the launch of the 'SmartChange Card' for Mother Dairy booths in the National Capital Region.

ii. The card, introduced to facilitate convenience of payment has been rolled out 76 booths already and the company plans to expand coverage to 150 booths over the next three months.

iii. The card, priced at Rs. 25 at the time of issuance, will have a top up limit of Rs. 1,000 while the limit per transaction has been set at Rs. 500. Customers can use the card to shop for various items available at the booths, including milk and other dairy products, Safal products like fruit and vegetables and Dhara oil.

3.   C.S.Verma elected as First President of Indian Steel Association

i. C.S.Verma was elected as First President of Indian Steel Association (ISA). Other members of the ISA were Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director, JSW, Mr. TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, , P Madhusudan, CMD, RINL.

About ISA :The Indian Steel Association was formally launched on 26 August 2014 by the Major domestic steel producers of India.

4.Avia Indra-2014, the Indo-Russia maiden aerial exercise started

i. Indian Air Force (IAF) and Russian Federation Air Force (RFAF) Indo-Russian Air Force Exercise, Avia Indra-2014 at Astrakhan region, near the Caspian Sea in Russia.

ii. Avia Indra-2014 is the first Indo-Russia aerial exercise that involves the air forces of the two countries. The exercise will go on till 5 September 2014.

iii. The exercise is being conducted to boost cooperation between the air forces of two countries and involves aircraft like Su030MKI and Mi-17 helicopters.

iv. It also involves fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, missile combat crew, as well as engineers from the IAF along with their counterparts of the RFAF.

5.   Reliance Jio Infocomm signed tower sharing deal with BSNL

i. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) on 26 August 2014 signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for sharing around 4000 mobile towers.
ii. Along with tower sharing deal, Reliance Jio signed Infrastructure sharing deal with Bharti Airtel, Viom Network, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure, Reliance Communications and American Tower Company to utilise their infrastructure.

6.   Mithali Raj Remains Number One Batswoman in ICC Rankings

i. India captain Mithali Raj has retained the top spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) women's rankings for batters.

ii. Mithali maintained her reign on the top with scores of 34 and 30, respectively, to be the second-highest run-scorer for her side in the series India lost 2-0 in England.

iii. Her teammate Smriti Mandhana is the biggest mover on the table, jumping 23 places to a career-high 40th, following her knocks of 32 and 74.

iv. England captain Charlotte Edwards has jumped five places to second position after leading her side to a thumping victory over India in the opening round of the ICC Women's Championship.

7.   First private wildlife corridor to come up in M.P

i. With an aim to develop country’s first private wildlife corridor between Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserve, telecom major Vodafone and Grow-Trees.com will plant 3,00,000 saplings under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

ii. The company and Grow-Trees.com, the exclusive Indian planting partner for United Nation’s Environment Programme’s Billion Tree Campaign, today announced the launch of its joint initiative to create India’s first private wildlife corridor.

iii. “The corridor is being developed between Kanha-Pench Wildlife Reserve by planting 3,00,000 trees over a period of three years