Daily GK Updates: 29th August 2014

 

1.    National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August

i.National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August throughout the country.
ii. National Sports Day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey player Dhyan Chand. This day is celebrated by organizing friendly matches between different Indian hockey teams at the Dhyan Chand National stadium in New Delhi.

iii. The National Stadium was constructed in the respect and honor of Dhyan Chand.


Major Dhyan Chand –The Hockey Wizard
Major Dhyan Chand was India’s greatest hockey player. He has scored over 1000 goals between 1926 and 1948. He helped India win 3 Olympic Gold medals including the first in 1928 (Amsterdum Olympic games) and then in 1932 ( Los Angeles Olympic games) and 1936 (Berlin Olympic games).

2.    Sivaramakrishnan Committee submitted report to Union Home Ministry on AP Capital

i.Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union Government to suggest the place to build the capital city of Andhra Pradesh submitted its report to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
ii. The committee gave options about the capital and positive and negative points of the places. But the committee did not Zero in on any particular place for the capital. It only mentioned the availability of lands and other factors.

iii. Interestingly, the committee objected Vijayawada to be the capital, in the context of the AP government transferring certain departments to Vijayawada, declaring it as the future capital.

3.    Manipur Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned

i.Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned as Manipur Governor. He was appointed as governor of Manipur by President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 December 2013.

ii.Thus, Vinod Kumar Duggal became the ninth governor to resign since the NDA Government came to power in May 2014. Eight other governors -- M.K. Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland), B.L. Joshi (UP), B.V. Wanchoo (Goa) Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Sheila Dikshit (Kerala), V Purushothaman (Mizoram), K. Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) had resigned before.

4.    God of Antarctica written by Yashwardhan Shukla

i. Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica. The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters. It was put into print by the Readers Paradise publishers.

ii. The boy said Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva’s Trilogy’ and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series has inspired him in writing. He also said Rick Riordan remains his favourite author.

5.    Australian PM Tony Abbott to visit India next week

i.Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is all set to make his first official visit to India next week to further strengthen the strategic partnership and promote trade and investment between the two sides.

ii.“I will travel to India and Malaysia from September 4 to 6. On my first visit to India as Prime Minister, I will visit New Delhi and India’s financial capital, Mumbai, to strengthen the strategic partnership between our two countries,” he said.

iii. Noting that the two nations have strong and growing economic and trade ties, he said India is Australia’s fifth largest export market with total exports of $11.4 billion.

6.    Child marriage on rise in Kerala: UNICEF

i. Notwithstanding a better gender balance in the southern part of the country, child marriage has been found to be on the rise in Kerala in recent years, according to UNICEF.

ii.“In the southern part of India we have a relatively better gender balance which explains lower rates of child marriage. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown a rising rate in Kerala,” UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist in India Dora Giusti said.

iii.“Child marriage is more common among certain groups and among disadvantaged communities. In Kerala it was not the case even a few years back, but of late there has been a rise in it due to migration from the northern part of India,” Ms. Giusti explained.

iv. According to a UNICEF report, in India there were more child marriages in rural areas than urban. While 52.5 per cent of currently married women in age group 20-24 years in rural areas and 28.2 per cent in urban areas got married before they were 18 years.

v. Although the gap between urban and rural areas has almost halved from 30.2 per cent in 1992-1993 to 18.6 per cent in 2007-2008, currently married women in rural areas were twice more likely to be child brides than their urban counterparts, the report said.

vi. Bihar has the highest incidence of child marriage at 68 per cent while Himachal Pradesh with around nine per cent has the lowest incidence, it stated.

vii. Six states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal — have the highest incidence of child marriage ranging from 51.9 per cent to 68.2 per cent, the report revealed.

7.    Cristiano Ronaldo crowned UEFA Best Player in Europe

i. Cristiano Ronaldo was on Thursday named the UEFA Best Player in Europe, defeating Bayern Munich duo Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben for the prestigious award.

ii. Ronaldo earned 24 votes from a panel of European football journalists to claim the title in Monte Carlo just after the draw was made for the Champions League group stage.

iii. Neuer was second on 19 votes, ahead of his Bayern teammate Robben who took nine.

iv. It is the second time Ronaldo has picked up the award having also won in 2008 when playing for Manchester United in the Premier League. He is also currently the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year