Daily GK Updates: 20th Sept 2014

1.    Time names Indian architect Alok Shetty ‘leader of tomorrow

i. A 28-year-old Indian architect has been named “young leader of tomorrow” byTime magazine for his pioneering work in designing affordable flood-proof houses for slum dwellers.

ii. Alok Shetty is among “leaders of tomorrow” who are “working hard to change their worlds today,” Time said as it named six inspirational young persons in its first class of “next generation leaders“.

iii. Time said Mr. Shetty is “building hope in India” as an architect who is “finding simple solutions to complex problems.”

2.    Centre allocates over Rs. 2700 cr for Nalanda University

i. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has described the revival of Nalanda University as a beginning of Renaissance in East Asia. Ii. Addressing the formal inauguration function at the University campus at Rajgir in Bihar, the Minister said the government has sanctioned 2717 crore rupees for a period of 10 years to develop the University.

3.    Nepal seeks technical cooperation from India for extending PF

i. Nepal today sought technical cooperation from India for extending Provident Fund (PF) in organised and unorganised sectors in that country.

ii. A delegation led by Secretary of Nepal Prime Minister and Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Nepal chief Durga Nidhi Sharma met the Union Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and held deliberations on the issue.

iii. “Employees Provident Fund (Karmachari Sanchay Kosh), Nepal has sought technical cooperation from the Minister (Tomar) for extending provident fund organised and unorganised sectors in their country.

iv. The EPF (Karmachari Sanchay Kosh), Nepal manages provident fund even on behalf of government employees and a large sum is given as repayable loan to government employees for various purposes like housing, the statement said.

4.    Coca-Cola India launches zero sugar soft drink

i. Coca-Cola India has launched its zero sugar soft drink — Coca-Cola Zero — in line with its strategy to make India its fifth largest market by 2020.

ii. The company has priced Coca-Cola Zero same as its regular Coca-Cola. The new product will be available in 300 ml slim cans, 400 ml PET bottles and 600 ml PET.

iii. The company said that in a first-of-its-kind distribution strategy of a beverage company, Coca-Cola Zero will be available on Amazon, besides being available across Subway, Inox Cinemas, and Reliance Retail for the first two weeks..

5.    World Wrestling, Ten Sports to invest Rs 600 crore in India

i. New York-listed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), along with Ten Sports channel, will invest a little over $100 million ( Rs 600 crore) in the Indian sporting related entertainment market, according to sources.

ii. Ten Sports, which has the exclusive rights for the WWE in India, has extended its television distribution agreement for five more years through 2019.

iii. The partnership would work towards creating more local content and telecast in regional languages, Sethi said.

iv. Ten Sports will also air WWE content in multiple Indian languages for the first time, and bring WWE live events back to India in 2015, Sethi said during the launch in Mumbai.

6.    India-China agreed for Joint Working group on films meet in Goa

i. India and China on 18 September 2014 agreed to establish a Joint Working Group to promote facilitation in the film sector. The group will meet for the first time in November 2014 on the sidelines of the International Film Festival India 2014 at Goa. 
ii. The decision of formation of the Joint Working Group was taken in New Delhi at the meet between the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and his Chinese counterpart, Minister for State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) Cai Fuchao.

7.    Sania-Cara win doubles title at WTA Toray Pacific Open

i. Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black have bagged the women's doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open tournament.
ii. In the final in Tokyo today, the pair recorded a 6-2 7-5 victory over Spain's Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
iii. With the win, Sania and Cara have successfully defended their Tokyo Open title, which is a 1 million US dollar event.
iv. For Sania, it will be icing on the cake after her US Open mixed doubles triumph with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.

8.    Jitu Rai wins gold at Asian Games

i. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai clinched a historic gold in the 50m Pistol and Shweta Chaudhry gave India first medal by clinching bronze in the Women 10m Air Pistol Finals, on Saturday on the opening day of the 17th Asian Games at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range.

ii. The shooter, who serves the Gurkha regiment, was on target from the word go after moving into the finals even as compatriot Omkar Singh failed to cross the qualification hurdle. In the finals though, Rai was tested by Vietnam's Nguyen Hoang Phuong, who had to settle for silver and bronze medallist Wang Zhiwei of China.

iii. Fresh from his 50m Pistol silver in the World Championships, the Lucknow-based shooter completed a grand double as he had won a gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this yea