Daily GK Updates: 8th Oct 2014

1.    Invention of blue LEDs wins physics Nobel

i. The 2014 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to a trio of scientists in Japan and the US for the invention of blue light emitting diodes (LEDs).

ii. Professors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura made the first blue LEDs in the early 1990s.

iii. This enabled a new generation of bright, energy-efficient white lamps, as well as colour LED screens.

iv. The winners will share prize money of eight million kronor (£0.7m).

v. They were named at a press conference in Sweden, and join a prestigious list of 196 other Physics laureates recognized since 1901.

2.    Two Americans and a German won the Nobel Prize in chemistry

i. Eric Betzig, Stefan W Hell and William E Moerner are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 for having bypassed this limit. Due to their achievements the optical microscope can now peer into the nanoworld.

ii. Two Americans and a German won the Nobel Prize in chemistry this year for their work on optical microscopy that has opened up our understanding of molecules by allowing us to see how they work close up.

iii. The winners are Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner, the Nobel committee in Sweden announced Wednesday.

iv. Back in 1873, science believed it had reached a limit in how much more of a detailed picture a microscope could provide. At the time, microscopist Ernst Abbe said the maximum resolution had been attained.

3.    India to grow 5.6% this year, 6.4 % in 2015: IMF

i. The International Monetary Fund has forecast 5.6 percent growth rate for India this year and a higher 6.4 per cent next year. 

ii. The IMF said this in its latest World Economic Outlook report yesterday citing renewed confidence in the market due to a series of economic reforms being undertaken by the Government. 

iii. In China, the report said, growth will remain at 7.4 percent this year and is projected to be of 7.1 per cent in 2015.

4.    Exim Bank extends $7.76 mn line of credit to Cuban Bank

i. Export-Import Bank of India has, at the behest of the Government of India, extended two additional Lines of Credit [LOCs] to Banco Exterior De Cuba, Cuba aggregating $7.76 million.

ii. While one LOC (for $2.71 million) is for financing the setting up of a bulk blending fertilizer plant, the other (for $5.05 million) is for financing the modernisation of an injectable products plant.

iii. With the signing of the above two LOC Agreements, Exim Bank, till date, has extended three Lines of Credit to Cuba, at the behest of the Government of India, taking the total value of LOCs extended to $12.76 million.

iv. Under the LOC, Exim Bank will reimburse 100 per cent of contract value to the Indian exporters, upfront upon shipment of goods. The LOC will be used for sourcing of goods and services from India.

5.    Georgetown University appoints Pratima Dharm as first Hindu priest

i. The Georgetown University has appointed its first Hindu priest —a woman — to serve the religious needs of its Hindu students, whose number has increased in recent years.

ii. Pratima Dharm, who recently retired as the first Hindu chaplain in the U.S. Army, has been appointed as the first Hindu chaplain at the Georgetown University, a move welcomed by the Hindu students of this top private research university.

iii. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Jesuit and Catholic university in the U.S.

iv. Ms. Dharm began her new assignment at Georgetown on October 1, 2014, the university said in a media statement.

v. Previously she served on Army bases and hospitals around the world, including a yearlong deployment in Iraq