Daily GK Update - 26th December 2014

1. Raghuvar Das to be first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

i. Raghuvar Das, national vice-president of the BJP will be the first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand after he was elected the leader of the BJP Legislature Party.

ii. BJP observer J.P. Nadda said after the legislature party meeting that Mr. Das’ name was proposed by Sarayu Roy, another frontrunner for the post and C.P. Singh and supported by all the party MLAs.

iii. The BJP-AJSU alliance had won absolute majority in the recent Assembly polls bagging 42 out of the total 81 seats.

2. PM Modi nominates Kapil Sharma, Saurav Ganguly, Kiran Bedi for 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan'

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi nominated nine people including comedian Kapil Sharma, former captain of Indian cricket team Sourav Ganguly, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi for taking forward his 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan'.

ii. Others nominated were Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya, classical dancer Sonal Mansingh, Ramoji Rao of Eenadu group and Aroon Purie of India Today group.

iii. He also nominated some organisations which included Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Eenadu and India Today groups besides 'dabbewale' of Mumbai, who deliver home-made food to lakhs of people in the city.

3. Death toll rises to 81, operations launched against NDFB

i. Operations were on Friday intensified against NDFB(S) militants along the border with Arunachal Pradesh even as the death toll in the massacre rose to 81.

ii. A 12-hour bandh called by the All Assam Adivasi Students' Association (AAASA), Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) and Asom Yuva Parishad (AYP) disrupted normal life across the state.

iii. The bandh was total in the affected districts of Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Udalguri and Baksa along with tea garden dominated districts of Jorhat, Golaghat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia in Upper Assam.

4. President signs ordinance on insurance and coal

i. President Pranab Mukherjee signed two key ordinances allowing hike in the FDI cap in the insurance sector and facilitating e-auction of coal blocks.

ii. The NDA Government had recommended promulgation of these ordinances after failing to get them passed in Parliament.

iii. The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 was passed by the Lok Sabha but could not be taken up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha, pushing the government to recommend a re-promulgation of the coal ordinance.

iv. In case of the insurance amendment bill, the Government recommended promulgation of a fresh ordinance, allowing hiking the FDI cap in the sector from 26 to 49 per cent.

v. The government hopes the increased FDI cap would bring in additional capital inflow of USD 6-8 billion to the insurance sector.

vi. While the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, 2008 had been approved by the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha, it could not be taken up for discussion in Parliament owing to pandemonium over the conversion row, among other issues.

5. India won Gold in World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad

i. India won Gold in World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad on 22 December 2014. India won against Turkey 3.0-1.0 in the final round at the FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs) tournament held at Gyor, Hungary.

ii. Russia defeated Ukraine 3.5-0.5 in the final round to come at second place and win the Silver medal. 

iii. The third place was clinched by Iran while Hungary finished at fourth place in the tournament.

iv. In the final round, three Indians International Master (IM) Murali Karthikeyan, IM Aravindh Chithambaram and Kumaran Balaji won their respective matches to clinch the Gold. Only IM Diptayan Ghosh lost to Vahap Sanal of Turkey.

6. India joins UN body to strengthen early warning system for natural disasters

i. Joining hands with international community to strengthen early warning systems for natural disasters, India in association with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) announced contribution of US$ 1 million to the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, disaster and climate preparedness in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian Countries. 

ii. India is a 'Regional Service Provider' for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS), which became operational in 2011.

iii. India is also an active member of the ESCAP/World Meteorological Organization Panel on Tropical Cyclones. 

7. Union Government launched health mission- 'Mission Indradhanush'

i. A health mission known as 'Mission Indradhanush' was launched by the Union Government of India . 

ii. Jagat Prakash Nadda, Health and Family Welfare Minister launched the mission with an aim to cover all those children who are unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B, by the end of the year 2020.