Daily GK Update - 15th January 2015

1. PM Narendra Modi to launch 'Beti Bachao' scheme 

i. the Modi government's big bang flagship scheme will be `Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' (BBBP), which will help address the country's low child sex ratio. 

ii. The scheme will be launched by PM Narendra Modi on January 22 and will focus on a multi-sectoral approach to tackling the problem of the vanishing girl child. 

iii. The Rs 100-crore scheme is expected to be monitored by the Maneka Gandhi-headed ministry of women and child development (WCD) in coordination with the ministries of health and HRD.

iv. The Objectives - 

• To prevent genderbiased sex selection by stringent enforcement of laws, especially by strengthening the implementation of PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Pro hibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC&PNDT Act) with strict punishments for violations. 
• BBBP will also ensure access and availability of essential requirements related to nutrition, healthcare, education and protection and elimination of discrimination against a girl child which can lead to low self-esteem, lifelong deprivation and exclusion from the mainstream. 
• Initiatives will be taken to encourage girls to express their views and to be heard, to help them participate actively , effectively and equally at all levels of social, economic, and political leadership. 

v. Targets of the Scheme - 

• A toilet in every girls' school in 100 vulnerable districts.
• An innovation fund at state-level to encourage best practices in improving child sex ratio (CSR) and gender inequities.
• District-level awards to schools strengthening girl child education.

2. RBI Changed Key Rates 

i. In a move that brought huge cheer to the markets, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.75%. 

ii. The central bank kept the Cash Reserve Ratio ( CRR) unchanged at 4.0%.

iii. Reasons for the Repo Cut :

• Plunging Oil prices in the Global arena and hence in India keeping the Inflation levels in the check.
• WPI increased at the rate of a mere 0.11% as against the expected increase of 0.6%.
• Retail inflation is at 5% as against an expected 5.4%.
• Fiscal deficit target is well in reach at 4.1%. 

3. Pakistan to ban JuD and Haqqani network

i.  Pakistan plans to ban 10 terror outfits, including 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the dreaded Afghan-based Haqqani Network, a move seen by experts as a "paradigm shift" in the country's security policy in the wake of Peshawar school massacre. 

ii. The move came a day after the US declared the fugitive chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Mullah Fazlullah as a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist'.

iii. The UN security council designated the JuD a front for the LeT after the Mumbai attacks. Since then, the UN and US have sanctioned several JuD leaders. 

4. Naqvi gets 1-year jail term

i. Union Minister of State for Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was sentenced to a one-year jail term.

ii. Naqvi and 19 others were convicted by a Rampur court for breaching prohibitory orders in the run-up to the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

iii. Judicial magistrate Manish Kumar pronounced Mr. Naqvi guilty under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and Section 144 of the Cr.PC.

iv. In 2009, Section 144 was imposed in Rampur when local BJP workers staged a protest after the arrest of the BJP district president. Over 200 people were named in the charge sheet. 

5. Centre to implement biometric attendance system soon 

i. The Centre is set to implement Aadhaar-based biometric system for attendance in all government departments and state-owned entities spread across Delhi.

ii. Department of electronics & information technology (DeitY) has so far implemented Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) in 54 government locations in Delhi that requires fingerprint-based attendance for employees entering into the office premise. 

iii. We are rolling out biometrics attendance system in 394 government organizations and agencies within the Delhi region while 300 of them have actually started working on implementing it.

6. Army Day celebrated on 15 January 

i. India on 15 January 2015 observed the 67th Army Day. The day is celebrated to commemorate the day, when Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa on 15 January 1949 became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army post Independence. He had succeeded General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India.

ii. To mark the day, all three service chiefs, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Robin K Dhowan and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha paid tributes at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate by laying floral wreath and remembering the martyred soldiers.

7. Anupam Shrivastava appointed as CMD of BSNL

i. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved appointment of Anupam Shrivastava as CMD of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

ii. BSNL's Director Enterprises A N Rai is currently handling the additional charge of CMD.

iii. As Zonal Director for North Zone he is responsible for monitoring growth and maintenance of Telecom Network in 8 Circles.

8. Brett Lee retires from all forms of cricket

i. Australian pace bowler Brett Lee on Thursday announced he is to retire from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career.

ii. The 38-year-old called time on his international commitments in July 2012, but continued to play Twenty20 in both the Australian Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League.

iii. Lee played 76 Tests for Australia, taking 310 wickets, and 221 one-dayers with 380 dismissals.