Daily GK Update : 1st August 2015

1. India’s first Harbour Defence System commissioned in Kochi

i. India’s first Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) was commissioned in Kochi, Kerala.

ii. First of its kind system in the country is part of initiatives to strengthen and beef up coastal security in the western coastline.

iii. Designed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Consists of advance sensors, coastal surveillance radars and sound navigation and ranging systems (SONAR).

iv. Capable of detecting, tracking, identifying and generating warning for all types of underwater and surface threats to harbour security. The integrated system can detect presence of divers and under water threats with the help of this automatic system.

2. India’s Prabhroop Sekhon wins two golds in Special Olympics World Games

i. India’s 14 year old Prabhroop Sekhon has won two gold medals in the Special Olympics World Summer Games held at Los Angeles, US. He won the medals in 300 metre and 500 metre Roller Skating event.

ii. Sekhon hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Earlier he was coached and selected for various camps at State and National level.  He is an Autistic student and is son of a serving Indian Air Force Officer, Group Captain BS Sekhon.

iii. Special Olympics World Summer Games are an international sporting competition organized by Special Olympics for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver to celebrate the talents, perseverance and achievements of those with intellectual disabilities.

3. Thomas Cook (India) Ltd buys Sri Lankan firm Luxe Asia Pvt. Ltd

i. Major tour operator Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has acquired Sri Lanka based destination management company Luxe Asia Pvt. Ltd.

ii. The acquisition was done in undisclosed deal was made through Thomas Cook (India) Ltd’s wholly owned subsidiary Thomas Cook Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. After this deal, Luxe Asia will be operated as an independent entity.

iii. This acquisition will help Thomas Cook (India) Ltd to increase its significant presence in Sri Lanka along with destination management capabilities.

iv. Luxe Asia is primarily focussed on inbound tourism from key global market. It services both traveller segments and tour operator across its 10 destinations in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) and Asia.

4. Cyclone Komen makes landfall in Bangladesh

i. Cyclone Komen made landfall in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. The cyclone has caused heavy rains that inundated vast areas of the coastal towns of Bangladesh, West Bengal and Odisha. Land affected areas due Cyclone Komen include eastern countries north in Bay of Bengal. They are Bangladesh, Myanmar, East India and Northeast India.

ii. Under the influence of cyclone, several coastal districts of low-lying areas and their offshore islands are likely to be inundated with high tides.

iii. It was formed due to generation of depression over the Northern Bay of Bengal, which later turned into a cyclonic storm. It is had attained the wind speed of from 65 to 75 kmph.

iv. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted that this cyclone will bring very heavy rainfall along with it in the Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha of India. After making landfall in Bangladesh it will further move west-north-westwards and weaken gradually.

5. Igniting minds: Kalam’s books fly off the shelves

i. Even as the country continues to mourn his passing, APJ Abdul Kalam’s books are flying off the shelves, say book sellers, with the former president’s autobiography, Wings of Fire, emerging as the top seller online.

ii. all the books authored by Kalam are in demand, with eight of them on the top 20 bestsellers list on online retailer Amazon.

iii. After the ‘people’s president’ passed away on July 27 while addressing management students in Shillong, there has been an outpouring of grief nationwide.

iv. The shop which has only India 2020 in stock now, is planning to add at least 50-100 copies of his other books — Ignited Minds, Target 3 Billion and Turning Points — to cater to bulk orders, as it expects more demand from schools in the coming days.

6. Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin presented with Arjuna Award

i. Union Government has conferred Arjuna Award on Indian cricket team off-spinner bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. With this Ashwin became 48th cricketer to receive the prestigious award.

ii. He was presented with award by Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at a special function organised in New Delhi.

iii. The award was bestowed upon R Ashwin in 2014, but he was not present during the Award Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan in August 2014. During that time he was a part of the India One Day International (ODI) team, which was touring England.

iv. R Ashwin hails from southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Till date in his international cricket career he has taken 139 wickets in 99 ODIs, 124 wickets in 25 Tests and 26 wickets in 25 T20 internationals. He is the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 100 and 50 wicket mark in International Test cricket and 5th fastest bowler in Test history to bag 100 wickets.

v. Arjuna Awards was instituted in 1961. Given by Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to sportsperson in recognition of their outstanding achievement in National sports.