Daily GK Update - 30th August 2015

1. National Sports Awards for 2014-15 presented

i. Top sportspersons from various disciplines and eminent coaches were honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee at the 2014 National Sports Adventure Awards function at the Durbar Hall, Rashtrapati Bhawan.

ii. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Sania Mirza– In recognition of her outstanding achievements in game of Tennis. Presently she is ranked no 1 women’s player in Women’s Double category.

iii. Arjuna award: Sandeep Kumar- Archery, M R Poovamma- Athletics (4X400 metres relay), Kidambi Srikanth- Badminton, Mandeep Jangra- Boxing, Rohit Sharma- Cricket, Dipa Karmakar- Gymnastics, Sreejesh P R- Hockey, Manjeet Chhillar- Kabaddi, Abhilasha Mhatre- Kabaddi, Swaran Singh- Rowing, Anup Kumar Yama- Roller Skating, Jitu Rai-  Shooting, Sathish Kumar- Weightlifting, Bajrang- Wrestling, Babita Kumari- Wrestling, Y Sanathoi Devi- Wushu, Sharath M Gayakwad- Para-Swimming.

iv. Dronacharya award: Naval Singh- Athletics (Javelin throw) Para-sports coach, Anoop Singh- Wrestling coach, Harbans Singh- Athletics coach, Swatantar Raj Singh- Boxing coach, Nihar Ameen- Swimming coach.

v. Dhyan Chand award: Romeo James- Hockey, Shiv Prakash Mishra- Tennis, P Nair- Volleyball.

2. 51,000 ‘sisters’ get insurance as Rakhi gift in PM’s constituency

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (an accidental insurance scheme) to 51,000 'sisters' of his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on Saturday.

ii. To kickstart the initiative, Union minister of state for power and coal Piyush Goyal handed over the certificates to 14 of these women and girls from poor families on behalf of the PM at a function at Bhagwandas Vidyalaya in Meerapur Bisahi village here.

iii. he said “Without insuring every family, development of the nation is not possible,” Goyal said at the function. "An accident cover of Rs 2 lakh will be provided at a premium of Rs 12 per year only."

iv. Extending Raksha Bandhan greetings on behalf of the PM, he added that the scheme would be provided free of cost as the BJP workers of the Kashi region would pay the premium.

3. 21st edition of Delhi Book Fair begins

i. The 21st edition of the Delhi Book Fair has been launched at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

ii. The book fair has been organised by the Federation of Indian Publishers in association with India Trade Promotion Organisation.  It will be held till 6th September 2015.

iii. The theme of the book fair is Skill development. This edition of fair will largely focus on inculcating the idea of skill-based professions and career interests of the youth.

iv. Books solely focusing on skill development i.e. hard and soft skills will be available at the fair for all age groups. A section of the book fair theme is also devoted to former president Dr. A.P.J.Kalam’s books.

4. OP Jaisha sets new marathon national record at World Athletics Championships, ensures 2016 Rio Olympic spot

i. Indians gave a good account of themselves in the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships as O.P. Jaisha registered a time of two hours, 34 minutes and 43 seconds to set a new national record.

ii. O.P. Jaisha and Sudha Singh finished 18th and 19th respectively in the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.

iii. Jaisha registered a time of two hours, 34 minutes and 43 seconds to set a new national record and claim the 18th place on the final day of the biennial extravaganza.

iv. Sudha, who clocked 2:35:35, also did better than the previous national mark of 2:37:29 set by Jaisha at the Mumbai marathon earlier this year.

v. The result means that both Jaisha and Sudha are well within the qualifying standard for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

5. 2015 World Athletics Championships: Bolt, Jamaica triumph in 4x100m final.

i. Usain Bolt surged to a third gold medal in under a week at the 2015 World Athletics Championships Saturday, anchoring Jamaica to victory in the men's 4x100 meter relay final.

ii. The winning Jamaican time of 37.36 seconds was the best of any nation this year and another exposition of the country's supremacy in short distance events.

iii. China was confirmed to have taken silver as a result of the USA slip-up in a time of 38.01 seconds, to the delight of the Beijing crowd, while bronze was awarded to Canada which finished in 38.13.

iv. The win marks the fourth straight occasion Jamaica has taken 4x100m gold at the World Championships.

v. And as for Bolt himself? He has now won a record 11 gold medals at athletics' premier event -- including two last Sunday and Thursday in the dramatic 100m and 200m final's respectively.

6. SEBI to review surveillance systems; fast-track enforcements

i. To further tighten its noose on manipulators and black money launderers in the stock markets, regulator SEBI will undertake a comprehensive review of its surveillance systems including with help from independent experts and also fast-track its enforcement actions.

ii. The regulator is also pitching for a greater coordination among various watchdogs and enforcement agencies to bring to book the rogue elements that misuse the stock market platform, a senior official said.

iii. SEBI would soon discuss with the government the details regarding the existing safeguards against this menace, as also the proposed new measures, after which same would be communicated to the SIT, he added.

iv. In one typical modus operandi, certain entities seeking Long Term Capital Gain (LTCG) were misusing the stock exchange mechanism, while the second one involves Offshore Derivative Instrument (ODI) holders trading on the basis of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information.

v. While SEBI’s existing surveillance systems are already generating over 100 alerts a day to facilitate detection of market manipulation, it has been felt there is a constant need to enhance capabilities of surveillance both in terms of systems and skill sets so as to address challenges emerging out of extremely dynamic Indian securities market.

7.  Pakistan bans Islamic State militant group.

i. Pakistan has banned the Islamic State (IS) militant group which has undertaken vast stretches of Iraq and Syria in its control.

ii. This decision was taken Pakistan Government on the recommendation of the Foreign Office, which regularly updates it about international militant groups banned by the United Nations (UN).

iii. Union Government already has banned brutal terror group Islamic State under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and following the provisions of section two of the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947.

iv. India took this decision in December 2014 after UN has banned it under its sanctions regime of the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007.