Daily GK Update: 1st October, 2015

1. India to Chair G20 in 2018

i. India is going to chair Group of Twenty (G20) nations forum in year 2018 and New Delhi could be the host of the prestigious annual G20 summit. This decision was taken by G20 forum earlier in September 2015 which was chaired by Turkey.

ii. Turkey will hand over the Chair for the next year i.e. 2016 to China and in 2017 Germany is going to chair it.

iii. G20 is the premier forum (It is not an organsation) for global economic and financial cooperation. Being a forum it does not have any permanent secretariat or management and administrative structure.

iv. Every year one nation holds the chair of G20 known as Presidency which rotates annually among its member groups. The presidency establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration till it holds the Chair.

v. The forum brings together 20 nations that represent world’s major advanced and emerging economies, representing around 85 per cent of global GDP.

2. V Shanmuganathan sworn-in as 17th Governor of Manipur

i. V Shanmuganthan has sworn in as the 17th Governor of Manipur after taking oath at ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Imphal. He succeeded Dr. Syed Ahmed who had died in late in September 2015.

ii. Chief justice of Manipur High Court Justice Laxmi Kant Mahapatra administered the oath of office to him as per the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution of India. Presently V Shanmuganthan is Governor of Meghalaya and was given additional charge of Manipur by President Pranab Mukherjee following death of Dr. Syed Ahmed.

iii. V Shanmuganthan is a prolific writer and had written three books related to culture and social aspects in Tamil. He was member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and had joined it in 1962. Later he had joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) where he had served in many party positions.

iv. Article 153 of Constitution says that there shall be Governor for each state. The 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956 has facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.

3. Plestinian flag hoisted at UN headquarters for the first time

i. Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at United Nations headquarters in New York on 30 September 2015. The politically sensitive flag raising ceremony took place at 1:16 pm at the UN's Rose Garden.

ii. The flag hosting raising ceremony was attended by the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier on 10 September 2015, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly approved the Resolution on Raising of Flags by Non-Member Observer States.

iii. The resolution said that the flags of non-member observer states like Palestine shall be raised at UN Headquarters and United Nations Offices following the flags of the Member States of the organization.

iv. Palestine was granted the status of a non-member observer State by the UNGA in 2012.

4. International Day of Older Persons observed across the world

i. The International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) was on 1 October 2015 observed across the world with the theme Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment. The 2015 IDOP celebration demonstrated that an age inclusive agenda is crucial to promote equity, welfare and prosperity for all.

ii. The 2015 celebration of the 25th anniversary of International Day of Older Persons focused on the impact of the new urban environment on older persons and impact of older persons on the new urban environment.

iii. The migration of people worldwide to cities is happening at a record pace with 6 out of every 10 people in the world expected to reside in urban areas by 2030. It means that the number of people over 60 living in cities may grow to over 900 million by 2050.

iv. On 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly declared 1 October as the International Day of Older Persons, following up on initiatives such as Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing, which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing and endorsed later that year by UNGA. 

5. China launched 20th satellite for its BeiDou Navigation System

i. China on 30 September 2015 launched a 20th new generation satellite into orbit that will support its global navigation and positioning network.

ii. The satellite was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the south-western province of Sichuan. A Long March-3B carrier rocket carried the satellite.

iii. The launch of the 20th satellite for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has put China one step closer to providing an alternative to the U.S. operated Global Positioning System (GPS).

Besides, it was the first time that the satellite featured a hydrogen atomic clock. Also, multiple tests related to the clock will be done.

iv. Global Navigation Satellite Systems

• India: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
• United States: Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Russia: GLONASS
• France: Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS)
• Japan: Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS)

6. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology 2015 announced

i. CSIR on 26 September 2015 announced Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for Science and Technology 2015 for eleven scientists in recognition of their work. The awardees were announced to mark the CSIR’s 73nd Foundation day.

ii. The SSB Prize consists of a citation, a plaque and a cash prize of 5 lakh rupees. The selected awardees in different fields are

• Biological Sciences: Dr Balasubramanian Gopal of Molecular Biophysics Unit Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
• Dr Rajeev Kumar Varshney of Centre of Excellence in Genomics International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad
• Chemical Sciences: Dr D Srinivasa Reddy Division of Organic Chemistry CSIR National Chemical Laboratory, Pune
• Dr Pradyut Ghosh of Department of Inorganic Chemistry Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Jadavapur, Kolkata
• Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences: Dr Jyotiranjan Srichandan Ray of Geosciences Division Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
• Engineering Sciences: Dr Yogesh Moreshwar Joshi of Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
• Mathematical Sciences: Dr K Sandeep of TIFR Centre for Applicable Mathematics, Bangalore
• Dr Ritabrata Munshi School of Mathematics Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
• Medical Sciences: Dr Vidita Ashok Vaidya of Department of Biological Sciences Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
• Physical Sciences: Dr Bedangadas Mohanty of School of Physical Sciences National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar
• Dr Mandar Madhukar Deshmukh of Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

7. Union Government released commemorative postal stamp on Dr BR Ambedkar

i. Union Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 30 September 2015 released a commemorative postal stamp on Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

ii. The government is celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar in the year 2015. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23 July 2015 chaired the first meeting of the National Committee on Nationwide Celebration of 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

iii. The objective of year long celebrations is to make the world aware about the life and the work of Dr. Babasaheb Ambekdar as a champion of the underprivileged.

iv. Beside this, the minister also said that it will come out with a coin in his honour. The coin that will be released in honour of the legendary social reformer has received an approval from the Union Finance Ministry.

v. Dr Ambedkar was posthumously given the highest civilian award of India Bharat Ratna in 1990. He died in 1956.

8. Heena Sidhu wins gold medal at Asian Air Gun Championships

i. India’s ace shooter Heena Sidhu has clinched a Gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi.

ii. In this event, Heena shot a total of 197.8 points to finish at the top of the podium to win the gold medal. Shweta Singh of India by scoring total of 197 points won Silver medal. While South Korea’s Seon A Kim won the Bronze medal. Yashaswini Singh Deshwal of India was placed  at fourth position.

iii. It should be noted that Heena Sidhu is former world number one (as on April 2014)  and was India’s first pistol shooter to be ranked number one in the world.

iv. In the 2015 Asian Air Gun Championships held in New Delhi, India has emerged on the top with total medal tally of 17 medals, including 6 Gold. While Iran finished second in this continental event.