Daily GK UPDATES 22ND June

i. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

ii. The launch has been made by using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-34, carrying India’s latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 along with 19 co-passengers satellites from US, Canada, Germany, Indonesia and two Indian academic institutions.

iii. With 20 satellites, the ISRO has beaten its previous record of placing 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008. While, Russia holds the world record for placing the most number of satellites in a single launch. Its Dnepr rocket launched 37 satellites in 2014.

i. Vice President Hamid Ansari has inaugurated a two-day international conference on ‘Yoga for Body and Beyond’ in New Delhi.

ii. About 70 international delegates from 32 countries are attending the Conference.

iii. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, yoga guru Swami Ramdev and Professor H.R. Nagendra will address the valedictory session of the conference tomorrow.

i. A two-day meeting of heads of state of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) under the presidency of Uzbekistan will begin tomorrow in Tashkent.

ii. The organization was founded in 1996 after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001 and headquartered in Beijing, China. The issue which will be discussed during the meeting is strengthening stability and security in Central Asia, expansion of SCO’s contacts with other international organization and states, as well as the wide involvement of the SCO observer states and dialogue partners in practical cooperation within the organization.

iii. During the summit, India and Pakistan will sign a memorandum of obligation for obtaining SCO member states status. The meeting will be chair by the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

i. The Centre has asked all the states to link Aadhaar card of school students to their caste and domicile certificate.

ii. Under the first-of-its-kind initiative, the states have been asked to ensure that such certificates are issued within 60 days time to the students when they are studying either in Class V or VIII.

iii. The government has reportedly taken the decision following complaints stating that SC-ST students were facing delays in getting their scholarship.

i. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has released a commemorative silver coin to mark the 300th martyrdom day of Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadur.

ii. Banda Singh, who was born in 1670 in Rajouri, was given the title of Bahadur by 10th Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh. He was appointed by Guru Gobind Singh as his deputy and military lieutenant.

iii. Banda Singh Bahadur assembled a fighting force and led the struggle against the Mughal Empire.

i. As per the recently released 2016 World Investment Report, India ranks 10th in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflows.

ii. As per the report, India’s FDI inflows have increased to 44 billion dollars in 2015 as compared to 35 billion dollars in 2014.

iii. According to the report, Top 10 Countries are: United States, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, Canada, and India. United States with 380 billion dollars FDI inflows has topped the list. China with FDI inflows at 136 billion dollars (more than three times India’s FDI) in 2015 was ranked third.

i. Maharashtra Government has accorded minority status to Jews in the state as per the provisions of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission Act, 2004.

ii. The decision in this regard was taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.

iii. With this, Maharashtra becomes second state in the country to accord minority status to Jews after West Bengal. According to the 2001 population census, there are 4,650 Jews in the country of whom 2,466 are based in Maharashtra. With minority status, the Jews in the state can be counted independently as a religious minority along with Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains. The status will now make the community eligible to avail various development schemes that the state launches for the minority community.

i. To commemorate the International Day of Yoga, Andhra Pradesh Postal circle have organized the programme of releasing the booklet for public and stamps on yoga for Philatelists.

ii. The booklet contained illustrations and description of 24 yoga asana (postures) while 12 stamps on Suryanamaskarams were released.

iii. Director of Postal Services K Soma Sundaram stated that the department of posts released the booklet to encourage customers and employees to take to yoga. He said the special stamps are limited edition collection which will interest philatelists.

i. Mori village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh will be developed as a smart village of global standards by using digital tools, real-time information, and uninterrupted internet connectivity.

ii. Towards this endeavor, the partners in the project announced that prototype will be ready by mid-December 2016. The prototype of a net-connected rural habitation will be launched under a partnership between the Andhra Pradesh government, the University of California at Berkeley, and several leading technology organizations.

iii. Under the project, the village will be equipped with fiber optic connectivity. Around 1900 households will be connected with 15 Mbps link.

i. In Assam, the annual Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya temple has begun today. For the celebration, the temple doors will remain closed until Sunday.

ii. The Ambubachi Mela is an annual Hindu mela held at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.

iii. This mela is also known as Ameti or Tantric fertility festival since it is closely associated with Tantric Shakti cult prevalent in eastern parts of India.

i. The United States plans to provide more than 3 billion dollars a year in support for the Afghan national security forces from 2018 through 2020.

ii. And the United States also donates 20 million dollars in humanitarian aid to the United Nations’ effort to help the thousands of refugees who have fled fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

iii. The UN Central Emergency Relief Fund released 17.5 million dollars to help. The US also urged other countries to help meet the UN’s call for more money to help the refugees.

i. Nagpur and the Chinese city of Jinan have become ‘sister cities’ after signing a pact which allows for the exchange of ideas and technology in the field of education, urban planning, youth affairs, and sports.

ii. The agreement, which will be executed for five years, also allows Nagpur to seek financial assistance from Jinan to execute development projects.

i. The State Bank of India (SBI) was named in the Hall of Shame list of 158 banking institutions that have invested billions of dollars in companies making cluster bombs.

ii. The list was prepared by Dutch campaign group PAX Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions report.

iii. State Bank of India (SBI) is the only Indian entity on the list that includes global giants like JP Morgan, Barclays, Bank of America and Credit Suisse. However, the maximum number of 74 banks are from the US, followed by China (29) and South Korea (26).

i. South India Bank has announced the launch of its Remit2India Service. Currently, south Indian Bank’s facility is available for remittance from Europe, Australia, UAE, and Singapore.

ii. It is a secure online money transfer service for NRIs.

iii. The new arrangement facilitates faster, cost -effective remittance from the US to SIB accounts in India.

i. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and India Ports Global Private Limited (IPGPL) have signed a MoU for implementation of additional works on the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) in Myanmar.

ii. As part of the MoU, both signatory parties will be implementing three additional works on the KMTTP at the estimated to cost 476 crore rupees.

iii. These three projects are (1st) Container handling facilities at Paletwa and Sittwe, (2nd) Operation and Maintenance (OM) of the completed works and (3dr) Removing wrecks in Sittwe Port basin area.

i. Six Indian World War I (WW-I) heroes have become part of Britain’s new digital archive.

ii. The archive was launched as part of UK government’s centenary celebrations of WW-I and aims to tell the inspiring stories of war heroes.

iii. The new Digital Archive was launched by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to chronicle individual biographies of the war heroes. It can be accessed through the UK government’s official gov.uk portal. The Indians to be archived digitally for their important role during the War are: Risaldar Badlu Singh from Punjab, Sepoy Chatta Singh from Uttar Pradesh, Naik Darwan Singh Negi from Uttar Pradesh (modern day Uttarakhand), Lance Naik Lala from Himachal Pradesh, Rifleman Gabar Sing Negi from modern day Uttarakhand and Lance-Daffadar Gobind Singh from Rajasthan.

i. SoftBank Group has named Ken Miyauchi as its new President and Chief Operating Officer after the resignation of Nikesh Arora.

ii. Miyauchi currently serves as the Director of SoftBank Group and also as the President and CEO of the company’s telecommunications and Internet arm, SoftBank Corporation.

iii. Mr. Arora resignation came a day after Softbank announced that an independent committee has found that the investors’ allegations against Nikesh Arora were without merit.

i. The book titled A Life in Diplomacy was released which is written by former Indian diplomat Maharajakrishna Rasgotra.

ii. It is an insider’s account of the personalities and policies that shaped Indian diplomacy.

iii. The book provides a ringside view of the beginnings of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka, the last years of the Cold War, the negotiations on the formation of SAARC, Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the Bhopal gas disaster.

i. Noted Telangana poet and lyricist Guda Anjaiah has passed away following a brief illness at Ragannagudem, Telangana. He was 61.

ii. He played a key role in Telangana statehood movement by penning several songs which later found their way into films.

iii. He was born in Adilabad district in 1955. He was leading life as  a pharmacist in Hyderabad. He was famous for his song ‘Ee Ooru Manadira” which was translated into 16 languages. He also had written the novel titled Polimera which highlighted the dark days of 1975 National Emergency and honoured with the Sahithya Bandu Ratna award (1986), Rajini Telugu Sahithi Samithi Award (1988),  Telangana Sahithya Puraskaram (2015) etc.

i. The All India Football Federation is set to launch a football promotion programme in October targeting 11 million children across India.

ii. The programme, titled ‘Mission 11 Million’, will reportedly be launched in 30 cities, besides targeting the Indian diaspora in Gulf countries.

iii. Notably, India will be hosting its first international football competition, the U-17 FIFA World Cup, next year.