Current Affairs GK Updates: 20 & 21 August
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All-women crew of Indian navy, selected to circumnavigate the world on sailing vessel INSV Tarini, titled ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama
- Six women Naval officers, who are set to undertake the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew, today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi who exhorted them to project the country’s capabilities and strengths across the world. The expedition on sailing vessel INSV Tarini, titled ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’, will begin later this month from Goa and is expected to conclude there in March 2018, according to a PMO statement.
World’s largest data centre to be built in Arctic Circle
- US-Norwegian company Kolos is set to build world's largest data centre in Arctic Norway, powered by 100% sustainable energy. According to the company, Kolos will be a "fortress for data" and claims the cold climate and accessible hydropower will trim energy costs by 60%. Kolos also said it will create 2,000 to 3,000 jobs in the area.
Important Days
World Humanitarian Day on 19th august; United Nations honours aid workers across the globe
- World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to humanitarians worldwide, as well as to increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance activities. The day aims to honor humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or injured themselves in the course of their work, and to acknowledge the ongoing work of humanitarian staff around the world.
New Appointments: International
Sri Lanka appoints First Tamil Navy Chief Travis Sinniah
- Rear Admiral Travis Sinniah was today appointed as the chief of Sri Lanka's naval forces, making him the first from the minority Tamil community to head the Navy since the brutal civil war erupted in the country 45 years ago.
- Sinniah, who played a decisive role in the destruction of the LTTE warships in deep sea during the height of the civil war, was appointed as the Navy chief by President Maithripala Sirisena.
Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt may be appointed as Uber’s CEO
- Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt is reportedly the frontrunner to become Uber's CEO after the upcoming vote of the board of directors in less than two weeks. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and HPE CEO Meg Whitman were also reportedly considered for the post. Search for Uber's new CEO began after Co-founder Travis Kalanick resigned in June due to investor pressure.
Brand Ambassador
Nikolay Kudashev is Russia’s new envoy to India
- Career diplomat Nikolay Kudashev has been appointed as Russia’s new Ambassador to India, the country’s embassy here said.
- Mr. Kudashev, a specialist in South East Asia, is currently the Deputy Director General Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
Banking/Economic Affairs
Union Bank signs insurance deals with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
- Union Bank of India on Friday entered into a corporate agency agreement with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Cholamandalam MS General Insurance for distribution of their insurance products. The public sector bank already has a corporate agency agreement with The New India Assurance. Rajkiran Rai G, MD and CEO, Union Bank of India, said: “Webelieve the partnerships will bring the best of non-life insurance products to our customers.”
SBI alone accounts for 27% amount owed by wilful defaulters
- SBI accounts for over 27% of the total amount owed to public sector banks by wilful defaulters, with 1,762 such defaulters owing as much as 25,104 crore to it as on March 31. PNB was next on the list with 1,120 wilful defaulters owing 12,278 crore. Together these two banks account for 40% of the total outstanding loans.
International Affairs
China launches first cyber court in e-commerce hub
- China today launched its first cyber court specialising in handling internet-related cases in the e-commerce hub of Hangzhou amid a spike in the number of online disputes.
- The Hangzhou Internet Court in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province will handle cases such as online trade disputes and copyright lawsuits. The cases handled by the court will be tried online, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Defence & Railway
US, Japan vow to boost defence cooperation with India, S Korea, Australia
- The US and Japan have agreed to advance their multilateral security and defence cooperation with countries like India, South Korea and Australia, amidst China's growing assertiveness in the Asia Pacific region.
- "We will cooperate to advance trilateral and multilateral security and defence cooperation with other partners in the region, notably the Republic of Korea, Australia, India and other southeast Asian countries," US secretary of state Rex Tillerson told reporters at a news conference here with Defence Secretary James Mattis.
Summit /Conference / Events / Host
Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti inaugurates two-day Chief Electoral Officers’ Conference in New Delhi
- Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti and Election Commissioner OP Rawat inaugurated a two-day Chief Electoral Officers’ Conference in New Delhi on Friday.
- Addressing the conference, Mr Joti stressed on the need of providing E-services to stakeholders and emphasised the requirement to develop E-Payment gateways for various election services of Election commission.
- He underlined the need for extensive training programmes on Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) as the Commission has decided to conduct all future elections using it along with Electronic Voting Machines.
Sports
India beat Sri Lanka in 1st ODI to take 1-0 series lead at Dambulla
- India defeated Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series at Dambulla on Sunday. While chasing Sri Lanka's 216, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan scored his fastest ODI hundred in 71 balls and also the fastest hundred by an Indian against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Captain Virat Kohli scored his 44th ODI fifty.
American boxer Terence Crawford holds all possible world championships in 63.5 kg division
- American junior welterweight boxer Terence Crawford, fighting in the 63.5 kg division, knocked out Namibia's Julius Indongo on Saturday to become only the second male boxer in history to unify all four major sanctioning organization titles. Crawford, who holds a 32-0 record, defended his WBO and WBC titles while clinching the IBF and WBA titles by knocking out the Namibian.
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