Daily GK Update : 21st March 2017

Sports

1. Tamil Nadu wins Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017

• Tamil Nadu Cricket team has won the Vijay Hazare Trophy (domestic 50-over competition) for the fifth time at the ‘Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium’ in Delhi.
• Tamil Nadu defeated Bengal by 37 runs.
• Tamil Nadu posted 217, riding on a century by Dinesh Karthik (112-runs).
• In reply, they bundled out Bengal for 180 in 45.5 overs.
• Karthik was named the "man of the match".

Note:

• The Vijay Hazare Trophy (known as the Ranji One-Day Trophy) was started in 2002–03 as a limited-overs cricket domestic competition involving state teams from the Ranji Trophy plates.
• It is named after the famous Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare.
• The 27 Ranji teams are split into 5 zonal groups.

2. Roger Federer wins ATP Indian Wells Masters title

• Swiss star Roger Federer (35-years) has won the ATP Indian wells Masters title in California, USA.
• He defeated Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-4, 7-5.
• Federer joined Novak Djokovic as the only man to win five Indian Wells titles.
• Earlier, he has won his 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
• He had earlier won this title consecutively three times between 2004 and 2006 and in 2012.

3. India vs Australia 3rd Test ends in a draw

• The 3rd Cricket test match between India and Australia has ended in a draw at Ranchi (Jharkhand).
• Australia were 204 for 6 in their second innings against India at stumps on the final day.
• Peter Handscomb played 200 balls for his unbeaten 72 and Shaun Marsh played 197 for his half-century to help India draw the match.
• Australia had made 451 in their first innings, while India had declared their first innings at 603 for 9.
• This was the penultimate Test of the 4-match series, which is currently locked at 1-1.

Final Score: 

• India: 603/9 dec (210.0)
• Australia: 451 (137.3) & 204/6 (100.0)

Obituaries

4. India’s monsoon man Dev Raj Sikka passes away

 

• Former director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Dev Raj Sikka (85-years) passed away at Pune.
• He was the first to propose a link between the El Nino phenomenon and the Indian monsoon.
• Sikka was honored with the lifetime achievement award by the Indian Meteorological Society (IMD) in recognition of his contribution to Indian meteorology.

National Affairs

5. Uttarakhand HC accords human status to Ganga, Yamuna

• The Uttarakhand High Court accorded the status of ‘living human entities’ to the India's most sacred Ganga and Yamuna rivers.
• According to a division bench of Justices Rajeev Sharma and Alok Singh of Nainital High Court "Holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna have been declared to be treated as living human entities”.
• The court also ordered that the Director, Namami Gange project for cleaning and rejuvenating the river,
• The Chief Secretary and the Advocate General of Uttarakhand will act as the "legal parents" of the holy rivers and work as a human face to protect, conserve and preserve them and their tributaries.

6. Haryana Govt. notifies AYUSH Medicine Procurement Policy 2016

• The Haryana Govt. has notified Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy Medicine Procurement Policy, 2016.
• The objective of ensuring uninterrupted supply of good quality AYUSH medicines free of cost to the people through Government Hospitals, Prathmik Swasthay Kendras, Government Ayurvedic, Homeopathic and Unani Dispensaries, Panchkarma Centres and National Health Mission (NHM) Institutions in the State.
• Every batch of medicines would undergo testing before it is distributed.

7. Maharashtra govt. reserves 93 hectares of land in Lohara MIDC for Textile Park

• The Maharashtra government has reserved 93 hectares of land in Lohara MIDC of the district for setting up a “Textile Park”.
• The Park would ensure large scale employment to the youths of the region besides providing better avenues for the farmers to garner maximum benefit.
• The Energy Ministry has sanctioned three centers one each in Yavatmal, Solapur, and Ahmadnagar for setting up of solar energy stations.

8. Union govt. designates 12 Olympians as National Observers to assist govt, SAI, NSFs

• The union govt. has designated 12 Olympians as National Observers in their respective disciplines to assist the Government, Sports Authority of India, and National Sports Federations (NSFs).
• They are concerned in the preparation and implementation of the long-term development plan with respect to high priority and priority sports.
• These National Observers will be playing a key role in the implementation of action plans for Mission Olympics 2020, 2024 and 2028.
• National Observers are P T Usha and Anju Bobby George (athletics), Sanjeev Kumar Singh (archery), Aparna Popat (badminton), MC Mary Kom and Akhil Kumar (boxing), Jagbir Singh (hockey), Somdev Devvarman (tennis), Karnam Malleshwari (weightlifting), Sushil Kumar (wrestling), I M Vijayan (football), Khajan Singh (swimming), Kamlesh Mehta (table tennis) and Abhinav Bindra(shooter).

 Banking & Finance

9. Bharatiya Mahila Bank to be merged with SBI

• The Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) will be merged with the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI).
• Now, the banking services are provided to more women at a faster pace, given the advantage of the large network of SBI.
• SBI has already announced the merger of its five associates- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore.

Note:

• Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is an Indian financial services banking company based in Mumbai, India.
• Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) on 19th November 2013.
• India is the third country in the world to have a bank, especially for women, after Pakistan and Tanzania.

Important Dates

10. International Day of Forests observed on 21st March

• The United Nations General Assembly designated 21st March as the International Day of Forests to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests for the benefit of current and future generations.
• The theme of 2017 is ‘Forests and energy'.
• This global celebration of forests provides a platform to raise awareness of the importance of all types of woodlands and trees, and celebrate the ways in which they sustain and protect us.

 11. 21st March: World Poetry Day

• The World Poetry Day is on 21st March and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
• The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world.

National & International Appointment

 12. Shahid Afridi appointed ambassador of Blind Cricket World Cup

• The Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) has announced that former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi (37-year) has been appointed as the ambassador for the fifth edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup next year.
• Blind Cricket World Cup will be hosted by PBCC in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan in January 2018.
• This tournament to be played in ODI format.
• Last month Afridi has announced his retirement from international cricket (21-year career).

13. Snapdeal appoints Jason Kothari as CEO of FreeCharge

• The Snapdeal has appointed 'Jason Kothari' as the Chief Executive Officer of FreeCharge (digital payment platform).
• He will continue his key leadership role as Chief Strategy & Investment Officer at Snapdeal.

Note:

• FreeCharge was started in August, 2010 by Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon.
• It provides online facility to recharge any prepaid mobile phone, postpaid mobile, DTH & Data Cards in India.
• On 8 April 2015, ‘Snapdeal’ acquired ‘Freecharge’.

 "Thought of the Day"

 “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”