DAILY GK UPDATE 5TH FEB.

 1.    OIC summit to be held in Cairo  tomorrow

i. The Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) summit gets underway in Egypt’s capital Cairo tomorrow.

ii. Representatives from 56 member nations including 27 Heads of States are expected to take part in the two day conference.

iii. The crisis in Mali and Syria figure at the top of the agenda along with the Palestinian problem, the situation in Somalia, Yemen and the humanitarian situation in member nations. 

iv. The summit is likely to name the former Saudi Information Minister Iyad Madani as the new Secretary General of the bloc of Islamic nations.

v. He is expected to replace Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of Turkeywho has held the post since 2005.

NOTE: i It will be the 12 summit since the OIC was launched in 1969.

ii. Egypt will take over the OIC and summit chairmanship for three years from Senegal. 

iii. United Nations, African Union, Arab League and the Non-Aligned Movement also participate in OIC summits along with observers including Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central Africa and Thailand. 

2.    India & Austria ink social security pact

i.Indian professionals working in Austria will soon be exempted from paying social security contribution there, if they make such payments in India.

ii. As per the pact, Indian workers will be entitled to “export” of their social security benefits if they relocate to India after completion of their service inAustria.

iii. Self- employed Indians will also be entitled to export of the benefits on their relocation to India.

iv. The agreement was signed by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Austria’s Minister for Labour and Social Security Rudolf Hundstorfer in Vienna on Monday.  

NOTE: i. Under the agreement, Indian workers on short-term contracts of up to five years will not be required to make any social security contribution in Austria, provided they continue to make social security payments in India.

ii. According to Indian labour laws, all employees and employers falling under the purview of the Employees Provident Fund Act, 1952, are required to make mandatory contribution towards provident fund.

iii. India has already signed similar agreements with Belgium,Germany, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Luxembourg,Hungary, Denmark, Czech Republic, South Korea, Norway,Finland, Canada and Japan.

3.    ICICI Partnered With Aircel to Launch Mobile Banking Service

i. ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank of India partnered with Aircel to announce the launch of their mobile banking service called Mobile Money.

ii. The service allows the unbanked population of ICICI and Aircel to transfer money instantly and safely through the mobiles without even connecting to data services.

iii. Initially, ICICI bank had launched the Mobile Money with Tata Docomo and Vodafone. 

iv. At first the service will be available in Tamil Nadu and will especially cater to migrant working population from the area of Tirunelveli that now lives in Chennai. Rollout of this service to other parts of Tamil Nadu as well as the rest of India will occur over 2013. 

NOTE: i. Mobile Money is aimed at those users who wish to transfer money but are devoid of services such as lack of branches or the ATMs.

ii. Mobile Money allows such users to go for financial services such as cash withdrawals, cash deposits, self-reload of prepaid mobile credit, money transfer to the third-parties as well as utility bills transfer.

iii. The Mobile Money platform will be provided and managed through VISA, the global payments technology company.

4.    Govt. will launch Child health Screening service in Maharashtra tomorrow

i. Government will launch universal child health screening for birth defects and deficiencies that can lead to disabilities as well as early intervention services- an initiative that will cover an estimated 27 crore children in a phased manner. 

ii. The programme will be launched under the National Rural Health Mission of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare tomorrow by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Palghar, a tribal block in Thane district of Maharashtra.

iii. The scheme is aimed at improving overall quality of life of children through early detection of birth defects, diseases and deficiencies, which are among key factors for child mortality and out of pocket expenditure for poor families, as well as development delays including disability 

NOTE: i. Birth defects account for 9.6 per cent of all new-born deaths and 4 per cent of under five mortality.

ii. According to the 2006 March of Dimes Global Report on Birth Defects, out of every 100 babies born in this country every year, 6 to 7 have a birth defect. In Indian context, this would translate to 17 lakhs birth defects annually.

5.    Govt. to sell 9.5% stake in power major NTPC

i. The government will sell 9.5% stake in power major National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

ii.  Decision was taken at EGoM meeting held in New Delhi this evening.

iii. The disinvestment will take place on Thursday through offer of sale route.

iv. Government expects to raise 12 thousand crore rupees from the sale of shares. The price for sale will be communicated to stock exchanges tomorrow.

v. Government has raised over 10 thousand crore rupees so far in the current financial year from sale of stakes in public sector undertaking as against budgeted target of 30 thousand crore rupees

6.    Pilatus to be main attraction of Aero India 2013

i.  With the induction of Pilatus PC-7 Mark-II trainer aircraft, Indian Air Force (IAF) trainee pilots will now get a new set of wings to learn their basic flying skills.

ii. The Swiss-made Pilatus also known as `Astra' would fill the void in basic flying training after indigenous HPT-32 Deepak was grounded around two years back.

iii. Pilatus would also draw a lot of attraction during Aero India-2013, Asia's premier Air Showbeing held at Air Force Station, Yelhanka, Bangalore between February 6-10, 2013.

NOTE: i. Pilatus, named after a mountain in central Switzerland, is an improved version of the PC-9''s airframe and avionics, fitted with the PC-7''s smaller turbine ensures lower operating and maintenance costs.

ii. While being the smallest aircraft in the IAF inventory, the Pilatus would shoulder a much heavier responsibility in building future generation of the IAF pilots

7.    South Africa top in ICC Rankings for Test Cricket

i. ICC rankings for test cricket was released on 4 February 2013 in Dubai. South Africa emerged as the world number one team in the category and is followed by England, Australia, Pakistan and India.  

ii. In the latest rankings released by the ICC Hashim Amla, the South African batsman has emerged as the best batsman in the category and with this he became the first batsman to hold the number one dice in both Test and One-day format of the game since 2007, before this Ricky Pointing was the cricketer to hold this position.

iii. Michael Clarke, the Australian batsman was racked at second position in the ranking. 

iv. Dale Steyn, the South African bowler holds the top position in the bowling ranking and is followed by his teammate, Vernan Philander.

v.  South African, Jacques Kallis has retained his position as the number one test all-rounder with versatile performance. 

vi. Pragyan Ojha is the only Indian to feature among the top ten bowlers in the test rankings released.

8.    Michael Clarke Won the Allan Border Medal 2013:

i. Michael Clarke, the Australian captain won the fourth Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on 4 February 2013.

ii. 31-year old Clarke had won the medal earlier in 2005, 2009 and 2012.

iii. Michael Clarke also won the Test cricketer of the year award for the second consecutive time after he scored 1080 runs in nine tests from 25 February 2012 to January 28 2013.

NOTE: i. Apart from Clarke, the only other player to win this medal four times is Captain Ricky Ponting. 

ii. Allan Border Medal is a prestigious award given away in the Australian cricket. It was first awarded in 2000.

iii.  The Allan Border Medal is named after the former captain of Australia, Allan Border.

9.    Strauss gets MCC top honour

i.  Former England captain Andrew Strauss was on Monday awarded honorary life membership of the MCC, the prestigious English institution responsible for safeguarding the game''s rules.

ii. He is the 27th former England skipper to become an honorary life member of the MCC and joins a select group of current and former players, umpires, administrators and journalists.

iii. MCC president Mike Griffith said Strauss had made an outstanding contribution to the game. 

10.  England beat West Indies to enter Super 6s

i. Defending champions England became the first team to enter the Super Six stage from Group A in the ICC Women's World Cup when they recorded a six-wicket victory over the West Indies in Mumbai on Tuesday.

ii. England shot out the West Indies for a paltry 101 in 36.4 overs after the latter opted to bat first at the BKC ground and then made heavy weather of the chase by making 103 for four in 35 overs to finish the league with four points from three games.