DAILY GK UPDATE 22ND MARCH

1.   Today is World Water Day: Every drop counts !

i. World Water Day is celebrated across the world on 22 March every year. It celebrates its 20th anniversary on Thursday.

ii. This day was first celebrated back in the year 1993.

iii. World Water Day is an initiative of United Nations for celebrating the value of freshwater in the world. 

iv. For the year 2013, the theme is Water Cooperation.

NOTE:

i. It is important to note that 45 percent of the land surface of the world is covered by river basins. 

ii. 75 percent of all the countries of the world have the boundaries within shared river basins. 

iii. Across the globe, world events have been organised for celebrating the World Water Day and for creating awareness about the importance of water in the world. 

iv. The purpose of the day is celebration of freshwater as well as promotion of its sustainability. 

2.    UN announced 20 March as International Happiness Day !

i. The United Nations declared 20 March as the International Day of Happiness.

ii. This was the first edition of the happiness day observed by the world.

iii. 20 March was declared as the International Day of Happiness with an aim to acknowledge the importance of happiness and encourage Governments of different nations to consider well-being of its citizens as the common agenda other than focusing on the economic growth only. 

iv. All the 193 members of United Nations voted in favour of the International Day of Happiness. 

Concept behind this:

i. 20 March was declared as the day of International Happiness following a Bhutanese Concept that was coined by the fourth king of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1970’s, when the country for the first time adopted Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross National Product (GNP) as its major goal. 

ii. The initiative of 1970’s involved making holistic approach towards life. 

3.    50 Paise Coins to remain in use with new features : RBI

i. The Reserve Bank of India has issued a new series of 50 paisa coins with the rupee symbol and new security features to facilitate easy recognition. 

ii. The new security features will help in avoiding crude counterfeiting of coins.

iii. Giving this information in the Lok Sabha today, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena affirmed that the 50 paisa coin continues to be legal tender. 

NOTE: The Reserve Bank of India had received three complaints about non-acceptance of 50 paisa coins from the general public. He clarified that 50 paisa coins will remain in use.

4.    Union Cabinet cleared National Food Security Bill

i. The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on 19 March 2013 approved the National Food Security Bill.

ii. The food security bill approved is directed towards giving the right to food to around 67 per cent of India's 120-crore population.

iii. The amendments to the Bill will guarantee 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month.

iv.  While families in the poorest of the poor will continue to get 35 kg of grains per month.

v. Rice will be made available at 3 Rupees per kilo; 

vi . Wheat will cost 2 rupees a kilo and cereal will be sold for 1 Rupees per kilo.

NOTE:

i. The scheme will be linked to the Aadhar scheme which provides every citizen with a unique identification number that's linked to a database that includes the biometrics of all card-holders.

ii. It is also evident from the present year budget, that 90000 crore Rupeesis allocated for spending on food subsidies with the government setting aside an extra 10 000 crore Rupees for the bill.

5.    Neha Tripathi Won Sixth Leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2013

i. Kolkata’s Neha Tripathi won sixth leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2013 in Panchkula on 21 March 2013.

ii. This is the third victory of Neha Tripathi in 2013 season. With this victory, Neha Tripathi overtook Smriti Mehra in the Hero Order of Merit 2013. 

NOTE: Earlier, Neha Tripathi had won fifth leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2013 on 15 March 2013. She had won the first tournament of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2013 on 31 January 2013. 

The scores were as follows:

i. Neha Tripathi - 228 (82, 75, 71)
ii. Vani Kapoor - 229 (78, 76, 75)
iii. Ankita Tiwana - 239 (78, 85, 76)
iv. Saaniya Sharma - 239 (83, 74, 82)

6.    Arunima geared up to climb Mt Everest

i. National-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha, who had lost her right leg after being thrown off a moving train in Barielly two years ago, is all geared up to climb the world's highest peak - the Mt Everest.

ii. Arunima, who now uses an artificial limb,will be accompanied by Sushen Mahto in the expedition to climb the highest peak of the world, announced Sajiv Paul, Vice-President (Corporate Services) of Tata Steel, who flagged off the expedition to Mt Everest on Friday.

iii. They will be leaving for Delhi on Saturdayand start the trekking in Island peak for acclimatisation before setting out for the base camp.

NOTE:

i. Recollecting the incident, Arunima, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, said she was pushed out of the general compartment of Padmawati Express for resisting a chain-snatching attempt by some hoodlums, while travelling from Lucknow to Delhi on April 12, 2011 and suffered critical injury in the right leg.

ii. She lost her leg after she underwent a surgery at the Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University in Lucknow as the doctors had to amputate to prevent the spread of infection.

iii. Appreciating her elder brother Om Prakash, a former army man, for motivating her to achieve the goal, Sinha said the confidence level further enhanced when she met the first woman to conquer the Mt Everest, Bachendri Pal, the chief of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), 

7.    Indian spinners restrict Australia to 231 for 8

i. India’s quest for a historic clean sweep started on a good note as the host spinners continued their dominance over Australia to take the honours on the opening day of the fourth and final cricket Test.

ii. Australia playing without injured skipper Michael Clarke managed 231 for eight at stumps on the first day after opting to bat.

iii. After Ishant provided a couple of breakthroughs in the opening session, Ashwin and Jadeja ripped through the middle-order in the post-lunch session, helped by some atrocious shot selection on part of the opposition batsmen.