DAILY GK UPDATE 24-25TH MARCH

1.   5th BRICS Summit to be held in Durban from tomorrow

i. South Africa will host the fifth BRICS Summit from 26 to 27 March 2013 at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC). This will complete the first cycle of BRICS summits.

ii. BRICS is an acronym for the powerful grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

iii. The two-day summit will not only be Chinese premier Xi Jinping's first official trip to Africa, but it will also be the first BRICS summit since Vladimir Putin was returned to the Kremlin as president of Russia.

iv. It is expected that the BRICS countries will announce plans to form a BRICS-based development bank, as well as discuss the relaxing of trade restrictions within the bloc.

NOTE: i. The first BRIC Summit took place in Yekateringburg, Russia, where the elected leaders of the four countries formally declared the membership of the BRIC economic bloc. South Africa joined the bloc in 2010, resulting in BRICS.

ii. The BRICS mechanism aims to achieve peace, security, development and cooperation. It also seeks to contribute significantly to the development of humanity and establish a more equitable and fair world.

2.    PM leaves for Durban to attend BRICS Summit

i. PM Manmohan Singh left forDurban on Monday for attending the BRICS Summit expressing the hope that ways to revive global growth and faster movement on reform of institutions of global, political and eco governance will be discussed at the meeting of the emerging economies. 

ii. Accompanied by a high-level delegation including Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, the Prime Minister will also have an opportunity to meet with the new Chinese leadership on the Summit sidelines when he calls on President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

iii. The highlight of the Summit of the emerging economies ofBrazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) is the possible setting up of the BRICS bank.

iv. The BRICS finance ministers, who have met four times in the past on the issue, will be meeting in Durban tomorrow ahead of the Summit when a clear picture may emerge.

v. India had last year mooted the idea of BRICs-led South- South Development Bank, mainly funded and managed by BRICS countries to recycle surpluses into investment in developing countries for infrastructure and sustainable development projects.

3.    Mir Hazar Khan Khoso took oath as caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan

i. Justice Retd. Mir Hazar Khan Khoso took oath as the sixth caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan on 25 March 2013 in Islamabad. 

ii. The oath was administered by President Asif Ali Zardari at the ceremony which was held at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

NOTE: It is important to note that Justice Retd. Mir Hazar Khan Khoso is the sixth caretaker PM of Pakistan. He will lead Pakistan in the general elections scheduled on 11 May 2013. 

About Justice Retd Mir Hazar Khan Khoso

i. Justice Retd Mir Hazar Khan Khoso took birth on 30 September 1929 in Azam Khan, District Jaffarabad , Balochistan. 

ii.  He became the Advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1980.

iii. He became the Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court in 1992. He remained in the office till 1994.

4.    Navneet Kaur wins Femina Miss India

i. Chandigarh girl Navneet Kaur Dhillon on Sunday won the Femina Miss India 2013 contest in a glittering grand finale of the 50th edition of the beauty pageant.

ii. Sobhita Dhulipala became the first runner up while Zoya Afroz was adjudged the second runner up for the prestigious beauty pageant.  

iii. 23 girls from different parts of India fought for the coveted award.

iv. This year's competition was celebrating its 50th year.

v. Karan Johar, John Abraham, Asin, Chitrangada Singh, Shiamak Davar, Ritu Kumar and Yuvraj Singh were the judges for the event.

5.    Union Government cleared 1500 crore Rupees Proposal for Pinaka Rockets

i. The Union government in March 2013 approved a 1500 crore Rupees proposal for production of more than 2000 rockets for the Pinaka multi- barrel weapons system.

ii. The Indian Army requires more than 2000 of these rockets to equip its 10-12 regiments comprising the Pinaka launchers.

What are Pinaka rockets?

i. Pinaka is a multiple rocket launcher produced in India and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army.

ii. The Pinaka system has a maximum range of 39–40 km and can fire a salvo of 12 HE rockets in 44 seconds, neutralizing a target area of 3.9 km2.

iii. The system is mounted on a Tatra truck for mobility.

iv. Pinaka is a complete MBRL system, each Pinaka battery consists of: six launcher vehicles, each with 12 rockets; six loader-cum-replenishment vehicles; three replenishment vehicles; two Command Post vehicle (one stand by) with a Fire Control computer, and the DIGICORA MET radar.

6.    Sajjan Singh Kothari sworn in as Rajasthan Lokayukta

i. Former judge of the Rajasthan High Court Justice Sajjan Singh Kothari was sworn in as Lokayukta on Monday

ii. Governor Margaret Alva administered him oath of office in the presence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

iii. Chief Justice Amitava Roy, members of council of ministers, BJP State President Vasundhara Raje and senior officers were present during the ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Jaipur on Monday.

iv. The post had been lying vacant since May last year after the retirement of G L Gupta.

7.    India won Border Gavaskar Trophy 2013 agaist Austraia by 4-0

i. India on 24 March 2013 won the fourth and the final test with 6 wickets remaining against Australia in the Alan Border Series – Australia Tour to India, at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi. 

ii. In the second innings of the final match, Cheteswar Pujara scored an unbeaten 82 runs while chasing the 155 run target set by team Australia on the third day of the match.  

Man of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja for his all-round performance 

Man of the Series: Ravichandran Ashwin for claiming 29 wickets in the four-Test Series

Some Records of the Series

i. Prgyan Ojha, the left arm spinner from India completed his haul of 100 wickets in Test Cricket 

ii. Off-Spinner from India, R Ashwin became the leading wicket-taker for India in a series of four test matches; he finished with 29 wickets in this series. 

iii. India never in the 81 year test history won more than two matches against Australia in a single series, but with this clean sweep – India secured wrote a new history in test cricket

iv. Shikhar Dhawan slammed fastest hundred by a debutant in test cricket, by scoring a century in 85 balls

8.    Devanand Konwar  sworn-in as the new Governor of Tripura

i. In Tripura, Devanand Konwar was today sworn-in as the new Governor . 

ii. The new Governor took oath of office at the Darbal hall of Governor house in Agartala.

iii. The chief Justice of Tripuira High Court administered him the oath of office. Devanand Konwar was earlier the Governor of Bihar.

9.    YES BANK signs up as IPL's financial services partner

i. YES BANK signed up as Indian Premier League's (IPL) official financial services partner Monday.

ii. Commenting on this development, Rana Kapoor, founder of YES BANK said: "IPL is the foremost event property in India which through its vibrant and innovative platform brings together the entire country, irrespective of regional or demographic diversity.

iii. IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said: "IPL welcomes YES BANK on board. Our relationship will only get stronger in the weeks and months to come and we shall together ensure that we deliver a stupendous tournament."

iv. The IPL 2013 will be played from April 3 to May 26

v. A total of 76 matches will be played over a period of seven weeks. The 2013 season will feature nine teams including a new franchise - Sunrisers Hyderabad