DAILY GK UPDATE 30TH JUNE

1.   Justice P Sathasivam to be new CJI

i. Justice P Sathasivam, the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court, will be the next Chief Justice of India (CJI).

ii. Justice Sathasivam (64) will take over as the 40th CJI after the expiry of present CJI Altamas Kabir’s over nine-month tenure on July 19.

iii. President Pranab Mukherjee has given his nod for the appointment of Justice Sathasivam as the next CJI. He will function as the CJI till April 26, 2014.

iv. Born on April 27, 1949, Justice Sathasivam was enrolled as an advocate on July 25, 1973 at Madras and practised in all types of writs, civil and criminal matters, company petitions, insolvency petitions and habeas corpus petitions.

v. He also worked as government advocate, additional government pleader, and special government pleader in the Madras High Court and as a legal adviser. He was appointed as a Supreme Court judge on August 21, 2007.

vi. Sathasivam would become the first judge from Tamil Nadu to become the Chief Justice of India.

vii. Though Justice Pathanjali Sasthri became the Chief Justice of India from the combined Madras Province which comprised Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, he was a native of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

2.    CPI becomes first party to respond to RTI application

i. CPI has become the first political outfit to respond to an RTI application after a CIC order declared parties as public authorities but underlined that it does not come under the transparency law.

ii. Responding to an RTI application, Communist Party of India has said it supplies information to I-T authorities and the Election Commission on regular basis and stands for "transparency of income and sources of income" and added that it has not appointed any Public Information Officer so far.

iii. "According to our understanding, we are not yet part of Information Act. However, we reply to your queries," party General Secretary Sudhakar Reddy said.

iv. In response to applicant S C Agrawal's query, CPI said it stands for transparency in income of political parties and supplied such information to CIC also.

v. "As for internal decisions, we are not prepared to share with outsiders. We feel it is degrading for political parties to declare that they function with financial help from government. It is an insult to parties and democracy. This is not a baseless apprehension. You have your opinion. We have our opinion. Let us agree to disagree," it said.

vi. Acting on a petition of Association of Democratic Reforms, CIC had declared six political parties -- Congress, BJP, NCP, BSP, CPI and CPI-M as public authorities under the RTI Act.

3.    Indian Railways Revises Ticket Refund Rules

i. The Ministry of Railways revised and amended ticket refund rules on Tuesday, which will be effective from 1 July.

ii. Accordingly, passengers need to cancel their confirmed tickets 48 hours ahead of the journey instead of the existing 24 hours to get maximum refund on the travel charges.

iii. "Railway Passengers (Cancellation of ticket and Refund of fare ) Rules, 1998 have not been substantially revised in the last 15 years during which period a large number of changes have taken place in the ticketing  system of IndianRailways," the ministry said in a statement.

iv. According to the revised rules, if a confirmed ticket is cancelled between 48 hours and upto six hours before the departure of the train as against the existing 24 hours and upto four hours, passengers will get a refund with cancellation charges of 25 percent of the fare.

v. If the ticket is cancelled within six hours before the scheduled departure of the train and upto two hours after the actual departure of the train, the cancellation charge will be 50 percent of the fare subject to a minimum charge.

vi. The ministry decided to revise the rules in an attempt to prevent booking agents from selling tickets  at higher prices as well as to give more time for waitlisted passengers to decide about taking their trip,

vii. Existing rules allowed passengers to cancel tickets up to three hours for a distance of 200 km, upto six hours for a distance covered between 200-500 km and upto 12 hours for a distance of 500 km and above after the actual departure of the train.

viii. The revised rules clearly state that if a reserved ticket is surrendered for cancellation after two hours of the actual departure of the train, the railways will not grant any refunds.

ix. Waitlisted/RAC tickets have cancelled upto three hours after the actual departure of the train irrespective of the distance, according to the new rules. Passengers will get the refund of fare after a deduction of the clerkage of RS30.

x. If passengers holding reserved, RAC and waitlisted tickets do not undertake the journey due to delay by more than three hours of the scheduled departure from the station, they will be awarded full refund without any deduction of cancellation charges or clerkage on condition that they surrender the ticket upto the actual departure of the train.

4.    ICC to hold its 1st World Test Ch’ship in Eng in 2017

i. The ICC announced its much awaited World Test Championship which will have its inaugural edition in England during the month of June and July in the year 2017 while the second edition will be held in India in 2021.

ii. "The IDI Board confirmed that the ICC World Test Championship will be staged in 2017 and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will host the inaugural event in June/July 2017, while the second edition will be held in India in February/March 2021."

iii. In order to ensure that all ODIs played over the four-year cycle between ICC Cricket World Cups count towards a team’s ranking, the ICC Board agreed to change the ODI rankings period from three years to four years.

5.    India to host World T20 Cup in 2016, World Test Ch'ship in 2021

i. In a triple bonanza for India, it will host the World T20 Cup competition in 2016 and World Test Championship 2021, both for the first time, and the 50-over World Cup for the fourth time in 2023, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced in London on Saturday.

ii. The three competitions were allotted to India by ICC at its annual conference which finalized its global events from 2015 to 2023.

iii. According to an ICC media release, the first edition of the World Test Championship will be staged in 2017 by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in June-July 2017 while the second edition will be held in India in February-March 2021.

iv. The ECB will also host the 2019 World Cup and CricketAustralia (CA) got the right to host the 2020 World Twenty20.

v. The ICC Board supported the strategy of ensuring an optimum balance between the three formats of the game-- especially Test cricket - and approved the recommendation that the full member-countries should play a minimum of 16 Tests in each four-year cycle.

vi. In order to ensure that all ODIs played over the four-year cycle between ICC Cricket World Cups count towards a team’s ranking, the ICC Board agreed to change the ODI rankings period from three years to four years.

6.    West Indies to stage Women's 2018 World T20

i. The West Indies will host the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's World Twenty20 in 2018 and the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2022.

ii. These were among the various decisions taken at the conclusion of the ICC Annual Conference on Saturday.

iii. In addition to this, between 2015 and 2023, the ICC will stage 18 events, including two ICC Cricket World Cup Tournaments, two ICC World Test Championships, two ICC World Twenty20 events, three ICC Women's World Cups, three ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cups, two ICC Women's World Twenty20 and four qualifying tournaments.

iv. "Now that the ICC World Test Championship has been confirmed, we'll work on the playing conditions and qualification criteria, and will submit these to the ICC Board for approval in due course."

7.    ICC granted Associate Membership to Afghanistan

i. Afghanistan was granted the Associate membership of the ICC, making it the eighth Asian nation and the 38th overall to get the status.

ii. Looking at the immense progress shown by Afghanistan, the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) had last year sent the nomination request in 2012 and the decision to grant Afghanistan the status was taken by the ICC at its ongoing annual conference, which concluded in London on 29 June 2013.

iii. Afghanistan now join Hong Kong (1969), Kuwait (2005), Malaysia (1967), Nepal (1996), Singapore (1974), Thailand (2005) and UAE (1990) as ICC Associates from the Asian region.

iv. The new Associate membership will help Afghanistan get more funds from the ICC and also give much-needed exposure to the team.

v. The ICC is now likely to pay Afghanistan 850000 US dollars based on the Associate status, instead of 700000 US dollars as the annual fund.

8.    Taj Mahal ranked third among top landmarks in the world

i. Travellers from across the globe have ranked India's Taj Mahal among the top three landmarks in the world, a leading travel website has announced. 

ii. According to TripAdvisor's 2013 Travellers Choice Attractions Awards, Taj Mahal was ranked third in the list of Top 25 landmarks. 

iii. The top two places were taken by Machu Picchu Peruand Angkor Wat in Cambodia respectively. 

iv. "The winners of Travelers' Choice Attractions awards were determined based on the quality and quantity of traveler reviews of attractions.

v. Taj Mahal, listed among the new seven wonders of the world, is renowned the world over for its architecture and aesthetic beauty. 

v. Built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his late wife Mumtaz Mahal, the white marble mausoleum in the northern Indian city of Agra is also a symbol of enduring love. 

v. In 1983, it became a Unesco World Heritage Site. The Taj Mahal attracts 2-4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas. 

vi. It shares the latest honour alongside Petra World Heritage Site in Jordan and Bayon Temple in Cambodia, which are ranked fourth and fifth respectively in the list of 25 top landmarks in the world.

9.    Healthcare economist Dr Hariawala crowned with prestigious award

i. Healthcare Economist Dr Mukesh Hariawala was recently conferred the prestigious ‘Indian Healthcare Visionary of the Decade’ award at a glittering ceremony of the 4th Annual Business Leadership Conclave at Hotel Leela in Mumbai.
ii. Dr Hariawala delivered a spirited keynote lecture to a packed audience where he convincingly laid out a 100 Billion Dollar Medical Tourism opportunity for India as a byproduct of US President Barack Obama's new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which unofficially is also termed ‘Obamacare’.

iii. This new law signed in 2010 would change the ecosystem in the US, moving gradually from the existing capitalistic high quality healthcare with no Waiting Periods to a socialized government controlled form of healthcare as prevalent in the UK and Canada.

iv. Unveiling a unique and novel customized universal health insurance model for all 1.2 billion Indians calling it ‘Womb to Tomb’, this concept was greeted with positive responses from the business leadership community particularly, as it would not only cover all Indians but also bring in FDI investment funds from US insurance giants who could establish partnership models with current Indian health insurance companies.

v. Also felicitated with other prestigious awards were industrialists Ratan Tata , Transformational Leader of the Decade and Mukesh Ambani  who is the Millennium Business Leader of the Decade.