DAILY GK UPDATE 4TH JUNE

1.    Obama slapped sanction on Iran's currency

i. The US has slapped new sanctions on Iran directed toward the devalued currency (Rial) of the nation and its automobile industry.  

ii. It is for the first time that the US has directly targeted the Iranian currency as the sanctions include penalties on making possible the significant transactions in the rial or holding significant amounts of the currency outside Iran.

iii. The sanction is counted as the ninth set of sanctions imposed against Iran by the Obama administration. 

iv. It is worth mentioning here that the rial has lost half of its value since the beginning of 2012 as a result of our comprehensive sanctions.

v. It is anticipated that the United States will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. 

vi. The West had accuses Iran of secretly pursuing nuclear weapons programme, which in turn denied by Tehran by asserting that its atomic programme is for peaceful use of nuclear energy.

NOTE: i. Earlier US had blacklisted major sectors, most prominently Iranian oil exports, and last week targeted Iranian petrochemicals the largest source of funding for Iran’s nuclear programme after oil.

ii. The new sanctions marked the first time Iran’s currency, the Rial, has been targeted directly with sanctions, the White House said.

iii. The hope is that banks and businesses holding Iranian currency will dump the funds, making the Rial weaker

2.    Political parties under RTI Act: CIC 

i. The Central Information Commission (CIC) in a landmark judgement  held political parties are answerable under the Right to Information Act, setting a new bench mark in transparency in politics

ii. The  Bench comprising Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra and Information Commissioner M L Sharma and Annapurna Dixit held six parties--Congress, BJP, CPI-M, CPI, NCP and BSP--to whom RTI queries were directed, fulfill the criteria of being public authorities under the Right to Information Act.

iii. Now the parties will be answerable to the citizens regarding their source of funding, how they spend money and choice of candidates for elections, among other issues.

iv. It also directed the Presidents and General Secretaries of the political parties to designate Central Public Information Officers and Appellate Authorities at their headquarters within six weeks.

NOTE: The order came after activists Subhash Chandra Aggarwal and Anil Bairwal of the Association of Democratic Reforms requested CIC to declare political parties as public authorities. The political parties, except CPI, however, refused to disclose information, arguing that they do not come under the RTI Act.

3.    Up to 5 per cent of world GDP lost due to malnutrition: UN

i. Up to five per cent of global economic output may be lost due to malnutrition, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday 

ii. The direct health care costs and long-term damage from lost productivity could amount to $ 3.5 trillion per year, or $ 500 per person,

iii. FAO estimated that while 12.5 per cent of the world’s population — 868 million people — does not have enough to eat, there are 2 billion people who suffer from nutritional deficiencies and 1.4 billion people who are overweight, including 500 million who are obese.

iv. The agency stressed that malnutrition “remains by far the greater problem, especially in low-income countries”

4.    Pig disease virus detected inIndia for first time

i. For the first time in Mizoram and perhaps in the country, virus of a pandemic disease which causes reproductive failure in breeding stock and respiratory tract illness in young pigs has been detected in the samples of sick swines sent to laboratories for testing.

ii. The samples of the sick swines were tested at the laboratories in the Veterinary College in Selesih, Mizoram and at ICAR Research Complex, Borapani in Meghalaya which detected the presence of 'artevirus', the virus that carries the disease porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRSS)

iii. The PRRS has never been detected earlier in the state and the country but was prevalent in some Asian countries including neighbouring Myanmar

iv. Following the detection of the PRRS virus, the current ban on import of pigs from Myanmar would be in place for a longer time in the state

5.    New Zealand Foreign Minister in Delhi today on official visit

i. The New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully will arrive in New Delhi today on an official visit.

ii. The visit is aimed at bolstering greater bilateral economic ties and to review progress on talks aimed at a Free Trade Agreement besides wooing Indian students to universities there.

iii. Before his departure, Cully said the trip also provides a chance to take stock of the bilateral commercial relationship and to review the progress on talks aimed at a Free Trade Agreement with India.

iv. Last month, New Zealand had announced a multi-million dollar marketing push to attract more foreign students, especially from Asia to its universities.

6.    Sharif to be sworn in as PM tomorrow

i. Nawaz Sharif is expected to be sworn in for a record third term as Pakistan's Prime Minister on Wednesday

ii. Sharif's election in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament is a foregone conclusion as his PML-N party has over 180 members in the 342-member strong House.

iii. Sharif is expected to retain the crucial foreign affairs and defence portfolios with himself for his third stint as premier

iv. Meanwhile the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal will attend the swearing-in ceremony of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif as the new Prime Minister of that country

7.    BCB suspends Ashraful on match-fixing charges

i. Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was on Tuesday suspended by his Board till ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) submits a full report into allegations of match-fixing and spot-fixing on him in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League.

ii. Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan told reporters that Ashraful has confessed his involvement in fixing matches to the ACSU team.

iii. Hassan said Ashraful would not be allowed to play cricket at any level.

8.    Actor Jiah Khan commits suicide

i. Bollywood actor Jiah Khan has allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Juhu, Mumbai late on Monday night, police said

ii. The 25-year-old actor made her acting debut in the controversial Ram Gopal Varma’s Nishabd where she acted opposite Amitabh Bachchan.

iii. She also got a Filmfare Best Debutant Nomination. She then appeared alongside Aamir Khan in A.R. Murugadoss’ Ghajini(2008), the Hindi remake of the director’s Tamil film of the same nam

iv. Later she appeared as a supporting actor in Sajid Khan’s multi starrer comedy Housefull (2010). This was her last film.