DAILY GK UPDATE 11TH JULY

1.    'World Population Day' being observed today

i. World Population Day that seeks to raise awareness about global population issues, is an annual event observed on 11th July.

ii. The theme for 2013 is Adolescent pregnancy with an aspiration of safe childbirth and that each pregnancy is wanted.

iii. Around 16 million girls under the age of 18 years give birth annually and several undergo abortions. Young mothers face an increased risk of health complications, disability and violation of rights.

iv. In most developing countries, pregnancy is not a result of informed choice or personal decision. 

v. This year’s World Population Day seeks to spread right information about not just pregnancy but issues relating to population as well.

vi. This day was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. It was inspired by the Five Billion Day on 11th July, 1999- approximately the date on which the world’s population reached five billion people.

2.    Holy month of Ramzan begins

i. The auspicious month of Ramazan begins when Muslims across the country goes on fast and mark special prayers in Mosques, even as many Asian countries began celebrating the holy month from Wednesday.

ii. Tens of millions across the Muslim world fast from dawn to dusk and strive to be more pious and charitable during the month, which ends with the Eid holiday.

iii. In the Catholic-majority Philippines, there were was tight security at the start of Ramadan in southern Muslim-populated areas after weekend clashes between troops and Islamic rebels left eight dead.

iv. Before Ramadan began, authorities ordered a halt in military operations against a rebel splinter group that is seeking to derail peace negotiations between the country's largest Muslim guerrilla force and Manila.

v. Ramadan begins when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. It has yet to start in some Asian countries with large Muslim populations, including Pakistan and India.

3.    CCEA clears disinvestment of govt stake in STC, ITDC

i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved disinvestment of government stake in State Trading Corporation (STC) and ITDC, which would fetch around 30 crore Rs to the exchequer.

ii. The Disinvestment Department had sought Cabinet nod to offload 5 per cent stake in India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and 1.02 per cent in STC through the Offer For Sale (OFS) route. 

iii. The government expects the sale of 5 per cent stake or 42.88 crore shares in ITDC to fetch 23.58 crore Rs.

iv. Besides, it aims to garner about 10 crore Rs through disinvestment of 1.02 per cent, or 6.13 crore shares, in STC.

v. Government currently holds 92.11 per cent stake in ITDC and 91.02 per cent stake in STC.

vi. The stake sale would help both the companies meet the minimum 10 per cent public holding norm of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India

4.    Approval for first all-women university in UP

i. The Union Cabinet today approved setting up of two National level universities in Uttar Pradesh. 

ii. The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University and Indira Gandhi National University for Women, IGNUW, will be set up in Rae Bareli district.

iii. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said IGNUW will be the first university in the country exclusively for women.

iv. Mr Tewari said, the Cabinet also approved constituting National Capital Region Transport Corporation aimed at de-congesting traffic in the region and for providing a rapid transit system in Delhi and its suburbs.

5.    World Youth Athletic Championship starts

i. The eighth World Youth Athletic Championship began in Donetsk with the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium, which is on course to become the biggest gathering of athletes in the history of independent Ukraine.

ii. Around 1,700 competitors from 165 countries will participate in the biennial tournament, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

iii. The tournament, which started on Wednesday, is open to track and field events for under-17 competitors.

iv. The previous World Youth Athletic Championship was held in Lille, France, in 2011.

6.    Shane Warne to be inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

i. The International Cricket Council has announced that the ace Leg spinner Shane Warne will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame next Friday on 19th July during the tea interval of the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord’s. 

ii. Warne joins the ranks of Donald Bradman, Gary Sobers, Vivian Richards, Graeme Pollock, Bishen Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar , Kapildev, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Glenn Turner, among 69 cricket legends into the ICC Hall of Fame. 

iii. Warne represented Australia in 145 Tests between 1992 and 2007. He bagged 708 Test wickets at an average of 25.41.

iv. He was the first cricketer to reach 700 Test wickets and holds the unique world record as the only Test player to have scored more runs without making a century. 

7.    Luxembourg PM to step down over spy scandal

i. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Europe's longest-serving leader, said on Thursday, that he would step down over a scandal involving the secret services, who allegedly indulged in a spate of misconduct on his watch

ii. After his junior coalition partner, the Socialists, put down a motion calling for the dissolution of parliament and early elections, Juncker said he would hand in his resignation to the head of state tomorrow morning after a cabinet meeting.

iii. He is best known in Europe for a tumultuous eight-year stint as head of the eurozone finance ministers group, which ended in January.

iv. In a rare political drama in tiny uneventful Luxembourg, the parliament examined a report alleging that the country's SREL secret service, which the premier is supposed to oversee, had indulged in a series of misdemeanours from 2003 to 2009 that included illegal phone-taps, corruption, and even a dodgy car dealership.

v. "The intelligence service was not my top priority," Juncker told parliament earlier Wednesday. "Moreover I hope Luxembourg will never have a prime minister who sees SREL as (his or her) priority."