DAILY GK UPDATE: 19TH JANUARY

1. U R Rao joins Satellite Hall of Fame:
i.Former ISRO Chairman Prof U R Rao is joining the highly prestigious ‘Satellite Hall of Fame’ in Washington.
ii.The rare honour of Space Scientists was bestowed on him by the Society of Satellite Professionals International.

iii.The Hall of Fame recognises the invaluable contribution of the visionaries who have transformed life for the better on planet earth through satellite technology.

NOTE: i.Over 40 illustrious Space scientists inducted into the Hall of Fame.

They include Sir Arthur C Clarke, Dr James Van Allen, Dr William Pritchard, Dr Harold Rosen, Dr Fredric d’Allest, Dr Takayashi Yoshida, Dr Peter Jackson and Dr Olof Lundberg.

ii.The induction of Prof Rao into the Satellite Hall of Fame will take place on March 19 this year at a gala function to be held in Washington,D.C.

2. AICC Chintan Shivir ends in Jaipur:

i.Two days Chintan Shivir of All India Congress committee concluded at jaipur today.

ii.The AICC delegates discussed various social economic and party issues. After the two day's discussion in the evening a draft based on delebrations of group discussion will be reviewed in Congress Working Committee meeting in the evening. Congress president.

iii.Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister ManMohan Singh and Party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi were present during the group discussions.

NOTE:Discussion among the delegates were mainly on safety of women, direct cash subsidy and youth leadership.

3. PM, Sonia Gandhi inaugurate Ghat Ki Guni tunnel:

i. Jaipur has got a safer alternative to its accident-prone connector to NH-11 with the inauguration of Ghat Ki Guni twin-tube tunnel by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in the presence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

ii.With a combined length of 2,800 metres, the twin-tube tunnel, bored through Jhalana hills at a cost of Rs 150 crore, would help ease traffic congestion on the existing connector and systematise vehicular flow at the Eastern Gateway of the city.

iii.After the inauguration of the twin-tunnel near Jawahar nagar bypass, Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal said that that the project would prove to be a milestone.

NOTE:Before this, vehicles had no option but to pass through a narrow passage at Ghat Ki Guni, leading to massive traffic jams on the accident-prone two km serpentine road which rose in a steep slope towards the National Highway 11 to Agra.

4. Special officer be appointed in each police station to deal with juveniles: SC

In view of growing number of minors getting involved in various offences, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed that a special officer be appointed in every police station across the country to deal with juveniles.

NOTE: A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir also directed that the police must register FIR and conduct probe in every case of missing child and a unit of specially trained police officers be formed in each district to handle cases relating to juveniles.

5. MP CM to launch ‘Atal Jyoti' scheme tomorrow:

i.Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will launch ‘Atal Jyoti' scheme in Jabalpur district tomorrow. The scheme aims to provide 24-hour power supply to rural power consumers.

ii.It also includes provision of supplying minimum 8 hours power supply in a day for agriculture sector.

iii.In Jabalpur district, the scheme will directly benefit 1352 villages and over 31 thousand agricultural consumers.

6. China’s Economy Grew 7.8 Percent In 2012:

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS),China’s economy which is said to be the second largest economy of the world grew just 7.8 percent in 2012, which is the 13-year low.

In the year 2010, the economy of China increased 10.4 percent.

NOTE: The figures by NBS came when Xi Jinping will soon be taking over as the new President of the country.  Initially the economy was in a slow pace when the GDP grew 7.6 percent in 1999. The NBS however announced that the economy of the country was expected to grow at a stable pace in 2013.

7. UN meet to curb mercury pollution:

i.At a UN meeting in Geneva, more than 140 countries have agreed on a set of legally binding measures to curb mercury pollution.

ii.UN Environment Programme - UNEP - spokesman Nick Nuttall said a treaty to rid the world of a notorious health-hazardous metal was agreed today morning.

iii.Ahead of the five-day meeting, the UNEP published a report warning that developing nations were facing growing health and environmental risks from increased exposure to mercury.

NOTE: i.The rules, known as the Minamata Convention and named after the Japanese town that experienced the world's worst cases of mercury poisoning, will open for nations to sign at a diplomatic conference later this year.

ii.Mercury can produce a range of adverse human health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system.

8. US-China deal for continuing sanctions against N Korea:

i.The United States and China have made a deal under which the UN Security Council will expand existing sanctions against North Korea for staging a ballistic missile test.

ii.The deal was struck after weeks of intense negotiations involving US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, following December 12 launch.

iii.It called for a tightening of the existing sanctions and warned of new measures if North Korea staged a new rocket launch.

9. Nagaland to conduct year’s first round of 3 day long IPPI from tomorrow:

i.With the rest of the country, Nagaland will also be conducting the year’s first round of three-day ong Intensified Pulse Polio Immunisation (IPPI) from tomorrow.

ii.Children upto 5 years of age numbering over 2.4 Lakhs will be administered oral polio vaccine in 2462 polio booths being set up in the State.

iii.A total of 9848 vaccinators and 492 supervisors and 14 district monitors will supervise and oversee the smooth conduct of the programme.

10. Roelant Oltmans appointed as the Director (High Performance)for Indian Hockey Team:

i.Hockey India on 17 January announced that Roelant Oltmans, the Dutch Coach would serve the Indian Hockey Team as Director - High Performance and would look forward towards the sports in India till 2016 Rio Olympics.

ii.Oltmans would be responsible for the planning the training program as well as calendar for both the junior and the senior Players in Men and Women sections.