DAILY GK UPDATE 3RD & 4TH FEB.

1.    World Cancer Day is being observed today:

i.World Cancer Day is observed on Monday to raise awareness about the disease and to promote prevention measures, early detection, and treatment of Cancer. 

ii. The theme for this year is “Cancer-Did you know?”Which envisages to dispel the myths and misconceptions about the disease.

iii. Union for International Cancer Control the leading cancer fighting organisation endorsed by more than 400 member organisations across the world, is organising several functions on this occasion.

iv. A leading cause of death, worldwide Cancer accounts for 7.6 million deaths annually and around 13% of all deaths. Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year.

NOTE: i.A recent survey conducted by World Health Organisation for the World Cancer Day warns that more than half of all countries worldwide are struggling to prevent cancer and provide treatment and chronic care to cancer patients.

ii. Tobacco use is considered the major cause for cancer, causing 22% of global cancer deaths and 71% of global lung cancer deaths.

2.    Solicitor General of India resigns:

i.Rohinton Nariman has resigned as Solicitor General of India. He sent his resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with a copy to union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.

ii. The reasons that triggered Nariman's resignation are not immediately known.

NOTE:i.  Nariman is the son of eminent jurist Fali S Nariman.

ii. 56-year-old Nariman was appointed as the Solicitor General (SG), the second seniormost law officer of the country, on July 23, 2011.

iii. The solicitor general is the prime lawyer of the central government in the Supreme Court.

3.    Mudgal Committee to review Cinema Act

i. The Ministry of Info & Broadcasting has constituted a panel under the Chairmanship of Mukul Mudgal, Retired Chief Justice, High Court to examine issues of certification under the Cinematograph Act 1952.

The Terms of Reference of the Committee are as under:

i. Review the mandate and functioning of CBFC and recommend measures including statutory changes to enable CBFC to deal with contemporary requirements of certification and increased transparency / efficiency. Such issues, inter alia, may include.

ii. Examine the role of Central Government regarding sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition under Entry 60, List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India vis-à-vis Entry 33, List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India;

iii. To suggest more effective legal remedies and penal provisions in the Act, particularly with reference to making unlawful copies, camcording in cinema halls, interpolation/insertion of clips after certification and such similar issues.

NOTE: The Committee may submit its report in two months from the date of its constitution.

4.    S Korea & US starts naval exercises

i. Tensions rose on the Korean peninsula as South Korea and the United States launched a joint naval exercise involving a US nuclear submarine on Monday, amidst an expected nuclear test by North Korea.

ii. The three day drill in progress in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) off the south-eastern South Korean port of Pohang - condemned as a “warmongering” exercise by North Korea- was confirmed by a defence ministry spokesman.

iii. "The exercise includes at-sea operating training, detecting and tracking submarine, anti-air and anti-ship live fire training and anti-missile training.

NOTE: i. North Korea  insists the launch was a purely scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in orbit.

ii. Recent satellite imagery has confirmed activity at the north-eastern nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, with the North covering the entrance to a test tunnel in an apparent attempt to external monitoring.

5.    Shanu Lahiri, the Renowned Bengali Painter Passes away:

i. Shanu Lahiri,(85) the renowned painter of Bengal School died on 1 February 2013 following a brief illness at the private hospital in Kolkata.

ii.She is survived by daughter Damayanti and son Arnab. She was cremated at the Keoratala Crematorium on 1 February 2013.

About Shanu Lahiri

i. Shanu Lahiri was born in the artistic family and studied at Government School of Art and Crafts, Calcutta.

ii. She also received President’s Gold Medal. She was the first one to receive this honour at her University

iii. Lahiri was also known for her social contribution. She inspired street children towards painting on walls of Kolkata.

6.    Presidential candidate of Paraguay dies in chopper crash  

i. Lino Cesar Oviedo, a former army chief and conservative candidate in Paraguayan presidential election, died in a helicopter crash on Saturday night after taking part in a campaign rally and flying back to the capital Asuncion.

NOTE: i.Oviedo was one of the leaders of the 1989 military coup that overthrew long time dictator Alfredo Stroessner. The day marked exactly 24 years since the coup that ended Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship.

ii. The former army chief entered politics in 1996 and was the candidate of a conservative party called Unace, a splinter group that broke away from the Colorado Party.

7.    Ayesha Haroon, the Renowned Pakistani Journalist Died of Cancer

i. Ayesha Haroon, the renowned Pakistani journalist died on 2 February 2013 in New York following 4-year long fight with cancer. She was 46 years old.

About Ayesha Haroon:

i. Ayesha Haroon is a highly respected journalistic figure in Pakistan.
ii.She was former Lahore Resident Editor for The News International.
iii.She played an important role in setting up as well as launching Waqt TV channel under The Nation group.

8.    Mo Yan and Jackie Chan Selected As Members of Chinese Parliament

i. Mo Yan, the winner of Nobel Prize for literature, 2012 and Jackie Chan, the movie star were given a political role in China by being selected as members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, one of the houses of Chinese parliament.

ii. Mo Yan and Jackie Chan were among 2237 people selected by China's new leaders led by Xi Jinping as the members of CPPCC National Committee.

iii. Xi Jinping is the new general secretary of the Communist Party.

iv.He will become the President of China after two Houses of Parliament have meeting in March 2013.

9.    Airtel Launched Emergency Alert Service for Women Subscribers

i. Bharti Airtel launched an emergency alert service for the subscribers in Odisha, Bengal and Kolkata on 1 February 2013.

ii.The service is directed towards the women primarily and allows them to dial the Airtel helpline number known as 55100 as well as send the messages when there is an emergency.

iii. As soon as the number is dialed, an alert SMS will be sent across along with the recorded voice message to the already loaded 10 numbers.

iv.The message will in turn allow these 10 pre-loaded numbers to track the location of a sender along with the time.

v. Messages and recorded voice message will be sent across simultaneously to these ten recipients. Also, these alert messages will repeat three times within just 30 minutes.

NOTE: i. For first 30 days, this service will be available free of cost but then it would cost 30 Rupees per month.

ii. According to the Airtel, the company was also having negotiations with the local police in order to make sure that one single number should be introduced for the purpose of emergency calls. The alerts could be generated through this single number such as 100 to all local police stations as well.

10.  Natwar Gandhi resigns as financial head of Washington DC

i. The Indian American chief financial officer of Washington DC, Natwar Gandhi, resigned from his position.

ii. Gandhi, 72, said he is resigning for "purely personal" reasons. He will step down on 1st June.

iii. He was elected for a third term for this post.

iv. Mayor of Washington DC Vincent C Gray said that: Under Gandhi’s stewardship, Washington DC has obtained a “clean” audit opinion from independent auditors in the District’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) every year since Fiscal Year 2000.

NOTE: i. Born in Gujarat, Gandhi was first appointed to this position by Mayor Anthony Williams 7th June 2000.

ii. Gandhi has held the office since 2000 and was appointed to a new, five-year term last year.

iii. Gandhi holds a doctorate in accounting from Louisiana State University, a master’s degree in business administration from Atlanta University, and an LLB and B.Com in accounting from the University of Bombay.

11.  Indian American scientist honoured by Obama

i.US President Barack Obama, presented the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation to eminent Indian American scientist Rangaswamy Srinivasan for his groundbreaking work with laser.

ii. Rangaswamy received the award along with Samuel Blum and James Wynne, for the pioneering discovery of excimer laser ablative photodecomposition of human and animal tissue, laying the foundation for PRK and LASIK laser refractive surgical techniques, which have revolutionised vision enhancement.

NOTE: i. In 1981, Srinivasan discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser could etch living tissue in a precise manner with no thermal damage to the surrounding area.

ii. He named the phenomenon Ablative Photodecomposition (APD), which later revolutionised eye surgery.

iii. Inducted into the US Inventor Hall of Fame in 2002, Srinivasan has spent 30 years at IBMs T J Watson Research Center.

iv. He received both bachelors and masters degrees in science from the Universityof Madras, in 1949 and 1950.

v. He earned doctorate in physical chemistry at the Universityof Southern California in 1956. He currently holds 21 USpatents.

12.  Glenn Maxwell –highest bid player in IPL auction

i. Australia's Glenn Maxwell emerged as the highest bid player star in the auction for the sixth edition of IPL today.

ii. The all-rounder grabbed a whopping one million dollar (around Rs 5.3 crore), deal with Mumbai Indians.

NOTE:  Australian captain Michael Clarke and his predecessor Ricky Ponting failed to evoke much interest and were sold on their base price of Rs 2.1 crore to Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians respectively.

13.  Pallikal wins Meadowood Pharmacy Open

i. Indian squash player Dipika Pallikal won the Meadowood Pharmacy Open here by defeating Joey Chan of Hong Kong 3-0 in the final.

ii. Dipika won the set 11-9, 11-7, 11-14 here Sunday to bag the title in its fourth edition, which is a part of the Women's Squash Association (WSA) tour.

NOTE: Dipika, the first Indian to break into the top 10 of the world rankings, has now dropped to 15th place while Joey'sranking is 19.

14.  England defeat India in ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup

i. India lost to England by 32 runs in a Group-A match of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai today.  

 ii.Chasing a victory target of 273 runs the Indian Eves were restricted to 240 runs for 9 wickets in 50 overs.

iii. India will face Sri Lanka in the next match on Tuesday.