DAILY GK UPDATE 29 & 30TH May

1.    India & Thailand sign extradition treaty

i. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday arrived on a two-day visit to Thailand and signed seven MOU's in different areas as PM attaches great importance to its relation-ship with Thailand.

ii. During the visit, a slew of MoUs covering space, extradition, IT, education, and financial intelligence units to check money laundering are signed

iii. An MoU between Financial Intelligence Unit, India and Anti Money Laundering Organization, Thailand on cooperation in the exchange of intelligence related to money Laundering and terrorism financing was also signed.

iv. The MoU will facilitate cooperation in the investigation of persons suspected of money laundering and criminal activity related to money laundering and terrorism financing.

v. The MoU seeks to assemble, develop, analyse and exchange information on such issues.

vi. In total, seven pacts were signed between the two countries. They inlcuded one on the establishment of the India-Thailand exchange programme, Procès Verbal on exchange
of instrument of ratification of the treaty on transfer of sentenced persons, MoU in cooperation in the field of mapping and geospatial technology applications and one on cooperation in the field of mapping and geospatial technology applications.

2.    PM elected to Rajya Sabha, Cong wins both seats in Assam  

i. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been elected to Rajya Sabha for the fifth consecutive term on Thursday as Congress won both the seats to the Upper House from Assam.

ii. Dr. Singh got 49 first preference votes, while the second Congress candidate bagged 45 votes in the 126-member state Assembly, its Principal Secretary and Returning Officer G P Das said.

iii. All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF)'s Aminul Islam, who polled 18 votes, lost

iv. AIUDF is a partner of the UPA at the Centre and its 18 MLAs gave their second preference vote to the Prime Minister.

v. The Prime Minister was the only contestant for the first preference vote seat as the other parties did not put up any candidate against him.

vi. Opposition Asom Gana Parishad and BJP, who have nine and five MLAs respectively, had earlier decided to abstain from voting.

vii. The Congress now has five members out of seven in Assam to the Rajya Sabha.

3.    Indian Telecom Sector Became the Second Largest Telephone Network in the World

i. The Indian telecom sector became the second largest telephone network in the world, after China by registering exceptional growth during last nine years.

ii. The reasons for growth of telecom sector were reform measures by the Government of India, active participation of the private sector as well as wireless technology.

iii. National Telecom Policy-2012 (NTP-2012) was announced with an objective to maximise public good by facilitating reliable, secure and affordable telecommunication as well as broadband services in India.

iv. When NTP 2012 was implemented, a range of telephonic connections increased considerably. The telephone connections in India till January 2013 were 893.14 million.

v. The rural telephone connections increased by around 10 million in the year 2012. Overall, the teledensity was 73.07 percent till January 2013.

vi. Rural teledensity crossed the 40 percent mark. Comparatively, in March 2004, the overall teledensity was 7.04 percent while the rural teledensity was 1.7 percent.

4.    Foreign Minister of Cuba Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla visited India

i. The Foreign Minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla paid an official visit to India from 25 May 2013 to 27 May 2013.

ii. During his visit, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriquez Parrilla held talks with his Indian counter-part and discussed bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest

iii. India and Cuba share a historic, warm and friendly relationship which has been marked by growing cooperation in diverse areas such as Sports, Hydrocarbons, IT, Biotechnology and Development Partnership.

iv. The two countries share common perspectives on a wide variety of issues in the global arena.

v. Both nations also explored the possibilities of increased trade ties between India and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which at present is chaired by Cuba.

5.    Kushal Singh Appointed as the Chairperson of NCPCR

i. The Ministry of Women and Child Development appointed Kushal Singh as the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

ii. She was selected by the Committee which was headed by Krishna Tirath, Minister of Women and Child Development.

About Kushal Singh

i. Kushal Singh held various high level posts in the Central Government as well as the Government of Rajasthan.

ii. She was the Chief Secretary of the Government of Rajasthan.

iii. Kushal Singh was the Secretary Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Principal Secretary for various ministries such as Social Welfare and Tribal Area Development, Environment and Social Security, Government of Rajasthan.

iv. Apart from this, she has remained the Regional Cement Controller at Bombay for the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

6.    Rituparno Ghosh, National Award Winning Filmmaker died

i. Rituparno Ghosh, the renowned Bengali film maker died on 30 May 2013 of cardiac arrest at his south Kolkata residence.

ii. 49 Years old Rituparno Ghosh is the winner of 12 national and some of the international awards.

iii. Ghosh came into limelight by his direction of a children's film Hirer Angti in year 1994. His film Unishe April won national award winner in 1995.

iv. Some of his famous films include Dahan, Asukh, Chokher Bali, Raincoat, Bariwali, Antarmahal and Noukadubi.

v. He had won the Best Director National Award for Abohomanin year 2012. Rituparno Ghosh was born on 31 August 1963 in Kolkata. His father was a well known documentary filmmaker.

A brief Insight into Ghosh's Career

i. Rituparno started his career as a advertising Professional and his directional debut was Hirer Angti (The diamond ring).
ii. He won the National film award for Best Director for his Bengali film Abohoman starring Jishu Sengupta, Ananya Chatterjee, Dipankar Dey and Mamata Shankar.
iii. He made his first screen presence in an Oriya film Katha Deithilli Ma Ku which is directed by Himanshu Parija and released in 2003.
iv. He hosted two celebrity chat shows, namely Ebong Rituporno on ETV Bangla and Ghosh and co. on Star Jalsha.
v. He was also the scriptwriter of Gaaner Opa.

7.    7th Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to be held in Sydney from Nov 10_12

i. The 7th Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be held in Sydney from the 10th to 12th of November this year

ii. The 2013 Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the seventh such conference to be held outside India is expected to attract about 1000 delegates from the Asia-Pacific.

iii. The aim of the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas – or Overseas Indian Conference - is to connect India with its vast Indian Diaspora and bringing their knowledge, expertise and skills together.

8.    Ananya Gupta won a Bronze Medal in World School Chess Championship

i. Nine-year-old Mumbai girl Ananya Gupta claimed a bronze medal in the World School Chess championship held at Haldikki in Greece.

ii. She won seven out of nine games to bag the bronze in the tournament. It was held from 6 May to 15 May 2013.

iii. Ananya created waves by beating the much higher ranked Yvonne Beline of France on way to finishing third in the competition. Earlier, she clinched gold at the 9th Singapore Chess Festival.

iv. Ananya, had clinched gold at the 9th Singapore Chess Festival earlier. Ananya is a product of South Mumbai Chess Academy (SMCA).

9.    NTR Literary Award presented to Noted Oriya writer Manoj Das

i. Manoj Das, the Noted Oriya writer on 28 May 2013 was presented the NTR National Literary Award.

ii. The NTR National Literary Award was chosen by the jury of NTR Vignana Trust, headed by its chairperson N. Lakshmi Parvati which carries a cash prize of 1 lakh Rupees and citation. 

iii. The award recognises Das’s contribution to literature, both in Odiya and English.

iv. Manoj Das was also conferred with Padma Sri award and had his stories figured in the compilation of best literary works released in the US.

v. The award is instituted in memory of the actor-turned-politician who made a mark for his struggle to protect Telugu pride. He has penned down his first novel at the age of 14.

10.  Wrestling remains in contention for spot in 2020 Olympic

i. Wrestling remained in contention for a place in the 2020 Olympics as the sport was shortlisted on Wednesday, along with two other disciplines by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a final vote in September.

ii. Wrestling will fight for the lone spot with squash and the joint bid of softball/baseball.

iii. The Board shortlisted three sport out of eight, that pleaded their case today in closed-door presentations, according to reports.

iv. The full IOC assembly will meet on September 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to take a decision on which sport out of the three short-listed will be selected for inclusion in 2020 Games

NOTE: Wrestling was dropped from the Olympic programme in February this year and with this shortlisting the sport has taken a step forward in keeping its place.

11.  Asian Athletics Ch’ships to be held in Pune from July 3 to 7

i. The Asian Athletics Championships will be held in Pune from July 3 to 7.

ii. With just a little over a month left for the prestigious event, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) today said that the Sports Complex at Balewadi in Pune will play the host.

iii. The announcement of Pune as host for the event comes after months of uncertainty and three cities refusing to become the hosts. Originally, the event was scheduled to be held in Chennai

iv. This is the second time the continental showpiece event is being held in India after New Delhi hosted the Championships in 1989.