DAILY GK UPDATE 11th JUNE

1.    UPSC declares Marks Of All Candidates

i. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has made public marks obtained by candidates of prestigious civil services exams for selection into IAS, IPS and IFS among others.

ii. UPSC, which conducts the test, has also put marks of candidates who took the civil services (preliminary) and mains examinations on its website.

iii. The marks of candidates who did not qualify the civil services (mains) examination and that of candidates who cleared the three-stage test (preliminary, mains and personal interview) are on the website– www.upsc.gov.in

iv. It is for the first time in the history of the elite civil services examination that UPSC declared the marks of all candidates appeared in the exam.

v. In a list of 1,004 qualified candidates in Civil Services Exam 2012, the topper Haritha V Kumar has got 1,193 marks out of 2,250 (53 per cent) to top the 2012 civil services examinations.

vi. V Sriram, who got second position, has got 51 per cent (1,149 out of the total of 2,250).

vii. The move to display final marks on the UPSC website came following a direction from the Central Information Commission (CIC).

viii. Earlier, UPSC used to send the marks to all candidates individually.

2.    Prez lays foundation stone of NCW HQs-Nirbhaya Bhavan

i. President Pranab Mukherjee today laid foundation stone of Nirbhaya Bhawan, the permanent headquarters of the National Commission for Women at a function in New Delhi

ii. The building, which will be the new headquarters of the Commission, has been named after the brave girl, who died in December last year after a courageous battle in most adverse and painful circumstances

iii. Minister of State for Women and Child Development Mrs Krishna Tirath expressed concernd over the decline in the female sex ratio.

iv. National Commission for Women Chairperson, Mrs Mamata Sharma underlined the need for working for the empowerment of women, partiacularly in rural areas.

3.    Veteran Congress leader V C Shukla passes away

i. Senior Congress leader V C Shukla who was severely injured in the Maosit attack in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on 25th of last month, died today.

ii. The 84-year-old Shukla was undergoing treatment at a Gurgaon-based private hospital. 

iii. Prior to his shift to Gurgaon, Shukla had undergone an operation at a Jagdalpur hospital for removal of the bullets

NOTE: Maoists had attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in Bastar in which 28 people including the state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh Patel , senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudaliyar were killed and 36 others were injured

4.    US to host T20 matches between Pakistan and WI

i. The Pakistan and the West Indies Cricket Boards have reached an agreement to play a T20 international series in the United States in July this year.

ii. According to PCB sources, the two boards have agreed to organise a two-match series in Miami and Florida after Pakistan team’s tour to West Indies in July.

iii. The source said the Pakistan team would tour West Indies from July 7 to play five ODI matches and after that both teams would fly to Miami for the two T20 matches.

iv. In the recent past West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka have played T20 matches at Miami but the outcome has not been encouraging because of complaints over pitch conditions.

5.    Infinity Tower The world’s tallest twisted tower

i. The world’s tallest twisted tower, the Infinity Tower was launched in Dubai Marina on 10 June 2013. 

ii. The Infinity tower features, its unique ability of twisting to 90 degrees and the shape of the tower being aesthetically unique also allows reduction of the wind forces on the tower because of its twisted shape. 

iii. Every floor of the tower is designed in the same way and is like a pile of books with each book twisted slightly to get the twist and the rectangular floors of the tower is surrounded by a cylindrical shaft that contains lifts. 

iv. Built over a period of eight years, the Infinity tower has 570 residential units, which includes 495 apartments, with one to four bedrooms, and penthouses.

v. The 75 storey 307 meter tall Infinity Tower has been developed by the makers of the tallest tower of the world, Burj Khalifa.

6.    Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University Foundation Stone Layed

i. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University at Bhopal. 

ii. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that language has an important role between the Government and people. Success of social welfare and development programme depends on language. Therefore, we should encourage Hindi and other regional languages.

iii. Hindi has always played an important role in the national integration. It is symbol of India’s social and cultural unity. 

iv. He said that recently, he had opened Innovation Clubs in two Central Universities in Uttar Pradesh and Assam and attended innovation exhibitions organized in these universities. He called upon the University to take the initiative to build a strong innovation culture.

v. The President said that decade of 2010-20 has been declared as the decade of innovation.

7.    India enter pre-quarters of World Team Squash C'ship

i. The Indian men's squash team dished out a dominating performance to notch up a commanding 3-0 win over Finland and enter the pre-quarters of the World Team Championship in Mulhouse, France.

ii. After the tight escape against Argentina, the eighth seed Indian team made the bold choice of bringing in Ramit Tandon in place of Harinder Pal Sandhu. 

iii. The 22-year old Mustonen was heavy favourite going into the match, given his 36th world ranking, a whopping 196 places higher than Tandon.

iv. The Indian wrapped up the first game in quick succession as a shell-shocked Mustonen tried to figure out what hit him in those opening minutes.

8.    Miss World axes bikinis

i. Contestants at this year's Miss World beauty pageant will not wear bikinis in the parade in a bid to avoid causing offence in Muslim-majority Indonesia

ii. The 137 women taking part in the September contest will swap bikinis for more conservative attire, such as traditional sarongs, for the beach fashion section.

iii. The contest is being held on the resort island of Bali,where foreign tourists flock in their millions and the beaches are packed with women sunbathing in skimpy swimwear.

iv. But Miss World Organisation chairwoman Julia Morley insisted that none of the pageant's contestants would wear a bikini

v. We treasure respect for all the countries that take part in the pageant," she said, adding the final outfits had not yet been finalised.

 

NOTE: i. The upcoming Miss World pageant, to be held in Baliand Bogor just outside Jakarta, has already stirred anger with the country's top Muslim clerical body, the Indonesian Ulema Council, which has called for its cancellation.

ii. Last year pop sensation Lady Gaga was forced to cancel her concert in Indonesia after Muslim hardliners threatened to burn down the venue and criticised her for only wearing "a bra and panties".

9.    Hospitalized Manna Dey’s condition better

i. Legendary playback singer, Manna Dey who is recuperating from age-related illness, has shown “marginal improvement” on Monday, according to hospital sources.

ii. In hospital for age-related illness, sources at Narayana Hrudayalaya said on Monday, "His condition is slightly better than yesterday. There is marginal improvement. He is stable.".

iii. Famous for having sung more than 3,500 songs in different languages, including Hindi and Bengali, the 94 year old Dey has had a career spanning seven decades.

iv. His famous songs include 'Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen' , 'Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli' , 'Yeh Dosti'  and 'Ek Chatur Naar'.

v. He was hospitalized on Saturday for chest infection, after which his health condition deteriorated.

10.  India, Sri Lanka, West Indies to play tri-series

i. India will play a tri-series ODI tournament in the Caribbean soon after the Champions Trophy later this month, BCCI has confirmed.

ii. BCCI's Working Committee on Monday approved 2 tours for the Indian team including the tri-nation event. India, West Indies and Sri Lanka will play the tournament. India's tour to Zimbabwe will be in July and August.

iii. Champions Trophy, which is currently being held in England, ends on June 23.

Indian team's tour Tour this season:

i. Indian team's tour of the West Indies in June-July 2013
ii. Indian team's tour of Zimbabwe in July-August 2013

iii. India A's tour of South Africa in August 2013

iv. India under-19 team's tour of Australia in June-July 2013

v. India under-19 team's tour of Sri Lanka in August, 2013

11.  WI posts 233 against India in Champions Trophy 

i. With the help of half-century of former captain Darren Sammy, West Indies post 233 for 9 in alloted 50 overs against India in a Group B Champions Trophy match today

ii. India have fielded an unchanged side while the West Indies have replaced suspended Denesh Ramdin with Darren Sammy.

12.  South Africa beat Pakistan by 67 runs

i. South Africa defeated Pakistan by 67 runs in a must-win game at Edgbaston here Monday to keep themselves alive in the Champions Trophy.

ii. Hashim Amla (81) top-scored in South Africa's 234 for nine and their depleted bowling attack was good enough to dismiss Pakistan for 167 in 45 overs.

iii. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (55) batted for long but could not get his team over the line.

iv. It was a crucial game for both teams as they had lost their opening matches of the tournament. South Africa play their last league match against the West Indies June 14 while Pakistan face arch-rivals India June 15.