DAILY GK UPDATE 24TH JUNE

1.    4th India-US Strategic Dialogue starts in New Delhi

i. The meeting of the 4th India-US Strategic Dialogue has begun in New Delhi this morning.

ii. The meeting is co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and the visiting US Secretary of State, John Kerry

iii. Accompanied by a high-level delegation, Mr Kerry arrived in New Delhi last evening on a three-day visit to India. The delegation includes US Energy Secretary, NASA Director, US Military Chief for the Pacific Region and top officials from the State Department and Home- Land Security.

iv. This is Mr Kerry's first visit to India after his appointment as the US Secretary of State.

v. This is the first high level political interaction with New Delhi in the second term of Obama Presidency and expected to push forward the India-US relationship. 

vi. The issue of market accesss, nuclear liability bill and American National Security Agency's internet snooping programme are also expected to figure in the discussions.

vii. It gives both sides an opportunity to carry out some stock-taking of the relationship since the dialogue last year and also to try and set a new vision for the future.

2.    Prasar Bharati to get digital wing

i. Prasar Bharati may get a digital wing to reach out to the increasing number of Internet and smartphone users, if recommendations of a working group formed by the government are accepted.

ii. The working group has said that in addition to television and radio, Prasar Bharati should get a third arm - Prasar Bharati Digital - to connect with new age users.

iii. The government had earlier appointed an expert committee headed by technocrat Sam Pitroda to examine the functioning of Prasar Bharati, which then created 11 working groups to examine various aspects of the public broadcaster.

iv. One of these working groups, which was headed by Pankaj Pachauri, communications advisor in the PMO, had suggested creation of Prasar Bharati Digital.

v. The sub-committee is learnt to have recommended that Prasar Bharati's digital wing should be authentic, accessible and a highly interactive platform.

vi. In the recommendations submitted to the Expert Committee, the panel has suggested that Prasar Bharati Digital should be set up with a team of 10 young professionals headed by a director and supported by three additional directors

vii. As per the recommendations, Prasar Bharati's digital wing would not only source content from Doordarshan, AIR and other government organisations but also facilitate generation of new streams of content.

3.    Nelson Mandela in critical condition

i. Nelson Mandela is in a critical condition, South Africa's presidency has said, signalling a significant and sudden deterioration in the health of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon in his third week of hospitalisation for a recurrent lung infection

ii. "The condition of former president Nelson Mandela, who is still in hospital in Pretoria, has become critical," said presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj, 16 days after Mandela was admitted to the Mediclinic Heart Hospital for treatment of the lung infection.

iii. President Jacob Zuma, accompanied by African National Congress Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, visited Mandela on Sunday evening.

iv. Mandela, who was admitted to the hospital on 8^th June with a recurrent lung infection, was earlier said to be in a serious but stable condition.

v. "The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba (Mandela's clan name) is well-looked after and is comfortable. 

vi. Mandela, one of the world's tallest statesmen, led the movement to replace the apartheid regime of South Africa with a multi-racial democracy.

vii. Mandela served as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

4.    China, Britain set up currency swap line

i. China has expanded its currency convertibility to Britain as the central banks of the two countries signed a three-year sterling-yuan currency swap lineto boost bilateral trade and financial stability.

ii. China's first such agreement with a G7 country was signed between Bank of England (BoE) governor Mervyn King, who steps down at the end of the month, and his counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China.

iii. The maximum value of the reciprocal 3-year yuan/sterling currency swap will be 200 billion yuan (USD 32.6 billion or 20 billion pounds), according to China's central bank.

iv. The currency swap line will facilitate yuan liquidity in London and overseas markets, as well as benefit bilateral trade and investment.

v. China has signed currency swap agreements with more than 20 countries and region to promote use of the yuan in trade and investment.

5.    MiG-29 fighter aircraft crashes

i. A MIG -29 fighter aircraft on a routine sortie on Monday crashed near Lalparda village in Gujarat's Jamnagar district, with the pilot ejecting safely.

ii. "A MiG-29 fighter jet today crashed at 13.30 hours near Lalparda village south of Khambhalia town.

iii. IAF has ordered a court of inquiry in the matter, officials said, adding that their team is reaching the spot where the crash took place. 

iv. In August 2012, nine Air Force personnel, including five officers, on board two MI-17 helicopters were killed when two choppers of the Jamangar air base had collided mid-air shortly after takeoff.

6.    Kochi firms win Nasscom award 

i. Two smartphone applications developed by firms at Kochi's Startup Village have been named by IT industry body Nasscom among the ten best apps designed for the security of women.

ii. Sentinel, developed by MindHelix Technosol Pvt. Ltd., and iFollow, from Aucupa Innovative Solutions, were among the winners of Nasscom's first all-India App Fame Contest to search for mobile tools to aid personal safety of women and to help deal with emergencies.

iii. Sentinel is a GPS-based application developed by MindHelix for Android devices and iPhone. It can make SOS calls and send text alerts and emails with location information to pre-saved emergency numbers and IDs at the touch of a button.

iv. The application works even in situations where the user is unable to trigger the alert manually or the phone is destroyed. It works also if there is no internet access. It can be downloaded for free from Google Play and the App store.

v. It is activated if the phone is shaken continuously for five seconds, and on standby mode it works silently in the background to reduce power consumption. iFollow is also a free application that can be downloaded from Google Play.

vi. MindHelix and Aucupa are both fledgling companies incubating at Startup Village.

7.    Constables to get promoted 5 years early

i. In a move that will bring cheers to lakhs of constables working in paramilitary forces, the MHA has decided to re-introduce the long abolished post of 'Havildar' in forces like CRPF and BSF ensuring a 5-year faster promotion to these personnel in the lower rungs of hierarchy.

ii. A committee of force chiefs of CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF recently met Union Home Secretary R K Singh after which it was decided to create and introduce this post which will lessen the long promotion time of 19-20 years for a Constable to become a Head Constable by 5 years, and he/she will be promoted in 14 years to the new post of 'Havildar'

iii. From 'Havildar' to Head Constable the promotion time would be about two-three years which effectively means that these personnel who are the backbone of security forces will be able to get two promotions in less than 20 years as compared to the current norm of only one promotion in two decades.

iv. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has now asked all the paramilitary forces, with an estimated strength of 5-6 lakh constables, to prepare a blueprint in this regard and soon implement this much desired welfare measure in their respective forces.

v. With this promotion, the constables will also get a hike in their salaries whose quantum will vary from force to force and which will be notified soon

vi. Now, with a promotion in 14 years, the ministry has given these personnel, who are the backbone of the organisation, a silverline of hope.

8.    Wimbledon Tennis Ch’ships kicks off in London

i. The 127th edition of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships kicks off in London today.

ii. Besides the top seeds like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, numerous players are taking part in the competition, which consists of events in Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles play. 

iii. Switzerland's World Number Three Roger Federer and World Number One Serena Williams of the United States will enter this third Grand Slam of the season, as the defending champions in the Singles categories.

iv. The tournament will see India's participation in the Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. 

v. Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, with their partners, will be seen in the Men's Doubles, alongwith the duo of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja, which will play its first ever Grand Slam match today. 

vi. In the Women's Doubles, Sania Mirza will be pairing up with American Leizel Huber.

9.    Russian Film the Major won Golden Goblet at Shangahi Film Festival

i. Russian film, The Major won Golden Goblet on 23 June 2013 for best feature film at the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival. ii. The film talks about how things go out of control when corrupt police officers try to cover up a hit-and-run case for their colleague.

iii. The jury headed by Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper opined that the film revealed a complicated Russian society, as well as great Russian art and storytelling tradition. 

iv. Its director, Yuri Bykov won awards for best director and outstanding artistic achievement.

v. The Jury Grand Prix went to Sweden film Reliance directed by William Olsson. The film also won awards for best screenplay and best cinematography.

vi. Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung won the Golden Goblet for best actor for the film Unbeatable.

vii.  Ten-year-old Malaysian child star Crystal Lee became the youngest actress to win the award for best actress in the festival's history.

10.  BCCI awards Rs.1 crore to each player

i. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Monday announced that each member of the Indian team will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1 crore for winning the Champions Trophy Sunday night.

ii. India beat England by five runs in a thrilling final at Edgbaston, Birmingham to be crowned Champions Trophy winners for the second time. India had shared the title with Sri Lanka in 2002.

iii. BCCI also announced in a statement that Rs. 30 lakh will be given to every member of the support staff.