DAILY GK UPDATE 28TH JUNE

1.    IRCTC goes mobile from 1st July

i. One of the world’s largest railway systems is going mobile. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be starting SMS-based ticketing services from 1st July that will link the mobile number with IRCTC and the bank for payment purposes.

ii. Keeping an eye on the growing mobile phone market in India, the SMS-based service will have a dedicated number that would be soon announced

iii. Describing the step as environment-friendly as no print-out is required, a senior IRCTC official said "mobile-based booking provides the users ease and convenience of booking tickets from anywhere and anytime.

iv. There will be no requirement of a printout because the ticketing message will be considered as valid during the journey."

v. As per the requirement, one has to register the mobile number with IRCTC as well as one's bank. The Bank provides MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and OTP (one time password) for authorization of payment.

vi. The official said that SMS booking is very simple as a passenger has to type the train number, destination, journey date, class, and passenger details like name, age and gender on the SMS box.

vii. "The sender will receive transaction ID and then make payment through sending another SMS by typing PAY followed by the transaction ID, MMID as received from the bank and password, said the official adding "with this the passenger's ticket is booked."

viii. The service is available to all mobile subscribers and Rs 3 is being charged per SMS and payment gateway charges are Rs 5 for ticket amount up to Rs 5000 and Rs 10 for more than Rs 5000.

2.    India-Afghanistan co-operation in education field to be enhanced

i. India and Afghanistan have pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation across various sectors, particularly in the field of education. India is currently one of the largest providers of education scholarships to Afghan youth under various programmes.

ii. At a meeting between the visiting Afghan Minister of Education, Dr. Ghulam Farooq Wardak and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in New Delhi yesterday, the two sides also discussed issues of mutual interest. Dr. Wardak is attending World Education Congress in Mumbai today.

3.    India, China hold border talks in Beijing

i. The Special Representatives of India and China held the 16th round of border talks today in Beijing to find a solution to the vexed border issue. 

ii. Newly appointed Chinese Special Representative Yang Jiechi said that China is ready to work with India to build on the work of predecessors and break new ground to strive for the settlement of the China-India boundary.

iii. During his two-day visit to Beijing, Mr. National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon is due to meet Premier Li and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

iv. Mr. Menon's talks with Chinese leaders is also expected to focus on recent intrusion by Chinese forces in India's Depsang Valley in Ladakh region. Mr. Menon said that India-China's relations have achieved a momentum and are moving in the right direction.

4.    Cabinet approves Mumbai Metro Line 3: FM

i. Finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that the Union Cabinet has approved Mumbai metro line 3. The estimated cost for the metro project has been pegged at Rs 23,136 crore.

ii. The Metro project will be completed by March 2019. It will have 27 stations connecting business and industrial districts such as Nariman Point, Worli, Dadar, BKC, MIDC and SEEPZ. The daily ridership is expected to be 13.87 lakh by 2025 and 16.99 lakh by 2031.

5.    Lucknow Metro Phase 1 to begin by year-end

i. In Uttar Pradesh, the state cabinet has given its nod to the first phase of the Metro Rail project of Lucknow. Officials associated with the project said, the construction work would begin by the year end and a major chunk is likely to be completed by the end of current financial year. 

ii. The cabinet meeting, presided by the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday took the decision after discussing the recommendations made on the project by a committee headed by chief secretary.

iii. The first phase, which will cover 23-km stretch from Amausi airport to Munshipulia, will have 21 stations on the route. 

iv. The North-South corridor will have three underground stations while remaining 18 will be built on elevated platforms. The cost of constructing this stretch is pegged to be around 7,000-8,000 crore rupees.

v. The project would largely be funded by external financial aiding agencies while the remaining cost would be shared between the Central and state governments in 50:50 ratio.

6.    Rajasthan launched a Scheme for Energy Conservation

i. The Rajasthan government on 27 June 2013 launched a unique scheme called Mukhyamantri Bijli Bachat Lamp Yojna for energy conservation. 

ii. The State government will provide 2 CFL bulb free of cost to all electricity consumers of villages and BPL consumers in urban areas. This unique scheme will continue till August 2013.

iii. Special camps are being organised for distribution of CFLs in the state. The state Government will spent 100 crore rupees on this scheme.

iv. The purpose of this scheme is to save energy and conservation of environment. With the use of these one crore six lakh CFLs 93 crore rupees electricity will be saved and consumers will save 278 crore rupees per year in the state.

v. Energy conservation refers to reducing energy through using less of an energy service. Energy conservation differs from efficient energy use, which refers to using less energy for a constant service.

vi. 53 lakh families in the state will be benefited with this scheme. 

7.    Rural Jharkhand girls headed for Spain

i. Eighteen rural girls from Jharkhand are all set to board a Madrid-bound flight on Thursday to play Donosti Cup football tournament in Spain from 1st -6th July.

ii. The girls will represent Yuwa-India, an NGO, and compete in the U-14 category in the international youth football tournament at San Sebastian.

iii. Over 400 teams from 30 countries will vie for top honours in 12 boys and girls categories with the matches being 50 minutes affair.

iv. The team will play three games in their group while the first will be against Wisconsin International of the USA and further games will depend on the team's win/loss ratio in the first round.

v. The team will also be visiting Santiago Bernabeu Stadium of Real Madrid on 7^th July and then travel to Vitoria-Gasteiz for the Gasteiz cup and return to Kolkata on 13^th July.

vi. Excited about the 17-day Spanish trip, Yuwa-India captain Rinki Kumari said, "Spain being No. 1 in world football, we are all are looking forward to it. Never ever we thought of this, we are hoping to get maximum from this exposure trip."

vii. The team has been developed by Yuwa founder and executive director Franz Gastler, while Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt Ltd are the sponsors.

8.    Tri-series ODI: Sri Lanka take on West Indies in opening match in Jamaica

i. Sri Lanka will take on West Indies in the opening match of tri-nation ODI cricket series at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica today. The match will start at 8 pm, Indian time. India, West Indies and Sri Lanka are participating in the tri-series.

ii. Fresh from its Champions Trophy triumph in England, an upbeat Indian cricket team landed in Kingston yesterday to compete in the tri-series. India will clash with Sri Lanka on Sunday at Kingston.