Daily GK Potion – 13th, 14th and 15th April 2015

  1. Sania seals historic world no. 1 rank with Charleston title
    • Sania Mirza on Sunday created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis, in Charleston.
    • Sania took 470 points from the win to take her tally to 7965 as she jumped past Italy’s Sara Errani (7640) and Roberta Vinci (7640) to sit atop the ranking table.
    • Before Sania, only Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had achieved the top rank when they dominated men’s doubles circuit in the last 90s.
    • Sania is also first female player from the country to win Grand Slam tournaments.
      Sania-Mirza
  2. Gujarat government launches industrial tourism to showcase development
    • In a first of its kind initiative in the country, Gujarat government is promoting a tour package covering major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for the state.
    • Some of the major attractions of this recently launched tour package include a visit to Tata Nano plant in Sanand, Pipavav portBSE -0.36 % near Amreli, Alang ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar and Amul Dairy in Anand.
    • The package, called Industrial Tour of Gujarat, has been offered by city-based Akshar Travels Pvt Ltd, official partner of state-run tourism agency Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL), which is promoting the tour on its website.
  3. Modi inaugurates German industrial fair
    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened on Sunday the Hanover Messe, the world’s largest industrial fair, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
    • India is the partner country of this year’s trade fair, which brings together about 6,500 exhibitors from 70 nations. About 400 industry representatives are expected from India.
  4. Haryana to give Cabinet Minister level status to Baba Ramdev
    • The Haryana government on Monday decided to give “status equivalent to Cabinet Minister” to Baba Ramdev, who has been appointed as the State’s brand ambassador to promote yoga and ayurveda.
    • Yoga would be made a compulsory subject in Haryana’s schools for which ‘yogshalas’ will be constructed in all the towns and about 6,500 villages of the State under the guidance of Baba Ramdev.
  5. Günter Grass, Nobel-winning German novelist, dies aged 87
    • The writer Günter Grass, who broke the silences of the past for a generation of Germans, has died in hospital in Lübeck at the age of 87.
    • He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
  6. BHEL commissions 600-MW thermal unit in Chhattisgarh
    • Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)  on Monday said it has commissioned another 600 MW unit of a thermal power project in Chhattisgarh.
    • This is the second unit of the power project, commissioned by BHEL.
  7. ‘Visa-on-arrival’ scheme renamed ‘e-Tourist Visa’
    • The newly-launched ‘visa-on-arrival’ scheme for tourists will now be known as ‘e-Tourist Visa (eTV)’ from Wednesday with the government making the change following requests from various quarters, including foreign missions, to clarify that it is not an on-arrival scheme.
    • The name of the scheme ‘Tourist Visa on Arrival Enabled-Electronic Travel Authorisation (TVoA-ETA)’ was creating confusion among tourists. The old name lead people to presume that visa was being granted on arrival.
  8. Zomato acquires cloud-based data firm MaplePOS
    • Restaurant search application Zomato has acquired cloud-based point of sale (POS) product for restaurants MaplePOS.
    • With this acquisition, Zomato moves a step forward in providing business-focused solutions for restaurants, which in turn, will help the company offer highly differentiated services to the end consumer.
    • Zomato offers restaurants features such as menu and inventory management, and has a built-in payment solution to accept debit and credit card payments.

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