Daily GK Potion – 30th January 2015

Gromo Referal
  1. Shekhar Sen named chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi
    • Eminent singer and theatre director Shekhar Sen has been appointed the new chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi
    • Mr. Sen was recently awarded the Padma Shri on Republic day for his contribution to the arts.
    • He has been appointed for a term of five years with immediate effect.
  2. Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel launches Taluka Planning Atlas project
    • Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel today launched ‘Taluka Planning Atlas’ project under which an atlas of 100 maps showcasing various facilities as well as government schemes at village level in each taluka would be compiled.
    • It is aimed at helping the local administration in taking effective decisions about the development in respective regions.
    • The project has been undertaken by the state planning department with the help of director of Economics and Statistics, Gujarat, and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG).
  3. Eros, RailTel tie up to provide entertainment content in trains
    • Railway passengers would soon have access to movies, television content, music videos and audio tracks as RailTel and media group Eros International have come together for providing entertainment services to travellers.
    • Eros Now and RailTel have announced a tie-up through which former’s video streaming services will be launched on latter’s broadband.
    • The broadband streaming services would enable passengers at railway stations across the country to download and view their favourite entertainment content from Eros Now on their phone.
  4. Scientist Purushotham takes over charge as new NRDC Chairman
    • Eminent scientist Hanumanthu Purushotham has assumed charge as the new Chairman and Managing Director of National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).
    • He was Scientist-G and Head of Knowledge Management Centre of International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Department of Science and Technology at Hyderabad.
  5. Send money 24×7 using only your phone’s address book
    • HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private bank, is set to introduce a new app, Chillr, which will allow users to send money to any contact in their phone books, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
    • Receivers don’t necessarily have to have accounts with HDFC Bank.
    • Through the app, one can send Rs 1-5,000 a day. While the bank will not levy any charges, users will have to pay a fee for using the IMPS platform.
  6. IIT Bombay launches mass open online courses
    • IIT Bombay has embarked on a commendable mass online education programme that will provide free online courses and give access to high quality, IIT-style education to Indian students in Indian languages.
    • On the Republic Day, Prof Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT Bombay, launched three Mass Open Online Courses (MOOC) in computer programming, thermodynamics, and signals and systems from the institute’s IITBombayX platform developed in collaboration with edX, a not-for-profit initiative by MIT and Harvard.