Daily GK Potion – 3rd, 4th and 5th January 2015
- Arvind Panagariya named NITI Aayog vice-chairman
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed Columbia University Professor Arvind Panagariya as the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog Vice Chairman.
- Economist Bibek Debroy and Former Secretary Defence R&D, V.K. Saraswat, appointed to the Aayog as full-time members.
- Dr. Debroy has worked at the Centre for Policy Research, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
- Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh were all appointed as ex-officio members to the Aayog.
- Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and Union Social, Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot were special invitees to the Aayog.
- CIL Appoints IAS Officer Sutirtha Bhattacharya as its New CMD
- Coal major Coal India Limited has appointed 1985 batch IAS officer Sutirtha Bhattacharya as its chairman-cum-managing director on January 5, 2015.
- Prior to joining CIL, Bhattacharya was heading another state-run Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd. in Telengana.
- Jiji Thomson quits as SAI DG
- Sports Authority of India boss Jiji Thomson has quit with immediate effect citing injustice by the Government over his promotion.
- PM launches scheme for LED bulb distribution
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a scheme for LED bulb distribution under the domestic efficient lighting programme in Delhi; and a National Programme for LED-based Home and Street Lighting.
- Prime Minister called for making energy conservation through the spread of LED bulbs, a people’s movement.
- Modi described the LED bulb as a ‘Prakash Path’ – ‘way to light,’
- New Jersey to Host International Conference on Hindi in April
- The International Hindi Conference with the theme of “Expanding World of Hindi: Possibilities and Challenges,” would be held in New Jersey in April.
- Participants of the International Hindi Conference would discuss the current status of the teaching and learning of Hindi among other things.
- Andy Murray Captures Abu Dhabi Exhibition
- ICICI Launches Digital Village Project in Gujarat
- Top lender ICICI Bank has launched its own ‘digital village’ project while adopting an entire village in Gujarat to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching.
- ICICI Bank’s MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar said the bank’s activities in this digital village is not limited to providing cashless banking through digital platforms, but was focussed on use of technology in all aspects of every resident there.
- Kumar Sangakkara becomes quickest batsman to score 12000 Test runs
- Sri Lanka Kumar Sangakkara became the fifth cricketer to surpass 12,000 runs
- He achieved the milestone in 224 innings.
- Sangakkara beaten legends Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting to the landmark by 23 Test innings.
- The left-hander also became only the fifth player after Tendulkar, Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid to score more than 12,000 Test runs.
- He is also the fastest to 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 and 11,000 Test runs.