Daily GK Potion – 27th and 28th March 2015

  1. Panel to review railway board’s PPP cell
    • The ministry of railways has constituted a committee to review the existing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Cell in the railway board.
    • The committee will be headed by Ajay Shankar, former secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion.
    • “The committee will recommend measures needed to make the cell more effective, customer friendly and result oriented,” said a press release issued by the railways ministry.
  2. Rajasthan passes bill on eligibility for panchayat polls
    • Rajasthan became the first State in the country to fix a minimum educational qualification for contesting elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
    • The Assembly on Friday passed the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (amendment) Bill, 2015, which makes Class VIII pass mandatory for the post of sarpanch — except in tribal reserved areas, where the minimum qualification is Class V — and Class X for Zila Parishad or Panchayat Samiti elections.
    • The amendments to Section 19 of the Rajasthan Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 also make a functional toilet mandatory in the house of a contestant.
  3. Isro named for Gandhi Peace Prize
    • Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 for its contribution to the country’s development through space technology and satellite-based services.
    • The award, comprising Rs 1 crore and a citation, was decided after the jury for the prize met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
    • The Gandhi Peace Prize for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence was instituted in 1995. Some of its previous winners are Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Julius K Nyerere, Baba Amte, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan and Ramkrishna Mission.
  4. President confers Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee
    • Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been conferred with India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at his residence on 6 Krishna Menon Marg in New Delhi.
    • Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the ceremony.
    • Vajpayee was the first non-Congress leader to serve India for a full five year term from 1999 to 2004.
    • Vajpayee is the seventh prime minister to receive the award after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Gulzarilal Nanda.
      atal_vajpayee
  5. Delhi launches India’s first ‘e-ration card’ facility
    • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday launched the country’s first “e-ration card” facility in the national capital.
    • According to the Delhi government, as soon as the application for providing food security is approved by the food supply officer concerned, a message will be sent on the mobile number of the beneficiary informing him/her about approval of his/her application.
  6. India, Qatar ink six pacts to boost trade and investment
    • India and energy-rich Qatar today signed six agreements including one on transfer of sentenced prisoners as the two countries sought to inject a fresh momentum in their bilateral ties.
    • The MoU in the field of information and communication technology would provide enhanced business opportunities for Indian IT industry in Qatar.
    • Another MoU was signed between Ministry of Earth Sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for cooperation in the field of atmospheric and ocean sciences.
    • A separate MoU was inked between Diplomatic Institute of Qatar’s Foreign Ministry and Foreign Service Institute of External Affairs Ministry to facilitate exchange of faculty members and experts.
    • The two sides also finalised a pact to encourage regular exchange of radio and TV programmes and content between Prasar Bharati and Qatar Media Cooperation.
  7. Superb Saina scales historic World No.1 ranking
    • Saina Nehwal on Saturday scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the number one spot in world rankings.
    • Saina becomes only the second Indian overall to be world number one after Prakash Padukone had the distinction of being the numero uno men’s badminton player.
    • The London Olympic bronze-medalist has won a staggering 14 international titles in her glorious career and most recently she became the first Indian woman to make the finals of the prestigious All England Championships in Manchester.
      Saini-Nehwal

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