Today's GK Update: 22nd March 2018

Important Dates

1. The World Water Day being observed today

• The World Water Day is observed on 22nd March every year, to raise awareness about the importance of water.
• The theme this year is, 'Nature for Water', exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges the world faces in the 21st century.
• Today, there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home.

2. Bihar celebrates 106th foundation day today

• Today, Bihar is celebrating its 106th foundation day, a number of programmes have been organized throughout the state on the occasion.
• The theme for this year's celebrations is "Centenary of Champaran Satyagraha and Elimination of Dowry and Child Marriage”.
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated a three-day Bihar Diwas celebration in Patna.
• Mr. Naidu has also released four books 'Ek Tha Mohan', 'Bapu Ki Chiththi', 'Champaran Ki Kahani' and 'Neel Ke Dhabbe' on this occasion.
• On this day in 1912, the State was carved out of a United Bengal.

National Affairs

3. IRCTC introduces billing through Point of Sale in trains

• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has introduced billing through Point of Sale (POS) hand-held machinesin trains to check overcharging by vendors.
• This will help not only making passengers aware of relevant information but also in improving the passenger satisfaction.
• The POS billing machines will be introduced in trains in a phased manner.
• Earlier, IRCTC has introduced POS machines in ‘New Delhi -Karnataka Express’ on a pilot basis.

Note:

• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian railways.
• It's tagline is " Lifeline of the nation".

4. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the 5-Day visit to India

• Today, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India.
• The German President will be accompanied by a delegation of CEOs, Indologists, and media persons.
• Mr. Steinmeier  will visit Varanasi, New Delhi and Chennai.
• Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and the 6th largest trading partner in the world.

Note:

• The Federal President of Germany is the Head of state of Germany.
• Germany has a parliamentary system of government in which the Chancellor is the nation's leading political figure and de facto chief executive.

5. Air India's direct flight service to Israel to begin today

• Today, the state-run carrier Air India has introduced a direct thrice a week flight from New Delhi to Tel Aviv, Israel.
• It will be a new beginning in the people-to-people contact and diplomatic ties between India and Israel.
• The Air India will be operating its 256-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route on every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.
• Earlier, Saudi Arabia has permitted the airline to use its airspace, enabling it to take a shorter route.

6. Union Cabinet approves the launch of ‘Ayushman Bharat’

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister ‘Narendra Modi’ has approved the launch of National Health Protection mission ‘Ayushman Bharat’.
• The Scheme has the benefits cover of 5 lakh rupees per family per year.
• The target beneficiaries under the scheme will be over 10 crores poor and vulnerable, families.
• A beneficiary will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public and private empaneled hospitals across the country.
• The scheme will subsume the ongoing centrally sponsored schemes- Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana and senior citizen health insurance scheme.

7. Govt launches free wi-fi service for Udwada in Valsad district of Gujarat

• The Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and Communication Minister Manoj Sinha jointly launched through video conferencing, free wi-fi service for Sansad Adarsh Gram, Udwada in Valsad district of Gujarat.
• Under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana 16.48 lakh rupees was allotted for providing Wi-Fi facility by BSNL in Udwada village.

Note:

• Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is a rural development programme broadly focusing on the development in the villages and spread motivation among the people on the social mobilization of the village community.

8. Kerala declares Jackfruit as official fruit of the state

• The Kerala government has declared jackfruit as its official fruit to promote as a brand in markets across the country and abroad.
• Kerala has been producing around 320 million jackfruits every year.
• The agricultural office in Ambalavayil in Wayanad will be used as a research station for jackfruit.

Note:

• Jackfruit is also the national fruit of Bangladesh and the state fruit of the Indian states of Tamil Nadu.

Science & Defence

9. India successfully flight-tests supersonic cruise missile BrahMos

• Today, India successfully flight-tested its precision strike ‘BrahMos’ weapon at Pokhran test range, Rajasthan.
• The sleek supersonic cruise missile flies at almost three times the speed of sound, at Mach 2.8.
• The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.

Note:

• The BrahMos has been developed as a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia under BrahMos Aerospace.
• The missile is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moskva.

Banking & Finance

10. The government sets up a task force to draft new Direct Tax Law

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has constituted a task force to review the Income Tax Act, 1961 and to draft a new Direct Tax Law in consonance with the economic needs of the country
• The Finance Ministry has also sought suggestions and feedback from stakeholders and general public in the format provided on the departmental website.
• The format can be downloaded from the website and suggestions may be sent through e-mail at rewriting-itact@gov.in. by 2nd April,2018.

What is Direct Tax?

• Direct Tax is the tax directly paid to the Government by the taxpayers.
• It is imposed directly by the Government and cannot be transferred to any other entity for payment.

Examples of Direct Taxes in India:

• (i) Income Tax (ii) Wealth Tax (iii) Corporation Tax

11. West Indies qualify for 2019 World Cup

• The West Indies qualified for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup after defeating defending champions Scotland by five runs via the Duckworth-Lewis (DL) Method in a Super Six fixture of the World Cup Qualifier.
• Scotland were 125 for five in 35.2 overs when a heavy downpour prevented further play in the match.
• The Windies innings was wrapped up for 198 in 48.4 overs.
• Now, Windies finished the Super Six with maximum eight points and qualified for the World Cup.