GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 1 June 2016 gave its approval for a new broad gauge line between Mau Station of North Eastern Railway and Tarighat Terminal station of East Central Railway.
•    The total length of this new broad gauge line will be 51 kilometers.
•    The estimated cost of the project is 1765.92 crore and expected completion cost is 2109.07 crore rupees with 5 percent escalation per annum.
•    It is estimated that the project will be completed in the next six years during 12th and 13th Plan period.
•    This project will provide alternative, shorter convenient and better transport infrastructure to the area separated by River Ganga.
•    It will ultimately remove the transport difficulties in the area and to boost the socio economic development.
•    The catchment area of project line will serve passenger requirement and will facilitate the people of the area for travelling to different parts of the country.
•    It will provide an alternative route connecting Northern and East Central railway via NE Railway.
•    It has huge potential in enhancing railway traffic and also gives opportunity to develop this area by providing more efficient transportation system.
•    The new line crosses the river Ganges at the downstream of existing road bridge for NH 97.
•    It is located almost parallel to it and joins the existing BG line from Tarighat to Dildar Nagar.
•    This line will be the alternative route for train passing from Howrah to New Delhi and back.
•    Construction of this line will provide a link to Allahabad-Patna double line electrified section.
•    It will also decongest the Allahabad-Mugalsarai-Patna route particularly around Mugalsarai yard.
 

Zimbabwe has axed their coach Dav Whatmore and captain Hamilton Masakadza just days before the arrival of India for a five-match limited-overs tour.
•    Zimbabwe Cricket cited the team’s poor performance at this year’s World Twenty20 tournament where they failed to make it out of the preliminary stage.
•    Former Australian Test batsman Whatmore, who coached the country of his birth Sri Lanka to the World Cup title in 1996, was handed a four-year contract in April last year.
•    He will be replaced on an interim basis by former South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.
•    Head coach Davenell Whatmore has had his contract terminated with immediate effect. Bowling coach Makhaya
•    Ntini has taken over in an acting capacity until the appointment of a substantive head coach. 
•    The board has also relieved Zimbabwe top-order batsman Hamilton Masakadza of the captaincy for all three formats of the game. His deputy, Graeme Cremer, will act in the interim.
•    Zimbabwe have also signed former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener as a batting coach for two years.
•    Zimbabwe played against India in three one-day internationals in Harare starting on June 11, as well as two Twenty20 games.

Minister for women and children, Maneka Gandhi unveiled a draft of the country's first-ever comprehensive anti-human trafficking law , which would treat survivors as victims in need of assistance and protection rather than as criminals. 

•    South Asia, with India at its centre, is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world , after East Asia, says the U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime. 
•    There are no accurate figures on the number of people trafficked within South Asia, but activists say thousands of mostly women and children are trafficked within India as well as from its poorer neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh. 
•    Many are sold into forced marriage or bonded labour to work in middle class homes as domestic servants, in small shops and hotels or confined to brothels where they are repeatedly raped. 
•    Women's Minister Maneka Gandhi said the draft bill aims to unify existing anti-trafficking laws, prioritize survivors' needs, and prevent victims such as those found in brothel raids from being arrested and jailed like traffickers. 
•    The draft legislation provides for special courts to expedite trafficking cases, more shelters and a rehabilitation fund to help victims rebuild their lives. 
•    It also provides for anti-trafficking committees - at district, state and central levels - that will oversee prevention, protection and victim rehabilitation. 

A new book The Unseen Indira Gandhi authored by Dr KP Mathur was released in May 2016.  Dr KP Mathur was personal physician of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for nearly 20 years till her assassination in 1984.  
•    The Book was published by Konark Publishers.
•    The book provides some interesting peeps into the responses of Mrs Gandhi’s response to challenges both personal and political.
•    The preface of the book was written by her granddaughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
•    The 151-page book describes that Mrs Gandhi was very tense, a bit confused and not sure of herself in early years of her power in 1966.
•    It covers several milestone moments in Indira’s life: the Bangladesh War of 1971; Pokhran Nuclear tests of 1974, imposition of Emergency; death of Sanjay Gandhi and circumstances in Maneka’s walk out of the family.
•    The Doctor in his book said that Mrs Gandhi was always more fond of her elder Daughter in Law, Sonia Gandhi, but after Sanjay’s death she became a little more inclined towards Maneka and wanted Maneka to come and help her in politics.
•    The book is interspersed with messages and written instructions on paper bits which were collected by the author.
•    The book also covers former PM’s relations with foreign counterparts including Margaret Thatcher who was former PM of the United Kingdom.

Noted Kannada writer D Javare Gowda, popularly known as De Ja Gow, passed away on 30 May 2016 following a cardiac arrest in a private hospital at Mysore. He was 101. He is survived by a daughter, a son and grandchildren.
•    He was a disciple of Kannada doyen and poet laureate K V Puttappa.
•    Gowda served as the Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University from 1969 to 1975.
•    He dedicated much of his time and efforts towards protecting Kannada and promoting the language as the medium of instruction in schools.
•    He played an important role in getting the classical language status for Kannada by launching an indefinite fast and threatening to return the Padma Shri that was conferred on him in 2001.
•    He also awarded with the Pampa Prishathi in 1998 and the Guru Award in 2003.
•    In recognition of his contribution to literature and the cause of Kannada, the Karnataka government has honoured him with the Karnataka Ratna (2008) and the Nadoja title (2003).
•    His works include Lakshmishana Jaimini Bharata (1957), Kanakadasara Nalacharitre (1959), Andayyana Kabbigara Kavya (1965), Chikkupadyayana Rukmangada Charitre (1964) and many more.

Snapdeal has established a data sciences centre in San Carlos, California to get top global talent and build high-value solutions.
•    The centre will focus on big-data and advanced analytics to add clarity to Snapdeal's consumer-centric initiatives, help shape business strategy and optimise the operational efficiencies using data.
•    The centre houses experienced data scientists from leading global brands like Groupon , Google , Yahoo and Amazon and is headed by Nitin Sharma, Senior Vice President, Data Sciences.
•    Snapdeal is an online marketplace, based in New Delhi, India. 
•    The company was started by Kunal Bahl, a Wharton graduate as part of the dual degree M&T Engineering and Business program at Penn, and Rohit Bansal, an alumnus of IIT Delhi in February 2010. 
•    Snapdeal currently has 275,000 sellers, over 30 million products and a reach of 6,000 towns and cities across the country Investors in the company include SoftBank Corp, Ru-Net Holdings, Tybourne Capital, PremjiInvest, Alibaba, Temasek Holdings, Bessemer Venture Partners, IndoUS Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Saama Capital, Foxconn Technology Group, Blackrock, eBay, Nexus Ventures, Intel Capital, Ontario Teachers' 

France has finally made a theme park filled with alcohol. La Cité du Vin, which translates to "the city of wine" and probably "heaven on Earth," is a full-blown wine theme park.
•    It's located in Bordeaux, one of France's most famous wine-making regions, and was opened on 1st June 2016.
•    There are no roller coasters at this theme park but there are 20 wine-themed sections and exhibits that cover the history and culture of wine. 
•    There is also a 250-seat auditorium for classes, screenings and wine-tasting sessions in the 10-story building, High Snobiety noted. 
•    La Cité du Vin — which is housed in a stunning structure also has two restaurants on-site. 
•    One offers dishes made from in-season regional produce, while the other boasts 800 bottles of wine from around the world and some special-seeming tapas.
•    There will be no limp corn dogs and under-salted pretzels sold at exorbitant prices. 
•    The cost of entry at the theme park starts at approximately $22 per adult .

Almost 46 million people are living as slaves globally with the greatest number in India but the highest prevalence of slavery in North Korea, according to the third Global Slavery Index.
•    The index, by Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation, increased its estimate of people born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, or trapped in debt bondage or forced labour to 45.8 million from 35.8 million in 2014. 
•    Andrew Forrest, founder of Walk Free, said the rise of nearly 30% was due to better data collection, although he feared the situation was getting worse with global displacement and migration increasing vulnerability to all forms of slavery.
•    Incidences of slavery were found in all 167 countries in the index, with India home to the largest total number with an estimated 18.4 million slaves among its 1.3 billion population. 
•    But North Korea ranked as worst in terms of concentration with one in every 20 people - or 4.4% of its 25 million population - in slavery and its government doing the least to end this with reports of state-sanctioned forced labour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 June 2016 released the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP). The plan aims to make India disaster resilient and reduce loss of lives.
•    It is the first of its kind of national plan prepared in India. It emphasizes on a greater need for Information, Education and Communication activities to prepare communities to cope with disasters.
 
•    The plan is based on:
•    Understanding disaster risk,
•    Improving disaster risk governance,
•    Investing in disaster risk reduction (through structural and non-structural measures),
•    Disaster preparedness, early warning and building back better in the aftermath of a disaster.
•    It covers all phases of disaster management: prevention, mitigation, response and recovery.
•    It provides for horizontal and vertical integration among all the agencies and departments of the government.
•    The plan also spells out the roles and responsibilities of all levels of government right up to Panchayat and Urban Local Body level in a matrix format.
•    The plan has a regional approach that will be beneficial for disaster management along with development planning.
•    It is designed in such a way that it can be implemented in a scalable manner in all phases of disaster management.
•    It also identifies major activities such as early warning, information dissemination, medical care, fuel, transportation, search and rescue, evacuation, etc. to serve as a checklist for agencies responding to a disaster.
•    It also provides a generalized framework for recovery and offers flexibility to assess a situation and build back better.

Rahul Johri on 1st  June 2016 assumed charge as first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai.  
•    He was appointed on the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee.
•    He will be reporting to the BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke and will be based at headquarters of BCCI in Mumbai.
•    He will be responsible for “smooth functioning of operations, stakeholder management and building robust strategies for promoting of sport.
•    Before joining BCCI, he served as Asia Pacific's Executive Vice-President for Discovery Networks and General Manager for South Asia.
•    He had an experience in the media industry over 20 plus years.
•    He is widely respected in the broadcasting industry for converting Discovery to an 11-channel bouquet.
•    He was associated with Discovery Networks for the last 15 years and was leading South Asia operations for the past eight years.