GK and Current Affairs Updates

From 1 January 2017112, the single emergency number that will help people to reach immediate services of police, ambulance and fire department will be operational throughout India.
•    The service will also be accessible even through those SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended.
•    A person in distress will need to call only 112, which will direct the call to concerned departments immediately for help.
•    Services were approved by Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
•    9-1-1 is the emergency for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eightN11 codes. 
•    This number is intended for use in emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose (such as prank calls) can be a crime. 
•    In over 98 percent of locations in the United States and Canada, dialing "9-1-1" from any telephone will link the caller to an emergency dispatch center—called a Public-Safety Answering Point (PSAP), by the telecom industry—which can send emergency responders to the caller's location in an emergency. 

India is ranked at ninth position in crony-capitalism index that was released by the Economist in the first week of May 2016. 
•    As per the latest crony-capitalism index the non-crony sector wealth in India amounts to 8.3 per cent of the GDP
•    Russia topped the list 
•    It was followed by Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
•    Russia fares worst in the index, wealth from the country's crony sectors amounts to 18 per cent of its GDP.
•    It was based on the work by Ruchir Sharma of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Aditi Gandhi and Michael Walton of Centre for Policy Research of New Delhi, and others in 2014.
•    Due to its limitations the index was not recognized internationally.
•    It also aims to measure the increase trend in the number of economic rent-seekers.

On 6 May 2016Taoiseach Enda Kenny got re-elected as Prime Minister of Ireland. 
•    Kenny is leader of Fine Gael party
•    He was re-appointed with 59 votes in favour and 49 votes against.
•    His party won the most seats in the election 
•    Kenny will lead a minority government.
•    He was acting Irish Prime Minister over the past 10 weeks 
•    He is the first Fine Gael Irish Prime Minister to be re-elected to the office.
•    Republic of Ireland's second largest party is Fianna Fail.
•    It was the fourth attempt to appoint a new Prime Minister.
•    Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. 
•    It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel.

The Karnataka Government in May 2016 decided to establish Rice Technology Park at Gangavati.
•    Maize Technology Park will also be established at Ranebennur in Haveri district.
•    These parks will be established under public private partnership 
•    The establishment of the Rice Technology Park will help paddy cultivators in the Tungabhadra Command Area in Ballari, Raichur and Koppal districts.
•    It will also help the paddy cultivators in the command areas of the Upper Krishna Project in Shahpur and Surpur taluks in Yadgir district and Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts.
•    Park will have facilities for rice flour, rice rava, rice bran oil, noodles, rice-based alcohol, animal and poultry feed and paddy hus.
•    Maize Technology Park at Ranebennur will have a storage capacity of 32000 tonnes.
•    Gangavati is a big commercial city in Raichur District.
•    It is also a largest city in terms of area and population 
•    It is often known as Rice Bowl city of Karnataka.

A 12 member delegation from Japan led by Mr. HASE Hiroshi, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Government of Japan called on Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports. 

Both sides agreed for exchange of sportspersons, coaches, sports experts, sports administrators etc., 
•    It was decided that they will sign a MOU on cooperation in the field of sports.
•    In the wake of India hosting Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017, both sides agreed for promotion of football and exchange of players and coaches. 
•    Two countries will also play friendly football matches. 
•    The Government of Japan has launched ‘SPORT FOR TOMORROW’ to promote sports to more than 10 million people in 100 nations between 2014 and 2020. 
•    The goal is to spread values learned through sports and increase awareness of the Olympic and Paralympic movement to people of all generations worldwide. 
•    Mr. HASE Hiroshi offered that India may also consider taking coaches, instructors from Japan under ‘SPORT FOR TOMORROW’ programme. 
•    Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports welcomed Japan’s initiative.
Mr. HASE Hiroshi extended invitation to Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports for attending “World Forum on Sport and Culture” to be held in October 2016 in Tokyo.

On 5th May Cricketer Rohit Sharma inaugurated the Pune International Sports Expo at the Agriculture College Ground. 
•    Gagan Narang was also present on the ceremony.
•    It is the first sports expo being held in the country organised by city-based Steps Sports Entertainment Private Limited 
•    It will be open for public till May 8.
•    It is organised to showcase various products and modern technologies for fitness and sports 
•    It features Indian as well as multinational brands.
•    Various events are held each day to celebrate the accomplishments of Indian sportsmen. 
•    Narang and rohit Sharma shared their experiences and journey so far.
•    Zaheer Khan, Dhanraj Pillai, Sunil Chettri, Prarthana Thombe and Milkha Singh are also going to join on the dais in the coming days.
•    A special event of ‘Bokwa Sessions’ has been organised by fitness expert Paul Mavi, 
•    It is going to have six sessions of ‘Bokwa’ every day.

Pakistan has won the 3rd edition of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2016.
•    India got defeated by Pakistan in the match. 
•    final match was held at Pakistan Ordinance Factory Sports Complex in Wah Cantonment
•    Pakistan defeated India by 50-31 
•    This is Pakistan’s second successive win in the Asian Kabaddi title 
•    Earlier they had won it in 2012. 
•    The championship was organised by the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation.
•    It was organized in collaboration with POF Sports Control Board under the banner of the Asian Kabaddi Federation. 
•    This edition of championship took place in a league format.
•    seven teams including India, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan had participated.  
•    Pakistan has hosted the Asia Circle Style Kabaddi Cup for the second time. 
•    Earlier it was held in 2012.

On 5 May 2016 The Insect Museum of West China said that a stick insect measuring 62.4 centimeters has broken the record for length among the world’s 807625 known insects.
•    The insect, named Phobaeticus chani was discovered two years ago in the southern province of Guangxi, China.
•    The previous record-holder was a Malaysian 56.7-centimeter-long stick insect discovered in 2008. 
•    Phobaeticus chani is species of stick insects.
•    The bug is named after Malaysian naturalist, Datuk Chan Chew Lun.
•    Very little is known about its biology. 
•    It may live in the canopy of the rainforest, making it hard to find.
•    International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists. selected it as one of The Top 10 New Species described in 2008 
•    The species was also listed as one of the top 10 discoveries of the decade in the BBC television documentary Decade.

On 6 May 2016 Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor’s biography titled Shashi Kapoor – the Householder, the Star was released.
•    It attempts to delve into the nature and nurture of Shashi Kapoor, 
•    This book is authored by film journalist Aseem Chhabra.
•    He was Born as Balbir Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on 18 March 1938
•    He has also been a film director and assistant director 
•    He started acting in films in the late 1940s, appearing in commercial films including Sangram and Dana Paani under the name of Shashiraj.
•    His best known performances as child artist were in Aag and Awaara.
•    He made became hero in 1961 film Dharmputra.
•    In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan 
•    In 2015, he was awarded the 2014 Dadasaheb Phalke Award. 
•    He is the third member of his family to receive the highest award in Indian Cinema 
•    Earlier Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor has already been honoured by this award.

On 6 May 2016 SpaceX successfully launched JCSAT-14 on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
•    The odds of a successful soft-landing were slim due to the mission requirements for the particular launch.
•    JCSAT-14 is designed to last 15 years 
•    It is needed to be placed into geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 22000 miles.
•    This is much higher than SpaceX’s last launch when they successfully recovered their rocket on a drone ship 
•    Earlier they sent space station supplies to low earth orbit (LEO) at around 250 miles.
•    JCSAT-14 is a satellite from the SKY Perfect JSAT Group
•    The satellite will be used to provide television and communication services.
•    This launch was the fourth successful flight for SpaceX so far in 2016.
•    SpaceX has completed two successful rocket recoveries on a drone ship and one rocket recovery on a landing pad on stable ground.