GK and Current Affairs Updates

Garima Chaudhary added gold in the 63 kg senior category to take Indian medal tally to 12 in the 12^th Commonwealth Judo Championship in Mauritius.

•    Chaudhary, had won gold in the 63 kg junior category  on 28^th April 2016, clinched another yellow metal on the second day of the competition which also saw five other Indians winning bronze.
•    Bitu, Anil Kumar, Pawan Kumar and Virender Singh won a bronze each in the six-day competition.
•    India has now five gold, one silver and six bronze in their kitty.
•    Garima Chaudhary is an Indian judoka and has represented India as the country's sole judoka in the Women's (63 kg) category at the 2012 London Olympics
•    Garima was the only representative from India to contest for Olympic glory in London 2012 at Judo, where Yoshi Ueno from Japan sent her packing in the first elimination round.

Mongolia today conferred its highest civilian award "North Star" on two noted Indian scholars-Lokesh Chandra and Mansura Haider-for their contribution to Mongolian studies.

•    Mongolian Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren conferred the award on Lokesh Chandra, president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and Mansura Haider, former academic adviser at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), at ceremony at the Mongolian embassy here which was also attended by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
•    Mansura Haider, who was a professor and former dean of the faculty of arts in Aligarh Muslim Universitys history department, said was the first to give the Mongols an identity was misrepresented in history.
•    Mongolia is a landlocked sovereign state in East Asia. It is bordered by China to the south and Russia to the north. 
•    While it does not share a border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia is separated from Kazakhstan by only 36.76 kilometres (22.84 mi). 
•    Ulanbator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the country's population.

BlackBerry has now launched BBM Money, a payment solution, in partnership with Digitsecure, a payments platforms to cater to the BBM users in India. Hot Remit is a product of Digitsecure, which does the work of a mobile wallet, which has been used to create the BBM Money service.
•    BlackBerry Messenger, also known as BBM, is a proprietary Internet-based instant messenger and videotelephony application included on BlackBerry devices that allows messaging and voice calls between BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone and Android users. 
•    It is developed by BlackBerry Limited (formerly known as Research In Motion Limited (RIM)) and was first released in August 2005.
•    BBM is after new customers because the customers they currently have are of old ages when BBM was a big name but nowadays since android and IOS has taken over the market BBM is finding it hard to stay in the competition.
•    This payment service has came after facebook launched money transfer facility via its messenger app.

A dozen "laser walls" have been made operational along the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab to plug the porous reverie and treacherous terrain and keep an effective vigil against intruders and terrorists exploiting the frontier areas to cross over.
•    A total of 45 such laser walls will be installed in these areas along the international border in Punjab and Jammu, a blueprint prepared in this regard and accessed 
•    In September last year, Pakistan complained UN Security Council (UNSC) about India’s plans to construct a wall along the Line of Control.
•    BSF is also considering deploying at least four more battalions in Punjab and Jammu border areas.
•    Pakistan has considered this work as a threat to its national security and has planned to move to UN yet once again.
•    This step has been taken quickly after the incident of pathankot happened because this was being planned since last 2 years but location marking was being done at initial stage so that this technology can e used very effectively 

On 17 March 2016 Goa classified the country liquor, Feni as Heritage Spirit of Goa.  Feni is the form of spirit produced exclusively in the coastal state.
•    Feni is the first liquor product in India to receive such status.
•    Feni is classified as a "country liquor", and is therefore not allowed to be sold outside the state of Goa
•    The word feni is derived from the Sanskrit word phena. This is because of the bubbles that form a light froth when the liquor is shaken in a bottle or poured into a glass.
•    The feni selling market is largely unorganised. Locals tend to buy feni directly from the thousands of traditional distillers who run seasonal mini-distilleries or stalls in the villages of Goa. 
•    Cashew feni was awarded Geographical Indication registration in 2009 as a speciality alcoholic beverage from Goa, described as a colourless, clear liquid that when matured in wooden barrels develops golden brown tint.
•    A large volume of feni that is distilled is sold directly by distillers to taverns who have business relationships that extend over generations.
•    Feni, is a brew made from coconut or cashew, is synonymous with the Goan ethos and identity.
•    The Goa Cashew Feni Distillers and Bottlers Association has hailed the move.

Allan Donald is going to be appointed as Australia's bowling coach for their tour of Sri Lanka which begins in July this year. 
•    Donald will have a powerful motivation to make the most of his imminent appointment, winning a chance to prove wrong the South African set-up that denied him a contract extension. 
•    Currently working with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, Donald recently withdrew from the running for a franchise role with Knights, a South Africa domestic franchise. 
•    Allan Anthony Donald is a former South African cricketer and one of their most successful pace bowlers. 
•    In 1997 he came under intense scrutiny from the international cricket media after he was alleged to have used racially abusive language against India's Rahul Dravid in the finals of a one-day series. Allan Donald mentioned this incident in his autobiography, "White Lightning".

Singapore's DBS bank which has branches in major cities of India will soft launch its digital/mobile online banking in the country this week, a top official of the bank said today.
•    The phase by phase soft launch will be spread across DBS's locations in 12 Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune, from end of next month.
•    The offline launch will be done in a few months of time.
•    DBS network expansion in India will also include 60-70 new branches on getting approval for setting up wholly-owned subsidiaries from the Reserve Bank of India.
•    DBS's strategy is to spend the next couple of years focusing on digital space, especially pointing to the surge in e-commerce among other electronic systems in India.
•    Indian executives presented industry and business prospects at the roundtable, organized by the Singapore-based strategy consultant services company Apex Avalon Consulting.
•    The logistics business in India is prospering at 13-15 per cent a year as the country industrializes

Videocon d2h ties up with Vodafone m-pesa where the former’s customers can recharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa. In addition, the 1,20,000+ Vodafone m-pesa CashIn points will also accept recharge for Videocon d2h, thus, providing additional convenience to customers. 
•    NASDAQ-listed Indian direct-to-home (DTH) player Videocon d2h has partnered with Vodafone, a move that will its subscribers recharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa. The 120,000+ Vodafone m-pesa cash in points will also accept recharge for Videocon d2h. 
•    Saurabh Dhoot, executive chairman of Videocon d2h said, "Our strategic tie up with Vodafone to enable recharge using m-pesa digital Wallet and at the Vodafone outlets will give our customers an easy and powerful way to recharge their d2h account at their convenience." 
•    Anil Khera, CEO, Videocon d2h added, "This tie up affirms our commitment to innovate in every aspect of our customer experience. I am confident our customers will find this new channel of recharges easy to use and will adopt it quickly." 
•    Videocon d2h, which claims to be India's fastest growing DTH service provider, offers over 550 channels and services. 
•    It is soon going to launch HD Smart Connect Set top Box (connected STB), which converts existing normal TV into a Smart TV. The Connected set top box allows one to browse content from Facebook, Twitter, Daily Motion, video on demand sites, news sites, weather sites, etc through applications residing on STB.

The Union Railway Ministry has decided to create a 1 lakh crore rupees safety fund named Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh to strengthen safety measures on the rail network to prevent accidents. 

•    It was announced by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on Demands for Grants for Railways for 2016-17. In this regard Union Railway Ministry has forwarded a proposal to the Union Finance Ministry for approval. 
•    The Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh will be a non-lapsable fund which will be utilised for safety measures. 
•    The fund will help Indian Railways to accomplish its zero-accident mission by strengthening the safety measures on the rail network in a comprehensive way. 
•    Under this fund, envisaged works like track renewal and upgradation, bridge rehabilitation, elimination of level-crossings, construction of road over bridges/road under bridges will be under taken. 
•    It will be also used for replacement and improvement of signalling system, improvement and upgradation of rolling stock, replacement of electrical assets and human resource development.

Riyad Mahrez on 24 April 2016 became the first African footballer to win the Professional Footballers Association’s (PFA) Player of the Year award for the 2015–16 season. The footballer received the award at the Professional Footballers’ Association awards ceremony organised in London.
With the award, Mahrez also became the second non-European, after Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, to grab the award.
On the other hand, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli was named Young Player of the Year.
• Riyad Mahrez is a professional footballer who plays for English club Leicester City and the Algerian national team as a winger.
• He began his career as a youth player for French club AAS Sarcelles.
• He turned professional in 2009.
• He made his international debut for Algeria in 2014 and represented them at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
• The Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football.
• The award has been presented since the 1973–74 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Footballers' Association.
• The first winner of the award was Leeds United defender Norman Hunter.
• Chelsea’s Eden Hazard was the PFA Player of the Year for the 2014-2015 season.