GK and Current Affairs Updates

 The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said called on Swedish and British authorities to immediately end the WikiLeaks founder's “deprivation of liberty'' and compensate him. Assange, a computer hacker who enraged the United States by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, has been holed up in the embassy since June 2012 to avoid a rape investigation in Sweden.

Both Britain and Sweden denied that Assange was being deprived of freedom, noting he had entered the embassy voluntarily. Britain said it could contest the decision and that Assange would be arrested if he left the embassy. 

 Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar will feature in a video campaign by the World Health Organisation to raise awareness about diabetes in India which will be directed by Rajkumar Hirani and released on World Health Day on April 7. The video will be released online on the YouTube channel, Being Indian. Sanjay Deshmukh, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Western Suburbs), will also be a part of the video. Previously, Akshay supported the UN’s Global Goals campaign advocating the importance of Global Goal No 3 “Good Health and Well-Being”. 

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the Health Organization, was an agency of the League of Nations. The WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, a leading international publication on health, the worldwide World Health Survey, and World Health Day (7 April of every year). The head of WHO is Margaret Chan.

 The Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the world's biggest multinational trade deals, was signed by 12 member nations in New Zealand. The 12 nations include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. The TPP Agreement concerns a variety of matters of public policy and a stated goal to "promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labor and environmental protections." Among other things, the Agreement contains measures to lower trade barriers such as tariffs, and establish an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (but states can opt out from tobacco-related measures). The United States government has considered the TPP as the companion agreement to the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a broadly similar agreement between the United States and the European Union.

 Hindustani Classical Music legend and sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan has been selected for the prestigious Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Award for 2015-2016. He has been conferred with Padma Vibhushan (2005), India’s second highest civilian honour.

The Maharashtra government in the memory of vocalist Bhimsen Joshi instituted the annual award. It is bestowed upon individuals who have excelled in classical vocal or instrumental music. The award comprises 5 lakh rupees in cash, a trophy and a citation.

 India’s top multinational IT company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been rated as the world’s most powerful brand in Information Technology Services by a leading global brand valuation firm. Brand Finance’s 2016 annual report evaluated thousands of the world’s top brands to determine which are the most powerful and the most valuable.  TCS scored 78.3 points -- earning an AA+ rating -- and emerged as the IT services industry's most powerful brand. Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is an Indian multinational information technology (IT) service, consulting and business solutions company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group and operates in 46 countries. TCS is one of the largest Indian companies by market capitalization ($80 billion). TCS is now placed among the ‘Big 4’ most valuable IT services brands worldwide. In 2015, TCS is ranked 64th overall in the Forbes World's Most Innovative Companies ranking, making it both the highest-ranked IT services company and the first Indian company. It is the world's 10th largest IT services provider, measured by the revenues.

 Former IAS officer and former Chief Secretary of Gujarat, D J Pandian has been appointed vice-president and chief investment officer (CIO) of Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Headquartered at Beijing, China, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. The bank was proposed as an initiative by the government of China. The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank. 

 The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched the country's first anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug for type two Diabetes mellitus. The drug BGR-34 is developed jointly by National Botanical ResearchInstitute (NBRI) and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), the Lucknow-based research units of CSIR. BGR-34 stands for Blood Glucost Regulator and offers effective, safe, patient-friendly solution for managing type two Diabetes

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), established in 1942, is an autonomous body and the largest research and development (R&D) organisation in India. It runs 37 laboratories and 39 field stations or extension centres spread across the nation, with a collective staff of over 13,375. Although it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it operates as an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860.

 Pakistan on Tuesday denied a visa to actor and BJP sympathiser Anupam Kher, who has been invited by the organisers of a literary festival in Karachi as one of their guests. Kher is scheduled to attend a session at the Karachi literary festival on February 5. The 60-year-old actor, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan recently, has been a vocal supporter of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday called up actor Anupam Kher and offered him a visa to travel across the border for the Karachi literary festival. The actor, however, turned down the offer saying he had taken up other assignments on the scheduled dates. 

 The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday was apprised about signing of a Joint Declaration between the ministry of science & technology and the federal ministry of education and research of Germany on the extension of the tenure of the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC).

The Declaration is for the extension of tenure of the bilateral IGSTC for a period of five years beyond 2017 till 2022 and it provides for enhancement of funding allocation from 2 million Euros per year to a maximum of 4 million Euros per year by each side.

 In the first appointments to higher judiciary in the last ten months, Justice Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy was today elevated as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court while 12 additional judges of the Allahabad High Court were made as permanent judges. Justice Reddy, a judge of the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana High Court, has been elevated as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

He has become the first judge to be elevated as Chief Justice of a high court since April 13 last when the government had brought into force the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, which had overturned the collegium system of appointing judges.