GK and Current Affairs Updates

Sam Pitroda has been appointed Technical Advisor to the Odisha Government. He is a well-known telecom engineer and inventor. His appointment was announced by Odisha government.He will help provide the essential technological blueprint to write the IT story of Odisha. He was born in Titilagarh in Odisha.

Noted Gujarati writer and poet Labhshankar Thakar passed away after prolonged illness in Ahmedabad. He was modernist author of Gujarati literature with influence of existentialism challenging traditional literature styles.
About Labshankar Thakar
- He was born in Sedla village in Gujarat.
- He was a multi talented personality, as he was a playwright as well as a story writer and also an Ayurvedic Practitioner.

Apurvi Chandela won the gold medal in the women's 10 metre air rifle event at the Swedish Cup Grand Prix.He broke the world record of Chinese Olympic gold medallist Yi Siling (of 211) by shooting  211.2m in the event.
Recent Achievements: 
1. Won the gold medal at the National Championships held in the Delhi in last month.
2. Won a bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, in April.
- Top 3 in Sweden cup Grand Prix:
1. Apurvi Chandela, India
2. Astrid Steffensen, Sweden  
3. Stine Nielsen, Sweden.

INS Kadmatt, the second ship of Project 28 (P28) class anti submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes, is commissioned. It is an add on in the Navy's firepower.It is an indigenous ship constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Kolkata.It is named after one of the large islands amongst the Lakshadweep group of islands off the west coast of India. It has a multitude of networks such as Total Atmospheric Control System (TACS), Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Battle Damage Control System (BDCS) and Personnel Locator System (PLS) to provide a contemporary and process oriented System of Systems for optimal functioning of the warship.
- Benefits:
1. It will augment the mobility, reach and flexibility of Indian Navy.
2. It signifies the importance of island territories as India's maritime interests.
3. It promotes the national objective of 'Make in India'.

At CES 2016, MSI unveiled a brand new high-performance gaming laptop that includes an integrated Tobii eye tracking system, which the company claims is a world first.When the system is tracking your eyes, "game characters and environments will react to your gaze, focus and attention" in supported titles.
Other laptops of MSI at CES:
- portable 14-inch GS40 Phantom with a Skylake CPU
- GS72 Stealth Pro, which is the company's slimmest and lightest 17-inch gaming notebook.
-  WS72 workstation with an Intel Xeon CPU.
About Micro-Star International(MSI)
- It is a Taiwanese multinational information technology corporation.
- It is headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
- It belongs to the Computer hardware Electronics industry which e-signs, develops and provides computer hardware, related products and services, including laptops, motherboards, graphics cards, All-in-One PCs etc.

Indian Science Congress is all set to move forward with its new president. 
Dr. Achyuta Samanta has been elected for this post. This decision  came in the 103rd Indian Science Congress for the 105th Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) scheduled for 2017-18.
About Dr. Achyuta Samanta
- He is the founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS).
- These organizations provide free accommodation, food, healthcare, and education from kindergarten to post-graduation with vocational training.
- He has been the organizer of Nanhi Pari, a Little Miss India competition, since 2000. 
- He is going to set up 'Gandhi Gram' in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, a Tribal Museum to showcase Tribal life, art and culture, and a Center for Yoga and Spiritualism.
- He is a member of various National and International bodies. Some of them are University Grants Commission (UGC), Executive Committee Member of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Academic Council Member of Central University of Orissa, Serving Member of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Coir Board of India, National Executive Council Member, Indian Society for Technical Education, Executive Committee Member, Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
- Recently honoured by following awards:
1. Talas State University, Kyrgyzstan – 2015
2. Issyk- kul State University, Kyrgyzstan – 2015
3. Issyk- kul Co-operative Institute, Korakoll – 2015
4. Tajikistan State National University, Dushanbe – 2015
5. Daejeon Institute of Health Science, Daejeon, Korea – 2015
6. Kyrgyz-Uzbek University – 2015

India moved up three places to the 163rd spot in the FIFA football rankings Increase in ranking due to following achievements:
1. Won the SAFF Cup by defeating Afghanistan.
2. Defeated Nepal and Sri-Lanka in the regional tournament.
3. India accumulated 139 points, and is at the 31st spot among Asian countries.
- Top 5 countries:
1. Belgium
2. Argentina
3. Spain
4. Germany
5. Chile
- Top Asian country: Iran (global ranking-42)
Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
- It is the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football. 
- Its headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland.
- Its current President is Issa Hayatou.
- FIFA has adopted an anthem composed by the German composer Franz Lambert.
- Tournaments organized by FIFA:
FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, Football at the Summer Olympics, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup, FIFA Futsal World Cup, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
- Winners of recent FIFA tournaments:
1. Women's World Cup: USA
2. Club World Cup: Spain FC Barcelona
3. Futsal World Cup: Brazil
4. Beach Soccer World Cup: Portugal
5. Interactive World Cup: (Saudi Arabia) Abdulaaziz Alshehri

Novo Nordisk has announced Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador for 'Changing Diabetes'. Primary objective of this move is to raise awareness, improve access to care and address psycho-social aspects of diabetes to improve people’s lives.Novo Nordisk has also initiated the Changing Diabetes in Children, a programme designed to improve access to diabetes care for children with Type I diabetes.
About Diabetes
- It is a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. 
- Medical Name: Diabetes Melitus
- Types:
1. Type 1 Diabetes - the body does not produce insulin. 
2. Type 2 Diabetes - the body does not produce enough insulin for proper function.
3. Gestational diabetes- This type affects females during pregnancy. Some women have very high levels of glucose in their blood, and their bodies are unable to produce enough insulin to transport all of the glucose into their cells, resulting in progressively rising levels of glucose.

Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti launched Ganga Gram Yojana at Village Puth in Hapur district of U.P.
- Aim: to develop 1600 villages situated along the banks of The Ganga.
- Features:
1. In this villages open drains falling into The Ganga will be diverted and alternative arrangements for sewage treatment will be made.
2. The villages will have toilets in every house hold.
3. These villages will be developed under the Sichewal model. 

Andhra Bank has launched Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) at all its branches.National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is associated with Andhra Bank in his step.IMPS makes payments possible within fraction of seconds without compromising security.
- Benefits:
1. facility will be available round-the-clock unlike the NEFT, which is available only for limited hours.
2. a real time instant fund transfer system for inter-bank remittances.
About IMPS
The IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) helps customer to access their bank account and transfer funds instantly and securely. Currently majority of interbank mobile fund transfer transactions are channelized through NEFT mechanism. Under NEFT, the transactions are processed and settled in batches, hence are not real time. Also, the transactions can be done only during the working hours of the RTGS system. IMPS offers an instant, 24X7, interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones.
Objectives of IMPS:
IMPS is an emphatic tool to transfer money instantly.
1.To enable bank customers to use mobile instruments as a channel for accessing their banks accounts and remit funds.
2.Making payment simpler just with the mobile number of the beneficiary.         
3.To sub-serve the goal of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in electronification of retail payments
4.To facilitate mobile payment systems already introduced in India with the Reserve Bank of India Mobile Payment Guidelines 2008 to be inter-operable across banks and mobile operators in a safe and secured manner.
5. To build the foundation for a full range of mobile based Banking services.   
ly within banks across India through mobile, internet and ATM which is not only safe but also economical both in financial and non financial perspectives.