GK and Current Affairs Updates

An Indian-origin businessman has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange in the UAE. Gaurang Desai, one of the founding members of the team that setup DGCX in 2005, is ideal to take the Exchange to its next stage of development, the company said in a statement. Desai will be tasked with heading the exchange's operations in the Middle East and beyond. He will be based out of Dubai where he will be leading the development and execution of the group's long-term strategy.
"We are delighted to appoint a key member of the DGCX team to this vital position, providing the company with the confidence that comes with continuity and ensuring DGCX continues the excellent delivery of pioneering products, platforms and services it has become known for," said Gautam Sashittal, CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) and DGCX director.
 

Chhattisgarh capital Raipur will host the 2015 FIH Hockey World League (HWL) Final that is scheduled to be held between 27 November and 6 December 2015. It is the second edition of the World League Final.
The announcement in this regard was made by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre in the third week of August 2015.
The competitions will be held at the 3000 capacity Raipur International Hockey Stadium that was opened as a dedicated hockey facility in August 2014.The tournament will feature eight teams, who qualified through the HWL semi-finals in Buenos Aires (Brazil) and Antwerp (Belgium). They include world number one ranking Australia, Netherlands (2), Germany (3), Belgium (4), Great Britain (5), Argentina (6), India (8) and Canada (13).Incidentally, India was the host for the inaugural event that was held in January 2014 in New Delhi.  It was won by Netherlands.Further, India is also poised to host the third edition of the biannual event in 2017.

The distribution is total population by six major communities namely Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain besides “other religions and persuasions” and “religion not stated” . Muslims recorded a decadal growth rate of 24.6 per cent between 2001 and 2011 touching 17.22 crore while the Hindus grew at 16.8 per cent to clock a population of 96.63 crore during the same period.
The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7 per cent. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was as Hindus: 16.8 per cent; Muslim: 24.6 per cent; Christian: 15.5 per cent; Sikh: 8.4 per cent; Buddhist: 6.1 per cent and Jain: 5.4 per cent, according to the census data on population by religious communities released .While the census figure on religion was released more than four years after compilation of the data, the caste data is yet to be made public. Under the data released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner Tuesday, the total population in the country in 2011 was 121.09 crore.

The distribution is total population by six major communities namely Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain besides “other religions and persuasions” and “religion not stated”. The data released are by sex and residents upto sub districts and towns.
Out of the total 121.09 crore, Hindus account for 96.63 crore (79.8 per cent); Muslims 17.22 crore (14.2 per cent); Christians 2.78 crore (2.3 per cent); Sikhs 2.08 crore (1.7 per cent); Buddhists 0.84 crore (0.7 per cent); Jains 0.45 crore (0.4 per cent), ‘other religions and persuasions’ (ORP) 0.79 crores (0.7 per cent) and ‘religion not stated’ 0.29 crores (0.2 per cent).The proportion of Muslim population to total population has increased by 0.8 percentage point (PP) in 2011, the census data said.

The proportion of Hindu population to total population in 2011 has declined by 0.7 PP; the proportion of Sikh population has declined by 0.2 PP and the Buddhist population has declined by 0.1 PP during the decade 2001-2011.There has been no significant change in the proportion of Christians and Jains.As per 2001 census, India’s total population was 102 crores of which Hindu population comprised 82.75 crore (80.45 per cent) and Muslims were 13.8 crore (13.4 per cent).

As part of the celebrations of Raksha Bandhan, banks have vowed to push the social security schemes launched by the Prime Minister, including Suraksha Bandhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. The progress of the implementation  of various schemes was discussed at  the review meeting convened by the district-level Bankers Consultative Committee, which was attended by L M Deshmukh, general manager of the Bank of Maharashtra, M R Prakash, committee convenor, and MP Anil Shirole. Shirole said the basic aim was to reach out to as many people as possible and apprise them of the schemes. “Starting August 29, we will team up with banks to convince people to opt for the recently launched Suraksha Bandhan Yojana (SBY). We will also urge people to gift this to their maids, drivers and helpers on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.” For the Suraksha Bandhan Yojana, one has to invest Rs 201 and Rs 5,001 which will be kept as a fixed deposit in banks and the yearly interest generated will be used to pay the premium

Highlights of the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana

Eligibility: Available to people in age group 18 to 70 years with bank account.
Premium:  Rs.12 per annum.
Payment Mode: The premium will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account. This is the only mode available.

Risk Coverage:  For accidental death and full disability - Rs.2 Lakh and for partial disability Rs.1 Lakh.
Eligibility: Any person having a bank account and Aadhaar number linked to the bank account can give a simple form to the bank every year before 1st of June in order to join the scheme.  Name of nominee to be given in the form.
Terms of Risk Coverage: A person has to opt for the scheme every year. He can also prefer to give a long-term option of continuing in which case his account will be auto-debited every year by the bank.
Who will implement this Scheme?: The scheme will be offered by all Public Sector General Insurance Companies and all other insurers who are willing to join the scheme and tie-up with banks for this purpose.
Government Contribution:
(i)Various Ministries can co-contribute premium for various categories of their beneficiaries from their budget or from Public Welfare Fund created in this budget from unclaimed money. This will be decided separately during the year.
(ii)Common Publicity Expenditure will be borne by the Government.

For the first time in the history of weightlifting, an individual international tournament will be organised in India when it hosts the Commonwealth Youth, Junior and Senior Weightlifting Championships in Pune from October 11-15.
India will field 40 weightlifters -- 11 youth (boys & girls), 16 junior (men & women) and 13 senior (men & women) -- in the Commonwealth Championships.
Meanwhile, five weightlifters will take part in the 26th Women & 45th Men Senior Asian Weightlifting Championships to be held in Phuket, Thailand from September 3 to 12.
Another two weightlifters will represent India in the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games to be held at Apia, Samoa from September 3-12.
The Squads:
For 26th Women & 45th Men Senior Asian Championship: S Mohana Sundaram (56kg), Vikas Thakur (85kg), Md. Jameer Hussain (94kg), Praful Kumar Dubey (105kg), Bangaru Usha (48kg).
Coaches: Kunjarani Devi, Sandip Kumar and Dathan AP.
For 5th Commonwealth Youth Games: Jamjang Deru (56kg), Deepak Lather (62kg). Coach: Vijay Sharma.

India and Seychelles inked five agreements in different sectors including taxation, agricultural research and maritime security. In his statement after holding talks with visiting President of Seychelles James Alix Michel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed Seychelles as a key strategic partner. 

Mr Modi said, the two countries have excellent security cooperation, especially for maritime security in Indian Ocean Region. The Prime Minister said, India will provide second Dornier maritime patrol plane to Seychelles. He said, today's Air Services Agreement will enable more and easier connections between the two countries. 

Mr Modi appreciated Seychelles’ support for India’s candidature for permanent membership of expanded United Nations Security Council. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, bilateral agreement for cooperation on blue economy is a huge step forward in the relationship and in promoting sustainable ocean economy in the region. 

He said, India is looking forward to cooperate in Space, including in the areas of managing land and marine resources, fisheries advisory, weather forecasting and disaster management. Mr Modi expressed confidence that this milestone year for the relationship between the two countries will be the spring board for taking strategic partnership to a new level. 

President James Alix Michel said, his visit to India will further strengthen the strategic and bilateral relations. 
Earlier, the visiting dignitary was accorded ceremonial reception this morning at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were present at the reception. Mr Michel inspected the Guard of Honour, at the ceremonial reception. The visiting dignitary also laid wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. The President of the Republic of Seychelles is on a three day visit to India.

Bangladesh’s Grameen bank on August 25, 2015 was ranked 12 in Fortune’s ‘Change the World List. The bank was ranked for creating economic opportunities for the poor and bringing unbanked people under financial services. The bank was ranked 12th among 51 companies that have made significant contributions in addressing major social problems as part of their core business strategy.  The list was topped by UK based telecom Vadafone and Kenya-based Safaricom. Google (Alphabet) and Toyota ranked second and third in the list. Yahoo, Walmart and Jain Irrigation systems secured the top ten ranks. Fortune’s Change the World List ranked companies not on the dollars they make, but on goods deeds they do

About Grameen Bank
The micro-finance institute was founded in 1976 by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. Since its inception, Grameen Bank has provided small collateral-free loans amounting to over 17.4 billion US dollar to over 8.7 million people, mostly impoverished women, which has lifted them above the poverty line. Its model has been copied around the world including US and India.
In October 1983, the Grameen Bank was authorized by national legislation as an independent bank. In 2006, the bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1998 the Bank’s Low-cost Housing Program won a World Habitat Award.

In the world of cricket, names don’t get much bigger than Kumar Sangakkara. The 37-year-old Sri Lankan player has earned the accolades of just about everyone in the sport, so when he retired this week after an illustrious career . Several thousand cheering fans, many of them schoolchildren waving Sri Lankan flags along with VIPs, turned out to salute Sangakkara at the end of the second Test against India in Colombo. Thousands turned out on Sunday to see Sangakkara's final international innings. But he was denied a dream end to his career when he was caught tapping a full toss to the short mid-wicket fielder for 18 . Sangakkara was one of the leading cricketers in world cricket for the last 15 years during which played in 134 Tests (scoring 12,400 runs, 182 catches (131 catches as a wicket-keeper) as well as 20 stumpings), 404 ODIs (14,234 runs, 402 catches (383 as wicket-keeper) and 99 stumpings) and 56 T20Is (1,382 runs, 26 catches as wicket-keeper and 20 stumpings). He also led Sri Lanka in 15 Tests, 45 ODIs and 22 ODIs. One of his finest hours came when he inspired Sri Lanka to the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.

The Dronacharya Award, instituted in 1985, are given to honour eminent Coaches who have successfully trained sportspersons or teams and enabled them to achieve outstanding results in international competitions. Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievements in Sports and Games, instituted in the year 2002, is given to honour those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to the promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, introduced in 2009,  are given to entities, both in public sector and private sector and non-governmental organizations, with a view to recognizing the contribution made to sports development. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar has four categories, namely, Identification and nurturing of budding/young talent, Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility, Employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures and Sports for Development.
                                               
Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has approved to confer Dronacharya Awards, Dhyan Chand Awards and Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for 2015 upon the following coaches, persons and entities.
 Dronacharya Awards 2015
S.No    NAME OF THE COACH    DISCIPLINE
1    Shri Naval Singh    Athletics-Para-sports
2    Shri Anoop Singh    Wrestling
3    Shri Harbans Singh    Athletics- Lifetime
4    Shri Swatantar Raj Singh    Boxing- Lifetime
5    Shri Nihar Ameen    Swimming-Lifetime

Dhyan Chand Award 2015
S. No.    NAME OF THE SPORTSPERSON    DISCIPLINE
1    Mr. Romeo James    Hockey
2    Mr. Shiv Prakash Mishra    Tennis
3    Mr. T.P.P. Nair    Volleyball

 Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Purushkar, 2015
Sl. No.    Category    Entity recommended for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Purushkar, 2015
1.    Identification and nurturing of budding /young talent    Directorate General of Military Training
2.    Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility    Coal India Limited
3.    Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures    Haryana Police
4.    Sports for Development    Sports Coaching Foundation, Hyderabad
 
The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2015.Dronacharya Awardees and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and award money of Rs.5 lakh each.  Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar awardees will receive certificates and trophies.

India's Aditi Ashok made history when she became the first from the country to win the Ladies British Amateur stroke play golf championship at the Moortown Golf Club here.  The Indian Golf Union's ladies amateur order of merit, Aditi shot four days total of 11-under 285 (71,73,70,71) at the par 74 Moortown Golf Club.

The 17-year-old Bangalore girl, who had earlier won the St Rule Trophy at St Andrews in July this year and finished second in the 2015 European Women's Amateur Championship, also claimed the overall title called 'The Nicholls Trophy' as well as the 'Dinwiddy Trophy' given for the lowest score by an U-18 player.