Daily GK / current affairs / update : 21st July 2015 : Pankaj Munjal is new CMD of Hero Motors Group.
- He succeeded O P Munjal, who was elevated to the position of Chairman Emeritus.
- He joined the Hero groupas a trainee in 1988 and was appointed as its Co-Chairman and MD in December 2011.
About Hero Motors Group
- Hero Motors is a former moped and scooter manufacturer based in Delhi, India.
- It is a part of multinational company Hero Group, which currently owns Hero Motocorp and Hero Cycles.
National Career Counselling portal launched by Union Government with an aim to modernize all government run employment exchanges.
- The portal was launched by PM Narendra Modi under the aegis of National Career Service (NCS) project of Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
About National Career Counselling Portal :
- The web portal will be a one-stop platform for both job providers and job seekers where registration can be done online.
- It will provide basic platform for searching and applying for jobs on the portal.
- It will also provide candidates career-related counseling either by its helpline numbers or visiting these centres along with other facilities like job posting, aptitude assessment, job matching, training providers, skill courses and guidance on self-employment and entrepreneurship.
Bhanu Partap Sharma is the new chairperson of FSSAI.
- Sharma is an IAS officer of 1981 batch from Bihar cadre.
- He is Health and Family Welfare Secretary and was given additional charge of FSSAI for 3 months.
About FSSAI :
- FSSAI stands for “Food Safety and Standards Authority of India” and established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and operates under aegis of Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
- FSSAI is a nodal statutory agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health in India through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
- FSSAI has been established to lay down science based standards for various food products in order ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
- It also regulates the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of food products for human consumption.
BRICS bank launched as alternative to World Bank and IMF.
- 100 billion USD bank floated by BRICS nations, including India, as an alternative to the World Bank and IMF to boost infrastructure funding in the emerging economies and offer them tailor-made services was launched in China today.
- The opening ceremony of the New Development Bank (NDB) was held here in China’s financial capital.
- Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong and the bank’s President K V Kamath were also present at the opening ceremony.
- Kamath, 67, who will be the bank’s President for the first five years, said he was confident to deliver people’s expectation of the new bank.
White House economic adviser Maurice Obstfeld : New Chief Economist of the IMF w.e.f 8 September 2015
- Obstfeld will succeed outgoing IMF economist Olivier Blanchard.
- He will handle the IMF’s huge, troubled rescue programs for Greece and Ukraine while keeping a close eye on the slowdown in the global economy.
About Maurice Obstfeld :
- Maurice Obstfeld is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
- He was on leave from Berkeley since mid-2014 to serve on the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
- He is known around the globe for his work on international economics and is considered as one of the most influential macro-economists in the world.
Indian Railways and Odisha Govt signed an agreement for implementation of Dasapall-Bolangir segment of Khurda Road-Bolangir new Broad Gauge Railway line on cost sharing basis.
- The agreement was executed by Ved Parkash Dudeja, Executive Director (Works) Ministry of Railways and Sanjay Rastogi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Commerce & Transport Department, Odisha Government.
- The project is scheduled to be completed in 3 years of time after handing over of the land by the state.
- This Railway line running across the state from east to west will usher the six districts- Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, Boudh, Subarnapur and Bolangir into a new era of development.
- It will also help in accelerating the development in the districts falling on Khurda-Bolangir line and will help create job opportunities in this naxal-affected state.
A Book entitled “Locale, Everyday Islam and Modernity” authored by Shri M. Raisur Rahman released by Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari.
- Dissolving the distinctions between centre and periphery, this book presents the Qasbahs of colonial India as vital and vibrant centres of intense intellectual and cultural activity.
- The book demonstrates that the emergence of modernity among Muslims was a process during their colonial encounter in which Qasbah residents were active agents, and the Islam that emerged was that of everyday living.
TAXO, an exclusive mobile app for VAT ,GST and Service Tax made by CA Atul Kumar Gupta along with his team.
- TAXO is a platform where anyone can get an insight into the basic fundamentals of Indirect Taxation.
- The idea behind TAXO is to update and educate not just the taxation professionals but every one on ongoing basis by providing prompt and live access to the changing business environment in India.
- The rapidly changing indirect taxation system in India has made it essential for every businessman or professional to be conversant in the basics of the indirect taxation.
- In the current high tech era, everyone is a tech savvy so it is more convenient to use a smart phone and browse the information rather than searching the information from the pile of books.
Film-maker Benoy Behl won the Best Documentary Producer award at Madrid International Film Festival.
- He was awarded for producing and directing a documentary film titledIndian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism.
- Bhel shot the documentary for XPD Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, which was released by Ministry of External Affairs in February 2014.
- The film is shot extensively in Tibet, Kalmykia in European Russia, Ladakh, Spiti, Arunachal Pradesh, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Karnataka.
- The film also traces the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism to its roots in ancient India’s Nalanda University and the hundreds of year-old spiritual relationship that India share with Tibet.
Ironman Title to model actor Milind Soman.
- Model-actor Milind Soman, who turns 50 in November this year, has won the Ironman title at a triathlon held in Zurich in Switzerland on July 19 in which over 2,000 participants this year included seven Indians.
- The triathlon, organised by World Triathalon Corporation, includes a 3.8-km swim, 180.2-km cycle ride and 42.2-km run and is widely regarded as the world’s toughest race, which has to be completed in 16 hours by participants for an Ironman title.
- Of the seven Indians who participated in the race this year, five completed the race.
- Successfully leading the contingent was 11-time winner of Ironman title, Pune’s Dr Kaustubh Radkar, who completed the race in 12 hours and 32 minutes.
- This is Dr Radkar’s 12th Ironman title which now qualifies him for the Hawaii Ironman World Championship to be held in 2017.
BCCI constituted a working group to study the verdict of the Supreme Court appointed RM Lodha Committee relating to the IPL 2013 scandal.
- The four member group includes IPL chairmanRajiv Shukla, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Choudhury and former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
- BCCI’s legal headUsha Nath Banerjee will also assist the Panel.
- The committee will share their recommendations with the Governing Council within a time frame of 6 weeks after consulting all the key stakeholders.
- The following working group will also prepare the road map for the forthcoming edition of the IPL and related matters.
- BCCI’s formed the committee after an IPL governing council meeting in Mumbai on 19 July 2015, which was held after the Lodha committee decision.
- Justice RM Lodha-headed panel on IPL Betting Scandal on 14 July 2015 suspended IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for two years.
