Daily GK Update: 28th May 2020

Honours & Awards

Indian American inventor Rajiv Joshi has been awarded as the Inventor of the Year award 2020 during a virtual awards ceremony.
He won the award for advancing the electronic industry and improving artificial intelligence capabilities.
IIT Mumbai alumnus, Rajiv Joshi has more than 250 patented invention in US.
He works at IBM Thomson Watson Research Center in New York.
His works include interconnect structures, machine learning techniques and AI applications.

Books & Authors

Renowned Author J K Rowling is all set to release her latest children’s book ‘The Ickabog’.
Five chapters are already been made available online for free and rest of the chapters will be made available withing 7 weeks.
The whole book format will be made available in November 2020.
The book is an original fairy tale and is available at http://theickabog.com/read-the-story.
J K Rowling belongs to Britain and is the author of the all-time famous Harry Potter novel.

Banking & Finance

The government has announced to withdraw RBI bond or GoI Bonds scheme from 28th of May 2020 due to declining interest rates.
The scheme is also known as 7.75% Savings (Taxable) Bonds scheme 2018 which is mostly subscribed by retail investors looking for safety of principal and regular income.
These bonds are not available for NRIs.
They are issued at par at ₹100 with min amount of ₹1,000.
They are repayable at 7 yrs from the issue date with tax on the bond’s interest.

State Affairs

Director of Animal, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries Mohammad Raza has inaugurated the 1^st Solar Lift Irrigation Plant of Kargil, Ladakh at Yak Breeding Farm.
It has 5 KW Solar Plant and 3 HP Submersible Pump.
This plant will solve the shortage of water to irrigate lands, drinking water issue making it carbon neutral and self-sufficient.
The Pump is discharging 45,000 Litre water per day from Dawn to Desk and soon more such projects will be proposed.

International Affairs

Saudi Arabia has announced the extension of tourist visas, which expired during the lockdown, for a period of three months.
The extension will be done automatically through the system without the need for the visa holder to visit the passport department.
The service will be free of charge.
Saudi Arabia has also announced relaxation in lockdown within a month.
Currency of Saudi Arabia: Saudi riyal
Capital of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh

Science & Technology

NASA has changed the named of Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) to Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
It is a next-generation space telescope set to launch in 2025 to investigate long-standing astronomical mysteries like universe expansion, distant plants, etc.
The renaming is initiated to honor Nancy Grace Roman who is the US space agency's 1st chief astronomer.
She is the mother of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
HQ: Washington, DC.
Head: Jim Bridenstine.

Obituaries

Renowned Urdu satirist writer Mujtaba Hussain (87 years) passes away due to cardiac arrest.
He was known for humorous Urdu writings in books and newspaper.
He was honored with Padmashree in 2007.
His work includes 'Japan Chalo Japan' and columns in Siasat.
He was known as the Mark Twain of Urdu.
The entire collection of his work can be accessed on www.mujtabahussain.com.
He belongs to Hyderabad.

International Affairs

Facebook has launched calling application “CatchUp” that will allow the user to indicate when they are available to talk and call friends and family.
It is developed by New Product Experimentation team of Facebook.
The coordination calling can be done with group of up to 8 people or individuals.
It will work with existing contact lists and with their existing Facebook account.
FB headquarter: California, US.
CEO of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg.

National Affairs

National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) along with Anamika Ray Memorial Trust has brought out the Hindi version of COVID Katha.
COVID Katha is the Popular Multimedia Guide for Mass Awareness that carries information on A-to-Z of COVID-19 having Do’s & Don’ts, Scientoons, daily information, etc.
It was already being released in English.
The COVID Katha is being translated in the Khasi (Meghalaya), Tamil, Bengali and Assamese version.

Summits & Conferences

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the Special Board of Governors meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB) through video-conference.
NDB in a short span has approved 55 projects of total outlay of $16.6 billion and COVID-19 Emergency Programme Loan product.
NDB appointed Mr Marcos Troyjo of Brazil as the new president and Mr Anil Kishore from India as the new vice president in the meet.
NDB Headquarter: Shanghai, China.

National & International Appointments

Tsai Ing-wen took the oath as the President of Taiwan for her second 4-year term.
The appointment marks another historic high point for Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party, which has grown over the past 4 decades from a loose band of pro-independence dissidents to become Taiwan’s dominant political bloc
Taiwan is also emerging successful in containing COVID-19.
Currency: New Taiwan dollar.
Capital of Taiwan: Taipei.

Defense

Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted Tejas Mk-1 FOC aircraft into resurrected No 18 Sqn, the “Flying Bullets” at Air Force Station Sulur enhancing the operational capability of the Air Force.
It is built under indigenous fighter aircraft program boosting ‘Make In India’ initiative.
Tejas Mk-1 FOC is a single engine, light weight, highly agile, all weather multi role fighter aircraft capable of air-to-air refuelling.
It is a versatile platform.