DAILY GK UPDATE - 24th March

1.    World Tuberculosis Day being observed today

i. World Tuberculosis Day is being observed today. The day is designed to build public awareness about the global resurgence of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease. 

ii. In 2014, the slogan for World Tuberculosis Day is "Reach the 3 million".
iii. TB is curable, but current efforts to find, treat and cure everyone who gets ill with the disease are not sufficient. Of the 9 million people a year who get sick with TB, a third of them are "missed" by health systems. 

iv. Many of these 3 million people live in the world�s poorest, most vulnerable communities or are among marginalized populations such as migrant workers, refugees and internally displaced persons, prisoners, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities and drug users.

v. All partners can help take forward innovative approaches to ensure that everyone suffering from TB has access to TB diagnosis, treatment and cure.

2.    SC directs Centre to withdraw all orders making Aadhar mandatory for any service

i. The Supreme Court has directed the Government of India to withdraw all orders, which make the Aadhaar card mandatory for availing any service.

ii. The court has also directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) not to share any information pertaining to an Aadhaar card holder with any government agency without the prior permission of the card holder. 

iii. The Supreme Court was hearing the petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar card with those opposing the mega project saying it was not backed by any statute and compromises with national security.

iv. Further, a three-judge bench headed by Justice BS Chauhan was also told that the project not only violates the right to privacy but the "biometrics", which is the foundation of the project, is an unreliable and untested technology.

3.    Jaswant Singh to fight as independent candidate from Barmer

i. Veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh has filed his nomination papers from Barmer Lok Sabha Constituency in Rajasthan as an independent candidate.

ii. He filed two sets of nomination papers. He was denied ticket by the BJP fielding Col. Sona Ram as party candidate who recently joined the BJP after quiting Congress.

iii. Today Jaswant Singh reached Barmer from his parental village Jasol.On the way to Barmer at many places Jasvant supporters welcomed him.At Barmer Jaswant Singh went to his son BJP MLA Manvendra Singh�s house. Now In Barmer election contest has become triangular.

iv. Jaswant Singh will face Col. Sonaram of BJP and Harish Chaudhary of Congress.Col.Sonaram recently joined BJP after quitting Congress.

4.    Rationalised Roman for Kashmiri written by Dr. R L Bhat released

i. The book Rationalised Roman for Kashmiri written by Dr R L Bhat was released on 23 March 2014. 

ii.  Book gave the explanation on how to write the language on a computer using Microsoft word or type writer without the need for any special fonts. 

iii. To produce the book Rationalised Roman for Kashmiri (RRK), R L Bhat worked on scientific modification of English alphabet for writing Kashmiri language by using the principles of Brahmi alphabet to English letters.

iv. The book also carried a detailed survey of the script used for writing Kashmiri and a discussion on Urdu and Hindi and the scripts they are written in.

About Kashmiri Language

Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Census of 2001, there are approximately 5527698 speakers throughout India. 

5.    EPFO to provide permanent A/c number from October this year

i. Retirement fund body EPFO will start providing permanent account numbers on the pattern of core banking services to its five crore subscribers from October this year.

ii. Permanent or universal account number (UAN) will facilitate subscribers to avoid filing PF account transfer claims on changing jobs.

iii. After getting UAN, a subscriber would not be issued new PF account number on joining new employer.  It is expected to provide great relief to those workers in organized sector who frequently change jobs, particularly, in the construction sector.

iv. The UAN would be one account number which would be allotted to a subscriber for various schemes run by the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) for his or her entire service period with different employers.

v. According to a senior EPFO official, the UAN will help reduce the workload of the EPFO to a great extent as it receives over 12 lakh claims for transfer of PF account on changing of jobs by its subscribers.
    

6.    Bharatiya Mahila Bank Limited opens branch in Hyderabad

i. Bharatiya Mahila Bank Limited, which is an all women bank established four months earlier, has opened a new branch in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Saturday.

ii. BMB chairman and managing director UshaAnanthasubramanian said that the company will now focus on marketing activities this year in order to enter into the Indian banking sector. Even as the bank's target customers are women, she said that the bank is not against men customers and employees and pointed out that some of the branches are already run by male employees.

iii. We are going to focus on branding. We are even considering having mobile banking vans fitted with ATM machines to visit different locations at fixed timings for customer convenience as well as to familiarize people with our bank," Ananthasubramanian said. 

iv. The bank started with an initial capital investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The bank has said that it has a target of 70 per cent lending towards women and said that it will work closely with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and self-help groups (SHGs) to reach borrowers in rural areas.

7.    Vodafone launches M-Pesa in Tamil Nadu

i. Telecom service provider Vodafone launched its popular mobile money transfer and payment service M-Pesa partnering with private sector ICICI Bank.

ii. With the use of an M-Pesa account, mobile customers in Tamil Nadu and Chennai circles, can deposit and withdraw cash; transfer money to any mobile phone; remit cash to any bank account; and can also make payments to utility bills, Vodafone said in a statement.

iii. The service would be available across 5,103 authorised agents, including 840 Vodafone exclusive stores, in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai.

Note: Vodafone has launched the M-Pesa services in various telecom circles, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh East and Western regions, Bihar.

8.    Malala and Mishab-ul-Haq conferred with Pakistan Civil Awards on Pakistan Day

i. Malala Yousafzai and Misbah-ul-Haq along with 103 others were conferred with the Pakistan�s Civil Awards during a ceremony to observe the Pakistan Day on 23 March 2014.

ii. The awards were given at a ceremony held in Aiwan-e-Sadr in recognition of the services rendered by them to the nation.  

iii. The list of 105 Civil Awards was approved by Mamnoon Hussain, the President of Pakistan on 14 August 2013 and 10 others were approved as special cases. The President also conferred the National Civil Awards on 39 individuals of which five are foreigners. 

iv. Misbah-ul-Haq, the national cricket captain of Pakistan for his services to sports was recognised with the President�s Award for Pride of Performance. Wali Khan Babar, the television reporter, who was shot dead in 2011, was awarded posthumously with the Pride of Performance Award.

About Pakistan Day
Pakistan Day is observed in form of celebration in the country to mark the passage of the Lahore Resolution of 1940 that led to the creation of Pakistan. Apart from this, Pakistan on 23 March 1956 adopted its first Constitution, which was the day of transition of dominion of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan on 23 March 1956 became the world's first Islamic republic.