DAILY GK UPDATE - 29th April !

1.    Rajeev Suri is Nokia New CEO

i. Finnish firm Nokia, which recently sold its mobile unit to Microsoft, has appointed Rajeev Suri as the company's new CEO and President.

ii. Mr. Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and has held a wide range of leadership positions in the company. Since October of 2009, he has served as CEO of NSN, the former joint venture between Nokia and Siemens that is now fully owned by Nokia.

iii. Risto Siilasmaa, who has been serving as the interim CEO, will now return to his role as Chairman of Nokia's Board.

Note: Nokia finalized the 5.4 billion euro ($7.5 billion) sale of its struggling mobile phone business to Microsoft on Friday. 

2.    Retired Air Chief Browne named envoy to Norway

i. Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) N A K Browne has been appointed India�s next Ambassador to Norway, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Tuesday. Air Chief Browne had recently retired.

Note: Present Air Chief is Arup Raha

3.    UN & IOC sign historic agreement on sport for peace & economic development

i. The United Nations and the International Olympic Committee has signed a historic agreement to use the power of sports to promote peace and economic development.

ii. The move is described as one which strengthens collaboration between two of the world's major organizations

iii. IOC President Thomas Bach yesterday told a UN event celebrating the strengthened relationship that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was right when he said Olympic principles are United Nations principles.

iv. Both the UN and Olympic charters, call for international cooperation to promote peace, a better life for people around the world and preserving human dignity.
v. Secretary-General Ban said the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the IOC was a logical and historic step after years of ever closer collaboration in using sport to promote development and peace.
v. The agreement calls for joint sporting initiatives between the IOC, national Olympic committees, international sports federations, organizing committees and international athletes and the 193 UN member states, UN agencies, envoys and goodwill ambassadors.

4.    Telecom Tribunal clears 3G intra-circle roaming pacts

i. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today ruled in favour of private telecom operators by saying that 3G intra-circle-roaming (ICR) does not violate condition of licence agreement. 

ii. A TDSAT bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam quashed all penalties imposed by Dept of Telecom on Bharti Airtel, Idea and Vodafone for providing the 3G facilities through ICR agreements under which they had agreed to acquire customers in area where they did not win spectrum. 

Note: DoT had issued notice to telecom operators asking them to stop 3G ICR service and imposed penalty,cumulativelyamounting to about 1,200 crore Rupees.

5.    Russia assures America that it will not invade Ukraine

i. Russia has assured America that it will not invade Ukraine, with the US warning that continued aggression would isolate the country further and result in more diplomatic and economic pressure.

ii. US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who made a call to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoygu yesterday, also emphasised that any diplomatic engagement must include the government of Ukraine.

iii. Pentagon Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby said, Hagel repeated his call for an end to Russia's destabilising influence inside Ukraine and warned that continued aggression would further isolate Russia and result in more diplomatic and economic pressure .
iv. According to Kirby, Shoygu reiterated his assurance that Russian forces would not invade Ukraine to Hagel.

6.    Ukraine, Slovakia sign deal on reverse gas supply

i. Ukraine has signed an agreement with Slovakia on reverse flow of natural gas deliveries, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Monday.

ii. According to the deal, Kiev could annually import around 8 billion cubic metres of gas from the European market through Slovakia, Yatsenyuk said.

iii. The deal inked by Ukrtransgaz, the transport arm of the state-run Naftogaz firm, and Slovak pipeline operator Eustream, stipulates that Kiev is due to start reverse gas imports through Slovakia in October.

7.    Supriya Mondal qualifies for Youth Olympics

i. Swimmer Supriya Mondal has qualified for the 2014 Youth Olympics by winning a gold medal in the 200m butterfly event at the Dubai International Aquatic Championships in Hamdan.

ii. The 17-year-old swimmer clocked 2:03.93s, achieving the �A� qualification mark and will compete in the same event in the Youth Olympics, to be held in Nanjing, China in August.

iii. Mondal had earlier won silver in 100m butterfly with a timing of 56.45s and followed it up with a gold in 50m butterfly clocking 25.67s, achieving the �B� qualification mark in both the events.

iv. Mondal had earlier won silver in 100m butterfly with a timing of 56.45s and followed it up with a gold in 50m butterfly clocking 25.67s, achieving the �B� qualification mark in both the events.

8.    New version of Facebook Messenger allows video sharing

i. Facebook has released a new version of Messenger for iOS devices, which allows video sharing and faster photo messages.

ii. According to CNET, the version 5.0 of Facebook Messenger includes a new messaging interface allowing people to see a single row of icons that will allow them to insert multimedia content quickly.

iii. Facebook assures that Android users will get a similar version of the app soon.

iv. Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook is taking a three- tiered approach to mobile with Instagram, Whatsapp, and Messenger.