DAILY GK UPDATE - 2nd May

1.    India ranked No. 3 in US Green Building Council list

i. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has ranked India as No 3 among the list of top 10 countries for LEED outside of the United States.

ii. Canada tops the list followed by China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and Brazil, among others.

iii. The list demonstrates the global reach of the movement that is transforming the built environment into healthy, high-performing structures that benefit the planet and its people.

iv. �LEED�s success in India represents not only a growing recognition of its demonstrated benefits for human health and operational cost-savings, but also its unparalleled potential to be part of the solution to a warming planet and rising sea levels.�

2.    President confers gallantry awards

i. President Pranab Mukherjee Friday conferred three Kirti Chakras and nine Shaurya Chakras on armed forces personnel for displaying "conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion" to duty at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

ii. The president also presented three Uttam Yudh Seva Medals for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational context which includes times of war, conflict, or hostilities.

ii. Besides, the president conferred 13 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, four Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medals and 23 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals upon senior officers of the armed forces for distinguished service of an exceptional order.

iv. Two of the three Kirti Chakras were given posthumously.

v. The recipients of Kirti Chakras are Constable Bhrigu Nandan Choudhary (posthumous), Constable Lohit Sonowal (posthumous) and Naib Subedar Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar.

3.    Elango steps down as Cairn India CEO

i. P Elango, interim CEO & Wholetime Director, announced his decision to step down to the employees of the company.

ii. Ending an 18-year stint and less than two-year tenure as the chief of the company, Elango has decided to step down on �personal grounds�. However, whispers in corridors were that the management�s indecisiveness on confirming him as a full-fledged CEO was the cause.

iii. Elango�s resignation has come just when Cairn has delivered 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent (oil plus gas) a day from the Rajasthan block. A similarity can be drawn with what happened in August 2012.

iv. Cairn informed the BSE that Sudhir Mathur, CFO, has taken over the additional responsibility of leading the organisation in the interim. The board has accepted his resignation, it said.

v. The announcement had not come as a surprise to those tracking the industry closely, as speculations on Dhir�s exit were high since Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group became the majority stakeholder.

4.    World�s highest railway tunnel opens in China 

i. The world's highest tunnel for high-speed trains in northwest China became operational on Thursday at an altitude of 3,607.4 metres. 

ii. The 16.3-km-long was completely linked up, operationalising the line linking Gansu Province and Xinjiang provinces. 

iii. With altitudes of up to 3,607.4 metres, the tunnel passes through the Qilian Mountains with two sections and a bridge. 
iv. The construction began in 2009. The tunnel's complete joining means the most difficult part for the Lanxin high-speed railway has been solved, state-run Xinhua reported, quoting an official in charge of the tunnel project. 

5.    Deadline ended for non-CTS cheques

i. The deadline for switching to new format bank cheques under the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) ended on 30 April 2014.

ii.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started the process of migration to CTS cheques in New Delhi and Chennai from 24 September 2011.

iii. Transactions with cheques that have Magnetic Ink Character Regnition (MICR) and not CTS technology will be delayed from 1 May 2014.

iv. Now, the non- CTS cheques will be likely to take four days or more from the date of deposit to credit the amount. Banks will now clear non-CTS cheques on Mondays and Fridays only.

Future Aspect
RBI has decided to extend the adoption of CTS cheques countrywide in phases. Tamil Nadu, Kerala,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and the Union territory of Puducherry will implement the system under the Chennai grid.

6.    British actor Bob Hoskins died at 71

i. British actor Bob Hoskins died of pneumonia at the age of 71 in London on 29 April 2014. He is best known for roles in The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

ii. His most memorable performance was as the Cockney cabbie in Mona Lisa film for which he was nominated for Oscar and won best actor awards at Cannes, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes.

iii. He also worked in the US film likes The Cotton Club, Maid in Manhattan and Nixon.

iv. His last role was in Snow White and the Huntsman which starred Kristen Stewart in 2012. He also directed two films The Raggedy Rawney and Rainbow.

7.    Oldest Olympian, US sharpshooter, dies at 106

i. Walter R Walsh, an FBI sharpshooter who was the world�s oldest living Olympian, has died. He was 106.

ii. Walsh died yesterday, six days before his 107th birthday at his home in Arlington, USA Shooting announced.

iii. Walsh, who first honed his shooting skills by picking off clothespins on a clothesline with a BB gun as a child, finished 12th in the men�s 50-metre free pistol at the 1948 London Olympics. He was 41 by then, and had already demonstrated his marksmanship with the FBI and the Marine Corps.

iv. In October 1937, he posed as a sales clerk at a sporting goods shop in Bangor, Maine, awaiting the arrival of three members of the Brady Gang, which had been on a long crime spree. He quickly disarmed one of them as the man entered the store, and helped gun down the others despite being hit twice.

v. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 4, 1907, Walsh was married for 43 years until his wife died in 1980.

8.    Air India set to join Star Alliance in July

i. Air India is all set to join the world's largest airline grouping, Star Alliance, this July, making it the first airline from India to be part of a global chain of carriers.

ii. The move, according to AI CMD Rohit Nandan, will bring immense benefits to Indian fliers from Day One as they will be able to earn-and-burn miles, get access to lounges across the globe and enjoy seamless connectivity across the world on Star members. 

iii. Almost all the requirements for joining Star are complete. Some work, mostly related to IT, will be completed by mid-May. Then we are set," said Nandan. 

iv. Star Alliance CEO Mark F Schwab said CEOs of Star's member airlines will meet in London on June 22 or 23 to have an endorsement vote on AI's entry into the fold. "Once all airlines endorse the move, AI should be in Star by July.

9.    IIT Guwahati leads India into top 100 global varsity rankings 

i. The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati has taken India into the world's top 100 university rankings for the first time with an entry at No. 87.

ii. IIT Guwahati is the only Indian educational institute in the 2014 league table of '100 Under 50' institutions released by the 'Times Higher Education' (THE) magazine in London on Wednesday.

iii. The annual evaluation of the world's top 100 universities under 50 years of age had a distinct Eastern stance with South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology topping the list for the third consecutive year.