Daily GK Update 11th June 2014

1.    Reuven Ruby Rivlin elected as 10th president of Israel

i. Reuven Ruby Rivlin on 10 June 2014 was elected as 10th president of Israel. Reuven Ruby Rivlin is a member of Likud party. 

ii. He will succeed Shimon Peres. Rivlin will sworn-in on 24 July 2014. Rivlin has defeated a long-time MP Meir Sheetrit by 63 to 53 in a secret run-off ballot.
iii. Rivlin was elected after vote by members of the Knesset. Knesset is the name of the parliament of the Israel. Rivlin was elected for a term of seven years.

2.    FIFA World Cup nears kick off

i. With just over a day left for the start of the football World Cup, 32 teams, divided into 8 groups, will sweat it out for a month for the coveted Gold Cup. 
ii. The tournament will begin late tomorrow night in Sao Paulo with an opening ceremony featuring 600 artists, including acrobatic gymnasts, martial arts-style performers and stilt walkers. 
iii. The ceremony will be followed by the tournament opener, a Pool-A match between hosts Brazil and Croatia, which will be played at 1:30 am, Indian Time.

iv. Argentina and Germany, and Belgium, the dark horse of this tournament, says Argentina, the team which has players like Maradona and Batistuta, hasn't really fired in World Cups since 1990. 

v. Lionel Messi, known for his magical feet, too hasn't been for Argentina what he is for Barcelona. He has scored a single goal in the last two World Cups. This time, Messi and Argentina have a lot prove, and they won't get a better chance. 
vi. The known South American soil, and some favourable playing conditions have forced thinkers to believe that this could be Argentina's Cup. Not just Messi, Argentina has Aguero, Di Maria and Higuain, some big names.  But the problem lies in their defense. Mascherano will have to lead and shoudler the rest to take the team past the quarters. 
vii. Germany, though, plagued by injuries, has been seen as favourites. Schweinsteiger, Neuer and Lahm are not fully fit and a lot will depend on Gotze, Muller, Ozil and Kroos to take them through. 
viii. Belgium has emerged as the dark horse this time around. With the likes of Hazard, Lukaku, Kompany and Fellaini, and a comparatively easy Group, Belgium may cause an upset or two in the knock-out round.

3.    World Bank revises down developing world growth to 4.8%

i. Developing countries are headed for a year of disappointing growth, the World Bank said in its Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, which has lowered its forecasts for developing countries to 4.8 per cent growth rate this year from the January estimate of 5.3 percent.

ii. In its latest report, the Bank has lowered its forecasts for developing countries, now eying growth at 4.8 per cent this year, down from its January estimate of 5.3 per cent.

iii. Signs point to strengthening in 2015 and 2016 to 5.4 and 5.5 per cent, respectively.

iv. China is expected to grow by 7.6 per cent this year, but this will depend on the success of rebalancing efforts. If a hard landing occurs, the reverberations across Asia would be widely felt, the Bank said.

v. “Growth rates in the developing world remain far too modest to create the kind of jobs we need to improve the lives of the poorest 40 per cent,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

vi. “Clearly, countries need to move faster and invest more in domestic structural reforms to get broad-based economic growth to levels needed to end extreme poverty in our generation,” Kim said.

4.    Japan’s Nishimura to referee World Cup opener

i. Japan’s Yuichi Nishimura is to referee Thursday’s opening match of the World Cup between hosts Brazil and Croatia in Sao Paulo.

ii. Nishimura will be assisted by compatriots Toru Sagara and Toshiyuki Nagi, with Alireza Faghani of Iran designated as the fourth official, football’s world governing body FIFA said Tuesday.

iii. Nishimura, 42, was in charge of four matches at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, including the quarter-final between the Netherlands and Brazil.

iv. He is set to become the third Japanese referee to officiate at two World Cup finals after Shizuo Takada (1986 and 1990) and Toru Kamikawa (2002 and 2006).

5.    IRDA to launch mandatory pilot on insurance repository system

i. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is all set to launch a pilot on life insurance repository (IR) system.

ii. This is meant for keeping/storing a policy in digitised/de-materialised form to be able access as and when required.

iii. The two-month pilot would be started with effect from July 1, 2014 and it shall be mandatory of all life-insurers and existing five insurance repositories (IR) to participate in the programme, IRDA said in a circular issued on Tuesday.

iv. Each Life insurer shall also issue a minimum of 1,000 or 5% of the total individual policies issued during the launch period whichever is lower in electronic form for each of the IRs. This too shall be however subject to a minimum of 250 policies per IR.

v. For the policies converted/issued in electronic form, within an e-Insurance Account, the IR shall be responsible for providing the mandatory information such as policy status, history, premium dues with facility to print/download wherever necessary.

6.    Sirikonda Madhusudhana Chary became first speaker of Telangana Legislative Assembly

i. Sirikonda Madhusudhana Chary of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) became the first speaker of Telangana Legislative Assembly on 10 June 2014. Chary won the assembly election from Bhupalpalli constituency in Warangal district.

ii. The Speaker of the state Assembly is similar to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the role of the state assembly is same that of the speaker of the Lok Sabha.

7.    Sunil Dutt appointed as President of Reliance Infocomm

i. Sunil Dutt was appointed as President of Reliance Jio Infocomm on 10 June 2014. At the time of appointment, he was working as an independent consultant and has an experience of 30 years in Technology Industry.

About Sunil Dutt
• He had served BlackBerry India as managing director till 2013 
• He also headed the Samsung India Electronics
• He also served in HP, Nokia, Whirlpool and coffee chain Barista companies

8.    Gary Gilmour, former cricketer of Australia died

i. Gary Gilmour, a former all-round cricketer of Australia died on 10 June 2014 in Sydney. He died at the age of 62 after battling with health problems for many years.

ii. For Australian national cricket team, he played 15 test and 5 one-day matches 
iii. He is famously known for 6-14 in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1975 semi-final against England 
iv.  In 1973-74, he played his debut test match against New Zealand and scored a half-century and took four wickets  

9.    Jayalalithaa launches ‘Amma Salt’

i. Rolling out yet another pro-poor measure, the Jayalalithaa Government today launched three varieties of low-cost salt, named after the Chief Minister herself.

ii. Jayalalithaa launched ‘Amma Salt’ at the Secretariat here, which follows up her government’s earlier initiatives like the subsidised ‘Amma’ Canteens and ‘Amma’ Mineral Water.

iii. She has launched three varieties — Double Fortified, Low Sodium and Refined Free Flow Iodised Salt — under the ‘Amma’ Salt banner.

iv. ‘Amma Salt’, an initiative of the Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation, will now be available in the open market at prices lesser than those of private producers.

v. The Government will sell the same varieties of ‘Amma Salt’ at Rs 21, Rs 14 and Rs 10, it added.