Daily GK Update [6th June 2015]

1. India, Bangladesh make history with land swap

i. India and Bangladesh on Saturday sealed a historic agreement that will settle a 41-year-old land boundary dispute through exchange of territories, removing a major irritant in bilateral ties.

ii. The two sides exchanged documents regarding the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) that was passed unanimously by the Parliament last month in the presence of Mr. Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

iii. The exchange of documents paves way for the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh LBA that provides for exchange of 161 enclaves between the two countries. A total 111 border enclaves will be transferred to Bangladesh in exchange for 51 that will become part of India.

iv. Under the agreement, India will have an advantage of 500 acres and 10,000 acres will go to Bangladesh.

2. Naidu performs bhoomi pooja for AP capital

i. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his wife Bhuvaneswari performed bhoomi pooja at around 8.49 a.m. for the new capital — Amaravati — at Mandadam village in Guntur district.

ii. Chief Minister's son and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers welfare committee convener Nara Lokesh; Union Ministers Nirmala Sitaraman and Sujana Chowdary were among those present for the ceremony.

iii. The ancient city of Amaravathi is being developed separately from the new capital zone as a heritage town with funds from the Centre. 

3. RPower to invest $3 bn in Bangladesh power plant

i. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power on Saturday signed an agreement to invest $ 3 billion in setting up a mega power plant and a floating LNG import terminal in Bangladesh which faces acute power shortages.

ii. Reliance Power will set up a 2 million tonnes a year floating LNG import terminal as well as 3,000 megawatt power plant, according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Sameer Gupta, Executive vice-president of Reliance Power.

iii. The company will invest in an integrated facility comprising of 3,000 MW of LNG based combined cycle power plant and LNG Terminal with a Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU).

4. Govt picks new DRDO chief, scientific advisor to defence minister

i. The government Thursday appointed S Christopher, 59, as Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development-cum-Director Ge-neral, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

ii. G S Reddy, 51, has been appointed as scientific advisor to the Defence Minister. 

iii. DRDO has been functioning without a full-time head since January 31, when Avinash Chander resigned. 

5. South Korea Tests New Ballistic Missile

i. South Korea successfully test fired a ballistic missile capable of hitting targets anywhere in North Korea.

ii. The test demonstrated improved ballistic missile capability that can strike all parts of North Korea swiftly, and with precision, in the event of armed aggression or provocation.

iii. The Hyunmoo-2B is an upgraded version of the Hyunmoo-2A, both of which were developed by the state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD). 

6. Dravid for India Under-19 coach

i. BCCI has announced Rahul Dravid as the coach of India A team and Indian U 19 cricket team.

ii. Working with the under-19 and 'A' teams might be the perfect solution as Dravid can make a tangible contribution without placing too much demand on his time.

iii. Dravid had a short stint as mentor of the Indian team before the series in England last year and several players spoke highly of their interactions with the former India captain.