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Daily GK Update [23rd April, 2016]

Bhupendra Kainthola is new FTII director
i. Bhupendra Kainthola, an Indian Information Service (IIS) officer of 1989 batch, has been appointed as the new Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
ii. The Directorate of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued an order to this effect on Saturday. This appointment process, which commenced in February 2015, took over a year to finish.


iii. Since D J Narain, former institute director, completed his term in July 2015, the post was being occupied by a part-timer, Prashant Pathrabe, a director with the Press Information Bureau for last nine months.
iv. A great part of Pathrabe’s tenure went into handling the agitation by students’ to oppose appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman of institute’s Governing Council.
v. Kainthola, who holds a Masters in International Relations from the University of Mumbai, is presently serving as Director (News Room) with DD News since January 2015 and has been responsible for ‘management of news operations and output’.
vi.Previously, he has worked with PIB, Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Film Festival (as Director, National Film Awards and Indian Panorama) and Lok Sabha Television.

India signs climate pact along with over 170 states at UN
i. India today signed the historic Paris climate agreement here along with more than 170 nations, marking a significant step that has brought together developing and developed nations for beginning work on cutting down greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming.

ii. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the agreement in the UN General Assembly hall at a high-level ceremony hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The ceremony was attended by heads of government, ministers, corporate leaders and artists.
iii. At 175 nations, the signing ceremony for the climate agreement set the record for the most countries to sign an international agreement on one day, previously set in 1982, when 119 countries signed the Law of the Sea Convention.
iv. The agreement can enter into force 30 days after at least 55 Parties to the UNFCCC, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, ratify the agreement.

Uber partners with FICCI, Gujarat Tourism for soft skill training
i. Cab aggregator, Uber has entered into a partnership with Gujarat Tourism and FICCI in Ahmedabad city to facilitate training for Uber driver-partners.
ii. The training is designed and conducted by Ace Driving & Road Safety Education Pvt Ltd on areas of Safe Driving and Interpersonal Skills of the drivers, in order to improve the overall rider experience in Gujarat.
iii. According to a statement from Uber, the training will be conducted on an ongoing basis and will be optional for all Uber driver-partners. All drivers who attend the training will be certified by FICCI and Gujarat Tourism under their program, it added.
iv. The first such training took place on March 30 2016 with over 40 Uber driver-partners attending the session, which covered some of the topics like Safety and Regulations, Interpersonal Skills With Co-Passengers, Drivers etiquette, Correct seating posture, Proper attitude towards riders and customers, do’s and don’ts while dealing with riders, taking proper care of the vehicle and himself (hygiene), precautions for lady passengers and management of emergency situations among others.

PM To Launch Rs. 8,000 crore Scheme For Free LPG Connections To Poor
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1 will launch Rs. 8,000 crore scheme to provide 5 crore free LPG connections to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families using the money saved from 1.13 crore cooking gas users voluntarily giving up their subsidies.
ii. The scheme is called Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Mr. Modi will be launching it on May 1 at Ballia in Uttar Pradesh and Dahod in Gujarat on May 15.
iii. Maharashtra tops the list with 16.44 lakh consumers giving up subsidies, then Uttar Pradesh where nearly 13 lakh users gave up subsidies, followed by Delhi with 7.26 lakh people giving up subsidies.
iv. Prime Minister’s home state Gujarat was way down the list with just 4.2 lakh giving up subsidies. In Odisha around 1.3 lakh people gave up subsidies.
v. The Government had launched the ‘GiveItUp’ campaign which was aimed at motivating LPG users who can afford to pay the market price for LPG to voluntarily surrender their LPG subsidy.

World Book and Copyright Day:23rd April
i. World Book Day is an annual event celebrated every year by the people all over the world on 23rd of April. It is the most important event organized annually by the UNESCO in order to promote the reading, publishing and copyright among the public worldwide.
ii. Generally, it is celebrated by the authors, illustrators and to encourage reading among common public. Copyright is a big issue in the world of books and writing, there is always a focus on the issue on the World Book Day. Therefore, in many parts of the world, this day is also known as the World Book and Copyright Day.
iii. The date is decided by UNESCO as it was also the death and birth anniversary of William Shakespeare, a world famous English poet, playwright, and actor.

Jitu Rai finishes sixth at Shooting World Cup
i. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai finished sixth in the men's 50m pistol event on the fifth day of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup being held at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Rio de Janeiro.

ii. Jitu, who is the world number one in the event, qualified for the finals in fourth position, shooting a score of 563.
iii. In the other event, the men's Double Trap, Indian youngster Ankur Mittal led the qualifications till the third round with 30 shots each, only to see his hopes of making the finals fade away after shooting scores of 23 and 24 in the last two rounds.

Hong Kong's Irfan Ahmed suspended for two years and six months
i. The ICC has suspended Hong Kong allrounder Irfan Ahmed for two years and six months after he admitted to breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. Ahmed has accepted the suspension and waived his right to appeal.

ii. The allrounder was charged under Article 2.4.2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code which states, "Failing to disclose to the ACU (without undue delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in conduct that would amount to a breach of the Anti-Corruption Code."
iii. The 26-year-old Ahmed has played six ODIs since his debut in 2008, as well as eight T20Is, the last of which was in July 2015. He had been in the top bracket for centrally contracted cricketers in Hong Kong in 2014-15, but was not retained for the 2015-16 season.

BCCI To Host First Day-Night Test Against New Zealand This Year
i. BCCI is all set to host its first-ever day and night cricket Test with the pink ball during New Zealand tour to India.
ii. India will host New Zealand in a day-night Test match to be played with a pink ball.
iii. Before that Duleep Trophy will act as a dress rehearsal for the day-night Test match
iv. The main objective of the Duleep Trophy will be to check how the pink kookaburra behaves under the light in sub-continental conditions.

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