Daily Gk Update 21 June 2013

Daily Gk Update 21 June 2013 Current Affairs 21 June 2013

Delhi University : higher cut-offs in the offing

The cut-offs at St Stephen’s College has shot up by an average of 0.5% and 1%, raising speculation that the cut-offs at other campus colleges might follow the trend.

Even though the cut-offs of other colleges are scheduled to be declared on June 27, the calculations have already begun in the cradles. 

St Stephen’s cut-offs will also act as an indicator for other colleges to respond.

“The cut-off declared by St Stephen’s College does matter as it gives us a trend. Other colleges such as Shri Ram College for Commerce and Lady Shri Ram College for Women also take note of the Stephen’s cut-offs. 

It is quite clear that the cut-offs in all campus colleges will go up a little this year,” said Rajendra Prasad, principal, Ramjas College. 

World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day is being observed .

This year the theme of the day is - Take One Minute to Support a Family Forced to Flee.This day is observed to honour the courage, strength and determination of people who are forced to flee their homelands under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.

The day was designated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, to bring attention to the plight of refugees around the world.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called upon countries to work together to mobolize the political will and leadership to prevent and end the conflicts that trigger refugee flows.

According to new statistics issued by UNHCR this week, the number of uprooted persons worldwide stood at 42 million at the end of last year. This total includes 16 million refugees and asylum seekers and 26 million internally displaced people uprooted within their own countries.

Best-selling author Vince Flynn dies at age 47

Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. 

Flynn was supporting himself by bartending when he self-published his first novel, "Term Limits," in 1997 after getting more than 60 rejection letters. 

After it became a local best-seller, Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint, signed him to a two-book deal - and "Term Limits" became a New York Times best-seller in paperback.

A man of almost superhero powers, Mitch Rapp races the clock to foil terrorists' plans to detonate a nuclear warhead in Washington in "Memorial Day" (2004), battles terrorists who seize the White House and take hostages in "Transfer of Power" (1999) and is out for vengeance after a Saudi billionaire puts a bounty on his head in "Consent to Kill" (2005).

Schneeman, the family friend, said Flynn had been working on his next book as recently as Valentine's Day, when she and her husband vacationed with the Flynns in Mexico.

Development for a Mitch Rapp movie based on 2010's "American Assassin" remains on track, said Grey Munford, a spokesman for CBS Films, which plans to build an action-thriller franchise around the character. Bruce Willis has signed on to play Rapp's mentor, Stan Hurley. 

Munford said an announcement about the movie is expected soon.

Flynn is survived by his wife, Lysa Flynn, and three children. A Mass will be celebrated Monday

PM announced 1000 crore rupees as Disaster Relief Fund for Uttarakhand

Government of India on 19 June 2013 announced a disaster relief fund of 1000 crore rupees to Uttarakhand. Of the total fund announced, 145 crore rupees will be released by the Government immediately. 

The decision of the disaster relief package was decided by the Prime Minister of India after taking an aerial survey of disaster affected areas of Uttrakhand. 

Apart from the relief fund announced for the state, an ex-gratia assistance of 2 lakh rupees each to the families of those who have lost their lives and 50000 rupees to those who have been injured during the landslides and flood in the state will be provided from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

For those, who have completely lost their houses the PMNRF ex-gratia assistance of Rs.1 lakh each will be provided, whereas 50000 rupees each will be given to those whose houses have been damaged. 

Uttrakhand in the third week of June 2013 was stuck by flash floods and landslides. During this natural disaster in the state, more than 100 people lost their life.

Kretser wins top Australia literary prize

Sri Lankan-born author Michelle de Kretser won Australia's top literature prize awarded the Miles Franklin award for her novel "Questions of Travel" that follows two people on separate journeys.

She was chosen from a shortlist of five writers, all of whom were female, to

win the A$60,000 ($57,000) prize. 

Also on the shortlist were Romy Ash, Annah Faulkner, Drusilla Modjeska, and Carrie Tiffany.

Kretser was born in Sri Lanka and moved to Australia in 1957 at the age of 14.

She is also the award-winning author of "The Rose Grower", "The Hamilton Case" and "The Lost Dog" which won the 2008 NSW Premier's Book of the Year Award and was long listed for the 2008 Man Booker Prize and the 2008 Orange Prize for Fiction.

The Miles Franklin award, set up in 1954, is Australia most prestigious annual literary award and is awarded to authors whose works reflect "Australian life in any of its phases".

The award was founded by the Australian novelist Miles Franklin who is best known for her 1901 novel "My Brilliant Career". 

No Kedarnath-Badrinath pilgrimage for 2-3 years

Pilgrimage to the shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand cannot resume for three years due to extensive damage caused by heavy rains and floods, an official said Thursday.

According to officials of the two shrines, the two pilgrimage towns have been so badly devastated that there was nothing "but mud, devastation and death" around the highly revered temples visited by millions.

Survivor says nothing left in Kedarnath except the temple.

Sukhatia, who has difficulty in standing properly even now, said he is 63 but has never witnessed such a horrible scene earlier.

The chances of reviving the pilgrimage "for the next few years" was grim, chief executive Officer of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee BD Singh said.

Spain opens privacy case against Google

Spain launched sanction proceedings against Google Inc. on Thursday for suspected serious breaches of data protection laws, acting just hours after France threatened the group with big fines.

The Spanish Data Protection Agency said it found evidence of five serious privacy law

Spain said Google Spain and Google Inc.'s new policy could allow it to combine personal information collected from different services and use it for other ends.

breaches -- each punishable with fines of up to 300,000 euros ($395,000).

The data protection agency listed the suspected serious infractions as:

* Disproportionate use of private data;
* Diverting private data for other uses;
* Storing private data for excessive or undetermined periods;
* Failure to handle private data in a legitimate way;
* Obstructing users in the exercise of their rights.

Google has defended the changes it made last year on the ground that they simplify and standardise its approach across its various services.

India proposes China to be principal guest country at IFFI-14

India has invited China to become the 'principal guest country' at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014, which is scheduled to be held in Goa, I&B Min Manish Tewari said.

We have also requested them to send classical Chinese films to the IFFI in Goa later this year in November," Tewari said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

 Fuchao, who is visiting India for the inaugural ceremony of the Chinese Film Festival being held in New Delhi, said the two countries should develop their ties from strategic and long perspective and that included strengthening bilateral ties in areas of film and culture.

The Chinese minister also expressed enthusiam for co-production of films by the two countries.

The possibility of having enhanced exchanges in the field of films or exchange of personnel of public broadcasters, cooperation between film industries and regular student exchange between the film institutes in India and the Beijing film school, were also discussed

Top 20 airlines in the world The World's Best Airline

1. Emirates
2. Qatar Airways
3. Singapore Airlines
4. ANA All Nippon Airways
5. Asiana Airlines
6. Cathay Pacific Airways
7. Etihad Airways
8. Garuda Indonesia
9. Turkish Airlines
10. Qantas Airways
11. Lufthansa
12. EVA Air
13.Virgin Australia
14. Malaysia Air
15. Thai Airways
16. Swiss Int’l Air Lines
17. Korean Air
18. Air New Zealand
19. Hainan Airlines
20. Air Canada

After enjoying a two-year winning streak at the top, Qatar Airways ceded its title as the world’s leading carrier to its Middle Eastern

rival Emirates, which beat out more than 200 airlines to take the top spot.

Dubai-based Emirates has succeeded in unseating Qatar Airways to be named the Airline of the Year at the World Airline Awards in Paris this week. Winners of the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2013, announced at the Paris Air Show, are based on 18 million customer surveys completed between July 2012 and May 2013 from passengers in 160 countries.