10th August 2015 Current Affair Updates | Daily GK Download

1. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed new Governors for Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. Acharya Dev Vrat has been appointed the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Ram Nath Kovind, a BJP politician from UP, has been named governor of Bihar.

2. A global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction - GlobalSat for DRR - proposed under the UN framework is to be dedicated to A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a tribute to the vision of the Missile Man of India and former Indian President who died on July 27. The "GlobalSat for DRR" is a UN-driven global initiative on sharing space technology for disaster risk reduction.

3. The Centre is going to extend the facility of E-Tourist Visa to 36 more countries from the 15th of this month. With this addition, the total count of countries under the scheme will go upto 113. Simultaneously, the Centre is going to add 7 more Indian airports as designated airports for entry on E-Tourist Visa from the 15th of this month. With this, the total number of designated airports will become 16. The Centre launched this scheme in November last year. Since the launch of this scheme more than 2 lakhs e-Tourist Visas have been issued till now.

4. India and Myanmar inked an agreement to set up Centre of Excellence in Software Development and Training (CESDT) in Myanmar. The project to be set up with the financial support through ASEAN-India Cooperation fund will be implemented by C-DAC. The project envisages setting up of a state of the art Information and Communication Technology Centre, imparting intensive teachers training, extending support for ICT curriculum development, and will be accredited as an authorized Centre of C-DAC.

5. As per India State of Forest Report – 2013, the total forest cover in the country is 697,898 square kilometers which is 21.23% of the total geographical area of the country. There is a net increase of 5871 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest Report – 2011. It is also been mentioned in the report that the density of population has increased in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

6. Global electronic manufacturing giant Foxconn announced to invest $ 5 billion over the next five years in Maharashtra to establish electronic manufacturing plant in the state. Foxconn is a Taiwan-based company. According to Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou the facility in Maharashtra will focus on research and development as well as manufacturing, and the company has chosen the state for being a financial centre, availability of quality talent and software-hardware integration facilities.

7. Zhanna Nemtsova, the daughter of slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, has been awarded Poland's Solidarity Prize 2015. Nemtsova received the award for championing democracy and human rights. Zhanna Nemtsova recieved prize money of 1.1 million US dollars.

8. Global technology and consultancy giant Accenture elevated Rekha M. Menon as chairman of its India operations. It has also roped in Anindya Basu as the managing director (MD) in India. These appointments are effective from August 21, 2015.

9. Michael Phelps clocked a stunning 1min 52.94sec to win the 200m butterfly at the US swimming championships 2015. Matt Conger came at second place with 1min 54.54sec. Phelps has posed the fastest time in the world this year -- eclipsing Hungarian Laszlo Cseh's world championship-winning time of 1:53.48. It's the fastest time Phelps has produced in the event since he set the world record of 1:51.51 in 2009.