Daily GK Updates - 30th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 30TH JULY, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Tripura: Pension for transgender launched: The Tripura Government has introduced a pension scheme for transgenders. Monthly pension up to Rs 500 would be given to transgenders. The council of ministers also decided to pay a monthly pension to women and patients suffering from leprosy and AIDS.

II. Maharashtra FDA chief Harshadeep Kamble to head top panel on online pharmacies: The central government has formed a sub-committee on issues related to online pharmacies under the chairmanship of Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Harshadeep Kamble.

III. Maharashtra’s first IIM unveiled in Nagpur: Maharashtra CM DevendraFadnavis has inaugurated the new Indian Institute of Management in Nagpur. The proposal of setting up of six IIMs was made by PM Modi last year. It is Maharashtra’s 1^st IIM and is being mentored by IIM Ahmedabad.

IV. Yakub Memon executed as Supreme Court rejected his fresh plea in pre-dawn hearing: 1993 Mumbai serial blasts lone death row convict, YakubMemon was hanged till death early in the morning at Nagpur Central Jail.

V. Union Cabinet approved RajyaSabha panel’s amendments on GST Bill, 2014: The RajyaSabha Select Committee chaired by Bhupender Yadav in its report submitted on 22^nd July 2015, suggested that compensation to the states should be made for 5 years instead of up to 5 years for any revenue loss due to introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

VI. Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty upon Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), Karnataka Television Association (KTVA) and Kannada Film Producers Association (KFPA) for contravening the Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002.

VII. ‘Visaarnai’ became the first Tamil film to enter Venice Film Festival: Actor Dhanush produced Tamil thriller ‘Visaarnai’ will have its world premiere at 72^nd Venice International Film Festival.

VIII. Union Cabinet approved setting up of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to back new and stressed projects which may help restart the investment cycle: The fund will have an initial corpus of 20,000 crore rupees which can be leveraged by infrastructure companies.

IX. Cyclone Komen formed over Bay of Bengal: Cyclone Komen, a new tropical cyclone formed over Northern Bay of Bengal which is expected to make landfall on the coast of Odisha and West Bengal.

X. Procter and Gamble (P&G) appoints David Taylor as its new CEO.

XI. Airtel appoints JigneshHegde as CEO of Sri Lanka operations.

XII. Kalyani Group partners with Israel’s Rafael to make Spike Missile: India’s Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael have partnered to produce Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) in India.

XIII.  Flipkart launches ‘India Art House’ for handicraft lovers.

XIV. Assam state government would set up a centre of innovation named after late former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who passed away on 27^th July 15.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I.  India, Slovak republic ink agreement for standards formulation: India and Slovak Republic signed an agreement to facilitate cooperation and exchange of information about standards formulation, testing facilities and third party product certification, among others.

II. E-tourist visa to Chinese nationals from July 30: As promised by PM Modi, e-tourist visa facility will be rolled out to Chinese nationals beginning from 30^th July, 2015. Along with the citizens of China, the e-tourist visa facility will also be offered to the nationals of Hong Kong and Macao.

III. Nepal Temple bans mass animal slaughter at festival: Nepalese temples authorities end a centuries-old Hindu Tradition of mass animal slaughter during Gadhimai festival that attracts hundreds of thousands of worshippers.

IV. UNSC failed to adopt proposal to create tribunal on crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was unable to adopt the resolution titled International Criminal Tribunal for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. The adoption of resolution would have established an international tribunal to prosecute persons responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 which crashed in Ukraine.

V. India to become most populous nation by 2022 according to the UN World Population Prospects: The United Nations released the report titled World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision at the UN Headquarters in New York. According to the report, India will surpass China to become the most populous nation in the world by 2022.

VI. Gates Foundation world’s wealthiest private charitable organisation: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has topped the list of the World’s wealthiest private foundations established by ultra-high net worth individuals, according to a Wealth-X report.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. IndusInd Bank acquires RBS’ bullion financing business for Rs 4,100 crore: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has completed the acquisition of the diamond and jewellery financing business and related deposit portfolio of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

II. SEBI cancelled certificate of Registration of Sahara Mutual Fund: The Securities and Exchange Board of India in its order said that the company is not fit and proper entity to carry out the business of mutual fund.

III. Kotak Bank launches ‘Kotak Bharat’ mobile banking app for unbanked regions.

SPORTS:

IV. Paytm bags BCCI sponsorship rights: Mobile marketplace and payments site Paytm has bagged the title sponsorship rights of BCCI for Rs 203 crore.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

V.  Anuradha Roy’s ‘Sleeping on Jupiter’ shortlisted for Man Booker Prize.

OBITUARIES:

VI. Eminent vocalist VasundharaKomkali died at her residence in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh at the age of 85.

Daily GK Updates - 29th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 29TH july, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Ashish Bahuguna appointed as Chairman of Food Safety Regulator FSSAI: His tenure will be of 3 years as the chairman of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and he will succeed K. Chandramauli whose tenure ended in January 2015. Earlier, B.P Sharma was given the interim charge of chairman of FSSAI.

II. Kerala to become 1^st Digital State: The state Government is moving ahead with plans to declare the state as the 1^st digital one in the country.

III. CCI imposed a penalty of 420 crore rupees on Hyundai: The Competition Commission of India imposed a penalty of 420 crore rupees on Hyundai as it was found to be guilty of anti-competitive practices in contravention of the Competition Act, 2002.

IV. Justice Mahajan Committee constituted for Re-drafting National Sports Development Code of India: Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports constituted a working group headed by Justive C K Mahajan, on re-drafting National Sports Development Code of India to make it more relevant from both sports governance and legal angles.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. GM to invest $1 billion in India to launch 10 Made-in-India vehicles over 5 years: General Motors, as part of Chevrolet’s global growth strategy said that it will invest $1 billion in India to strengthen its market here over the next 5 years.

II. General Council approved Kazakhstan’s membership terms to join WTO as 162^nd member: General Council of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. Switzerland approved the membership terms of Kazakhstan, thus enabling it to join the world trade body as 162^nd member.

III. World Hepatitis Day observed on 28^th July with a theme ‘Prevent Hepatitis, Act Now’.

IV.  World Tiger Day observed on 29^th July: India home to 70% of world’s Tigers: World Tiger Day is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation. The population in the country is estimated to be around 2,226 which is around 70% of the total Tiger population in the world.

 

 OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I. Raina signs up with Sports Management Group ‘IOS’ for 3 years: IOS Sports and Entertainment will now manage Raina’s endorsements and brand associations, corporate profile, patents and digital rights, images, visibility on social networking sites and merchandise.

II. Court of Arbitration for sports allowed Indian Athlete Dutee Chand to compete in Women’s event: The historic verdict was given by CAS chaired by Justice A.C Bennett. In its verdict CAS suspended the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) regulation governing eligibility of females with naturally-occurring Hyperandrogenism.

AWARDS:

III. SanjeevChaturvedi and Anshu Gupta win Ramon Magsaysay Award: SanjeevChaturvedi is a 2002-IFS officer and Anshu Gupta is the founder of Delhi based NGO ‘Goonj’ which works in 21 states across in disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development.

OBITUARIES:

IV. Former South African Cricket team skipper Clive Rice died at the age of 66.

V. Dr.Suniti Solomon, pioneering Indian HIV/AIDS researcher dies at 76.

Daily GK Updates - 28th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 28TH JULY, 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. R.I.P, “The Missile Man”: Former President of India A.P.J Abdul Kalam, widely acclaimed as the ‘people’s president’, passed away after collapsing during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong. He was the 11^th president of India and Chief of the Defence staff between 2002 and 2007. He had the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions.

II.  IT Secretary R S Sharma appointed as TRAI chairman. 

III. Renault India ropes in Ranbir Kapoor as Brand Ambassador: Automobile manufacturer Renault India celebrating its 4^th anniversary in India appointed Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador.

IV.  Maharashtra Government to develop six solar cities targeting solar capacity of 7,500 MW: The state government has placed a comprehensive plan to develop six solar cities to add solar capacity of 7,500 MW in the state.

V.  Bharti Realty tied-up with Eros Group to develop housing project: Bharti Realty, a Bharti Enterprises’ real estate firm tied up with Eros Group to develop a housing project at Surajkund, Delhi.

VI. Gujarat becomes the 1^st state to ink mandatory voting rule:  The Gujarat government issued a notification making voting in local body elections compulsory under the controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment), Act 2009 (2014).

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I.  Rajesh Exports buys world’s largest gold refining company Valcambi for Rs 2,560 cr: Jewellery Company Rajesh Exports Ltd bought Valcambi, the world’s largest gold refining company, in an all cash deal worth $400 mn.

II. Bangladesh part of Sundarbans witnessed rapid decline in tiger population between 2004 and 2015: As per the Tiger Census 2015, the number of tigers in Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans declined sharply from 440 in 2004 to 106 in 2015.

III.  28^th July celebrated as The World Hepatitis Day.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I.  ADB to give $300 mn loan to India: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a loan of $300 mn to India for improving road connectivity and increasing the domestic and regional trade along the North Bengal- North Eastern Region.

II. Axis Bank signs $200 mn loan agreement with ADB: Axis Bank signed a $200 mn, seven year bilateral loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank. The loan will help bolster Bank’s efforts to improve farm efficiency by extending customised and affordable agriculture credits.

SPORTS:

III. Mexico defeat Jamaica 3-1 in Gold Cup Final: A. Guardado became the 1^st player to score in three Gold Cup finals and Mexico defeated Jamaica in the North American regional football tournament, stretching their record trophy total to seven.

IV.   Indian women wrestling team wins silver medal in the Kazakhstan Presidential Cup: Indian women’s wrestling team has won the silver medal after finishing second in the 5^th Senior International Wrestling Tournament (also known as cup of the President of Republic of Kazakhstan).  

V. S.Shreesanth freed from all charges of spot fixing during the IPL tournament and now wants his ban to be lifted.

VI. R.Oltmans appointed as India Hockey coach till Rio Olympics: He has been appointed the coach of the Indian Hockey team replacing Paul Van Ass.

AWARDS:

VII. BEL bags Dun Bradstreet’s India’s Top PSUs Awards 2015: The defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd became the front runner in the Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘India’s top PSUs Awards 2015 in the category of electrical and electronic equipment sector.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

VIII. The book titled ‘Ghosts of Calcutta’ written by Sebastian Ortiz was released.

OBITUARIES:

IX.  Physicist P. Hariharan passed away in Berkeley, California.

X.   S. Kadirgamar, the veteran Sri Lankan historian passed away.