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.