Daily GK Updates - 25th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 25TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.       Union Government released Postal Stamp on Ashoka: Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad released a commemorative postal stamp on emperor Ashoka. The postal stamp of Rs 5 will be available for sale in the post offices.

II.    Jains held nationwide protest against ban on Santhara by Rajasthan High Court:Santhara, an ancient ritual also called Samadhi Marana, is the voluntary starvation to embrace death. The court termed it as a criminal offence under the section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.

III.       Justice M L Tahaliyani sworn-in as Lokayukta of Maharashtra.

IV.      India-Australia signed MoU on cooperation in the fields of education, research and training: The MoU was signed by HRD Minister SmritiIrani and Christopher Pyne MP, Minister for Education and Training, Australia during the meeting of the Australia-India Education Council (AIEC) in New Delhi.

V.          NITI Ayog decided to set up expert group to draft Model Land Leasing Law.

VI.      105-year-old Urdu copy of Ramcharitamanas written by Shiv Bharat Lal found: It was found from a scrap market at HauzKhas in New Delhi. The book written in 1904 and printed in 1910 was bought for Rs 600 by SankatMochan temple priest family.

VII.   eBird India Taxonomists reclassified Indian Bird species: The Taxonomists gave out a list of species that includes all species, subspecies groups, hybrids, intergrades, spuhs, slashes, domestics and forms.

VIII.  Government, Apollo Hospitals partner to launch new health service: It launched a health service called SEHAT (Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine) along with Apollo Hospitals which will connect 60,000 Common Services Centre (CSCs) across the country to a common network.

IX.      Extended implementation of APY through Post Offices: Government has decided to extend the benefit of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) through post offices across the country to bring more people under its ambit.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 I.         India, Egypt agree to step up bilateral cooperation: India and Egypt decided to put in place a bilateral framework for enhancing cooperation in key areas of security, counterterrorism, defence and investments. Both sides agreed to step up engagement in a range of potential areas while underlining the need to combat terrorism particularly the threat of IS in an effective manner as visiting External Affairs Minister ShushmaSwaraj called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

II.     Two Guatemala ministers resigned amidst allegations of import bribery scandal: Guatemala’s Finance Minister D. Carias and Communication Minister V. Corado resigned from their positions as a result of mounting allegations against officials and ministers in the government for their involvement in the La Linea (the line) import bribery scheme.

III.  Indian-American Vince Chhabria appointed as a full-time federal judge by Obama: He was appointed as the full time federal judge of the California Court by President Barack Obama.

IV.       India and Nepal signed MoU for construction of Petroleum Products pipeline: The petroleum product pipeline will be built from Raxaul in India to Amlekhganj in Nepal.

V.         Seychelles President on a 3 day visit to India: Mr. Michael will deliver an address on Maritime Security for Blue Economy at the Indian Council for World Affairs besides addressing a business event.

VI.     Typhoon Goni rips through Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    RBI okays re-appointment of Rana Kapoor as YES Bank MD, CEO: Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor has got approval from the RBI for his re-appointment as MD and CEO of the bank for 3 years.

SPORTS:

II.         Raipur to host 2015 FIH Hockey World League final.

III.  Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser retained Women’s 100m gold at World Championships in Athletics.

Daily GK Updates - 24th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 24TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.     Indian Air Force MiG-21 Bison Aircraft crashed in Budgam in Jammu & Kashmir, Pilot ejected safely: The single seater MiG-21 aircraft had taken off from Srinagar airfield and was on a routine training sortie.

II.      Delhi Jal Board (DJB) commissioned 1^st ever Hydro-power plant at Chilla: The power plant set up at Chilla area of east Delhi will be run through Hydraulic turbine propelled by treated effluents coming out of a sewage treatment plant.

III.    Amol Palekar appointed as chairman of India’s Oscar jury: Veteran Actor-director AmolPalekar has been appointed as chairman of India’s Oscar jury which will select the country’s official entry in best foreign film category of the 88^th Academy Awards.

IV.    DRDO ties up with Ramdev to market supplements, food products: India’s premier defence research organisation DRDO has now roped yoga guru Ramdev’sPatanjali Ayurveda Limited to manufacture and market in the country and abroad some herbal supplements and food products developed by it.

V.    20,000 railway coaches to have CCTV cameras with Rs 700 crore Nirbhaya Fund: To strengthen security on trains, Indian Railways is expediting the process of installing CCTV surveillance cameras in 20,000 coaches at a cost of Rs 700 crore which will be delivered from Nirbhaya Fund.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.       Palmyra’s temple of Baal Shamin destroyed by ISIS militants: Baal Shamin was one of the two supreme gods of pre-Islamic Palmyra in ancient Syria. Palmyra is also known as the Pearl of Desert and Tadmur.

II.    UNFCCC, MSSRF to work for conservation of coastal resources of Andhra Pradesh: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Chennai based M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) agreed to work together for the conservation of coastal resources in Andhra Pradesh.

III.    Finally, Women in Saudi Arabia allowed to vote: For the 1^st time in the history of Saudi Arabia, women have finally been allowed to participate in elections and cast their vote.

IV.    Pakistan cancels Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference amid row over not inviting J&K Assembly speaker: The meet to be held in September was cancelled as India had threatened to boycott the meet if Pakistan did not extend invite to J&K Assembly speaker. The meet will now be held in New York in the month of October.

V.        US top medical body American College of Cardiology has collaborated with Apollo Hospitals to expand medical education in India by providing new opportunities to cardiovascular physicians to improve their skills.

VI.       Jennifer Lawrence, the 25-year old ‘Hunger Games’ actress is the world’s highest paid actress according to a new ranking published by Forbes.

VII.    Oil sinks below $40 for the 1^st time since 2009: Crude crumbled below $40 a barrel for the first time since March 2009. The latest crash in oil prices in another sign that the world still has more oil than it knows what to do with it at a time when uncertainty on global growth reigns supreme.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.     Bandhan Bank started operations as Scheduled Commercial Bank: The Banking services were inaugurated by Finance Minister ArunJaitley in Kolkata. With this Bandhan Financial Services became the first micro finance company in the country to start operations as a full-fledged commercial bank. Chandra ShekharGhosh is the CEO and MD of Bandhan Bank.

SPORTS:

II.        England won Ashes Series 3-2: In the fifth and the final match of the series, Australia defeated England by an innings and 46 runs at Ovals. But England had already clinched the series with victories in three of the first four games. Chris Rogers of Australia and Joe Root of England jointly shared the Man of the Series Award. Also, two legendary batsmen of Australia Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers retired from International Cricket with the end of this Ashes Series. Steve Smith was name the new captain for Australia.

III.      India beat Sri Lanka by 278 runs in the 2^nd test match of the Cricbuzz Cup: K L Rahul of India was adjudged Man of the Match for his outstanding ton in the first innings. With this match, Sri Lankan cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara retired from all forms of International Cricket.

IV.      Golfer Aditi Ashok became first Indian to win the Ladies British Amateur Golf Championship:17 year old Aditi is not only the 1^st Indian to take the title, but also the youngest-ever winner of the tournament.

V.     British Lewis Hamilton eases to Belgian GP win ahead of team-mate Nico Roseberg: Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Roseberg to take a dominant win at the Belgian Grand Prix held at Spa to extend his championship lead.

VI.      Serena William won Cincinnati Masters Women single’s title for the second time: World no. 1 Serena defeated world no. 3 Simona Halep of Romania to achieve the feat.

VII.    Roger Federer won Cincinnati Masters Men single’s title for record seventh time: He defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia to win the tournament.

VIII.   Usain Bolt of Jamaica won 100m title at 2015 World Championship of Athletics in Beijing.

IX.    Pro Kabaddi League 2015 Finals: U Mumba crowned champions after thrilling win over Bengaluru Bulls.

AWARDS:

  XI.    Syrian woman Journalist ZainaErhaim wins 2015 Peter Mackler Award: She has won the prestigious award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.

Daily GK Updates : 23rd August, 2015

Daily GK Updates : 23rd August, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Google to promote Digital Literacy in Haryana: Search engine giant Google has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the government of Haryana to promote digital literacy in the state.

II.            A P Shah committee recommends MAT relief to FIIs: This recommendation is considered as a big relief to FIIs as government had exempted them from Minimum Alternate Tax starting from April 1, 2015 in the Union Budget for 2015-16 but had not made the clarification retrospective imposition.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.            After war of words, India and Pakistan decide not to talk: National Security Advisor (NSA) level meeting between India and Pakistan has been cancelled after Pakistan NSA Sartaz Aziz said that it cannot be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India.

II.            Rival Koreas hold talks to defuse war fears: South Korea and North Korea held their 1^st high-level talks in nearly a year at a border village to defuse mounting tensions that have pushed the rivals to the brink of a possible military confrontation.

III.            Germany bars marketing of 54 drugs tested by GVK Bio: Germany’s drug regulator has suspended the marketing of 54 medicines clinically tested by India’s GVK Biosciences in compliance with the European Union’s ban on around 700 generic drugs.

IV.            Brain in a Jar: U S Scientists claim to have grown a human brain using stem cells for research purposes: Scientists at Ohio State University have successfully grown a near exact replica of a five week old foetus’s brain. The brain ‘organoid’ was created from reprogrammed skin cells and is about the size of a pencil eraser.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               Back as World No.1, SainaNehwal signs Rs 25 crore deals: The World Championships’ Silver medallist regained top spot ahead of Carolina Marin and also struck a landmark deal with Management Company IOS Sports and Entertainment.

OBITUARIES:

   I.            Former Australian opener Arthur Morris, a member of Don Bradman’s 1948 ‘Invincible’ team, has died at the age of 93.