Daiily GK Updates - 13th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 13TH AUGUST, 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.     POSCO, Uttam Galva arm to set up steel plant in Maharashtra: South Korean steel-maker POSCO and Shree Uttam Steel and Power Ltd have agreed to set up a three million tonne per year integrated steel plant in western Maharashtra state.

II.    Premji, Nadar among Forbes’ 20 richest people in technology world: Wipro chairman Azim Premji and HCL founder Shiv Nadar are the only two Indian tycoons in the top 20 richest people in the world of technology, according to an inaugural list by Forbes, topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Premji is ranked 13^th followed by Nadar on the 14^th spot.

III.      Woman IPS Officer scales new heights: Aparna Kumar, 2002 batch IPS Officer of the UP cadre, added a feather to her cap when she scaled Mount Elbrus in Russia, which is the highest mountain peak in Europe.

IV.       Acharya Dev Vrat sworn in as Himachal Governer.

V.         Government raises import duty on base metal items by 2.5%: The Government has increased the import duty on base metal items made of steel, iron, copper, nickel and aluminium by 2.5% drawing praise from domestic producer but annoying end users such as engineering exporters.

VI.       Jethabhai Patel re-elected as Amul Chairman.

VII.  Union Government approved MoU between India, Nepal for construction of petroleum pipeline: The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the signing of a MoU between India and Nepal for the construction of a petroleum products pipeline from Raxaul (India) to Amlekhgunj (Nepal).

VIII.  Union cabinet nod for India, US MoU on cooperation to establish the Pace Setter Fund: The PSF seeks to support the Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) track of the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE).

IX.    Sudhakar Shetty elected as the President of Gymnastic Federation of India: He succeeds Jaspal Singh Kandhari.

X.    Survey started to erect memorial for Dr. Kalam at Rameshwaram: Preliminary survey of the place where the mortal remains of former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had been laid to rest at Rameshwaram was started by a team of officials from CPWD and Tamil Nadu Government.

XI.    Union Government approved 300 crore package to save standing kharif crops from weak monsoon.

XII.   Jayant Patel appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court.

XIII.Indian Railways signed 4 MoUs with Union Ministries of Power and New & Renewable Energy: The MoUs were signed for Cooperation in areas of electricity transmission, energy conservation and promotion of renewable energy in a time bound manner.

XIV.  Coca-Cola India signs Sourav Ganguly for 3 years as social ambassador.

XV.  Uninor signed worth Rs 1200 crore with Huawei for modernising its network: Uninor, a subsidiary of Norway’s telecom major Telenor has inked an agreement worth Rs 1200 crore with Chinese firm Huawei for modernising and managing its network across six circles in the country.

 

XVI. Government sanctioned 1500 MW ultra-mega solar power park for Andhra Pradesh: The 1500 MW ultra-mega solar power park will be developed in Kadapa district by NTPC.

XVII. O P Rawat has been appointed as the new Election Commissioner: While Nasim Zaidi is the Chief Election Commissioner; Achal Kumar Jyoti is the other Election Commissioner.

   

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

  I.      Astronauts eat food grown in space: Astronauts have taken the first bites of food grown entirely in space and harvested from their own space garden on board the International Space Station (ISS). The harvest comes from the NASA’s Veg-01 experiment.

II.       Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), owned by Tata Motors, signed a letter of intent with the government of the Slovak Republic for the potential development of a new manufacturing plant in the city of Nitra in western Slovakia.

III.    China and Pakistan signed deals worth 1.6 billion USD to implement CPEC: Both the countries signed the deals to implement the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

AWARDS:

  I.    Urdu Author Shamim Hanfi chosen for the 1^st Jnangarima Manad Alankaran Award, instituted by the Bhartiya Jnanpith.