Daily GK Updates - 19th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 19TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I.     Kochi Airport becomes world’s 1^st to operate on solar power: Kerala CM OommenChandy inaugurated the 12 MWp solar power plant comprising 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres near the cargo complex.

II.  Tata Trusts to develop264 villages in Vijayawada under SansadAdarsh GramYojana(SAGY) initiative.

III.    LIC launches maiden unit linked insurance plan (ULIP): The ULIP which is also called as ‘New Endowment Plus’ offers investment-cum-insurance provision during the term policy providing dual benefit for the policy holder.

IV.       PM Modi announces 1.25 lakh crore Bihar Package.

V.     TajMahal world’s 5^th travel hotspots: Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet’s ‘Ultimate Travelist’ ranks historic mausoleum built in Agra by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as 5^th most attractive travel hotspot in the world.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        Happy World Photography Day to all shutterbugs: The World Photography Day was celebrated all over the globe on 19^th August 2015.

II.       Sri Lankan General Elections 2015: UNFGG emerges as largest group: Sri Lanka flocked to the polls for its 2015 Parliamentary elections, where Sri Lankan PM RanilWickremesinghe’s alliance emerged as the single largest group. His alliance United Front for Good Governance has emerged as the single largest group but has failed to secure an outright win.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

 I.          Reserve Bank of India suspends licences of Religare Finance, 6 other NBFCs: RBI suspended licences of 7 non-banking finance companies, including Religare finance, which the company said is a dormant entity and would not affect its business.

II.      SBI launches mobile wallet app ‘Buddy’: Country’s largest lender SBI launched a mobile wallet app, SBI Buddy, in collaboration with Accenture and Mastercard. The mobile wallet app can be used to send money to new and registered customers, book for movies, flights, hotels as well as shopping.

III.       Kishor Piraji Kharat takes charge as MD & CEO of IDBI Bank.

IV.   Finance Minister launches two funds for promoting MSMEs and Start-ups: ArunJaitley launched two funds, the India Aspiration Fund (IAF) and SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE) under Small Industries Development Bank of India in line to cater funding for start-ups and to aid small enterprises in India.

V.       BSE sets up new system for reporting suspicious trades: Bombay Stock Exchange has instituted new system, Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) for reporting suspicious trades in order to check money laundering through stock markets.

SPORTS:

VI.    Australia’s Opening Batsman Chris Rogers confirms Test retirement after Ashes series.

VII.     Bangladesh lifted South Asian Football Federation U-16 title.

VIII. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) chief A. Sumariwalla elected as one of the members of the prestigious council of the IAAF, the global governing body of the sport.

IX.    TPP Nair, S P Mishra, Romeo James recommended for 2015 Dhyan Chand Award.

AWARDS:

   X.   Kalam Award for ISRO scientist: TN CM Jayalalitha presented the 1^st APJ Abdul Kalam Award to ISRO scientist N. Valarmathi, who led the team that successfully launched Radar Imaging Satellite RISAT-1 in 2012.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

XI.    Book titled ‘The KubhMela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity’ authored by TarunKhanna was released by UP CM Akhilesh Yadav.

OBITUARIES:

XII.  First Lady Suvra Mukherjee passes away: Wife of President Pranab Mukherjee passed away at the age of 74.She founded the ‘Geetanjali Troupe’ whose mission is to propagate Rabindranath Tagore’s philosophy as expressed through his songs and dance dramas.

XIII.  Malayalam Actor Paravoor Bharathan died at the age of 86.