Daily GK Updates - 4th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 4TH AUGUST, 2015

 NATIONAL UPDATES:

    I.   Tamil Nadu Government launches 352 lactating mother’s room, milk banks: With an aim to help lactating mothers who are travelling, Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithainaugurated 352 rooms in bus terminals across the state where women can feed their new borns. Timing the launch to sync with World Breast Feeding Week (August 1-7), she also inaugurated Mother’s Milk Banks in seven government hospitals, including Tiruchirapalli and Madurai.

II.  Haryana Government to honour victims of Emergency 1975 with TamraPatra: Those who struggled for the restoration of democratic values during the 18-month long emergency will be given ‘TamraPatra’ on the Independence Day function.

III. Government signs peace accord with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland: With an aim of ending insurgency in Nagaland, government signed an accord with key outfit NSCN (IM) in the presence of the PM, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA AjitDoval and NSCN leader T. Muivah.

IV.   Iqbal Ahmed Ansari appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court.

 V.   Operation Muskaan helped Gurgaon police to trace over 1000 kids: Operation Muskaan, an initiative launched by the Railway Police to trace missing and destitute children and reunite them with parents, helped Gurgaon Police to  trace 1094 children in Haryana during a month-long operation.

VI.   Delhi police launched operation Shishtachar to teach lesson to eve-teasers.

VII.ITBP climbing and Ski down expedition to Saser Kangri-3 peak in Ladakh flagged-off.

VIII.   BhartiAirtel acquired YTS Solutions for mobile payment solutions: India’s largest telecom operator BhartiAirtel acquired financial solutions firm YTS Solutions for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition, YTS Solutions will be integrated with the operations of Airtel Money Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Airtel.

IX.   Union Government extends term of R S Katoch as Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third time.

 X.   NTPC inks agreement to form JV with Jharkhand for Patratu Power Plant: National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd has inked an agreement with Jharkhand BijliVitran Nigam Ltd (JBVNL) to form a joint venture company for Patratu Power Plant, located in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand.

XI.   DU permits Skype Viva for PhD students, plagiarism check must: Scholars pursuing PhD at Delhi University can now appear for their viva through Skype or other modes of video conferencing.

XII.   Goa to host defence expo: The 9^th edition of the biennial defence trade exhibition, Defexpo India 2016, will take place in Goa.

XIII.   Lt General MMS Rai takes over as Army’s new vice chief of staff.

XIV.   18^th IIT opens at Palakkad: The 18^th IIT Palakkad is Kerala’s first IIT and is presently lodged in a temporary campus.

XV.   State run BSNL appointed N Poonguzhali as the 1^st Women Chief General Manager, Tamil Nadu circle.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

     

I. Afghanistan banned mourning ceremonies for deceased Taliban leader Omar: National Directorate of Security, the intelligence agency of the government of Afghanistan banned all mourning ceremonies for deceased Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

II. 193 UN members reached agreement on sustainable development agenda for the next 15 years: It calls for eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, improving living standards and taking urgent action to combat climate change. The document is called ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

III.500-m Aperture Spherical Telescope being constructed in China: The world’s largest radio telescope, Five hundredmeter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is being constructed in the Guizhou province of South China, whose dish size will be equivalent to 30 football fields.

IV.CERN formally confers its Associate Membership to Pakistan: The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, has formally conferred its associate membership on Pakistan as it becomes the 1^st associate member of CERN among Asian Countries.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

    I.   Reserve Bank of India leaves door open for more easing: RBI kept its policy rate on hold at 7.25% while leaving the door open to ease further depending on the inflation outlook and how swiftly banks lower their lending rates.

II.   HSBC India plans to launch ‘Green Bonds’: HSBC India’s chairman NainaLalKidwai announced to launch ‘green bond’ in India for raising funds for investments in environmental projects.

III.   Japanese conglomerate SoftBank invests Rs 630 crore in online aggregator of budget hotels OYO Rooms (Gurgaon).

IV.   UTI Mutual Funds, the country’s oldest fund house, has attained an asset base of over Rs. 1 Lakh crore with about one crore investor accounts.

SPORTS:

 V.   DipaKarmakar won bronze medal at 6^th Senior ART Gymnastic Asian Championship: Ace Indian Gymnast DipaKarmakar clinched the women’s vault bronze medal at the 6^th Senior ART Gymnastic Championship at Hiroshima, Japan.

VI.   International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially recognised ‘Frisbee’ as an Olympic sport.

VII.   German Cup winner Wolfsburg upset Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich on penalties to win its 1^st domestic Super Cup.

VIII.   RajatChauhan earned India its 1^st ever individual medal in the World Archery Championship 2015 held at Copenhagen, Denmark.

AWARDS:

    IX.   Hindi litterateur Kashinath Singh chosen for Bharat Bharti literary award 2014: He is known for his famous novel ‘KashikaAssi’, which captures the vibrant hues of Banaras.

OBITUARIES:

     X.   Former MP Labour Minister and senior BJP leader Jaganath Singh passed away in Bhopal at the age of 69.