Daily GK Updates - 29th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Meghalaya Governor V Shanmugnathan got additional charge of Governor of Manipur: He was given the additional charge by President Pranab Mukherjee after the demise of incumbent Dr Syed Ahmed Khan.

II.            Ministry of Railways launched Indian Railway Knowledge Portal:It was launched by Suresh Prabhu for dissemination of detailed information on Indian Railways. It is an initiative of the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) which allows the user to access most of the available knowledge about Indian Railways at one location due to linkage of websites, documents and much more.

III.            Boat with 200 onboard capsized in River Koholi in Kamrup district of Assam.

IV.            NLC set up its first 10 MW Solar power plant: Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) set up its 1^st 10 MW solar power plant at Neyveli. It is the 1^st renewable energy project of the corporation.

V.            Union Ministry of Road Transport launched Green Highways Policy, 2015: The policy that seeks to promote green covers along the National Highway corridor was launched at the National Conference in New Delhi.

VI.            Wipro selected as member of Dow Jones Sustainability World Index: It was selected as the member for the 6^th consecutive year.

VII.            INS Kochi commissioned into Indian Navy:Indian Navy has commissioned INS Kochi, a Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer in its contingent to showcase India’s indigenous efforts in the field of underwater warfare. The ship was commissioned by Union Defence Minister ManoharParrikar in Mumbai.

VIII.            Delhi HC admitted plea challenging validity of Article 370 of constitution of India: The High Court of Delhi agreed to hear a PIL that challenges the constitutional validity of Article 370 of the constitution of India that deals with the special status of J&K.

IX.            Maharashtra Government declared 2017 as ‘Visit Maharashtra Year’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   

 I.            Seven MoUs signed to boost start-ups in India: Aimed at giving a big boost to start-ups in India, as many seven MoUs have been signed between various organisations of India and US. These were signed as PM Modi attended the India-US Start-up Konnect 2015 in San Jose.

II.            Reliance Defence and EDIC sign MoU to manufacture defence equipment: Reliance Defence Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, has signed a strategic MoU with Emirates Defence Industries Co. (EDIC) for manufacturing, servicing, knowledge transfer and technology development from the UAE.

III.            India signs deal with Boeing, US for Apache, Chinook copters: India signed a nearly USD 3 billion deal for purchase of 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy lift  choppers with American aviation giant Boeing and the US Government.

IV.    Evidence of summertime water flows on Mars:NASA Study: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found the first evidence that briny water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months.

V.      World Heart Day 2015 celebrated with theme creating heart-healthy environments: It was celebrated on 29^th September 2015 across the world. The purpose of the day is to ensure people participation across the globe in the world’s biggest intervention against cardiovascular disease (CVD).

VI.         India signed 123.51 million USD loan agreements with Asian Development Bank: This was done to upgrade tourism infrastructure and services in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

VII.       India-Sri Lanka joint military exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2015 begins in Pune.

VIII.   1^st Indo-Africa ICT Expo launched in Nairobi: Indian Government in conjunction with ICT Authority of Kenya, India’s Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) launched the 1^st Indo-Africa ICT Expo in Nairobi.

IX.         China’s DidiKuaidi joined hands with Ola to compete Uber in India.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  

 I.      RBI Governor has surprized with 50 bps cut: This surprise is pleasant with the announcement of 50 bps rate cut. Banks need to pass on this rate cut to industry and consumers. The new repo rate is 6.75% and the reverse repo rate is 5.75%. The MSF and Bank rate is 7.75%.  The CRR and SLR remain unchanged at 4% and 21.5% respectively.

II.     The World Bank has promised $30 billion financial assistance to the Indian Railways.

AWARDS:

 III.           Indo-British van driver Dee Patel honoured with Pride of Britain Award.

Daily GK Updates - 28th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Union Government formed B S Baswan committee to revisit civil services examination pattern: The seven member committee headed by B S Baswan is to submit the report within six months from the date of its constitution.

II.            Grant citizenship to Chakma-Hajong refugees within 3 months: Supreme Court: The Supreme Court has directed the Union and Arunachal Pradesh Governments to grant citizenship to Chakma-Hajong refugees who migrated to India from Bangladesh in 1964-69 and settled in the state.

III.            India’s 1^st dedicated satellite for Astronomy research ASTROSAT launched: The satellite was launch from the 1^st Launchpad of SatishDhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 10 am by PSLV-C30. PSLV-C30 is the 10^th flight of PSLV in its ‘XL’ configuration. It also carried six foreign satellites from Canada, Indonesia and USA.

IV.            Google teamed up with Indian Railways to provide free Wi-Fi at 400 stations: The facility will be provided under the ‘Project Nilgiri’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Zuckerberg backs call for Universal Internet Access by 2020: A day before he met PM Modi, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a call to world leaders at the UN to ensure universal internet access by 2020 to ‘give a voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless’.

II.            World Tourism Day observed with theme One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities: The World Tourism Day was observed across the world on 27^th September 2015. Burkina Faso will host the official celebrations 2015.

III.            Qualcomm announced investment of 150 million USD for Indian start-ups: Silicon valley based chip maker Qualcomm has announced that it will invest 150 million USD for Indian start-ups. The investment will come through a venture fund. The announcement was made by company’s executive chairman Paul E Jacobs who met with PM Modi at the Digital Economy event in San Jose.

IV.            Nepal imposed vehicle curbs due to fuel shortage: It enforced an odd-even licence plate system for plying of vehicles on alternate days. With this, drivers are permitted on the roads only on alternate days depending on whether their licence plates end in odd or even numbers.

V.            G-4 countries issue Joint Statement on UNSC Reforms: G-4 countries viz. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have issued a joint statement on United Nations Security Council Reforms at the G-4 meeting held at New York.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            World Bank released report entitled Leveraging Urbanisation in South Africa: The report provided original empirical and diagnostic analysis of urbanisation and related economic trends in the South Asia region.

SPORTS:

II.               Advani pockets 14^th World Title: India’s most successful cueist PankajAdvani added another feather to his cap by winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship by outplaying his opponent in the final to take his world title count to 14.

III.               Bindra shoots down gold in Asian Air Gun Championships: Beijing Olympic champion AbhinavBindra produced some excellent shooting to clinch the gold while London Games bronze medallist GaganNarang failed to finish on the podium in the men’s 10m Air Rifle event.

IV.               Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka circuit.

AWARDS:

V.     Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman won 2015 SASTRA Ramanujam Prize: Tsimerman is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto. He primarily conducts research on Number Theory.

VI.            Lucknow based CSIR-CIMAP won CSIR Award for S&T Innovations for Rural Development, 2014: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants was awarded for enhancing the incomes of farm communities through Vetiver based Technological Interventions.

OBITUARIES:

VII.            England’s former fast bowler Frank Tyson died at the age of 85.

VIII.       Manipur Governor Syed Ahmed died of cancer at the age of 70.

  IX.     Meghalaya’s longest serving legislator Hoping Stone Lyngdoh died at the age of 86.

Daily GK Updates - 27th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            NCC enters Limca Book of Records: National Cadet Corps was presented the certificate by Limca Book of Records for the ‘Largest Yoga performance simultaneously by a single uniformed youth organisation’ at multiple venues on International Day of Yoga (June 21).

II.            Assam Government launches mobile app: The mobile application will disseminate information about disaster management to the people in need. The application-‘Disaster Ready Assam’was inaugurated by Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia in Guwahati.

III.            Rajan Wadhera appointed as ARAI President: Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has appointed Rajan Wadhera and Vikram Kirloskar as its new president and vice president respectively.

IV.            CAG orders a dengue audit for Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma ordered an audit of the preparedness of the Delhi Government and local authorities to deal with dengue.

V.            Balika Vadhu completes 2000 episodes: Popular TV show BalikaVadhu, starring Toral Rasputra in the lead, has become the 1^st drama series to cross the 2000 episode milestone.

VI.            London’s Ambedkar house is finally India’s: After a relay of around nine months and many moments of embarrassment, the Maharashtra Government has finally acquired the London bungalow where B R Ambedkar lived as a student. The 2,050 sq-ft three storey bungalow on King Henry Road, NW3, was bought at Rs 31 crore.

VII.            Chinese gift of Mansarovar water enriches ShahiSnan: In a gift by the Chinese Government, water from the Mansarovarlake was poured into the Godavari river on the last ShahiSnan of SimhasthaKumbhMela.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            U S moots ‘Sri Lankan Judicial mechanism’ with foreign judges: A draft resolution submitted by four countries, including the US and the UK, in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has mooted the participation of commonwealth and other foreign judges in ‘a Sri Lankan Judicial mechanism’ to probe allegations of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

II.            Corbion Purac, the Netherlands based speciality chemicals firm has acquired lactic acid business of Chennai based Malladi Specialities.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               World Bridge Team Championships: The 42^nd World Bridge Teams Championship is being held in Chennai with 66 teams participating in it. This is the 1^st time India is hosting the event.

Daily GK Updates - 26th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Shiv Mohan Singh resigned as executive vice-chairman of Fortis Healthcare Ltd: After a brief transition period, he will be designated as non-executive vice-chairman of Fortis with effect from 1 January 2016. Fortis is a New Delhi based hospital chain.

II.            Kolkata start-up launches portal for preparing IT returns: A Kolkata base start-up has announced the launch of its portal that helps in preparing income-tax returns and their filing. It is named as ‘Make Your Tax Technologies’.

III.            Bajaj Auto finally launches quadricycle named ‘Qute’: It has launched its much awaited RE60 quadricycle at a free-on-board price tag of $2000 (around Rs 1.35 lakh).

IV.            Centre announces Rs 1000 crore Special Assistance to Andhra Pradesh.

V.            CCI cleared Heidelberg-Italcementi deal: The Competition Commission of India approved German firm Heidelberg Cement’s proposed acquisition of ItalcementiSpA.

VI.            Rear Admiral Sanjay Mahindru took charge as Flag Officer Submarines.

VII.            CSI released survey report on prevalence of cardiovascular disease in India.

VIII.            Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 to apply on Muslims also: Gujarat HC: The ruling held that the Child Marriage Act is a special act and it will override the provisions of Muslim Personal Law, Hindu Marriage Act or any personal law.

IX.            S K Sharma appointed as Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Volkswagen AG appoints Matthias Muller as new CEO: German auto maker Volkswagen AG has appointed Matthias Muller as the new CEO, who was earlier serving as the CEO of Porsche AG, a subsidiary of Volkswagen.

II.            UNGA adopted ‘Transforming Our World:The 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development’: The 193 member United Nations General Assembly formally adopted the agenda. It was adopted during the UN Sustainable Development Summit that is being held at the UN headquarters in New York.

III.            Facebook to test wireless broadband services in India: It has announced its partnerships with Internet Service Providers in India to launch Wi-Fi enabled broadband services, called Wi-Fi Express, which will provide internet access in rural areas. The initiative is a part of Facebook’s Internet.org platform.

IV.            WADA and China signed MoU on Performance Enhancing Drugs: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the General Administration of Sport of China signed anMoU on performance enhancing drugs.

V.            EU imposed anti-dumping duty on Indian Water and sewage pipes for six months: It has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of up to 31.2 percent on imports of water and sewage pipes made of ductile cast iron from India for six months to protect its industry.

VI.            Indian tribal woman PermilaTirkey won 1^st discrimination based case in United Kingdom: She won the case against her Indian-origin employers Ajay Chandok and Puja Chandok. Tirkey was discriminated against because of her low caste.

VII.            UNICEF unveiled Assembly of Youth digital installation at the UN headquarters in New York: The purpose of the installation is to bring the voices of children and young people from across the world to the heart of the UN General Assembly. It was developed by Goolge.

VIII.            China successfully launched carrier rocket Long March-11: The rocket carried four micro-satellites into space, which will be used mainly for testing.

IX.            Conference on contemporary relevance of Bhagvad Gita held in United Kingdom: The conference was organised by Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and High Commission of India.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               SaniaMirza and Martina Hingis win Guangzhou Open title.

AWARDS:

II.    Assam Conservationist 1^st Indian to get Harry Messel Award: Conservationist Goutam Narayan has become the 1^st Indian to get Harry Messel Award for Conservation Leadership in recognition of his pivotal role in leading the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme in the North-East.