Daily GK Updates - 12th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            National highways to grow by 50,000 km in 6 months: The road transport and highways ministry will add nearly 50,000 km of roads to the National Highways network in the country in the next six months.

II.            Rakesh Sharma appointed as MD and CEO of Canara Bank: Prior to his appointment as MD and CEO of the Bengaluru headquartered Canara bank, he was holding the same position at Laxmi Vilas Bank.

III.            Union Government approved the purchase of 10 Heron TP drones from Israel: The Drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force. This 400 million US dollars proposal for buying missile-armed drones from Israel will enhance India’s cross border military strike capability.

IV.            Professor KumkumDhar appointed as Vice Chancellor of Bhatkhande Music Institute.

V.            CarDekho acquired Auto portal Zigwheels: Jaipur based CarDekho acquired Zigwheels, an auto portal owned by Times Internet.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.            Radical Leftist Jeremy Corbyn becomes head of Britain’s Labour Party: He won with nearly 59.5% of first preference votes beating rivals Andy Burnham and Y. Cooper.

II.            J K Tyre, Singapore arm to buy 100% stake in Cavendish Industries: J K Tyre & Industries and J K Asia Pacific Singapore Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of J K Tyre has signed a binding term sheet with Kesoram Industries Ltd (KIL) to acquire 100% equity in Cavendish Industries Ltd at a value of Rs 2,200 crore.

III.            Singapore’s ruling party wins elections, returns to power: Singapore’s PM lauded the city-state’s youth  vote for helping return his party to power in a massive victory for the 12^th time since independence a half century ago. The People’s Action Party (PAP) got 83 of the 89 seats. PM L H Loong won from the Ang Mo Kio constituency.

IV.            Russian record-breaker Astronaut Padalka returns to Earth: Russian astronaut Gennady Padalka has returned to earth with the record for having spent the most time in space. He has spent a total of 879 days in space over five trips.

V.            Google launches new mobile wallet Android Pay in US: Android Pay allows the users to make contactless payments using their smartphone at participating retailers.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            Current Account Deficit narrows to 1.2% of GDP in April-June: A decline in merchandise imports helped the country narrow its current account deficit to 1.2 % of GDP in the 1^st quarter of the current financial year compared with 1.6 % inthe year ago period.

II.            Rs 500 notes most in demand, Rs 1000 notes at second place: Rs 500 bills top the demand charts in India, followed by thousand-rupee notes at second place, an Assocham study said today.

SPORTS:

III.               Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won US Open Mixed Doubles Title 2015: The 4^th seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated Americans B Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey in the finals.

IV.               Indian Golfer Aditi Ashok claims Singha Thailand Amateur title.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

V.            Book titled ‘Novelist by Profession’ authored by Japaneese authorHaruki Murakami was released. 

VI.            Vice President Hamid Ansari releases book by Jamia Faculty: He has released the book titled ‘Feminist and Orientalist Perspectives- A study of Lady Mary Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters’ authored by Dr.FarhaHibaParvez.

OBITUARIES:

VIII.            Veteran Congress leader G K Chatrath died.

IX.            Actor John P. Connell dies aged 91.

X.            Dennis Greene, a founding member of the rock and roll group Sha Na Na and former Columbia Pictures executive died at the age of 66.