Daily GK Updates - 8th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.     DRDO names 1^st female Director General J Manjula: J Manjula has been appointed as the new DG-Electronics and Communications Systems. She will be one of the seven DGs who are heading different clusters within the DRDO, which has nearly 50 national laboratories and Institutes under its network.

II.       Maharashtra Government to abolish LBT on petrol and diesel within 15 days: It will abolish the Local Body Tax on petrol and diesel to end the disparity between fuel dealers and other traders.

III.      B R Sharma appointed as Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir.

IV.     Haryana assembly passed Panchayati Raj (Amendment Bill) 2015: The bill seeks to amend the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 1994 and fixes matriculation as minimum educational qualification for elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions.

V.      BSNL to upgrade Broadband speed to minimum 2 Mbps at no additional cost: Under the scheme, BSNL is upgrading the speed of existing Broadband plans of 512 Kbps and 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps speed. This service will be effective from 1 October 2015.

VI.      First ever census on India’s Leopard presented: Lead Scientist of the tiger census Y V Jhala presented the 1^st ever data on India’s Leopard which shows the availability of around 7910 of leopards across India.

VII.   Arun Jaitley launched the e-version of the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) in New Delhi.

VIII.Himachal Pradesh organised organic fair and food festival to boost organic farming: The Organic Fair and Food Festival was organised in Shimla, the capital city of HP.

IX.     6^th Indo-Maldives Joint Military exercise begins in Thiruvanathpuram: Aim of the Joint Exercise is to acquaint forces of both the countries with each other’s operating procedure and increase understanding and interoperability between the Armies of both countries.

X.     Agriculture Expert Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new member of the Niti Aayog: He is the 3^rd member with economist BibekDebroy and Former DRDO chief V K Saraswat already the members of the organisation.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.         Reliance Defence signs MoU with Abu Dhabi Ship Building: Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Anil Ambani led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to explore an opportunity to set up strategic partnership for the construction of naval ships including frigates, destroyers and other specialised vessels to addressthe needs of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over the next 10 years.

II.    International Literacy Day 2015 celebrated across the world: The International Literacy Day 2015 was celebrated on 8^th September 2015 across the world. The theme of International Literacy Day 2015 was Literacy and Sustainable Societies.

III.    North Korea and South Korea agreed to resume family reunions: A decision in this regard was taken at the working-level Red Cross meeting of both the countries at the border village of Panmunjom in North Korea.

IV.  Black Mamba anti-poaching unit of South Africa selected for 2015 UNEP Champions of the Earth award: The Black Mamba APU consisting of mostly women was selected for the award by the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) for its courage in combating poaching and community led initiatives in protecting wildlife.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.       NPCI launches new RuPay credit cards co-branded with Mudra Bank: In a move to increase penetration of RuPay cards, soon National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will roll out a new credit card that will be co-branded with Mudra Bank. It is also in the final stage of discussion with China UnionPay and Japan-based JCB Co. Ltd, which would allow RuPay card holders to use their cards in other parts of the world.

II.      Doha Bank tied up with Reliance ADA Group to generate business opportunities: The MoU is envisaged to provide tangible business opportunities and further prospects for expansion for Doha Bank and Reliance.

III.     MCX Ltd and IamSMEofIndia signed MoU to unveil benefits of Commodity Price Risk Management: The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd and Integrated Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of India signed the deal aimed at creating awareness among MSMEs on the benefits of commodity price risk management.

IV.      Sahara India’s Para-banking licence scrapped by RBI: The licence of Sahara India Financial Corporation Ltd has been cancelled by the bank regulator RBI.

SPORTS:

V.      Anirban Lahiri became the 1^st Indian Golfer to qualify for the Presidents’ Cup:He will be part of the International Team in the 2015 Championship which is scheduled to be held at Incheon in South Korea.

VI. Weightlifter Deepak Lather wins gold in 62 kg category at 5^th Youth Commonwealth Games.