Daily GK Updates - 14th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.       Arun Jaitley chosen ‘Finance Minister of the Year, Asia’ by Emerging Markets: The London based magazine said that Jaitley too deserves some recognition for India’s relative economic success over the last 18 months.

II.            Tamil Nadu Government banned drug Ketoprofen to save vultures.

III.   Delhi  Government launched Bill Banvao, InaamPao scheme: Citizens will be eligible for the scheme only on a bill or cash memo/retail invoice of not less than 100 rupees for purchases made from a registered dealer in Delhi. The maximum prize to be given under the scheme is 50000 rupees.

IV.   Akhilesh Sharma appointed as the CEO and MD of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.

V.          Sweet Banana species ‘Musa Indandamanesis’ discovered in tropical rain forest of Andaman Islands.

VI.        Ministry of Shipping launched a programme to develop 78 Lighthouse as tourism centres: The lighthouses are in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Puducherry, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

VII.    Rajasthan Government signed 27 MoUs under Housing for All Scheme: 27 MoUs were signed worth 12478 crore rupees in the presence of Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu and state CM VasundharaRaje.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.            China operationalizes Zam Hydropower Station on Brahmaputra in Tibet: China has operationalized the Zam Hydropower Station built on Brahmaputra River which has raised concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies of River.

II.        India climbs 16 places in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index: In a rather dramatic turnaround, India has climbed a spectacular 16 places to the 55^th position among 140 economies in this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index, ending five years of decline.

III.     Alexander Lukashenko won Presidential election of Belarus for the 5^th time: With 83.5% votes, the 61 year old who has governed the former Soviet republic almost unchallenged for 21 years, will be in power for the 5^th time.

IV.    Etihad Airways signed deal worth 700 million USD with IBM: The deal aims at improving the airline’s operations and security. The deal incorporates analytics of customer data and the development of technology that can forecast weather patterns to better manage the airline’s flights at its Abu Dhabi centre.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo wins record 4^th Golden Boot: He has received a record 4^th Golden Boot after topping Europe’s goal scoring charts for the 2014/15 season.

II.         Shweta Rathore became 1^st Indian Female bodybuilder to win silver in Asian body building championship: She became the 1^st ever Indian female bodybuilder to win a medal at a continental level tournament. The 49^th Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Championship was held in Uzbekistan.

III.    India beat SA in the 2^nd ODI of the Freedom Series at Indore:Mahendra Singh Dhoni was adjudged Man of the Match for his knock of 92 not out, with the help of which India managed to put up a fighting total of 247 runs. In the end, India managed to clinch a 22 run victory over the visitors.

AWARDS:

IV.       Jamaican writer Marlon James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction: He was given the award for his novel ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’. With this, he has become the 1^st Jamaican writer to win this prize.

V. Al-Quds University conferred Honorary Doctorate on President Pranab Mukherjee: He was awarded the Honorary Doctorate at a ceremony held in Ramallah during his visit to Palestine. He is the 1^st Indian Head to visit Palestine. On this occasion, he met with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and PM Rami Hamdullah and also announced setting up of an Indian-chair in the Al-Quds University.