Daily GK Updates - 20th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.   PM NarendraModi, President Pranab Mukherjee to launch one stop research funding mechanism ‘IMPRINT’: PM Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will next month launch a single window funding clearance mechanism backed with Rs 1000 crore kitty to get Indian technical institutions to conduct original research in areas where the country is heavily dependent on foreign technology.

II.            VK Malhotra appointed as the head of the All India Council of Sports.

III.  Urvashi Rautela crowned Miss Diva 2015: Model-Actress UrvashiRautela was crowned as Fascino Miss Diva 2015 at a star-studded event in Mumbai. With this she became India’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant.

IV.      Konkan Railway to set up a tunnel technology institute at Margao in Goa: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced that Konkan Railway will establish a tunnel technology institute at Goa’s Margao town. The institute is the first of its kind in the nation.

 V.    Union Government increased import duty on wheat to 25% from 10%: It was raised in view of the continued fall in international prices of wheat and the anticipated adverse impact of increased imports during the first half of the financial year 2015-16.

VI.      APSEZ inked MoU with IPGA to handle pulses across its ports in country: Gujarat based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) signed a MoU to handle pulses across its ports to ensure smooth and cost efficient availability of the commodity across the nation.

VII. UP Government announced 50000 rupees monthly pension to YashBharti awardees: The YashBhartiSamman, which was instituted in 1994, is conferred by the UP Government for excellence in literature, fine arts, folk and classical music and sports.

VIII.    Karnataka and Gujarat lifted ban on Maggi noodles.

IX.      Maharashtra Government declared 14708 villages as drought-hit: It has declared 14708 out of 40053 villages as drought-hit where the monsoon rainfall was deficient by 50%.

X.         Union Ministry of Environment extended validity of Environment Clearance to 7 years:This increase in period of validity of EC for longer time would provide more leeway to corporations to manoeuvre and manipulate the actions and activities.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        NATO launched military exercise Trident Juncture in Italy: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and partner nations launched the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercise at the Trapani air force base in Italy. The three week long intensive training involves 36000 troops from more than 30 nations across Italy, Spain and Portugal.

II.         Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index report 2015 released: The seventh edition of MMGPI report measured 25 retirement income systems against more than 40 indicators, under the sub-indices of Adequacy, Sustainability and integrity. The report rated Denmark as the country with the best retirement system for the fourth consecutive year in 2015.

III.     Moody’s released a report on the Global Green Bonds Market: It released a report on the global green bonds market titled ‘Third Quarter Issuance Lags, but COP21-Linked increase is likely. It says that in the third quarter (Q3) of 2015, the green bond issuance reached 7.5 billion dollars compared to bond issuance of 27.2 billion dollars in Q3 in 2014.

IV.     World Statistics Day observed across the world: It was observed across the world on 20^th October 2015 with the theme ‘Better Data, Better Lives’

V.     UNESCO released Gender and Education for all 2000-2015 report: As per the report, which delineated educational attainments among girls across the world, only fewer than half the countries have achieved the goal of ensuring gender parity in both primary and secondary education before 2005.

VI.     Justin Trudeau elected as the Prime Minister of Canada: Canada’s Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau was elected as the PM of Canada after his Liberal Party won 189 seats, a majority of Parliament’s 338 seats. The party needs 170 seats to gain a majority.

VII.     Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay elected as non-permanent members of UNSC by the United Nations General Assembly.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.        Narendra Modi inaugurates IDFC Bank: Prime Minister NarendraModi inaugurated the IDFC Bank in New Delhi. IDFC Bank Ltd started its operation on 1^st October, 2015, is an Indian Bank company with headquarters in Mumbai that forms a part of IDFC, an integrated infrastructure finance company.

II.            RBI, UAE Central Bank ink MoU for supervisory information exchange: The RBI has signed a MoU with the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on supervisory cooperation and exchange of supervisory information.

SPORTS:

III. Virender Sehwag retires from International cricket: The flamboyant VirenderSehwag, one of the world’s most destructive batsmen to have played the game, announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL, bringing an end to an illustrious career spanning over a decade.

OBITUARIES:

   IV.     Veteran Kannada film maker KSL Swamy passed away at the age of 77.