Daily GK Updates - 21st October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.   Justice Vaiphei appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court: The President of India Pranab Mukherjee appointed Justice T Vaiphei, senior most judge of the Gauhati High Court, as the acting Chief Justice for the Gauhati High Court.

II.      Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports constituted All India Council of Sports: It has constituted All India Council of Sports to advise the ministry on matters relating to the promotion and development of sports and games in the country. It will be headed by Prof V K Malhotra.

III.  Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reconstituted Central Press Accreditation Committee: It has reconstituted the Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC) that issues Press Information Bureau (PIB) cards to journalists.

IV.         Snapdeal has appointed AnupVikal as Chief Financial Officer.

V.    Union Cabinet approved agreement between India and Egypt on Maritime Transport: The agreement will be signed on a mutually convenient date and venue. It will help both the nations to encourage and facilitate the development of their maritime relationship.

VI.     Union Cabinet approved amendments to Payment of Bonus Act 1965 hiking bonus for Industrial workers: The bonus ceiling under the legislation was increased from 3500 rupees to 7000 rupees.

VII.   Union Cabinet approved treaty between India and Maldives on Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal matters: The treaty aims to boost efficiency of both the countries in investigation and prosecution of crime, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in terrorism, transnational crime and criminal matters.

VIII. Erstwhile Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Areas divided into two Separate Headquarters: It was divided into two under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area and Flag Officer Gujarat Naval Area. This was done with an objective to enhance operational and administrative structure of the organisation.

IX.       Reva Khetrapal appointed as Lokayukta of Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        A B De Villiers of South Africa has been named as the brand ambassador of MRF.

II.      Russia and USA signed deal to avoid clashes between their air forces over Syrian skies: Both the countries signed a MoU on preventing incidents and providing for aviation flights during operations in Syria. It was signed between the Defence Ministers of Russia and the United States.

III.    Global Iodine Deficiency Disorders Prevention Day observed across the world on 21^st October 2015.

IV.      United Nations released ‘The World’s Women 2015: Trends and Statistics report: The report provides an update of the statistics and indicators on the situation of women and men around the world covering gender-specific information on eight key areas- population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty. The report also shows that Indian women are facing inequality at all stages of life cycle.

V.       Global Maternal New-born Health Conference 2015 held in Mexico City: It was a technical meeting focused on accelerating progress towards effective and sustainable coverage of maternal and new-born interventions at scale.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) signed agreement to acquire Goldman Sachs mutual funds business in India.

II.        Bank of Baroda first PSU bank to join Chillr platform: It has become the second bank after HDFC Bank to join the Chillr payment platform which enables peer to peer payment through a mobile application.

SPORTS:

III.    Anil Kumble named Brand Ambassador of Champions Tennis League team Raipur Rangers.

IV.     Yuki Bhambri becomes 1^st Indian to enter top 100 since 2010 by achieving a career best rank of 99 in the WTA rankings.

V.           Golfer Anirban Lahiri wins Asian Tour Golfer of the Month award.

AWARDS:

VI.   Noted Criminologist K Chockalingam won Paul H Appleby Award: He was awarded for his distinguished services to public administration and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), where he was a member.

VII.  Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea won 17^th International Frederic Chopin Piano competition in Warsaw, Poland.

OBITUARIES:

VIII. Renowned Marine Biologist Syed ZahoorQasim died at the age of 88: He is considered as the founder of Polar Biology in India and was part of the first Indian Expedition to Antarctica in 1981-82.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

VIII.  The book titled ‘Dreaming Big: My Journey to connect India’ by Sam Pitroda has been released.