Daily GK Updates - 24th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:
I. Indian mountaineers climbed an untouched mountain peak, named it after APJ Abdul Kalam: Indian mountaineers Arjun Vajpai and Bhupesh Kumar created history by becoming first people to climb 6180m high unnamed peak in Himachal’s Spiti Valley. The duo named the peak as Mount Kalam, in honour of former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

II. Haryana Government announced New Integrated Licencing Policy 2015: It announced the launch of New Integrated Licencing Policy (NILP) 2015 for development of Hyper and High Potential Urban Complexes (HHPUC).

III. President promulgated Ordinances on Constitution of Commercial Courts and Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996: Ordinance on Constitution of Commercial Courts seeks constitution of Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts for adjudicating commercial disputes of specified value and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto. The Ordinance on amending the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 seeks amendments based on the Law Commission’s recommendations of 246th reports and suggestions received from stakeholders.

IV. Defence Ministry approved induction of women as IAF fighter pilots: Ministry of Defence approved the induction of women into the combat stream of the Indian Air Force. This approval clears the path for women to fly warplanes for the first time.

V. President gives away Sangeet Natak Akademi awards, fellowships for 2014: While leading musicologist S R Janakiraman, theatre doyen and noted filmmaker M S Sathyu, and musicians Vijay Kumar Kichlu and Tulsidas Vasant Borker were awarded fellowships of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, 35 eminent personalities were honoured with Akademi awards.

VI. Ratan Tata invests in Virtual cash start-up Abra: Abra is a Silicon Valley bitcoin startup which deals with a system of electronic money.

VII. Himachal Pradesh to host India’s 1st Paragliding World Cup: India’s 1st paragliding World Cup has begun at Bir Billing near Baijnath town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Snow leopard is the official mascot of this world cup.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
I. Indian origin Ashok Alexander Sridharan sworn in as mayor of Bonn city in Germany: With this, Sridharan became the 1st Person of Indian Origin (PIO) to be elected as the mayor of a major city in the country. Bonn is the 18th most populated city in Germany.

II. US President designated Brett McGurk as Envoy to US-led coalition fighting ISIS.

III. Maldivian Vice-President arrested on suspicion of links to a blast on President’s boat: Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was arrested at the airport when he returned from an official visit to china. The explosion took place aboard the boat when President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his wife were returning to the capital from the airport after a Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

IV. Hurricane Patricia struck Mexico’s Pacific Coast: The hurricane carrying destructive winds with a speed of 165mph forced thousands to flee homes and beach front resorts.

V. Grant Agreement on gas interconnector between Poland and Lithuania signed: Poland and three Baltic states-Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed the grant agreement on the GIPL (Gas Interconnector Poland-Lithuania) in Brussels, Belgium.

VI. Japan offers soft loan to India for bullet train project: Japan has offered soft loan of 15 billion dollars (Rs 90,000 crore) at an interest rate of less than 1% to India’s ambitious first bullet train project viz. Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor along with technology.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:
I. Paytm ties up with Bank of Maharashtra: Paytm, leading mobile payment and ecommerce platform has tied up with Bank of Maharashtra to offer mobile wallet top up facility through bank ATMs

II. KVG Bank, Karnataka government to sign MoU for lending to panchayats: Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank sponsored by Syndicate Bank has entered into a MoU with the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department along with Sanjivani, an NGO, for implementing the Rajiv Gandhi Chaitanya Yojane. KVG Bank plans to lend 150 crore rupees.

AWARDS:
III. Kashmiri Folk Singer Abdul Rashid Hafiz was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award by President Pranab Mukherjee.