Daily GK Updates - 20th November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 7th Central Pay Commission Headed By Justice Ak Mathur Submitted Its Report

The commission has recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.The recommended pay revision will come into effect from 1 January 2016. The minimum pay for government employees is recommended to be set at 18000 rupees per month. One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees on line of OROP for armed forces.

2. Nitish Kumar to take oath as Bihar CM  

Senior JDU leader Nitish Kumar will be sworn-in as Chief Minister of Bihar for the fifth time on 20^th November, 2015. RJD President Lalu Prasad's sons, first time MLA Tejaswi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, would be sworn in as cabinet ministers in new government.  Tejaswi Prasad would be made deputy Chief Minister.

3. UNHCR selected for Indira Gandhi Prize for peace, disarmament and development for 2015

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is chosen for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2015. UNHCR was chosen for the award in recognition of its immense contributions in helping millions of refugees in their rehabilitation and resettlement.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on 1950 by the UN General Assembly with an aim to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Headquarters of UNHCR: Geneva, Switzerland

4. India, China to form ministerial mechanism to boost security cooperation

India and China have agreed to form a Ministerial-level mechanism to step up cooperation and coordination on a host of security-related issues, including cross-border terrorism, security and law enforcement, trans-border crimes, cyber crimes and drug trafficking.

5. Launch of Technology Acquisition and Development Fund under National Manufacturing Policy

The Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) is a new scheme to facilitate acquisition of Clean, Green & Energy Efficient Technologies, in form of Technology / Customised Products / Specialised Services / Patents / Industrial Design available in the market available in India or globally, by Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

6. India and Vietnam signed MoU for cooperation in the field of Animal Health

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Vietnam for cooperation in the field of Animal Health.  

7. Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed ambassador to China

Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale, currently the country's Ambassador to Germany, has been appointed as the Ambassador to China.  He will replace Ashok Kantha, whose term will end in early January, 2016

8. Arun Kumar Kapoor appointed as the CEO of Dish TV.

Prior to joining Dish TV, Kapoor was with Raj Television managing the revenues of Zee and Turner Channels.

9. 2^ND World Congress on Disaster Management started in Visakhapatnam

It was inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. It was jointly hosted by the Disaster Management, Infrastructure and Control Society and Andhra Pradesh government.

10. The birth anniversary of Adi Shankaracharya will be celebrated as Philosopher's Day from 2016.

The government has accepted a proposal sent by the Sringeri Math, established by the Shankaracharya in the 8th century in Karnataka, and is in favour of promoting Shankaracharya's commentary on the Upanishads and his role in generating awareness about Indian philosophy.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Economic Forum released Global Gender Gap Report 2015

World Economic Forum (WEF) released the Global Gender Gap Report 2015. It ranked 145 economies according to how well they are leveraging their female talent pool, based on economic, educational, health-based and political indicators. And, out of the 145 countries surveyed, while Iceland topped the Gender Gap Index for the seventh year in a row, India stood at the 108th position. Top 5 countries with high gender equality are Iceland (1), Norway (2), Finland (3), Sweden (4) and Ireland (5).

2. University of East London awarded honorary doctorate to Ashok Amritraj

Tennis champion-turned Hollywood filmmaker Ashok Amritraj was awarded with an honorary doctorate of Arts by the University of East London. Amritraj was honoured for promoting talented moviemakers from across the world, including India. His Auto-Biography is titled as Advantage Hollywood.

3. David Headley to testify before TADA court

Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai attacks convict David Headley would testify before a TADA court in Mumbai through video conferencing.  The TADA court has asked David Headley to be produced via video-conference on 10th of December. Headley is currently serving 35 years in an American prison after being convicted of involved in the planning and execution of the Mumbai terrorist attacks on 26th November, 2008 in which 166 persons were killed.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. RBI nod mandatory for buying over 5% stake in private bank

RBI has made it mandatory for individuals and companies to take prior approval before acquiring shares or voting rights in a private bank for increasing the aggregate holding to 5 percent or more. An existing major shareholder will not be required to obtain prior approval from the Reserve Bank for fresh incremental acquisition of shares or voting rights if the proposed aggregate holding is up to 10 per cent.

OBITUARIES

2. Former Gujarat governor Ram Krishna Trivedi passed away.

Trivedi had served as the Chief Election Commissioner from June 18th 1982 to December 31st 1985. He was the Governor of Gujarat from February 26th 1986 to May 2nd 1990.

SPORTS

3. Shrishti Pandey won the Indiana FIDE Rating Chess Tournament

The tournament was organised by Nagpur Taluka Chess Association, which concluded at Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti Hall, Reshimbagh, Nagpur.

Fourteen years old Pandey shared points with Avadh Chaitanya from Madhya Pradesh playing on the top board and ended with seven and half points each at the end of the ninth and last round of the Swiss-league tournament.