Daily GK Updates - 4th November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Shekhar Kapur to head jury and Anil Kapoor to be chief guest at IFFI 2015: Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor was selected to be the chief guest of the 46^th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that will start in Goa from 20^th November. Film director Shekhar Kapur was selected to be the head of the jury.

2. Maharashtra approved APJ Abdul KalamAmrutYojna for pregnant and lactating women: The renamed scheme aims at providing at least one full hot cooked nutritious food to every pregnant lady and lactating mother.

3. Eight core industries of IIP grew by 3.2% in September 2015; fastest in 4 months: The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced that the eight core industries of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 3.2% in September 2015 as compared to 2.6 percent in September 2014.

4. Norway opened Consulate General in Mumbai after four decades: This office would extend its services to cover rest of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa and it will be headed by Norwegian diplomat Torbjorn Holthe.

5. Assam Government hiked daily minimum wages of workers in various sectors: The daily minimum wage of skilled workers has been hiked from 208 rupees to 350 rupees.The State Government also introduced a new segment of highly-skilled workers who will be eligible for a minimum daily wage of 450 rupees.

6. Rajasthan Government relaxed two-child policy for government employees: As per the decision, the state government employees, already having two children from previous marriage, will now be allowed to have a third child in case of a remarriage.

7. Dracula Ant discovered in Western Ghats region of Kerala.

8. Daughters cannot inherit ancestral property if father died before 2005: SC: The Supreme Court (SC) ruled that as per the provisions of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, a daughter’s right to ancestral property does not arise if the father died before September 2005, when the amendment came into force.

9. Justice M B Shah-headed SIT on Black Money submitted its third report: The SIT found that over 2600 persons are directors on more than 20 companies and at least 2 companies are operating from the same address at 345 places which indicate the violation of Companies Act, 2013.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UNGA First Committee approved draft resolution to prevent placement of nuclear arms in outer space: The draft resolution titled ‘No first placement of weapons in outer space’ was approved by a recorded vote of 122 in favour with 47 absentions.

2. Michelle Payne became first female jockey to win Melbourne Cup: The Melbourne Cup is one of Australia’s most prestigious Thoroughbred horse races.

3. Hindi largest spoken Indian Language in US: Census Bureau of US: As per the American Community Survey data, Hindi has emerged as the largest Indian language spoken in the US with nearly 6.5 lakh people speaking it.

4. Civil communications satellite Chinasat 12 launched by China: The satellite will serve customers in a swath of the Asia-Pacific with television broadcasting, broadband multimedia and data transmission services.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI fixes gold bonds issue price at Rs 2684 per gram: The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the public issue price at Rs 2684 per gram for sovereign gold bonds, for which applications will be accepted from November 5 to 20.

SPORTS:

2. Shoaib Malik announced retirement from Test Cricket: He will retire from Test Cricket after playing the third Test match against England at Sharjah, UAE.

3. 2015 Paragliding World Cup concluded: The 2015 Paragliding World Cup was held in Bir Village of Himachal Pradesh. It was for the first time India hosted a PWC and it is the biggest aero sport event held in India so far. Swiss Pilot Michael Kuffer topped the table in the men’s category while Yuki Sato of Japan topped the table in the women’s category. Ajay Kumar emerged as the best pilot from India at 31^st rank overall.

4. Shiva Thapa ranked World No. 2 in boxing: While Shiva got 1550 points overall, the top spot was occupied by Michael Conlan of Ireland with 2150 points.

OBITUARIES:

5. Collin Welland, the writer of Oscar winning ‘Chariots of Fire’, died at the age of 81.

6. Tollywood comedian KondavalasaLakshmanRao died at the age of 69.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

7. The book titled ‘Advantage India-from Challenge to Opportunity’ authored by former President APJ Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh has been released.

8. The book titled ‘Interlinking of Indian Rivers’ authored by Radha Kant Bharti released.