Daily GK Updates - 13th January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kerala declared first state to attain Total Primary Education: Vice President Hamid Ansari declared Kerala as the first state to attain ‘Total Primary Education’ and described the achievement as ‘histroric’.

2. CII Partnership Summit 2016 concluded in Vishakhapatnam: The 22^nd edition of Confederate of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit-cum-Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment Summit was concluded at Vishakhapatnam.

3. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group signed MoU to set up naval facility in Vishakhapatnam: Reliance Defence Ltd, a unit of Anil Ambani led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd signed a MoU with Andhra Pradesh Government to set up a world class naval facility in the state.

4. Amitabh Bachchan made honorary life member of Mohammedan Sporting.

5. 20^th National Youth Festival inaugurated in Naya Raipur: The five day long annual festival is celebrated by the Union Government in partnership with a state government on the occasion of birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

6. Indra Nooyi becomes ‘most generous graduate’ of Yale School of Management: The Prestigious Yale School of Management will name its deanship in honour of PepsiCo’s India-Born CEO Indra Nooyi as she gifted an undisclosed amount to her alma meter, becoming the school’s biggest alumni donor and the first woman to endow a deanship at a top b-school.

7. PM sets up panel to fast-track bullet trains: The PMO has constituted a committee under Arvind Panagariya, vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, to hasten the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, meant for bullet trains between the two cities.

8. NHAI signs MoU with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under ISRO and NECTAR for use of spatial technology for monitoring national highways.

9. Union Government announced green-field petrochemical complex and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in Vishakhapatnam.

10. C Sridhar assumes charge as West Zone IG.

11. Union Cabinet approved MoU between Indian and Maldives for co-operation in health sector.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Lenovo to launch new smartphone under Google’s Project Tango: The term Project Tango was in news as Lenovo, a Chinese multinational computer technology company, announced that it entered into a partnership with Google for the project.

2. Conference of QCG on Afghan Peace and Reconciliation held in Islamabad: The purpose of the conference was to explore ways to create consensus for talks between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government. The conference was participated representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US.

3. Indian-American professor developed Galacto-Seismic method to hunt Dark Matter: An international team of scientists led by Indian-American Sukanya Chakrabarti deviced a new method, glactoseismology, to detect dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter.

4. US and Jordan signed Joint Action Plan on cooperation to counter Nuclear Smuggling.

5. US-India Business Council (USIBC) Board of Directors selected Council board members Edward Monser and Punit Renjen as Vice Chairs.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Government unveils Rs 8800 crore crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): In order to provide relief to drought-hit farmers, the government announced a new Rs 8800 crore crop insurance scheme, with significantly lower premium, to cover for loss of crop to natural calamities. Farmers will pay only 2% of the premium fixed by insurance company for kharif food-grains/oilseeds crops and 1.5% for rabi food-grains/oilseeds crops under the PMFBY. The remaining sum of premium would be borne by the centre and state governments equally.

2. SBI opens branch in Seoul, South Korea: Country’s largest lender has opened a branch in Seoul, South Korea to predominantly finance growing trade and investment relations between Korean and Indian companies.

3. India largest recipient of World Bank Loans over 70 years: India is the largest recipient of World Bank, amounting to $102.1 billion, between 1945 and 2015 according to the Bank’s lending report.

SPORTS:

4. FIFA dismisses Jerome Valcke as General Secretary.

OBITUARIES:

5. 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War hero Lt General J F R Jacob died at the age of 92.

6. Monte Irvin, Hall of Fame outfielder passed away at the age of 96.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

7. The book titled ‘Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian Polity in Perspective’ edited by Prof Alexander was released by Vice President Hamid Ansari.