Daily GK Updates - 22nd January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 19^th National Conference on e-Governance begins in Nagpur: The 19^th edition of National Conference on e-Governance has begun on 21^st January 2016 in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The two day conference aims at discussing various aspects of e-governance ranging from Technology Enabled Services to Cyber Security framework. 

2. Nai Manzil Scheme launched in Jammu and Kashmir: The scheme was launched for girls in Srinagar in three institutions-Skills Development Centre, University of Kashmir and two madarsas.

3. IRS Officer Atulesh Jindal appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes.

4. Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhavan Palace named the world’s best hotel of 2016: The hotel won this award at the Travellers’ Choice Award organised by TripAdvisor.

5. Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has won the National Award for e-Governance 2015-16 for its Universal Account Number Programme.

6. India expected to be World’s fastest growing economy says the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016 report.

7. J P Nadda named to the high-level UN Advisory group on women, children ‘Every Women Every Child’.

8. Ashok Kumar Mehta appointed Private Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee.

9. Google’s free Wi-fi launched at Mumbai Central Railway Station.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Moldovan parliament appointed Pavel Filip as Prime Minister: The appointment follows the rise and fall of two prime ministers in 2015. The capital of Moldova is Chisinau.

2. NASA formalised Planetary Defence Coordination Office to detect and track Near-Earth Objects: It will supervise all NASA-funded projects to find and characterise asteroids and comets that pass near the orbit of the Earth around the sun.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Banks to get 2.5% commission for unlocking household gold.

OBITUARIES:

2. Italian film director Ettore Scola died at the age of 84.

3. Founder Chairman of MTAR Ravindra Reddy passed away at the age of 77.