Daily GK Updates - 17th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Research and Development Corporation (NRDC) signed License Agreement with Kudos Laboratories for commercialisation of anti-diabetic drug Ayush-82.

2. Punjab Government notified Swine Flu under Epidemic Disease Act.

3. PM Modi to join world leaders in wax at Madame Tussauds.

4. RUSA Scheme to be implemented to improve equity, quality of higher education: Central Government is implementing the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for providing financial support to proposals contained in State Higher Education Plan (SHEP) approved by the State Higher Education Councils in order to achieve the objectives of equity, access and quality.

5. Bharti Airtel buys Videocon Telecom for Rs 4428 crore.

6. India Aviation Show 2016 begins in Hyderabad: It is the 5^th edition of the biennial series of this international exhibition and was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Begumpet Airport.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for Chief Justice of US Supreme Court.

2. India became the second biggest investor in London: London & Partners, the official promotional company for London announced that India has emerged as the second biggest investor in London after the US.

3. TIME magazine released 30 Most Influential People on the Internet list: The list has been topped by the artist and entrepreneur Kayne West. India’s PM Narendra Modi stood at 15^th in the list. 

4. United Nations Development Programme appointed Michelle Yeoh as Goodwill Ambassador.

5. United Nations Population Fund appointed Ashley Judd as Goodwill Ambassador: Judd is an acclaimed humanitarian, actor, writer and political activist.

6. Fazle Kabir appointed as Governor of Bangladesh Bank.

7. United Nations Social Development Network (USDN) released World Happiness Report 2016 in Rome: The fourth edition of the report was released ahead of the UN World Happiness Day which will be observed on 20^th March 2016. India ranks 118^th out of 156 countries and the list is topped by Denmark.

8. UNESCO released e-Atlas of Gender Inequality in Education: The e-Atlas shows gender gaps from primary to tertiary education and educational pathways of girls and boys in more than 200 countries and territories. The gender disparity remains highest in Arab States.   

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI likely to pay Rs 57,000 crore in dividends to the Government in 2016-17.

SPORTS:

2. FIFA admits taking bribe for Hosting World Cup.

AWARDS:

3. British Mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles won 2016 Abel Prize: He won the prize for solving a centuries-old hypothesis, Fermat’s Last Theorem.

OBITUARIES:

4. American singer Frank Sinatra Junior died at the age of 72.

5. Shehnai exponent Ustad Ahmed Ali Hussain Khan died at the age of 77.

6. Paul Daniels, TV Magician died at the age of 77.