Daily GK Updates - 5th April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Maritime Day observed across the country on 5^th April 2016: It is marked as the National Maritime Day of India to commemorate the sailing of India’s first steamship Loyalty on April 5^th 1919 from Mumbai to London.

2. India’s fastest train ‘Gatimaan Express’ flagged off from Delhi to Agra: The Nizamuddin-Agra Gatimaan Express is the first semi-high speed service in railways and will run at a speed of 160 km per hour, covering the 188 km distance in 100 minutes.

3. India’s first cash giving app ‘CASHe’ launched: This new application is very helpful and provides users a personalised experience to borrow cash anytime, anywhere within minutes for their needs.

4. Aadhaar enrolment hit 100 crore: Over 100 crore people, including 93% of the adult population, now have an Aadhaar number. 

5. Union Government releases Rs 25834 crore to Food Corporation of India (FCI) as food subsidy.

6. India’s Manish Sharma appointed to Panasonic’s Global Executive Council.

7. Bhubaneshwar Smart City Limited, India’s first SPV on smart city started operations.

8. Aon Hewitt released list of India’s Best Employer 2016: Accor Hotels topped the list while Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co stood second.

9. Indian Air Force to participate in Red Flag exercise along with US, NATO and allied forces that will be conducted from 28^th April in Alaska.

10. Keeping a criminal case pending is violation of Article 21 of Constitution: Delhi HC.

11. India’s first Aadhaar enabled ATM launched by DCB Bank in Mumbai: The ATM will use finger prints to dispense cash rather than ATM PIN.

12. GoAir elevated Wolfgang Prock-Schauer as Managing Director.

13. President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Geoscience Awards 2014: Prof Ashok Singhvi was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience Award for Excellence for his outstanding contributions in the field of sedimentary technologies.

14. PM Modi launched Stand Up India Scheme in Noida to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes and Women entrepreneurs.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World’s first public dengue vaccination programme launched in Philippines: The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in Philippines as nurses began injecting the first batch of a million children with a French drug to combat the sometimes deadly disease.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. First bi-monthly monetary policy statement 2016-17 released: RBI has cut the Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.5% in its first bi-monthly monetary policy review for the 2016-17 fiscal and kept the CRR unchanged at 4%.

SPORTS:

2. Kenya’s Cyprian Kotut and Jepkesho win Paris Marathon.

3. Waqar Younis resigned as head coach of Pakistan cricket team.

4. ICC released Test, ODI and T20I rankings: The 1^st place in the test and ODI was grabbed by Australia while India stood 1^st in the T20I rankings.

AWARDS:

5. Vishwanathan Anand to be feted with Hridyanath Award for his outstanding achievements as a chess player.

OBITUARIES:

6. Grammy winner American Jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri died at the age of 83.