Daily GK Updates - 26th May, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government approves Capital Goods Policy, aims 21 million new jobs by 2025: The objectives of the National Capital Goods Policy are to create an ecosystem for a globally competitive capital goods sector to achieve total production in excess of Rs 7.5 lakh crore by 2025 from the current Rs 2.3 lakh crore, and also to raise direct to increase direct domestic employment from the current 1.4 million to at least 5 million and indirect employment from the current 7 million to 25 million by 2025.

2. EPFO doubles insurance for subscribers to Rs 6 lakh: The Government has enforced the decision of retirement fund body EPFO to almost double the maximum sum assured under its insurance scheme from 3.6 lakh to 6 lakh for its 4 crore subscriber.

3. Government waives over Rs 9000 crore loans of HFCL: The Union Cabinet has waived off loans worth more than Rs 9079 crore owed by Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (HFCL) as part of a financial restructuring package for the PSU.

4. Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Maldives: It has granted ex-post facto approval to the MoU signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Maldives for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism.

5. Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Japan: It has given ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Japan for promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power development in India.

6. HRD Ministry launches portal: The Ministry of Human Resource Development has announced the launch of a multilingual knowledge portal www.bharatavani.in. It aims to not only ensure universalization of education but also creation of a knowledge society in the digital age.

7. Union Government gives approval to 6 new IITs: The new IITs will be functional at Tirupati (AP), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Goa, Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, the cabinet also gave approval to convert the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into an IIT.

8. Union Cabinet approves MoU between ISRO and United Arab Emirates Space Agency.

9.  Union Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to Amendments in Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950: The approval was given to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of five states, namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.

10. Union Road Transport Minister NitinGadkari launches safety feature-rich Nirbhaya buses: He launched 20 Nirbhaya buses of Rajasthan State Transport Corporation with multiple safety measures to better protect women passengers. The buses are equipped with safety features like VTS, CCTV and panic buttons on every seat.

11. Draft rules of Juvenile Justice Act 2015 released: Maneka Gandhi has released the draft model rules to repeal the existing rules for effective implementation of Juvenile Justice Act. The rules take care of the development needs of children and child friendly procedures are incorporated in it.

12. Cabinet clears Railway Projects worth Rs 11000 crore.

13. Dial 139 for wait-listed ticket cancellation: Railway passengers can now cancel their wait-listed and RAC train tickets by just dialing 139.

14. ISRO to test Air-breathing Propulsion System: It has decided to test an Air-breathing Propulsion System after the successful test of Reusable launch vehicle technology demonstration (RLV-TD).

15. Gujarat CM launches Ujala Scheme from Vadodara: Under this Central Scheme, the state government will distribute more than one crore LED bulbs at subsidized rate of Rs 80 to Rs 85 per piece. The bulb will have a 3-year replacement warranty. It will be of 7 to 8 watt capacity.

16. Telangana Government signs MoU with Eclat Health Solutions.

17. Aditya Birla Fashion buys India rights of Forever 21 to acquire its India business from its current franchisee, Diana Retail Pvt Ltd for an unspecified amount.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World leaders kick off G7 talks with economy in focus: The World leaders begin two days of G7 talks in Japan with the deteriorating global economy, terrorism and refugee crisis, China’s controversial maritime claims and a possible Brexit headlining on top the agenda.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Islamic Banking to debut in Gujarat: Saudi Arabia based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has announced to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

SPORTS:

2. Mirza, Bopanna and Paes win at French Open: The Indian contingent got off to a winning start at the French Open. Mirza-Hingis pair defeated the Russian pair of DariaKasatkina and Alexandra Panova. Paes and Bopanna also win their first game at the French Open.