Daily GK Updates - 29th July, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government forms ‘Disha’ for timely implementation of Central Schemes: The Centre has announced the formation of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) in place of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee (DVMC) and to be named Disha for effective implementation of Central government schemes.

2. BCCI Chief Anurag Thakur joins Territorial Army as Lieutenant: BCCI chief Anurag Thakur was commissioned into the Territorial Army (TA) as a regular officer by Army chief Dalbir S Suhag.Thakur is the first serving BJP MP to join the military force.

3. India and Bangladesh agree on anti-terror cooperation: India and Bangladesh have agreed to enhance cooperation on anti-terror efforts with Dhaka saying that New Delhi will be "side-by-side" with it in fighting terrorists. National Security Advisor AjitDoval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrish and Director Generals of Border Security Force and Narcotics Control Bureau participated in the talks.

4. CK Mishra appointed as New Health Secretary.

5. T Nanda Kumar resigns as NDDB Chairman: T Nanda Kumar has resigned as chairman of Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from August 1, about 30 months ahead of the end of his tenure.

6. First woman head of aviation regulator moves out:The first woman chief of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) M Sathiyavathy was named as new Union Labour Secretary.

7. Railway Board chairman, AK Mittal gets 2-year extension.

8. Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari appointed as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court.

9. Intex ropes in Madhuri Dixit as its Brand Ambassador.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Tiger Day being observed today: Every year 29th July is celebrated as the International Tiger Day. The day is celebrated to raise awareness for tiger conservation and to give worldwide attention to the preservation of tigers.

2. A10 Networks acquires cloud firm Appcito: US-based A10 Networks, an application networking and security company has announced the acquisition of Appcito.Appcito is a provider of Software-As-A-Service (SaaS)-based, multi-cloud Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions.

3. Brazilian scientist discover another type of Zika-transmitting mosquito: The public Brazilian laboratory FundacionOswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) announced that researchers found the presence of the Culexquinquefasciatus mosquito infected by the Zika virus in three out of 80 groups of mosquitoes analyzed up until now.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. OKI installs more than 600 recycling ATMs for State Bank of India: apanese payments company OKI has installed 600 automatic teller machines with cash recycling abilities for country's largest lender State Bank of India across the country.

SPORTS:

2. Germany football team Captain Bastian Schweinsteiger retires: German professional footballer, Bastian Schweinsteiger has retired from the national team, marking the end of a glittering international football career.

AWARDS:

3. Four new writers get Jananpith ‘Navlekhan’ award: AmlenduTiwari and BalramKawant were awarded for their novels 'Parityakt', and 'Sara Morila,' while Om Naagar and Tasneem Khan were awarded for their non-fictions 'Nib KeChire Se' and 'Yeh Mere Rahnuma' respectively.

OBITUARIES:

4. American Author James Alan McPherson passed away at the age of 72.