Daily GK Updates - 12th August, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India’s first touch-and-feel garden for visually impaired: A first-of-its-kind touch and feel garden for the visually impaired people in the country was inaugurated near Calicut University campus by Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. The garden has nearly 70 aromatic, medicinal and herbal plants brought from various parts the country.

2. President approves six new IITs across the country and one NIT in AP: President Pranab Mukherjee has given his nod to set up six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in places like Jammu, Tirupati, Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharward (Karnataka) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and also passed a law regarding the same.

3. Badal inaugurates first ‘Sewa Kendra’ in Punjab: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has inaugurated city’s first Sewa Kendra at Ladhewali today where people will be able to avail services under one roof.

4. Assam becomes the first state to ratify GST: Assam has become the first state to ratify the Goods and Services Tax Constitutional Amendment Bill. The Parliament had earlier cleared the bill to usher in a uniform tax regime throughout the country, and it now awaits the ratification of at least 15 states to make it a law.

5. 12-day long Krishna Pushkar festival begins on grand note in Telangana and AP: A 12-day long Krishna Pushkar festival began in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on a grand note today. The festival comes once in every 12 years. Telangana government has made elaborate arrangements as over three crore people expected to turn up for a holy dip at various places in Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda districts on the banks of the sacred river.

6. Hindustan Copper Limited inaugurates country’s first facility to produce nickel:The new facility - Nickel, Copper, and Acid Recovery Plant is located at the company's Indian Copper Complex (ICC) at Ghatshila in Jharkhand.

7. Flipkart now on Kotak Mahindra Bank’s mobile banking app: The private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) has announced the availability of Flipkart’s mobile site in its mobile banking app to gives the customer a secure in-app shopping environment.

8. Birender Singh Yadav appointed as next High Commissioner of India to Ghana.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Apple rehires Flipboard co-founder for Health Software role: Apple Inc has rehired Flipboard Co-founder Evan Doll to work on health-related software after he quit Apple to found the digital news magazine app Flipboard. Doll had worked as a software engineer at Apple from about 2003 to 2009 and had helped develop the first iPhone operating system.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. RBI transfers Rs 65,876 crore surplus to government: The Reserve Bank will transfer to the central government its surplus profit of Rs 65,876 crore which is marginally lower than the amount given last year.

2. NABARD sanctions Rs 26.06 crore to Punjab: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 26.06 crore to the Punjab government. The fund has been sanctioned for tackling waterlogging by constructing lift schemes in low-lying areas, village ponds, and other allied works.

SPORTS:

3. Phelps 3^rd to win Gold in the same event at four Olympics: Michael Phelps won the gold medal in the 200m individual medley to become only the third athlete to win an individual Gold in the same event at four Olympics. This was Phelps 22nd Olympic Gold and 4th consecutive in 200m individual medley starting 2004.