Daily GK Updates - 29th August, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. August 29 is Sports Day to mark Dhyan Chand’s birthday: National Sports Day in India is celebrated on August 29 to mark hockey legend Dhyan Chand's birthday. Dhyan Chand, considered as the greatest player in hockey, played a key role in India's three consecutive Olympic triumphs in 1928, 1932 and 1936.

2. GST Bill unanimously passed in Maharashtra: The Maharashtra Assembly's has unanimously passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill. GST is a tax levied when a consumer buys a good or service. It is meant to be a single, comprehensive tax that will subsume all the other smaller indirect taxes on consumption like service tax, excise duty etc.

3. West Bengal passes resolution to rename the state: The West Bengal Assembly today passed the resolution to rename the state to 'Bangla' in Bengali, 'Bengal' in English and 'Bangal' in Hindi.Earlier last month, the Mamata Banerjee government had approved the change of name to either Bongo or Bangla.

4. Mehbooba Mufti launches UJALA scheme in Jammu and Kashmir: CM, Mehbooba Mufti has formally launched the Ujala Scheme in Jammu and Kashmir with the distribution of LED bulbs.

5. HRD Minister PrakashJavadekar inaugurates IIT in Dharwad: Union HRD Minister PrakashJavadekar formally inaugurated the institute in Dharwad. The inauguration, which was planned last month end, had to be postponed due to the KalasaBanduri agitation.

6. AM Naik names SN Subrahmanyan as next Larsen and Toubro Chief.

7. Amit Chandra inducted as non-executive director of Tata Sons.

8. Carborundum Universal inaugurates R&D centre at Hosur: Murugappa Group firm Carborundum Universal (CUMI) inaugurated its Research and Development centre at its industrial ceramics division in Hosur, Tamil Nadu (TN).

9. Amazon launches dedicated online Telugu book store: E-commerce portal Amazon.in has announced the launch of a dedicated online Telugu book store with a wide-range of over 10,000 Telugu titles.

10. Wipro’s Chief Learning Officer Abhijit Bhaduri quits: AbhijitBhaduri, chief learning officer of Wipro has resigned. Bhaduri will start his own executive coaching company.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. Doha Bank opens branch in Kerala: Qatar's based Doha Bank has opened a branch; Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the branch. Doha Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in the State of Qatar.

SPORTS:

2. Nico Roseberg wins 2016 Belgian Grand Prix: Mercedes driver NicoRosberg from Germany has won the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix of Formula One. It was Rosberg’s overall tenth championship title of F1 in his career and the sixth win in the 2016 season.

3. Western Railway wins all India railway athletics championships: Western Railway won the overall team championship in the 82nd All India Railway athletic Championship held at Tiruchirapalli Tamil Nadu. Central railway stood 2nd and Southern Railway 3rd in the overall team category.

AWARDS:

4. Four athletes get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Four athletes, including Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu, gymnast DipaKarmakar, shooter JituRai and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik received the Rajiv KhelRatna award from President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi.