Daily GK Updates - 2nd August, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Parliament passes Indian Medical Council (Amendment Bill), 2016: The Parliament has passed Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to conduct of uniform entrance examination for admission to all medical educational institutions.

2. Central body approves Rs 400 crore for Ganga Rejuvenation projects: A high-level panel of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has approved various projects worth approximately Rs 400 crore for development of ghats (river fronts) and crematoria at different places along the river Ganga from Uttarakhand to West Bengal under the Centre’s ambitious NamamiGange programme.

3. Government launches credit rating scheme for MSMEs: The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has launched a performance and credit rating scheme to assess the capabilities and creditworthiness of industries in the sector. The 'Performance and Credit Rating Scheme' will provide "trusted" third party opinion to create awareness about the strengths and weaknesses of enterprises' existing operations.

4. India to host international summit on tobacco-control: India is going to host a crucial global summit in November to eliminate the illicit trade of tobacco products. The summit is scheduled for November 7-12 at the Indian Exposition Mart in Noida. In this summit delegates from 180 countries will take part.

5. Odisha Government to recruit transgenders as jail warders: The Odisha government has decided to recruit members of transgender community persons as warders in jails of the State as per the directive of the Supreme Court. The home department has issued instructions to the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) to include the gender category.

6. Resolution for the renaming of Madras High Court passed:The Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a unanimous resolution that the Madras High Court be renamed as Tamil Nadu High Court and not as High Court of Chennai as proposed by the Centre.

7. Freecharge inks partnership with PayUbiz: India's digital payments platform Freecharge has partnered with the leading payment gateway solution provider, PayUbiz, to further strengthen its merchant base and help consumers move from cash to digital payments.

8. Deepak Iyer appointed Mondelez India MD.

9. BhaskarKhulbe appointed as Secretary to PM Modi.

10. Air Marshal Neelakantan takes charge of Southern Air Command.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. ICICI Bank ties up with Apollo India to form ARC: ICICI Bank has inked a MoU with Apollo India Credit Opportunity Management LLC and AION Capital Management to set up an asset reconstruction company.

2. Bank of Baroda ties up with start-up Fisdom: India's leading public sector bank, Bank of Baroda has tied up with a fintech start-up Fisdom for personal wealth management services. Fisdom app helps users make financial investments in an easy and paperless manner by blending cutting-edge technology with personalised financial advice. It helps people manage their money with the help of a robo-advisor.

SPORTS:

3. SimonaHalep wins Rogers Cup women’s singles by defeating Madison Keys 7-6, 6-3.

AWARDS:

4. Anita Gopalan wins 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants: Translator and artist Anita Gopalan has awarded with the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants for her English translation of Hindi novel Simsim by GeetChaturvedi.

OBITUARIES:

5. Indian-American Professor Emeritus Braj B Kachru passed away at the age of 84.