Daily GK Updates - 26th October, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India ranks 130 in ease of doing business: According to the World Bank’s Ease of doing Business Report 2017, India now ranks 130 out of 190 countries. New Zealand has surpassed Singapore to become the easiest country in the world to do business.

2. India up 21 places in WEF Gender Gap report: India has climbed 21 spots to rank 87th on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2016. With this jump in ranking, India has now overtaken China which is ranked 99th out of 144 countries.  Iceland tops the latest rankings followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden.

3. Urban Development Ministry, NBCC, CPWD sign MoU to redevelop colonies: The Union Ministry of Urban Development has signed a MoU with National Buildings Construction Corporation (India) Ltd and Central Public Works Department (CPWD). The MoU was signed for the redevelopment of General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies in New Delhi.

4. India and New Zealand sign three agreements: India and New Zealand today signed three agreements in the areas of double taxation avoidance, food security and sports to carry forward the ties between both sides.The agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand counterpart John Key after the delegation-level talks.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. International Hockey Federation appoints Jason McCracken as new CEO: McCracken will be leaving his role as Head of Insurance and Investment Risk at banking group ANZ to take on his new post at FIH's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

AWARDS:

2. Beatty becomes first US Author to win Man Booker Prize: Paul Beatty became the first author from the United States (US) to be awarded the Man Booker prize, for his book, 'The Sellout'. Beatty's book was awarded the 2016 prize of £50,000, in the third year since the award was opened to American writers.

OBITUARIES:

3. Legendary football Carlos Alberto Torres passed away at the age of 72: Legendary footballer Carlos Alberto Torres passed away on 25 October 2016 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.