Daily GK Updates - 7th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India to host Conference on Tobacco Control today: India is set to host the crucial global tobacco control conference today for the first time, where it will push for incorporating smokeless tobacco as an agenda. The 7th Session of the Conference of Parties to World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will begin today at Greater Noida.

2. 128^th anniversary of Sir C V Raman celebrated on 7^th November: The 128th anniversary of Nobel laureate Bharat Ratna Sir CV Raman is being celebrated on 07 November. Sir CV Raman won the Nobel prize in Physics 1930 for his discovery -Raman effect - the scattering of light which makes the sea and clear sky look blue.

3. First S4A debt recast gets approval: Construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) became India’s first firm to get debt recast under RBI’s new Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).The RBI-mandated Overseeing Committee (OC) under the S4A has approved HCC’s Rs. 5,000-crore debt recast passed by an ICICI Bank-led joint lender forum in September 2016.

4. India and Sri Lanka sign pact to address fisherman crisis: India and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement under which a hotline will be set up between officials of the two countries to address the fishermen crisis. It also set up procedures to return arrested fishermen and have a minister-level meeting every few months on the issue.

5. BJP’s Avinash Khanna all set to be appointed NHRC member: BJP Vice President Avinash Rai Khanna is all set to be appointed as a member of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with a high-level selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearing his name.

6. India rises to second place in Global business optimism index:The latest Grant Thornton International Business Report for the July-September quarter has placed India 2nd on the global scale for business optimism.

7. ‘Lost’ Chandrabhaga River found in Odisha: Scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) claimed to have found evidence confirming the existence of a mythical Indian river, Chandrabhaga. This is the second among such findings. In October 2016, KS Valdiya led expert committee had found that Saraswati River did exist. The IIT study aimed to verify this myth.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Google Capital changes its name to ‘CapitalG’: Google Capital, the search giant's venture arm that invests in growth-stage companies, has changed its name to 'CapitalG'. The old GoogleCapital.com domain now forwards to CapitalG.com, and Google Capital's Twitter account has announced that it’s being retired in favour of a new @CapitalGTweets account.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. RBI appoints M Rajeshwar Rao as Executive Director: The Reserve Bank has appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as Executive Director (ED) following G Mahalingam’s voluntary retirement from the central bank. As Executive Director, Rao will look after Department of Statistics and Information Management, Financial markets Operations Department and International Department.

SPORTS:

2. Petra Kvitova wins 2016 WTA Elite Singles Trophy: Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova on 6 November 2016 won the 2016 WTA Elite Singles Trophy. She defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-2 to grab the title at Zhuhai, China. Venus Williams was the defending champion for the title.

3. Henri Kontinen, John Peers win 2016 BNP Paribas Masters Doubles Title: Henri Kontinen and John Peers have won the ATP World Tour Masters Doubles title at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. Kontinen and Peers defeated top-seeded Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to claim the title.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

4. Book titled ‘An Era of Darkness: British Empire in India’ authored by Dr Shashi Tharoor released by Vice President Hamid Ansari.