Daily GK Updates - 8th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India and Britain sign two agreements: India and the United Kingdom have signed two pacts to boost cordial relations between the two nations.The pacts were inked during the 3 days visit of Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to India.PM Theresa May was on a three Day visit to India. Two agreements, one on intellectual property (IP) and another for bilateral cooperation on raising ease of doing business were signed.

2. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan starts: The Union Government launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals.

3. Demchok mission of Indian Army successfully completed: The Indian army has successfully completed its task of laying an irrigation pipeline in the Demchok region of Eastern Ladakh. The project was being conducted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to link the villages in the region with a hot spring.

4. VinodRai to head advisory commission: VinodRai has been appointed as the Chairman of Fund Trustee and Advisory Commission of Kerala. He will be entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that the funds of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) are properly utilised and the interest of investors is protected.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 600 million pounds masala bonds to be listed in London: The British government has announced that, 4 rupee-denominated bonds worth of 600 million pounds are expected to be listed in London in the next three months.

2. NASA’s MMS creates new Guinness World Record: NASA’s Magnetospheric Multi-scale (MMS) Mission on 5 November 2016 set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal at 70000 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. Magnetospheric Multi-scale (MMS) mission successfully completed commissioning activities on 1 September 2015 and is now in full science mode.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. RBI issues clarifications on hedging for ECBs: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the Clarifications on hedging for External Commercial Borrowings (ECB). The Clarifications were issued under section 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

2. Ratnesh Kumar appointed MD and CEO of BOB Capital Markets.

AWARDS:

3. Tunisian leader among four conferred Jamnalal Bajaj awards: Well-known Gandhian and President of Tunisia's Ennahdha Party, Sheikh RachedGhannouchi was among four prominent personalities conferred with the prestigious 39th Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation Awards for 2016.Mohan HirabaiHiralal, founder and convenor of Vrikshamitra was honoured for outstanding contribution in the field of Constructive Work.BonBehari Vishnu Nimbkar, founder of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute was presented the award for application of science and technology for rural development.Dr.Nannapaneni Manga Devi, founder secretary of Sri VenkateswaraBalaKuteer and Chetana Charitable Trust was honoured with the award for development and welfare of women and children.