Daily GK Updates - 3rd December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nation pays tribute to RajendraPasad on his 131^stbirt anniversary: Remembering Rajendra Prasad, the first President of Independent India on the 131st birth anniversary on 03rd December 2016, Prime Minister NarendraModi said the nation bow to him forhis inspirational guidance in the time when India was getting freedom.Dr.Rajendra Prasad was an eminent freedom fighter, a renowned jurist, an eloquent parliamentarian, an able administrator, a statesman par excellence and above all, a humanist to the core. Dr.Rajendra Prasad, affectionately addressed as ‘RajenBabu’, was born at Village Ziradei in Saran district (now in Siwan) of Bihar on 03 December 1884.

2. Delhi’s airport world’s 22^nd connected : The Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi is the 22nd most connected airport in the world, according to air travel intelligence company OAG. Mumbai Airport has been ranked 28th,while OAG's 2016 Megahubs Index has been topped by Chicago Airport in the United States. Meanwhile, the Atlanta and Dallas Airports, also in the US, have ranked second and third.

3. Kolkata gets best cities award for tackling climate change: Kolkata, along with 10 other cities from across the globe, has been honoured with the best cities of 2016 award in recognition of its programme on solid wastemanagement. Kolkata, the only Indian city to win the honour, received the award during the C40 Mayors Summit held in Mexico. Other cities which won the award include Copenhagen, Sydney, and Paris.

4. Chitra Ramkrishna quits NSE, J.Ravichandran interim chief: Ramkrishna unexpectedly quit as chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE), ending her 24-year career at the country’s largest bourse that she helped found. Ramkrishna, who took over as head of the exchange in 2013, quit due to personal reasons, J Ravichandran, group president, will be in charge till the board appoints a new CEO.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed on 3^rd December:

International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed on 03rd December 2016.Disability Day is a day that has been promoted by the United Nations since 1992. The aim of Disability Day is to encourage a better understanding of people affected by a disability, together with helping to make people more aware of the rights, dignity and welfare of disabled people, as well as raise awareness about the benefits of integrating disabled persons into every aspect of life. The theme of World Disability Day for 2016 is: Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want, which draws attention to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and how these goals can create a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.

2. Spanish city changes name for third time in a decade: A Spanish city has changed its name for the third time in adecade, renaming itself Palma from Palma de Mallorca. The regional government voted for the name change, claiming the "de Mallorca" tag to be a leftover from Spain’s centralist past. The city was renamed Palma in 2008, but its name was changed to Palma de Mallorca in 2012.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                                                                         

1. RBI defers Aadhaar-enabled devices: RBI defers mandatory implementation of Aadhar-enabled  PoS (Point of Sale) devices till June30,2017. The RBI said banks, authorised card payment networks and white-label ATM operators have time till June 30, 2017, for deployment of Aadhaar-enabled devices. The central bank said the rate of deployment of acceptance infrastructure has slowed owing to the mismatch between demand and supply of such Aadhaar-enabled devices. As there is currently a limited capacity to produce such devices.

2.Airtel Patments Bank to offer Talk-Time on new savings account: Airtel Payments Bank, the first payments bank in India introduce that any customer opening a savings account with it will get one minute of talk time on his/her Airtel mobile for every rupeedeposited.If a customer opens an account with a deposit of Rs1,000 then he/she will get 1,000 minutes of free talk time on his/her Airtel mobile number. The talk time can be used for calling all over India. This benefit is applicable on first time deposits only.The offer will be valid from Airtel to Airtel mobile minutes with a validity period of 30 days. 

3. Ruchi Soya to provide assistance to farmers: Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya Industries in association with State Bank of India (SBI) launched an initiative to provide banking assistance to farmers.To start off, banking assistance will be provided to soybean farmers in Indore, Samwer, Manglia and Ujjain mandis in Madhya Pradesh.The company will further plans to expand this initiative across the country in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.Under the initiative ‘KisanKalyanAyojan’, the company will help farmers to open bank accounts, procure the produce directly from farmers at the right price and ensure farmers get their payment immediately through internet banking.

SPORTS:

4.Usain Bolt wins a record sixth “Athelte of the Year” award: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the International Association of Athletics Federations' award for male athlete of the year for a record sixth time on Friday. He last won the award in 2013, while his first win came in 2008. Bolt, who is undefeated this season in all distances, completed his 'triple-triple' of 100-metres, 200-metres and 4x100-metres Olympic golds in August. 

AWARDS:

5. UAE-based Indian wins International Children’s Peace Prize: A 16-year-old Indian girl based in the UAE has won this year's International Children's Peace Prizevfor her fight for climate justice and combating environmental degradation. KehkashanBasuwaspresented the award by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus at The Hague. At the age of 12, Kehkashan founded her organisation Green Hope, which now has operations in over 10 countries.