Daily GK Updates - 26th March, 2017

­­­­NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Aadhaar to be mandatory for driving licence: The Central government has asked all the states to make Aadhaar card a mandatory requirement in order to procure a driving licence in India.  The rule will come into effect from October, 2017.

The move will ensure that there are no multiple driving licenses under one name.

2. Anupam Kher receives Kala Ratan Award from Vice President: Actor Anupam Kher was honoured with the Kala Ratan Award from Panjab University with the Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari giving away the award.

3. Indian Railways to install Wi-Fi kiosks at 500 remote stations for e-services: Railways will set up Wi-Fi hotspot kiosks at about 500 stations and help people access an array of online services, including various government schemes.  Christened as Railwire Saathi, the Wi-Fi kiosks will function like a PCO for Digital India and enable people to use services like e-commerce, online banking and much 

4. India becomes 3rd largest aviation market in domestic traffic: India has become the 3rd largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan.

According to aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, India's domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016. It was behind only the US (719 million) and China (436 million).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Harvard to launch world's biggest solar geo-engineering study: Harvard University scientists are set to launch the biggest solar geo-engineering study by sending aerosol injections 20 kilometres into the earth's stratosphere to act as a solar shield. The study will explore the possibility of solar shielding as a future solution to global warming.  The $20 million project aims to simulate the atmospheric cooling effects of a volcanic eruption.

2. Bangladesh celebrates 46th Independence Day: On March 26th Bangladesh celebrates its Independence day. Bangladesh's President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed wreaths at National Memorial in Savar paying respects to those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom.

3. Bali named the best global travel destination for 2017: TripAdvisor, the travel planning and booking website, has named Bali as the global winner of its 2017 Travelers' Choice Awards for destinations. London and Paris have bagged the second and the third spots respectively on TripAdvisor’s list of 10 best travel destinations around the world for this year.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1.  Cheteshwar Pujara sets a record by scoring the most runs in a Test season (by an Indian): Pujara achieved the landmark for scoring the most runs in a Test season, surpassing the mark of 1269 by Gautam Gambhir which he achieved in the 2008/09 season. He has scored 1316 runs at an average of 65.8 in the season, the most ever by an Indian batsman in Tests. He needs 168 runs to break Ricky Ponting’s mark, who holds the record for the most runs ever by a batsman in a season, with 1483 runs at an average of 78.05.

2. India wins archery team gold at Asia Cup: India's (men's) archery team won a gold medal in the men's compound event at the 2017 Asia Cup Stage 2 in Bangkok on Saturday.

3. Ferrari's Vettel wins season opener at Australian Grand Prix: Ferrari's Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel began the Formula One season with a win at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished the race in the second and third places respectively.

BANKING

4. HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri named in world's 30 Best CEOs list: HDFC Bank's Managing Director Aditya Puri has featured on the list of world's 30 best CEOs, published by American financial magazine Barron's.