Daily GK Updates - 31st July, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Very serious flood situation in Odisha's Jajpur, Kendrapara districts: Over two lakh people have been affected in the flood in Brahmani river and Seven people had lost their lives in the floods. PM Modi will pay an one-day visit to Assam on Tuesday to discuss a permanent solution to the flood problem.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. U.S. Conducts ‘Successful’ Test of THAAD Defence System With Ballistic Missile: The US military has successfully tested the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense(THAAD) system over Pacific Ocean. Interestingly the THAAD test comes just two days after N Korea fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile(ICBM). The exercise will help the U.S. “to stay ahead of the evolving threat,” said MDA Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves in a statement.

2. Donald Trump got disappointment with China’s “NoStand” State on North Korea’s Nuclear Quest : US president took twitter to accuse China for doing nothing to thwart North Korea’s Nuclear quest. The comments came after Kim Jong-un celebrated his country’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test. US President Donald Trump has accused China of doing nothing on North Korea and said he was "very disappointed" with Beijing, a day after Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile test. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

3. Robert Mugabe says he is 'not dying' as health concerns mount: Zimbabwe's 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, declaring "I am not dying," sought Saturday to brush aside growing concerns about his health after his wife urged him to name a successor. Mugabe's medical trips to Singapore have become frequent in recent years, fuelling questions about his health. His last visit was early this month for what was described as a "routine medical check-up".Zimbabwe’s 93 year old President Robert Mugabe said he won’t step down leaving behind fractured party. This comes after demans for the resignation of Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980. Zimbabweans will vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 2018

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Shiva Thapa, Manoj Kumar strike gold at Czech Republic boxing tournament: The Indian boxers at the 48th Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem in the Czech Republic bagged five gold, two silver and one bronze medal at the event. World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa and Commonwelth Games Gold medallist Manoj Kumar claimed Gold medal along with other three boxers. In Toto, Indian boxers bagged 8 medals at Czech Republic boxing tournament.

2.Sebestian Vettel beats Lewis Hamilton at Hungarian Grand Prix: Ferrari’s F1 racer Sebestian Vettel won the Hungarian Grand prix title. With the help of this win, Sebestian Vettel extended his lead over rival Lewis Hamilton to 14 points in the drivers’ championship table. Sebastian Vettel a German racing driver is currently driving in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is a four-time Formula One World Champion, having won the championship in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 with Red Bull Racing, therefore being among the most successful F1 drivers of all time, as he is one of only four drivers to have won four or more drivers' titles. He is regarded by fellow and former drivers as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in the history of the sport. Vettel is contracted to remain as a Formula One driver with Scuderia Ferrari until at least the end of 2017.

BANKING & FINANCE:

1. SBI cuts saving account rate by 0.5% on balance upto Rs 1 cr: SBI said revision of saving bank rate will enable the bank to maintain marginal cost of fund based lending rate (MCLR) at existing rates. Country’s largest lender State Bank of India has slashed interest on savings account deposits by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent on balance up to Rs 1 crore, ahead of RBI’s policy review this week.However, the bank will continue to offer 4 per cent interest on savings account balance of Rs 1 crore and above.

2. Government is planning strategic disinvestment in Salem Steel Plant: The government is planning strategic disinvestment of the Salem steel plant (SSP) in Tamil Nadu and not total disinvestment said Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh in Lok Sabha. Salem Steel Plant(SSp), which produced 3.39 lakh metric tonnes per annum of steel, was considered to be the country’s best plant producing stainless steel.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Snapdeal ends merger talks with Flipkart to ‘pursue independent path’: Sectoral analysts suggested that while it was imperative for Snapdeal to find a suitor to handle its financial troubles, but the deal did not make much sense for Flipkart except that it could have helped the Bengaluru-based e-commerce firm get backing from SoftBank. Beleaguered online marketplace Snapdeal has called off talks for its merger with rival Flipkart, India’s biggest e-commerce player. “Snapdeal has been exploring strategic options over the last several months. The company has now decided to pursue an independent path and is terminating all strategic discussions as a result,” a Snapdeal spokesperson said in a statement, without naming Flipkart.

2. Maharashtra tops the list of fresh GST registrations, Gujarat comes second: Maharashtra topped the list of GST registration under Goods and Service Tax with over 1.3 lakh applications. Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh ranked second and third with 90,000 and 80,000 applicatons respectively.

HONOURS/AWARDS:

1.Japanese & SriLankan stands in the list of the winners of Ramon Magsaysay Awards: Yoshiaki Ishizawa, a Japanese historian and Gethsie Shanmugam, a Sri Lankan teacher are among six winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards. A Japanese historian who helped Cambodians preserve the Angkor temples and a Sri Lankan teacher who counseled war widows and orphans to overcome their nightmares. The other recipients named Thursday are an Indonesian working for the return of large tracts of forest land to indigenous communities, a Singaporean who leads the cooking of 6,000 meals a day for the destitute, a Philippine theater group which stood up to a dictatorship and a Filipino who oversaw the opening of job-generating export processing zones. These are among the six winners of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel Prize.The Ramon Magsaysay Awards' is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government. The award has been critically-acclaimed as the most prestigious continental award in Asia, in par with the West's Nobel Prize.

OBITUARIES:

1.Eminent Dhrupad singer Ustad Sayeeduddin Dagar passes away at 78: Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar, one of the foremost exponents of the Dhrupad tradition, died in a Pune hospital late on Sunday evening following prolonged illness. Known to his admirers as Sayeed Bhaai, Ustad Sayeeduddin Dagar succumbed to kidney and other related ailments. The maestro died in a Pune hospital late on Sunday evening following prolonged illness. He was part of the illustrious Dagar family of musicians