Daily GK Updates - 27th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. NK Singh appointed chairman of 15th Finance Commission: The government on announced that former Revenue Secretary NK Singh will be the chairman of the 15th Finance Commission (FC) that will recommend distribution of taxes between the Centre and the states. Other members of the Commission are former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, former Chief Economic Adviser Ashok Lahiri, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand and Georgetown University Adjunct Professor Anoop Singh.

2. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) caps the prices of 51 medicines: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has capped the prices of 51 essential formulations, including those used for the treatment of cancer, pain, heart conditions and skin problems. The prices have been slashed in the range of 6 to 53 per cent.

3. Maharashtra leads in consumption of electricity: Maharashtra was the single largest consumer of electricity in India with a demand for 75,169 million units (MU) during April to September This was an increase of 8.6 per cent over the demand for 69,216 MU in the year ago period. Among the larger states, Uttar Pradesh showed a growth of 15.37 per cent year-on-year to 65,284 MU. Rajasthan and Telangana too showed good growth of 54.8 per cent and 15.34 per cent, respectively.

4. Nayantara Sahgal gets Lifetime Achievement Award at Times Lit: Nayantara Sahgal was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award at Times Lit Fest 2017. The writer of the immensely popular novel Rich Like Us, is the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1986. “When The Moon Shines By Day” is her latest book.

5. Justice Satrughana Pujahari sworn in as Judge of Madras HC: Justice Satrughana Pujahari was sworn in today as a Judge of the Madras High Court by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee. The judge had been transferred from the High Court of Orissa to the Madras High Court by a notification dated November 14, 2017.A short ceremony was held on the occasion of his appointment, which was graced by the presence of all sitting judges of the Court and members of the Madras Bar.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Golden Temple becomes “the most visited place of the world”: The Golden Temple has been awarded the ‘most visited place of the world’ by ‘World Book of Records’, a London-based organisation that catalogues and verifies world records. General Secretary of India chapter, Surbhi Kaul, and President of Punjab chapter, Randeep Singh Kohli, gave this award to SGPC chief secretary Roop Singh and other senior officials. Golden Temple is located in Amritsar and officially Golden Temple is called as Gurudwara Harminder Sahib.

2. SAM: World’s first AI politician: Scientists have developed the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) politician, that can answer a person’s queries regarding local issues such as policies around housing, education etc. The virtual politician, called SAM, was created by Nick Gerritsen, a entrepreneur in New Zealand.

3. Miss Universe winners 2017: South Africa’s Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters has won Miss Universe 2017 crown. The 66th annual Miss Universe pageant had 92 contestants vying for the crown, which is the largest number since Miss Universe 2011 and 2012 when 82 contestants fought for the title. Miss Colombia Laura Gonzalez was adjudged the first runner up while Miss Jamaica Davina Bennett became the second runner-up.

4. India, Finland join hands to boost mutual ties in IT, renewable energy: India and Finland joined hands to boost mutual ties in the areas of trade and investment, renewable energy and science and technology. Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Finnish counterpart held talks in New Delhi to discuss upon strengthening mutual relations. he discussions between the two Ministers focused on building cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, vocational education, science and technology, renewable energy, culture and tourism.

5. The air forces of South Korea & United States will hold a joint drill: The air forces of the United States and South Korea are scheduled to hold a regular joint drill early next month, deploying six F-22 Raptor stealth fighters in the exercise. The drill called “Vigilant Ace” will be held from Dec. 4-8. it will be the biggest number of F-22 fighter jets to participate in a single drill to date.

6. Memorial to honour Indian soldiers at Cambrai in France: On December 2, a unique Indian Armed Forces Memorial will be inaugurated at Villiers Guislain, right at the spot where the Indian cavalry had resisted a German counterattack in 1917 at Cambrai.The Indian Tricolour will be hoisted and French children will sing Jana Gana Mana. Cambrai was the world’s first “all-arms” battle where infantry, artillery, cavalry, tanks and aircraft participated.

                                           OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. Google collaborates with Pluralsight and Udacity: To create a pool of highly skilled tech workers, Google in association with education websites Pluralsight and Udacity announced a new scholarship programme to help 130,000 mobile and web developers and students across India.  Google is sponsoring 100,000 scholarships on the Pluralsight technology learning platform and 30,000 scholarships on Udacity to help developers gain access to advanced learning curriculum and further their employability in emerging technologies such as mobile and web development, machine learning, artificial intelligence and cloud platforms

SPORTS:

1. India defeat Sri Lanka by innings and 239 runs:  India defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs to win the second cricket Test at Nagpur.The visitors were bowled out for 166 runs in 49.3 overs in their second innings on the fourth day.With this win, India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

2. India clinches 10 medals at Para-Badminton World Championships: India clinched 10 medals (including two Gold) at the Para-Badminton World Championships at Ulsan in South Korea.Parul Parmar bagged both the Gold medal in the Women's Singles Standing Lower (SL3) Final and also the title clash of Women's Doubles (SL 3-4) section.Two Silver medals by Tarun Dhillon in Men's Singles (SL-4) andManoj Sarkar in SL-3 section.India won six Bronze medals.

3. Bottas wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2017: Valtteri Bottas survived several laps of high-speed pressure from his Mercedes team-mate and world champion Lewis Hamilton to claim a memorable victory. It was Bottas’ third career victory, all of them recorded since he joined Mercedes to partner the 32-year-old Hamilton in January. The 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

OBITUARIES:

1. Rajasthani Maand folk singer Mangi Bai Arya passes away: Rajasthani 'Maand' folk singer Mangi Bai Arya passed away following an heart attack. She had contributed significantly in taking 'Maand' to the national and international levels.