Daily GK Updates – 4th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Indian Naval Ships Tir & Sujatha visit to Sri Lanka: The Indian Coast Guard ship Sarathi arrived at the Colombo port on 02nd Nov 2017 on a goodwill and training visit. Two another Indian naval ships Tir & Sujatha are on a 5-days goodwill visit to Sri Lanka to participate in the training exercises. The crew will also take part in a series of friendly sports events and community service activities organised by the Sri Lanka Navy.

2. Andhra to convert 29,000 fair price shops into village malls: The mini-malls will offer subsidised grains along with over 500 grocery items and fast moving consumer goods. The initiative is aimed at improving the rural population’s lifestyle.

3. India to witness ‘Beaver Moon’ tonight: The moon would appear around 14% larger in diameter and 30% brighter than usual as the Moon comes closer to Earth. November’s Full Moon is called ‘Beaver Moon’ after beavers who build their winter dams at this time of the year.

4. IAF, DRDO successfully test-fire ‘Glide’ bomb: They test-fired indigenously developed lightweight ‘Glide’ bomb named SAAW(Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon) in Odisha. Three tests were conducted with different release conditions and were all successful.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Trump to be 1st US President in 25 yrs to visit South Korea: Donald Trump has begun his 12-day trip to five Asian nations. Trump and South Korean President Moon-Jae are expected to discuss North Korean nuclear issue among other things.

2. US launches first airstrike against Islamic State in Somalia: General Joseph Dunford announced that the US saw Africa as a new frontline against ISIS. The US had previously carried out drone strikes against al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militant group in Somalia.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Mary Kom assured of a medal in Asian Women’s Boxing Championships: Mary Kom defeated Chinese Taipei’s Meng-Chieh Pin in a split verdict in the quarterfinals to make the last four stage of the light flyweight (48kg) category. The 34-year-old, who has won four gold, a silver in her five previous appearances at the event, will face Japan’s Tsubasa Komura in the semifinals.

2. French laboratory suspended from anti-doping activities: World Anti-Doping Agency carried out this suspension because of analytical issues. The laboratory was provisionally suspended on September 24th due to issues self-reported to WADA by the laboratory.

SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY:

1. New Orangutan Species Found : A new species of orangutan ‘Pongo tapanuliensis’ was discovered in the Sumatra island of Indonesia, which has become the world’s most endangered great ape. The species, called ‘Tapanuli orangutan’, lives in the Batang Toru forest on Sumatra island of Indonesia. They are only 800 in number totally. This has made them the most endangered great ape in the world.

2. Fake version of WhatsApp surfaces in Google play store: The app is named ‘Update WhatsApp Messenger’ under the developer name ‘WhatsApp Inc’. The fake app has been downloaded one million times while the original WhatsApp has one billion users.

3. Longest dolphin in captivity died : Nana, a female bottlenose dolphin, died at the Shizuoka Prefecture aquarium, in Japan. Dolphin Nana recently broke a national record of staying captive at the aquarium for 15,666 days, or 42 years and 11 months. Nana was captured off the coast of Ito in 1974. She had lived at the aquarium since then. She had given birth to eight calves and also had taken part in dolphin shows.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. Broadcom plans to acquire Qualcomm for $100 billion: The acquisition of Qualcomm would make Broadcom the third-largest chipmaker after Intel and Samsung Electronics. Broadcom has a current market capitalisation of about $110 billion.

2. RCom to shut voice call service from December 1: TRAI has directed RCom to not reject any porting out request of its subscribers and customers can move to other networks by December 31. This comes after RCom called off its merger with Aircel in October.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. India jumping 30 spots in ease of doing business rare - World Bank: World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgiva has said that this jump for India is very rare and that it is an extraordinary achievement. Georgieva further said that the GST regime has created an opportunity for India to grow.