Daily GK Updates - 15th December, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Jitesh Singh Deo named Mr. India 2017: Jitesh Singh Deo bagged the title of ‘Peter England Mr. India 2017’ at a ceremony held at Bandra Fort in Mumbai. Indian footballer Prathamesh Maulingkar has won the title of Peter England Mr. India Supranational 2017, followed by Abhi Khajuria and Pavan Rao. Jitesh competed with 15 other contestants to grab the coveted title.

2. 3rd World Telugu Conference begins today in Hyderabad: the Vice- President ‘M Venkaiah Naidu’ has inaugurated the third World Telugu Conference in Hyderabad.The 5-day conference will promote Telugu and its literature besides helping the present generation learn more about the Telugu language. Around eight thousand Telugu speaking delegates from 40 countries all over the globe will be taking part. President Ram Nath Kovind will participate in the valedictory function on 19th Dec 2017.

3.  Supreme Court extends deadline for Aadhaar linkage up to 31st March next year: The Supreme Court has extended the deadline till 31st March, 2018 for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also modified its earlier order with regard to linking of Aadhaar with mobile services.

4.  14th Inclusive Finance India summit begins in New Delhi: The 14th Inclusive Finance India Summit has begun in New Delhi to build consensus on strategies and a unified vision for achieving universal financial inclusion in India. The summit offers a platform for a plethora of information to all the thought leaders and industry veterans to debate the issues and challenges involving the Financial Inclusion in the country.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Norway becomes the first nation to shut national broadcasts on FM: Norway has become the world's first country to shut down national broadcasts of its FM network by completing its transition to digital radio. The transition will allow for better sound quality, a greater number of channels and more functions, at a cost eight times lower than FM radio.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Govt. raises customs duty on electronic items: The union finance ministry has raised customs duty on some electronic items including television, mobile phone, projector and water heater in order to boost domestic manufacturing. Now, customs duty on television set has been increased to 15% from the existing 10% and the duty on monitors and projectors has been doubled to 20%.For the push button telephone or mobile, the duty has been raised to 15% from 0, while water heater and hairdressing instrument duty has been doubled to 20%.

SPORTS:

1. Sachin Siwach named ABC’s best youth boxer: The World youth champion Sachin Siwach has been named the Asian Boxing Confederation’s “Best Youth Boxer” of the year 2017. Sachin won after an online poll conducted by the continental body in his category and polled 36.2 % votes.