Daily GK Updates - 9th December, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kannur International Airport in Kerala begins operations : Kannur International Airport (KIAL) has been Inaugurated by Pinarayi Vijayan (Chief Minister of Kerala) in the presence of Minister of Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu.Now, Kerala is the only state in the country with four international airports.The Kannur airport will give a major boost to trade, commerce, tourism, employment and export prospects in Kerala.The Integrated Passenger Terminal and Air Traffic Control building was designed by premier public sector consultancy agency KITCO India.

2.  All India Annual Conference of Heads of Science Centre’s & Museums begins at Itanagar : The three-day 18th All India Annual Conference of the Heads of Science Centre’s and Museums has begun at Itanagar.Arunachal Pradesh State Council Science and Technology is playing an important role to tie up and collaborate with other scientific institutions across the country to promote science and technology in the state.The conference will able to chalk out strategies to promote scientific temper and to play a catalyst role for students.

3. Vice President releases books on selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind : Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has released a compilation of selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind titled, "The Republican Ethic" in English and "Loktantra ke Swar" in Hindi at a function in New Delhi.The books are the collection of 95 of his selected speeches out of a total of 243 speeches made by the President in the first year of his office.They have been divided in eight sections.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Mexico’s Vanessa Poncede Leon crowned Miss World 2018 : Mexico’s Vanessa Poncede Leon (26-year) has won the coveted Miss World 2018 (68th edition) crown at a grand event in China.She is the first Mexican woman to win Miss World.She was presented the crown by the last year's Miss World winnerManushi Chhillar (India) at the event in Sanya City Arena in China.Nicolene Limsnukan of Thailand was named first runner-up.Almost 118 contestants from countries across the world participated in the beauty pageant.

2. International Anti-Corruption Day being observed today : International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) has been observed annually on 9th December to raise public awareness of corruption and what people can do to fight it.Every year USD 1 trillion is paid in bribes while an estimated USD 2.6 trillion are stolen annually through corruption.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. SEBI to relax listing norms for start-ups, rename it Innovators Growth Platform : Capital markets regulator SEBI lined up a slew of relaxations for new-age ventures to kickstart listing of start-ups in India.The proposed changes include renaming the Institutional Trading Platform that the regulator had created for such listings as Innovators Growth Platform.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had set up an expert group in June this year to review the start-up platform.

OBITUARIES:

1. Noted historian Mushirul Hasan passes away : Historian Prof. Mushirul Hasan (69-years) passed away recently.Mr. Hasan was the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.He has also served as the Director-General of the National Archives of India, and the President of the Indian History Congress.His book ‘India Partition: The Other Face of Freedom’, documents how Partition displaced millions and left behind a legacy of hostility and bitterness between the governments as well as the people from India and Pakistan.