Daily GK Updates - 27th October, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra appointed as ED chief : The government has appointed Indian Revenue Service officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra as Enforcement Directorate chief.He will replace current ED director Karnal Singh’s whose term ended on 25th Oct 2018.Singh, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Union Territories cadre, will complete an over three-year tenure as the ED Director.The ED enforces two major laws in the country to check black money — the criminal Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

2. Malayalam author Benyamin’s 'Jasmine Days' wins first JCB Prize for literature :

Malayalam author Benyamin has bagged the inaugural JCB Prize for literature for his book 'Jasmine Days', which explores the lives of South Asians in the Middle East.'Jasmine Days', his second book, tells the story of a young woman in a city where the promise of revolution turns into destruction and division.It revolves around the Jasmine Revolution that sprang up in December 2010 and was quelled by January 2011.Benyamin was awarded a cash prize of ₹25 lakh, along with a magnificent trophy.

3. Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates 10th Nuclear Energy Conclave in New Delhi  : The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) inaugurated 10th Nuclear Energy Conclave in New Delhi.He said that the Cabinet has given its approval for construction of 10 units of India’s indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR).He also informed the audience about the “Hall of Nuclear Power”- India’s first permanent exhibition on nuclear power has been built in the national capital.

4. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a web portal of ‘IMPRESS’ scheme : With an aim to build a research ecosystem in educational institutions, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the web portal of ‘IMPRESS’ scheme.IMPRESS stands for - Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences. The aim of the scheme is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and society.The scheme will be implemented at a total cost of Rs. 414 crore by March 2021.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Sahle-Work Zewde becomes Ethiopia's first female president : Ethiopian members of parliament have elected Sahle-Work Zewde as the country's first female president.She will replace Mulatu Teshome who resigned in unclear circumstances.After being sworn in, President Sahle-Work promised to work hard to make gender equality a reality in Ethiopia.Prior to her appointment, Sahle-Work served as both the special representative of the United Nations' secretary-general and the head of the UN office to the African Union.

2. Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka : In Sri Lanka, the political turmoil continues after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as new Prime minister.President Maithripala Sirisena sacked premier Ranil Wickremesinghe who termed the move as “unconstitutional” and vowed to prove his majority in Parliament.After Rajapaksa took an oath, Sirisena wrote to Wickremesinghe, saying he had been removed.

3. Pak lawyer Asma Jahangir wins UN Human Rights Prize posthumously : Pakistan's human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir has been posthumously awarded the UN Prize along with three other winners.Rebeca Gyumi of Tanzania, Brazil's first indigenous lawyer Joenia Wapichana and Ireland's human rights  rganization Front Line Defenders are the other winners of the prize.The United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights is an honorary award given for outstanding achievement in human rights.The award ceremony will take place on December 10 on World Human Rights Day in New York.

4.  Young Indian scientist wins World Health Summit Startup award in Berlin : Roopam Sharma, a 23-year old Indian scientist, won the World Health Summit  tartup award, 2018 for his invention, Manovue – the world’s first intelligent personal assisting system for the visually impaired. He was awarded at an annual event of the health summit in Berlin. Manovue eliminates the need for Braille language to decipher a printed text and instead combines vision intelligence to help the visually impaired people read. He is known for his socially viable innovations that combine artificial intelligence.

5. PM Modi embarks on a 3-day visit to Japan to attend Annual Bilateral Summit : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today embarked on a three-day visit to Japan.PM Modi will attend the 13th India-Japan Annual summit with his counterpart Mr. Shinzo Abe.This will be the fifth Annual Summit meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Abe and their 12th meeting overall.Apart from attending the summit, Mr. Modi will visit the Robotics and Automation firm FANUC in Yamanashi and meet business leaders.

6. World Day for Audiovisual Heritage Observed today : The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, observed by the United Nations on October 27, recognizes the need to preserve audio-visual links to the past.The General Conference of UNESCO approved the commemoration of a World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2005 as a mechanism to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Hyundai tops in after-sales customer satisfaction survey : Hyundai Motor India has topped the after-sales customer satisfaction survey among mass market brands, according to global market research firm JD Power.Hyundai, the country's second-largest car seller, scored the highest 912 points in after-sales customer satisfaction survey, the JD Power 2018 India Customer Service Index (Mass Market) Study said.Tata Motors was ranked second with a score of 874 points followed by Mahindra & Mahindra at the third position with a score of 865.Ford with a score of 829 points was placed fourth followed by Toyota at fifth with 827 points. Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India stood at the eight positions with a score of 804.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Corp Bank bags MSME award : Corporation Bank has bagged the ‘Best MSME Bank - Winner 2018’ award instituted by the Assocham.The ‘6th Assocham SMEs Excellence Award – 2018’ was held in New Delhi.Shivanand Hebbar, DGM, received the award from Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma.The award was conferred based on the bank’s performance in SME (small and medium enterprise) segment.

SPORTS:

1.  Sourav Kothari wins World Billiards C’ship : India's Sourav Kothari defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore by 1134-944 to clinch the 2018 World Billiards Championship title at Leeds in UK.The former national and Asian Billiards champion Kothari was pipped at the post for the coveted World Billiards crown on two occasions in the last two years, including a loss to Gilchrist in 2016 final in Bengaluru.

Daily GK Updates - 22nd March, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. The Rajya Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) bill:  The bill would enhance the ceiling of tax-free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh from existing Rs 10 lakh for employers under the Payment of Gratuity Act. It is applicable to employees, who have completed at least five years of continuous service in an establishment that has 10 or more persons. The amendment to the payment of gratuity law comes in the backdrop of Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 enhancing the maximum maternity leave period to 26 weeks. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 allows for the payment of gratuity to employees in any establishment, factory, mine, oil field, plantation, port, railways, company, or shop employing 10 or more workers.

Need to know: How To Calculate Gratuity?

Amount of gratuity is directly proportional to the tenure of service, and also to the last drawn salary. The gratuity is given at the rate of 15 days of last drawn salary for each year of service. And the salary that is considered for the calculation of gratuity is the last drawn salary that includes basic pay and dearness allowance. It is typically calculated according to this formula: Last drawn salary (basic salary plus dearness allowance) X number of completed years of service X 15/26. According to this formula, the time period of over six months or more is considered as one year. This means if you have completed five years and seven months of service, the number of years would be considered as six years for calculation of gratuity benefit

2.  The government has launched free wi-fi service for Sansad Adarsh Gram, Udwada in Valsad district of Gujarat: The village has been adopted by Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Smriti Irani under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. The free wi-fi service will be provided by BSNL in partnership with QuadGen. The wi-fi service will cover nearly 90% of the village.

3. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in New Delhi on 22nd March for a five-day visit to India: This is his first visit to India as the President of Germany. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and the sixth largest trading partner in the world. India was ranked 24th in Germany’s global trade. Germany is the 7th largest foreign direct investor in India.

4.  The NHAI pavilion at 105th ‘Indian Science Congress- Pride of India Expo’ held at Imphal from 16-20 March 2018 has been adjudged as “Best Design Pavilion”: The NHAI had put up an exhibition stall to showcase its Projects and other initiatives like Electronic Toll Collection, Wayside Amenities, Road Safety etc. The award was conferred by Dr Najma Heptulla, Governor of Manipur.

5.   Smart India Hackathon 2018 announced: Ministry of Communications announced that the Smart India Hackathon 2018 – Software edition Grand Finale is scheduled to be held on March 30-31, 2018 in Panipat. Smart India Hackathon 2018 was launched on Oct 16, 2017, in Pune to harnesses creativity and expertise of students. Smart India Hackathon 2018 would be the 2nd hackathon initiative in India following Smart India Hackathon 2017.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw resigned due to ill health: Htin Kyaw, 71, was sworn in as Myanmar’s official president in 2016 after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won landmark elections. He acted as a proxy for Suu Kyi, who is constitutionally barred from holding the presidency because her children are foreign nationals.

2. International Day of Forests – 21^st March: The International Day of Forests was established on the 21st day of March, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2012. The theme of the International Day of Forests in 2018 is “Forests and Sustainable Cities”.The event marks the importance of sustaining and protecting woodlands and trees, which are vital to economies, livelihoods and environment.

3.  India to open 18 Missions in Africa:  The Union Cabinet on 21st March has approved the opening of 18 new Indian Missions in 18 African countries. This will enhance India’s diplomatic outreach in the African continent and allow India to engage with Indian diaspora in African countries. The 18 missions will be opened over a four-year period between 2018 to 2021.

4.  22^nd March - World Water Day: The World Water Day is observed every year on 22nd March to mark the importance of fresh water. The first World Water Day, designated by the United Nations, was observed in the year 1993. The theme of World Water Day, 2018 is “Nature for Water”. The UN World Water Development Report is released each year around World Water Day.

5. China building world’s fastest wind tunnel: China is building the world’s fastest hypersonic wind tunnel to develop a new generation of super-fast aeroplanes that could fly from Beijing to New York within two hours. A wind tunnel is a tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects. Engineers use wind tunnels to test models of aircraft, automobiles and other machines.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1.   MoU signed between SBI and IMGC: SBI and India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) signed a pact to offer mortgage guarantee scheme for prospective non-salaried and self-employed home loan customers. The offering will help increase home loan eligibility up to 15% within the regulatory norms. The applicant can avail higher finance based on risk grade of the borrower, by opting for IMGC default guarantee cover.

AWARDS/ HONOURS:

1. Google Doodle honors Japanese geochemist “Katsuko Saruhashi”: Google on 21st March honored Japanese geochemist “Katsuko Saruhashi” on her birth anniversary with a doodle. She was one of the 1st to study and measure the levels of carbon dioxide in seawater. She also measured the spread and fallout from nuclear testing. She established the Saruhashi Prize, given each year to a Japanese woman who has made contributions to the field of natural sciences. Katsuko Saruhashi, a Japanese Geochemist, Fought For Women's Rights, Equality. Katsuko Saruhashi was born on 22 March, 1920 in Tokyo. Her given name, Katsuko, literally translates to being strong-minded or victorious. She went on to graduate from the Imperial Women's College of Science in 1943 and joined the Meteorological Research Institute and worked in its Geochemical Laboratory. On her 98th birthday (22nd March, 2018), Google commemorated her with a Doodle. Katsuko Saruhashi made some of the first measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in seawater. A pioneer in her field, Dr Saruhashi was also the first to measure radioactive material in seawater. This was one of the scientific reasons for not conducting nuclear bomb experiments in the Pacific Ocean.

Daily GK Updates - 11th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 'India Disaster Response Summit': The Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has inaugurated the 'India Disaster Response Summit' in New Delhi. The summit focused on how best to leverage social media platforms to 'prepare, respond and recover' during and after a disaster. The summit has been organized jointly by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) & Facebook.

2. NITI Aayog releases proposal to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Delhi: NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has released a proposal to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Delhi. The "quick pilot" project includes 55 locations with 135 charging stations. The proposal can be used to provide a structure for electric vehicle infrastructure rollout in the Gurgaon-Indira Gandhi International Airport-South Delhi-Noida corridor.  

3. Second official language of Telangana state - Urdu: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has declared Urdu as the state's second official language. According to CM Rao, every office in the state will have an Urdu speaking officer. Muslims form 12.7% of the state's total population.

4. Newly appointed DGP of Telangana State - M Mahender Reddy: M Mahender Reddy (Hyderabad Police Commissioner) has been appointed Director General of Police (DGP) of Telangana State. He succeeds Present DGP Anurag Sharma (who will superannuate today). M Mahender Reddy is a civil engineering graduate from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, Mr Reddy got selected for IPS while pursuing his M.Tech. in IIT of Delhi. In India, the Director General of Police (DGP) is a three-star rank and the highest-ranking police officer in Indian States and Union Territories (UT).

5. Indian Government  to provide 100 foreign students full scholarship to study Ayurveda: Indian govt will provide 100 non-Indian students a full scholarship for study Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (Ayush) in any of the public deemed universities across India. The initiative is to encourage and popularize the alternative system of medicine. Soon, the details of the application process and scholarship will be available with the Indian missions abroad. Minister for Ayush Sripad Naik is on a three-day visit to UAE to participate in the first-ever International Ayush Conference and Exhibition in Dubai. Ayurveda is a system of medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. Globalized and modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of complementary or alternative medicine.

6. Home Ministry sets up two new divisions for radicalization & cybercrime: The Union Home Ministry has formed two new divisions Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Radicalisation (CTCR) and the Cyber and Information Security (CIS) to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalization & cyber-crime. The two divisions also encompass merger of some of the Ministry’s existing divisions. The CTCR wing is the basically modified version of the Home Ministry’s internal security-II division to focus on tracking & assessing the online reach of global terrorist outfits and devising strategies to counter their propaganda. The CIS division will monitor online crimes and threats (cyber fraud, hacking) and also suggest ways to minimise and fight them.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US & South Korea start joint naval exercises involving 3 US aircraft carriers: The United States and South Korea has started four-day joint naval exercises involving three US aircraft carriers in what military officials described as a clear warning to North Korea. Japan would also send its largest warship to join three U.S. aircraft carriers in exercises in waters near the Korean Peninsula.

2. UAE, Saudi & Kuwait have advised its citizens from traveling to Lebanon amidst rising regional tension between Riyadh & Tehran over Yemen and the Lebanon issue: Earlier, Lebanese prime minister Saad Al Hariri announced his sudden resignation while visiting the Saudi kingdom. Bahrain has already issued a similar advisory for its nationals.

OTHER UPDATES:

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. Earth observation satellite launched by Morocco: Morocco has successfully launched an earth observation satellite called “Mohammed VI-A” (1,110 kg) from French Guyana Space Centre. The ‘Mohammed VI-A satellite’ built for Morocco by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor and Airbus as co-prime. It will be used for mapping and land surveying activities along with regional development and agricultural monitoring. The satellite has been launched by European consortium Arianespace's Vega rocket.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. GST Council reduces tax on 178 items from 28 to 18%: After the Council's meeting in Guwahati, The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has reduced tax rate on products. Tax on 177 items have been reduced to 18% from 28% and only 50 items now remain in the highest tax slab of 28%. The Council has decided that food at all restaurants in the country, except those in starred hotels, will be taxed at 5% rather than 18%, without Input Tax Credit (ITC). The new rates will be effective from the 15th of this month.

2. IDFC Bank has entered into a “strategic alliance” with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik: This pre-paid card will now allow MobiKwik users to shop from Amazon or Flipkart where currently MobiKwik wallet use is not allowed. This Visa pre-paid card is the replica of the wallet and can be used anywhere. Within the MobiKwik App, a user will be able to generate a Visa pre-paid card. You can not only be able to pay where the MobiKwik wallet is accepted, but also all the locations where Visa cards are accepted.

Daily GK Updates - 10th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Bengaluru has been adjudged as the best city among 45 cities for the confidence of its businesses in their ability to go digital: Bengaluru outranks San Francisco. San Francisco is ranked, followed by other two Indian cities, Mumbai and New Delhi. The survey was conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit(EIU). EIU conducted this survey in partnership with telecommunications firm Telstra Corp.

2. Bandhan Express: ‘Bandhan Express’ a passenger train between Kolkata and Bangladesh’s southwestern industrial city of Khulna was inaugurated on November 9, 2017. It is a fully air-conditioned passenger train and will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna. It is the second Indo-Bangla train service after the Maitree Express, which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata.

3. Delhi Government signed a twin city agreement with the Seoul (South Korea) Metropolitan Government: Its objective is to strengthen cooperation between two cities in the fields of the smart city, e-governance, climate change and transportation. The twin city agreement between Delhi and Seoul will come into effect after being approved by Union Government.

4. Odd-Even Scheme again in Delhi: The Delhi government announced that the odd-even scheme will be reintroduced in the national capital from November 13 to November 17. This comes after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had declared that the pollution has reached ‘Severe Plus’ level or emergency condition.

5. Three-day Organic World Congress: A 3-day Organic World Congress, 2017 is being organized at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida. It will see the participation of 1,400 representatives from 110 countries, and 2000 delegates from India. The OWC is organized once every 3 years in a different country. Last edition took place in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India again member of UNESCO’s Board: India has been re-elected as the member of the UNESCO’s executive board, its top decision-making body. The election was held at the 39th session of the General Conference of the UNESCO in Paris, France. In the General Conference, each country has one vote, irrespective of its size or the extent of its contribution to the budget.

2. EU Election Mission: The European Union Election Observation Mission was officially launched to monitor the general and provincial polls in Nepal which are scheduled for November 26 and December 7. Around 100 election observers from member countries of the EU have been deployed to oversee the polls in the Himalayan nation. The EU has allocated 3.5 million euro for the entire election observation process.

3. Prince of Wales, Charles Philip Arthur George arrived in New Delhi on a 2-day visit to India:  This visit is a part of their 10 day tour to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and India. This visit will be the 9th visit of the Prince of Wales to India. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations.

4. Nordic-Baltic youth film festival: The Nordic-Baltic embassies are set to host the first ever youth film festival of the European nations at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi from 13 – 18 November 2017. The film festival is organized by Nordic-Baltic embassies in collaboration with the India Habitat Centre. The Nordic-Baltic countries are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.

5. International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial meeting: International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial meeting was held in Paris, France. Energy security, clean energy technology and government-industry dialogue on investment and digitalization were the key focus areas for this meeting. Indian delegation to IEA Ministerial Meeting, Paris was led by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh.

6. Top tourist destination 2017 – Hong-Kong: Hong-Kong remains the world’s most visited city by international travellers in spite of strained relations with neighbouring China. In a report on the top 100 city destinations that highlights the growth in Asian tourism, market research firm Euromonitor International said 25.7 million arrivals are expected in Hong Kong in 2017. Other countries followed by Hong Kong are Bangkok and London.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. HS Prannoy defeated Kidambi Srikanth in the finale to claim the men’s singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship: He achieved his career-best ranking of World No. 11 recently, saw off top seed Srikanth in a 49-minute clash to return the favour after his semi-final loss to his compatriot at the French Open Super Series last month. The tournament was held in Nagpur.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. A new species of wild banana named ‘Musa paramjitiana’ has been discovered in Andaman and Nicobar islands: The new species of wild banana has been named after Paramjit Singh, director of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). This discovery has been published in the Nordic Journal of Botany. Its conservation status has been declared as ‘Critically Endangered’.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. HDFC Bank has announced the launch of its SmartUp Zone in Kochi, an exclusive area inside the branch dedicated to start-ups: SmartUp Zones will be launched in over 65 branches in 30 cities across India, including tier 2 and 3 cities that are emerging as start-up hubs. The objective is to harness the potential of the startup and fintech eco-system using a multi-pronged approach.

2. IDFC Bank Partners with MobiKwik: IDFC Bank has entered into a “strategic alliance” with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik. One need not be a customer of IDFC Bank to use the co-branded pre-paid card. The novelty here is that a user need not go through the five-step process to generate a card.

3. American digital payments company PayPal launched domestic operations in India: At launch, Indian consumers will be able to make transactions at select online merchants. Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through the platform, getting access to PayPal’s more than 200 million customers around the world and in India through a single integration.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Aadhaar Link with insurance policy mandatory:  IRDA has announced that linking of Aadhaar number to insurance policies is now a mandatory requirement under Prevention of Money-laundering Second Amendment Rules, 2017. This norm of linking Aadhaar number to insurance policies will apply to new customers as well as existing policyholders. Besides, it will apply not only to life insurance policies but also to general insurance policies.

2. NBD – the second largest bank of United Arab Emirates has started operations in India by opening a branch in Mumbai: The Mumbai branch is Emirates NBD’s fifth international branch outside of its UAE. Emirates NBD’s Mumbai branch will offer a range of services to corporate, institutional clients and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

3. SBI releases Soumya Kanti Ghosh authored report on oil price hike: The Economic Research Department of State Bank of India has released a report on oil price hike and how unlikely it is to impact the Current account deficit (CAD) and how inflation could stretch fiscal. The report is authored by Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser of SBI. The report depicts oil price hike and its impact on the Current account deficit (CAD) and inflation.

AWARDS / HONOURS:

1. Ravinder Singh Bhalla has become the first ever Sikh mayor of New Jersey’s Hoboken city: He is the first Sikh to hold elected office in New Jersey. Bhalla, who is better known as Ravi Bhalla, graduated from UC Berkley and did his masters degree from London School of Economics and received a law degree from Tulane University.