Daily GK Updates - 23rd April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Bhupendra Kainthola is new FTTI Director: Bhupendra Kainthola, an Indian Information Service (ISS) officer has been appointed as the new Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTTI).

2. India signs climate pact along with over 170 states at UN: India today signed the historic Paris Climate agreement here along with more than 170 nations, marking a significant step that has brought together developing and developed nations for beginning work on cutting down greenhouse gas emission to combat global warming.

3. Uber partners with FICCI, Gujarat Tourism for soft skill training: Cab aggregator Uber has entered into a partnership with Gujarat Tourism and FICCI in Ahmedabad city to facilitate training for Uber driver-partners.

4. PM to launch Rs 8000 crore scheme for free LPG connections to poor: He will on May 1, 2016 launch Rs 8000 crore scheme to provide 5 crore free LPG connections to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families using the money saved from 1.13 crore cooking gas users voluntarily giving up their subsidies. 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 22^nd April celebrated World Book and Copyright Day: This is an annual event celebrated every year by the people all over the world on 23^rd April. It is the most important event organised annually by the UNESCO in order to promote the reading, publishing and copyright among the public worldwide.

2. Harriet Tubman to be the first African-American on US currency: Anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman will become the first African-American on the face of US paper currency.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Ace Shooter Jitu Rai finishes sixth in the men’s 50m pistol event at Shooting World Cup held in Rio de Janeiro.

2. Hong Kong cricket team’s all-rounder Irfan Ahmed suspended for two years and six months for breaching the ICC’s Anti-corruption code.

3. BCCI to host first Day-Night Test against New Zealand this year.

Daily GK Updates - 21st April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates second edition of ‘Global Exhibition on Services’ in Greater Noida.

2. PM Modi confers awards for excellence in implementation of priority programmes: He conferred the awards for excellence in implementation of priority programmes on the occasion of 10^th Civil Services Day today. For the priority programme PM Jan Dhan Yojana, Nagaon, Assam was awarded in North East and Hill states category, Chandigarh in UTs and North 24 Parganas, West Bengal in other States group. Under Swachch Bharat Mission (Gramin), West Sikkim and Bikaner, Rajasthan were awarded in North East and Hill States and other states category respectively.

3. First meeting of All India Handloom Board held in New Delhi: The Chairman and Union Textiles Minister, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar gave an overview of the various initiatives being taken by the government for the development of the sector.

4. The 3 day Curtain Raiser International Yoga Fest inaugurated by Shri Shripad Yesso Naik: It was inaugurated by the Minister of State for AYUSH and Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi. 

5. High Court of Uttarakhand revoked President’s rule in Uttarakhand.

6. Accenture launches Cyber Centre in Bengaluru to expand its global security pressure and help organisations tackle complex security challenges.

7. J K Tyres acquired Cavendish Industries for 2200 crore rupees.

8. Zee Media Corporation Group CEO Bhaskar Das quits following his transfer to another Essel Group entity.

9. Centre appoints IAS Officer A Ajith Kumar as Chairman of the Kerala based Rubber Board.

10. Goa appoints Justice P K Mishra as its Lokayukta.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. IMF, WB, UN and OECD form new group to stop tax erosion: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank has stated that they are going to join forces with the UN and OECD to cooperate on tax issues and develop new tools and standards to halt tax base erosion and evasion.

2. Communist Laos appoints new President and Prime Minister: The National Assembly of Laos elected the chief of the ruling Communist Party, B Vorachit, as President in a transition of power necessitated by the completion of the maximum permissible 10 years in office by the outgoing President C Sayasone. Foreign Minister T Sisoulith was elected as the Prime Minister.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBL Bank becomes first private sector bank to open dedicated branch for start-ups.

AWARDS:

2. Indian Diplomat Amitav Banerji honoured with Commander of the Order of Merit, the highest award of Cyprus for his work in a number of senior roles within the Commonwealth Secretariat for over two decades.

OBITUARIES:

3. Comedian, Singer and Writer Victoria Wood has passed away at the age of 62.

Daily GK Updates - 14th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Banaras Hindu University turns 100: BHU founded by Freedom fighters Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya has turned 100 years on 13^th February 2016. 

2. Neem extract may help treat pancreatic cancer: A new study has claimed that a natural extract derived from the neem tree can potentially be used to treat pancreatic cancer without harming normal, healthy cells. The study was conducted by scientists from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centre El Paso.

3. States can clampdown mobile internet access under section 144 of CrPC: Supreme Court: It ruled that States can clampdown mobile internet access under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) if there is apprehension that a public agitation can turn aggressive and disturb public tranquility.

4. UP Land Revenue Act, 2015 came into effect: The new code that unifies many acts replaced at least 39 old land revenue acts. The new revenue act also replaced the pre and post British era Land Revenue Act of 1901 and Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act 1950.

5. Ministry of Railway signed MoU with Telangana for rail expansion: The MoU was signed in the backdrop of Railway Minister’s Budget announcement regarding setting up of joint ventures with States for focused project development, resource mobilization, land acquisition, project implementation and monitoring of critical rail projects.

6. Madhya Pradesh gets first Mega Food Park: In order to give an impetus to the growth of the Food Processing Sector in Madhya Pradesh, the first Mega Food Park in the state promoted by M/S Indus mega Food Park Pvt Ltd was inaugurated by Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries at village Panwa, District Khargone.

7. Jayalalitha announced free purified water for city’s poor: The scheme named ‘Amma Kudineer Thittam’ to supply drinking water free of cost to the poor in the city who are unable to afford purified, packaged drinking water sold by the private companies.

8. Delhi Government to spend 25% of budget on education.

9. Kalyani Group tied up with Swedish defence major Saab to form joint venture firm for the multi-billion dollar contract for short range surface to surface air missile and man portable very short range air defence programmes.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UAE named women ministers for happiness, tolerance: The UAE appointed women ministers to the newly created portfolios for happiness and tolerance, youth and affairs. There were 5 new women ministers added to the cabinet.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Axis Bank has tied up with fitness firm GOQii to launch wearables for its customers that will allow the customers to make NFC payments.

SPORTS:

2. P Anand clinched first taekwondo gold for India in the U-87 kg category in the 12^th South Asian Games.

OBITUARIES:

3. Malayalam poet ONV Kurup passed away at the age of 84 in Thiruvanathpuram.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

4. The book titled ‘A Kingdom for his Love’ authored by Vani Mahesh and Shinie Antony was launched by Amar Chitra Katha.

Daily GK Updates - 10th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. E-commerce giant Flipkart ties up with Hero Cycles.

2. Bidyananda Barkakoty appointed as new vice-chairman of Tea Board.

3. Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East released: The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has consciously and constantly focused efforts towards making hydrocarbons a tool to enable social and economic development.

4. Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela appointed as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.

5. Andhra Pradesh proposed to develop INS Viraat as Tourism Centre.

6. National Deworming Day observed on 10^th February 2016: The first Deworming Day was observed in schools and preschools to combat parasitic worm infections among preschool and school-age children.

7. Sikkim Government to construct Mini Sikkim for showcasing state’s diverse and rich culture.

8. Rs 580 crore sanctioned for construction of railway track to connect Kolkata and Tripura via Bangladesh: The Agartala-Akhaura rail link between Indian Railway and Bangladesh Railway will reduce the current 1700 km road distance between Kolkata to Agartala via Siliguri to just 350 km by railway.

9. Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection of International Civil Aviation Organisation proposed binding of carbon emission standards for aviation industry.

10. National Arogya Fair-2016 concluded at Dehradun: The themes were based on Immune system, homeopathy in women’s disorders, treatment in Ayurveda, Yog se Arogya and Non-communicable Diseases management in Sidhha System etc.

11. Two day Governor’s Conference hosted by President held in New Delhi today: It was the 47^th such conference to be held at RashtrapatiBhavan.

12. UAE crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is on a three day visit to India along with seven ministers.

13. Vodafone launched 4G services in Mumbai.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pakistan approves Hindu Marriage Bill after decades of inaction: After decades of delay and inaction, the Hindu minority community in Pakistan will soon have a marriage law as parliamentary panel has unanimously approved the Hindu Marriage Bill.

2. US President unveiled Cyber Security National Action Plan to protect US from risks from new technologies. 

3. US Supreme Court stalled Obama’s Clean Power Plan: The Court’s five conservative member bench in its verdict ruled that the President’s Clean Power Plan to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide from US power plants could not go forward until all legal challenges were heard.

4. UN Secretary General launched One Humanity: Shared Responsibility Report: The report was launched as part of the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit that is scheduled to be held from 23 May to 24 May 2016. The report called for a global campaign to prevent the erosion of humanitarian law and protect civilians in conflict. 

5. World’s largest concentrated Solar Plant Noor opened in Morocco.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI released PG Apte Working Group Report on Introduction of Interest Rate Options in India.

SPORTS:

2. Quinton de Kock of South Africa became fastest cricketer to make 10 ODI centuries by achieving the feat in mere 55 innings.

3. Lord’s to host Women’s Cricket World Cup Final in 2017.

OBITUARIES:

4. Renowned Musician Dan Hicks passed away at the age of 74.

Daily GK Updates - 9th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Brijbhushan Saran Singh appointed as the President of SAWF: Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brijbhushan Saran Singh has been appointed as the President of the South Asian Wrestling Federation (SAWF). 

2. Coast Guards to induct 38 aircrafts and helicopter by 2020: The Indian Coast Guards has proposed to induct 38 more aircrafts and helicopter into its fleet by 2020. The CG has a fleet strength of 62 airplanes and helicopters.

3. Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran 9 begins in Uttarakhand: The 9^th edition of the Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran has commenced at Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.

4. R K Pachauri appointed as Executive Vice Chairman and Dr. Ajay Mathur as the Director General of TERI.

5. Rs 1 lakh crore disbursed under MUDRA Yojana: Loans worth about Rs 1 lac crore have been sanctioned to small entrepreneurs under the PradhanMantri MUDRA Yojana.

6. Prime Minister Shram Awards 2014 announced: There are 9 nominations for the ShramBhushan, 19 nominations for the ShramVir and 26 nominations for Shram Shree awards. ShramRatna award is the highest award in this category.

7. Chettinad cotton saree won India Handloom tag for its unique designs and identity: The Union Ministry of Handlooms and Textiles authorised the Amarar Rajiv Gandhi Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, which produced the sarees, to use the brand and logo for marketing the product.

8. DGCA signed grant agreement with USTDA for India Aviation Safety Technical Assistance Phase-II: India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and United States Technical Development Agency (USTDA) signed the grant agreement for India Aviation Safety Technical Assistance Phase II in New Delhi.

9. Union Government signed MoU with Chhattisgarh for development of railway infrastructure.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. North Korea launched Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite: North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) launched the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite on board the Kwangmyongsong rocket. It is an earth observation satellite and was launched as per the 2016 plan of the 5-year program for national aerospace development. 

2. MukeshAmbani and Sam Pitroda elected as members of US National Academy of Engineering.

3. Storm Imogen lashed parts of Britain: It forced the environment agency to issue multiple flood warnings requiring immediate action for parts of south west, south east and Wales. 

4. UNESCO medals conferred for contributions to development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies:  2014 Nobel Prize winner in Physics Professor Isamu Akasaki, Prof. L Jiang, Dr. Mikhail Dubina were among the names conferred with the medals at Paris.

5. Bangladesh cancelled Sonadia Island Port Project with China.

6. New species of Hybrid Poly also called Hydrozoas, emitting green fluorescence discovered in Red Sea.

7. Royal Navy of UK to study India’s Operation Raahat.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. JoshnaChinappa wins gold in squash at 12^th South Asian Games.

2. Indian wrestlers win 14 out of 16 gold in 12^th South Asian Games: India won gold in all eight women’s categories, while their men counterparts won 6 gold and 2 silver. Pakistan won 2 gold.

3. New Zealand cricket team won Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia by 2-1.

OBITUARIES:

4. Former Nepal Prime Minister SushilKoirala passes away at the age of 78.