Daily GK Updates - 28th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 28TH JULY, 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. R.I.P, “The Missile Man”: Former President of India A.P.J Abdul Kalam, widely acclaimed as the ‘people’s president’, passed away after collapsing during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong. He was the 11^th president of India and Chief of the Defence staff between 2002 and 2007. He had the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions.

II.  IT Secretary R S Sharma appointed as TRAI chairman. 

III. Renault India ropes in Ranbir Kapoor as Brand Ambassador: Automobile manufacturer Renault India celebrating its 4^th anniversary in India appointed Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador.

IV.  Maharashtra Government to develop six solar cities targeting solar capacity of 7,500 MW: The state government has placed a comprehensive plan to develop six solar cities to add solar capacity of 7,500 MW in the state.

V.  Bharti Realty tied-up with Eros Group to develop housing project: Bharti Realty, a Bharti Enterprises’ real estate firm tied up with Eros Group to develop a housing project at Surajkund, Delhi.

VI. Gujarat becomes the 1^st state to ink mandatory voting rule:  The Gujarat government issued a notification making voting in local body elections compulsory under the controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment), Act 2009 (2014).

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I.  Rajesh Exports buys world’s largest gold refining company Valcambi for Rs 2,560 cr: Jewellery Company Rajesh Exports Ltd bought Valcambi, the world’s largest gold refining company, in an all cash deal worth $400 mn.

II. Bangladesh part of Sundarbans witnessed rapid decline in tiger population between 2004 and 2015: As per the Tiger Census 2015, the number of tigers in Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans declined sharply from 440 in 2004 to 106 in 2015.

III.  28^th July celebrated as The World Hepatitis Day.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I.  ADB to give $300 mn loan to India: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a loan of $300 mn to India for improving road connectivity and increasing the domestic and regional trade along the North Bengal- North Eastern Region.

II. Axis Bank signs $200 mn loan agreement with ADB: Axis Bank signed a $200 mn, seven year bilateral loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank. The loan will help bolster Bank’s efforts to improve farm efficiency by extending customised and affordable agriculture credits.

SPORTS:

III. Mexico defeat Jamaica 3-1 in Gold Cup Final: A. Guardado became the 1^st player to score in three Gold Cup finals and Mexico defeated Jamaica in the North American regional football tournament, stretching their record trophy total to seven.

IV.   Indian women wrestling team wins silver medal in the Kazakhstan Presidential Cup: Indian women’s wrestling team has won the silver medal after finishing second in the 5^th Senior International Wrestling Tournament (also known as cup of the President of Republic of Kazakhstan).  

V. S.Shreesanth freed from all charges of spot fixing during the IPL tournament and now wants his ban to be lifted.

VI. R.Oltmans appointed as India Hockey coach till Rio Olympics: He has been appointed the coach of the Indian Hockey team replacing Paul Van Ass.

AWARDS:

VII. BEL bags Dun Bradstreet’s India’s Top PSUs Awards 2015: The defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd became the front runner in the Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘India’s top PSUs Awards 2015 in the category of electrical and electronic equipment sector.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

VIII. The book titled ‘Ghosts of Calcutta’ written by Sebastian Ortiz was released.

OBITUARIES:

IX.  Physicist P. Hariharan passed away in Berkeley, California.

X.   S. Kadirgamar, the veteran Sri Lankan historian passed away.

Daily GK Updates - 27th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 27TH JULY, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Union Government approves Rs 1000 crores for India-Bangladesh rail link: The Government of India approved a hefty sum of Rs 1000 crores for the 15-km India-Bangladesh rail link that will connect Agartala with Akhaura junction in Bangladesh. The entire link will be constructed by IRCON.

II. Gujarat HC constituted panel to ensure amenities to labourers at Alang ship-breaking yard: Gujarat High Court constituted a four-member panel to ensure basic amenities like housing and hospitals for labourers at Alang ship-breaking yard in Bhavnagar district following a public interest Litigation.

III. Delhi High Court allowed Red FM to participate in Stage-3 of FM auctions: Delhi High Court allowed Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd, which runs Red FM to participate in the Stage-3 of the FM Radio waves auctions.

IV. Central Government constitutes a committee to suggest measures for selection of the most meritorious to teaching profession: The committee constituted by the UGC and the Union Government is chaired by Prof. Arun Nigavekar, former chairman of UGC to give recommendations on various provisions for regulating recruitment of teachers and academic staff in universities and colleges and their development advancement in UGC funded institutions.

V. Union Government, in collaboration with 3 State Governments to start artificial breeding of Great Indian Bustard: Under an integrated collaborative effort, the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change along with the state governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra will soon undertake an artificial breeding programme for the Great Indian Bustard, one of the critically endangered flying bird species in the world, to boost the population of the species.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. World’s largest flower Amorphophallus Titanium bloomed at Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo: World‘s largest flower Amorphophallus Titanum bloomed for the 1^st time in 5 years at Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo, Japan. The flower Titan arum measuring 2-meter (6.5 feet) in height rarely flowers and is notoriously difficult to propagate.

II. EU banned marketing of around 700 generic medicines of GVK Biosciences: The medicines will be banned in 28 member countries of European Union. This is the last suspension imposed on the sales and distribution of generic drugs and it will come into effect from August 2015.

III. China launches two new Navigational Satellites into space: The satellites, designated BDS (Short for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System) M1-S and M2-S were put into a medium-earth orbit about 13,700 miles above Earth.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. Shah Panel submitted report on MAT: The Panel headed by Law Commission chairman A P Shah has submitted its 66-page report to Finance Ministry. The Government had in May appointed the Shah Committee to examine the matter relating to levy of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on FIIs prior to April 2015.

II. Amazon overtakes Walmart to become largest U S retailer.

SPORTS:

III. Ferrari Driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany won Hungarian Formula one Grand Prix which was held in Budapest: This was Vettel’s second win of the season and it came only days after the funeral of the Mercedes French former test driver Jules Bianchi.

IV. Team Sky cyclist Chris Froome of Britain won 102^nd Tour de France: With this, Froome became the 1^st Briton to win the Tour De France for the second time.

V. The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games that will involve 6,500 athletes with intellectual disabilities from around the world started in Los Angeles, California.

OBITUARIES:

VI. P R Chari, the nuclear disarmament advocate died: The ardent nuclear disarmament advocate was known for promoting a consensual approach on the nuclear issue.

Daily GK Updates - 26th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 26TH JULY, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Union Government approves Rs 1000 crores for India-Bangladesh rail link: The Government of India approved a hefty Rs 1000 crores for the 15-km India-Bangladesh rail link.

II. Government of India orders blocking of websites inciting Religious Intolerance: In the wake of terror groups using the internet to incite religious intolerance, the government has ordered blocking of at least 40 webpages with inflammatory content relating to minority community, including posts on social media and popular video sharing platforms.

III. Anand Krishnamurthy appointed CEO and MD of CSB Bank.

IV. Vijay Divas celebrated in the whole country on 26^th July 2015: An indebted nation led by PM Modi paid tributes to the martyrs and heroes of the 1999 Kargil War.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Nigerian national ArunmaOteh appointed as World Bank Treasurer: World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced the appointment of ArunmaOteh as Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank.

II. IRCTC signs MoU with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) for promotion of tourism in the hilly state.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. IDFC gets RBI nod for starting Banking Operation: Infrastructure financing firm IDFC Ltd today has got banking licence from the RBI for undertaking banking business in the country.

II. India increased its exposure to US Government securities by USD 31bn in the first five months of the year, taking the overall holding to USD 114bn in May.

III. ONGC to invest $8.8 billion in KG Oil and Gas: State owned Oil and Natural Gas plans to invest over $8.8 bn in bringing to production its much-touted KG-basin oil and gas discoveries by 2018-19.

IV. China’s Leyard to invest Rs 125 cr in MIC Electronics: The Synergy between Leyard and MIC is expected to create a strong design and manufacturing base of LED (Light emitting diode) products in India.

 SPORTS:

V. Sri Lanka’s TillakratneDilshan completes 10,000 ODI runs: He became the 11^th batsman and 4^th Sri Lankan to compile 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, achieving the feat against Pakistan.

AWARDS:

VI. PM awards journalists at ICAR function: PM Modi presented Journalist GargiParsai and five others with the ‘ChaudharyCharan Singh Award’ for excellence in Journalism in Agricultural Research and Development, 2014 at Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) 87^th foundation day.

OBITUARIES:

VII. Former Union Minister Bijoy Krishna Handique dies.

VIII. Former Governor of Bihar Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai passed away.

Daily GK Updates - 25th July, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 25TH JULY, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

I. FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) proposes draft on regulating sale of Health Supplements and Nutraceuticals: The proposed draft ‘Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2015’ in its ambit seeks to regulate Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special dietary uses, Food for special medical purpose, Functional Foods, and Novel Food.

 

II. Union Government constituted All India Council of Sports: It is constituted as an advisory body for the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

 

III. PM Modi launched Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana in Patna: This is a flagship scheme of the government to provide electrification to all villages.

IV. President nominates two members of Anglo-Indian community to Lok Sabha: The president of India nominated 2 members of Anglo-Indian community to Lok Sabha as per the provisions of article 331 of Indian Constitution. The two members are Professor Richard Hay from Kerala and George Baker from West Bengal.

V. IRCTC signs MoU with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) for promotion of tourism in the hilly state.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. WTO members sealed a deal to cut tariffs on $1 trillion worth products: The members will add more than 200 products to the list of goods covered by zero-tariff and duty free trade

II. IMI Kolkata signs pact with Sinchuan University of China: International Management Institute Kolkata has signed an agreement with the Sinchuan University of China for exchange of students and researchers and joint work programmes.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. IDFC gets RBI nod for starting Banking Operation: Infrastructure financing firm IDFC Ltd today has got banking licence from the RBI for undertaking banking business in the country.

II. New Development Bank’s first loan will be in Chinese Currency: NDB President K V Kamath has said that the 1^st loan to be issued by the $100 billion NDB in April next year would be in Chinese currency Renminbi.

SPORTS:

III. Dhoni is world’s 9^th most marketable athlete, beats Ronaldo and Messi: He was placed 9^th in the list of Most Marketable Athlete released by the London School of Marketing. 17 time grand slam winner Rodger Federer topped the list while Golf Legend Tiger Woods was ranked second.

AWARDS:

IV. Ramchandra Guha chosen for Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize 2015: The historian who is best known for his book ‘India after Gandhi’ will receive the award on 17^th Sep 2015 in Fukuoka Congress Centre in Japan.

V. Helena Ndume, Jorge Sampaio awarded with 1^st ever Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize: Helena Ndume of Namibia, a female ophthalmologist and Jorge Sampaio, former president of Portugal were awarded with the 1^st ever Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize by the United Nations at the UN headquarters in New York.