Daily GK Updates - 12th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 12TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.           L&T Infotech appoints Sanjay Jalona as MD, CEO.

II.     Union Government gives nod to set up All India Institute of Ayurveda: The Government has approved setting up of an All India Institute of Ayurveda, the 1^st referral-cum-teaching facility in the world’s oldest health care system at SaritaVihar, New Delhi.

III.      New frog species discovered in Goa: A group of scientists of Pune has discovered a new leaping frog species on the edge of the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa. The Netravali Leaping Frog (Indiranasalelkari) is the 12^th species in the Indirana genus.

IV.     India lost 41 tigers in 7 months: Fresh data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and TRAFFIC-India, the wildlife monitoring network revealed that between January and August 2015, India lost about 41 tigers.

V.    Maharashtra Government constituted Cabinetsub-panel to tackle impending drought crisis: The committee will be headed by state Agriculture minister EknathKhadse.

VI.  Petroleum Minister DharmendraPradhan announced marketing of Bio-Fuel Blended High Speed Diesel (HSD).

VII.   Delhi Government constituted panel to probe CNG fitness scam: Delhi Government led by CM ArvindKejriwal decided to constitute an independent commission of inquiry to probe the multi-crore CNG fitness scam of Delhi. This commission will be headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice SN Agarwal.

VIII.  Uttar Pradesh Government approved new guidelines for Begum Akhtar Award: The amendment empowers the Chief Minister to make any further amendments to the guidelines. The award will be annually awarded on singers of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri, who have achieved a milestone in these forms of music.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.      Facebook donates benefits worth $21 million to India developers: Social Networking major Facebook has given benefits of around $21 million to Indian developers as part of its FbStart initiative. FbStart is a programme launched last year to help early-stage mobile start-ups build and grow their applications. In India, the event is being organised in Bengaluru and Gurgaon. 

II.     US President Barack Obama to host Nuclear Security Summit in March-April, 2016: He would host the 4^th and final nuclear security summit next year which is expected to be attended by a galaxy of World leaders, including PM Modi. The two-day summit will continue discussion on evolving threat and highlight steps that can be taken together to minimise the use of highly-enriched uranium, secure vulnerable materials, counter nuclear smuggling.

OTHER UPDATES: 

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    NABARD accredited by UN’s Green Climate Fund as National Implementing Entity: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development got accredited by the Green Climate Fund as a national implementing entity for undertaking climate change related projects in India.

II.   India signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for NCRMP Projects: Government of India and the World Bank signed financing agreement for the assistance of National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-1&2 for $104 million and $308.40 million respectively.

SPORTS:

III.     Pankaj Advani bags 13^th World Snooker Championship: India’s poster boy of cue sports PankajAdvani clinched his 13^th world title after winning the World 6-Red Snooker Championship in a convincing manner. The defending champion outplayed China’s Y. Bingtao 6-2 in the final.

AWARDS:

   IV.     Sania Mirza to be conferred Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna:SaniaMirza became only the 2^nd tennis player to be recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna, while star cricketer Rohit Sharma and ace shooter JituRai were among 17 named for this year’s Arjuna Awards.

Daily GK Updates - 11th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 11TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.  Xiaomi ties up with Foxconn to ‘Make in India’: Chinese smartphone maker XiaomiInc has tied up with Foxconn to start assembling phones in India, seeking to cut costs and grab a bigger slice of the world’s third largest smartphone market. An assembly line in Andhra Pradesh will very shortly begin rolling out Xiaomi’s 1^st locally made smartphone, the Redmi2 Prime.

II.         Amitabh Bachchan signs up as Maharashtra’s Tiger Ambassador.

III.       ISRO commissions Titanium Sponge Plant in Kerala: ISRO has fully commissioned and started commercial production at the 1^st indigenous Titanium Sponge Plant at Chavara in Kerala. It is the only integrated plant in the world that undertakes all activities right from mining of Titanium minerals to manufacturing of aerospace grade Ti sponge under one roof.

IV.      Kerala Government announces State Film Awards 2014: The list of awardees was declared by the State Minister for Cinema T. Radhakrishnan. Best Actor award was given to N. Pauly while N. Naseem won the Best Actress award. Sanalkumar won the award for the Best Director.

V.      Kochi 1^st to join World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council: Kochi becomes the 1^st Indian city to be a member of Beijing headquartered, WTCF and join its league of leading tourism cities across the world.

VI.    The National Green Tribunal (NGT) headed by Chairperson Swatanter Kumar directed the UP Government to ensure that no unauthorised construction activities are permitted and no trees are cut in the eco-sensitive zone near Taj Mahal.

VII.    Rajasthan High Court banned Santhara ritual in Jain community: Pronouncing its judgement, the court considered the act as a criminal act amounting to suicide and directed to register cases under section 306 of IPC. The ritual was banned after a PIL filed by Human Rights Activist Nikhil Soni a decade ago.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.    10^th August: World Bio-Fuel Day: Every year 10^th August is observed as World Bio-Fuel Day in a bid to create awareness about no-fossil fuels. On this day in 1893, Sir Rudalph Diesel (inventor of diesel engine) for the 1^st time successfully ran mechanical engine with peanut oil.

II.     Google unveils restructuring under new parent company Alphabet Inc: Search engine giant Google Inc has announced formation of a new holding or parent company called Alphabet Inc to encompass its search engine unit and all other subsidiaries.

III.     India’s social security pact with Canada comes into force: According to the pact, the employees posted by Indian entities in Canada are not required to contribute towards Canada’s social security schemes for a period of 60 months and similar employees posted in India would enjoy the same benefit.

IV.     International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples observed on 9^th August: The theme of the day was ‘Post 2015 Agenda: Ensuring Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being. Also, ‘The state of the World’s Indigenous peoples, Volume 2’ was launched at the UN.

V.         India born SundarPichai has been named as the CEO of Google by the company’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.        Railway Finance Corporation to issue Rs 6000 crore tax-free bonds: Railway would utilize these funds to enhance acquisition of rolling stock such as engines, coaches and wagons for use by the Railways.

II.    ICICI Bank launches ‘Saral-Rural Housing Loan’ scheme for weaker section: Housing loan will be provided to the weaker section of the society including women at the ICICI Bank Base Rate which is currently at 9.70%. The loan will range from 5-15 lakh rupees for a period of 3-20 years and the loan can be up to 90% of the property value.

SPORTS:

III.     India tops Asian Youth Chess Championship with 17 medals: Bagging 5 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze out of the available 36 medals, Indian Juniors made their presence felt in the event organised by Korea Chess Federation.

IV.      Hockey India suspended Gurbaj Singh for 9 months for indulging in groupism and creating disharmony within the team.

AWARDS:

V.           SaniaMirza to be conferred Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna:Sania Mirza became only the 2^nd tennis player to be recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, while star cricketer Rohit Sharma and ace shooter Jitu Rai were among 17 named for this year’s Arjuna Awards.

VI.    President Pranab Mukherjee presented Saraswati Samman to Dr. M Veerappa  Moily: He received the award for his epic ‘Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam’ written in Kannada.

OBITUARIES:

VII.     Veteran Marathi stage actor Bhalchandra Pendharkar died.

Daily GK Updates - 10th August, 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 10TH AUGUST, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.     Union Government launches SurakshaBandhan drive in Mission mode: It has launched ‘SurakshaBandhan’ drive in a mission mode through participating banks and insurance companies to facilitate enrolment under PM SurakshaBimaYojana and PM JeevanJyotiBimaYojana through the JeevanSuraksha Gift Cheques (Rs 351 for Suraksha Deposit scheme, Rs 201 for JeevanSuraksha Deposit Scheme and Rs 501 for Atal Pension scheme) to ensure social security for all especially the poor and underprivileged section of the society.

II.    Indian Army tops popularity charts on Facebook: Leaving a host of foreign government organisations including CIA, FBI, and NASA behind, the Indian Army has once again topped the popularity charts on the social network.

III.      Ravi Shankar Prasad launches mobile app to aid digital literacy in Bihar: The app named DISHA, launched by the Telecom Minister is expected to help people learn about computers and internet through self-learning modules. It is free and available on Google Play Store.

IV.       India stays World’s Top Beef Exporter despite new bans on slaughtering cows.

V.       NIYATAM: Aayog’s push to improve states’ efficiency: The NITI Aayog plans to work with states to prune their administrative structure to improve their efficiency and governance. The move is part of a larger interaction with states called NIYATAM or NITI Initiative to Yield Aspirational Targets and Actionable Means.

VI.   The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have signed a MoU for establishing a Centre of Excellence in Disaster Research and Resilience Building at JNU.

VII.  Union Government and Delhi Government agreed to prepare blueprint to Clean and Rejuvenate Yamuna River.

VIII.ParamTyag Chakra initiative launched to honour families of Martyrs: This initiative was launched by the Alumni Association of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology to honour the family members of brave military men, who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

IX.  Union Government launched School Nursery Yojana in New Delhi to bring students closer to nature: The Yojana seeks to engage class 6^th to 9^th students in raising of sapling in nurseries created in schools.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  

 I.       The SRK-Kajol starrer DDLJ will be screened at the South Asian Gallery of the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan, marking yet another milestone in the film’s 20^th year of interrupted run.

II.   TurkmenGaz to head TAPI pipeline, consortium to jointly own the project: Turkmenistan’s state-owned company TurkmenGaz will lead the consortium for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline, with a major investment.

III.     Singapore turns 50: An island of 5.5 million people that sits just north of the equator, Singapore was a post-colonial backwater when it gained independence from Malaysia in 1965.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

   

I.      India’s 1^st IBU to be operational in two months at GIFT: Business at India’s 1^st International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gandhinagar International Finance-Tech City (GIFT) is set to kick start very soon. As many as five banks are expected to start their International Banking Units (IBUs) in the IFSC over the next two months. Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank have already received approvals from the RBI and SEZ development commissioner to set up IBUs.

AWARDS:

   

II.       Goa Tourism Minister D Parulekar conferred with PATWA 2015 Award: He has been awarded with the PATWA-Safari India South Asia Travel Award for the year 2015. Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) is an affiliate to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

III.      Ajit Kumar Saroj, Varanasi jail inmate awarded with IGNOU gold medal: He was awarded the gold medal for securing 1^st position in Diploma in Tourism Studies.

IV.     Raghavendra Gadagkar awarded with Germany’s Cross of Order of the merit: The Indian Sociobiologist was awarded with Germany’s highest civilian honour at the German Consulate in Bengaluru.

OBITUARIES:

V.       Centenarian Kannada poet and freedom fighter KayyaraKinhannaRai breathed his last at his residence in Kasaragod district of Kerala.