Daily GK Updates - 31st August, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Rajiv Mehrishi appointed as Union Home Secretary: He will occupy the post for the next two years. He was due to retire on the day of his appointment but was given an extension of two years. He succeeded L C Goyal.

II.      Outgoing home secretary L C Goyal appointed as CMD of ITPO: He has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).

III.         R P Watal designated as new Finance Secretary: He was the senior most secretary in the Finance Ministry and now has been elevated to the post of Finance Secretary by PM Modi.

IV.    Housing for all: Centre identifies 305 cities, towns: The housing ministry has identified 305 cities and towns across nine states to start building houses for the poor in urban areas. The government has set the target to provide houses to two crore families belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) in urban areas by 2022. The states that are likely to gain are Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, J&K, Jharkhand, Kerala, MP, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

V.            Supreme Court stays Rajasthan High Court verdict declaring Santhara illegal.

VI.       Eminent Kannada writer Dr. MM Kalburgi shot dead in Dharwad: He was a veteran Kannada writer and former vice-chancellor of Kannada University.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        USITC extended anti-dumping duty on Indian preserved Mushrooms for 5 years: The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) extended the anti-dumping duty on Indian preserved mushrooms for another 5 years. The decision to extend the ban was taken on 30^th August 2015.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  

 I.        SBI and ICICI Bank receive domestic systemically important banks’ (D-SIB) status: RBI had announced the framework for dealing with D-SIBs in July 2014 and the framework requires RBI to disclose the names of banks designated as domestic systemically important every year in August starting from August 2015.

II.       Indian Bank launches ‘IndPay’: With an eye on people on the move, public lender Indian Bank has launched IndPay, a mobile application service that enables its customers to operate bank account from anywhere, anytime. It can be operated through smartphones compatible with Android, Windows and IOS mobile operating systems.

III.       HDFC Bank throws gauntlet, cuts base rate by 0.35%: The country’s second largest private sector lender, slashed its base rate, the minimum rate at which it lends by 0.35 % to 9.35 %.

SPORTS:

IV.     Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba won women’s marathon at World Athletics Championships, Beijing.

V.         Anil won gold medal in Cadet Wrestling World Championships: Indian wrestler Anil won gold medal in the 50 kg freestyle category in the Cadet Wrestling World Championships at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

VI.     15^th IAAF World Championships in Athletics concluded at Beijing: While Kenya topped the medal table with 16 medals, Jamaica stood second with 12 medals.  India could not win a single medal in the championships.

AWARDS:

  

 VII.    ITBP official Jot Singh gets Tenzing Norgay national adventure award: Indo-Tibetan Border Police official and mountaineer Jot Singh has been honoured with the Tenzing Norgay national adventure award by President Pranab Mukherjee.

OBITUARIES:

  

VIII.  Horror Maestro Wes Craven dies at 76: He was the creator of classic horror franchises Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream.

Daily GK Updates - 30th August, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.         51,000 ‘sisters’ get insurance as Rakhi gift in PM’s constituency: PM Modi gifted PradhanMantriSurakshaBimaYojana (an accidental insurance coverage) to 51,000 sisters of his LokSabha constituency Varanasi on the occasion of RakshaBandhan.

II.        21^st edition of Delhi Book Fair begins: The 21^st edition of the Delhi Book fair has been launched at PragatiMaidan in New Delhi.

III.        Amul to launch India’s 1^st branded lactose free milk: India’s largest dairy cooperative Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation is all set to launch India’s 1^st branded lactose free milk in a month.

IV.    Union Government launched SAHAJ scheme for online release of new LPG connections: The scheme launched by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister DharmendraPradhan can be availed through the portal www.mylpg.in.

V.            PM Modi released digitally restored recordings of epic ‘Ramcharitmanas’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  

 I.            Pakistan bans Islamic State Militant group: Pakistan has banned the Islamic State (IS) militant group which has undertaken vast stretches of Iraq and Syria in its control.

II.            ONGC, partners to invest $24 bn in Mozambique gas field: The investment will pave the way for producing natural gas from a giant off Mozambique and converting it into LNG for export by ships to consumers like India.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            SEBI to review surveillance systems; fast track enforcements: To further tighten its noose on manipulators and black money launderers in the stock market, regulator SEBI will undertake a comprehensive review of its surveillance systems including with the help from independent experts and also fast track its enforcement actions.

II.      Economic Growth slows down to 7% in April-June quarter: Reflecting a muted performance, the GDP growth slowed to 7% in the April-June quarter from 7.5% in the previous quarter, amid deceleration in farm, services and manufacturing sectors.

III.        Government to infuse Rs 947 crore in Canara Bank.

IV.       Aurobindo Pharma gets USFDA nod for Osteoporosis drug: It has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market Raloxifene Hydrochloride tablets USP 60mg.

SPORTS:

V.          OP Jaisha sets new marathon national record at World Athletics Championships, ensures 2016 Rio Olympics spot: She finished 18^th in the Women’s marathon with registering a time of 2 hours 34 minutes and 43 second to set a new national record.

VI.      Usain Bolt of Jamaica won gold in 400m final at the World Athletics Championship in Beijing.

OBITUARIES:

VII.        Renowned neurologist and author Oliver Wolf Sacks died.

Daily GK Updates - 29th August, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.           NTPC sets a record in single-day power generation: India’s largest power generator National Thermal Power Corporation Limited has achieved a record of highest single-day electricity generation of over 733 million units.

II.            Gillette India appoints Al Rajwani as Managing Director.

III.        PM Modi pays tribute to Dhyan Chand on National Sports day: PM Modi paid tribute to hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand on his 110^th birth anniversary and extended best wishes to all sports enthusiasts across the country on the occasion of the National Sports Day on 29^th August 2015.

IV.     SAI launches School Sports promotion foundation: The Sports Authority of India launched School Sports promotion foundation with an aim to tap the sporting talent at the school level.

V.          Union Cabinet approved signing of Agreement between India and Afghanistan: It has approved signing of agreement on legal and judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters for the service of summons, judicial documents, commissions, execution of judgements and arbitral awards.

VI.         Law Commission of India submitted report on Early Childhood Development and Legal Entitlements: In its report submitted to Union Law minister SadanandaGowda, the law commission examined the present constitutional, legal and policy framework including international agreements and conventions related to early childhood and presented suggestions to improve conditions of children under age of 6 years.

VII.        Call to Action Summit 2015 on ending preventable child and maternal deaths held in Delhi.

VIII. Festival ThiruOnam was celebrated with traditional gaiety on 28^th August in Kerala.

IX.      Tripura decided to implement National Food Security Act: Implementation of the Act will make Tripura the 1^st state to implement the NFSA in the entire North-eastern region. The NFSA will come into effect from September 1, 2015.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.         India loses solar case against US at WTO: India has lost solar case against US at the World Trade Organisation. Dispute settlement body (DSB) of WTO has ruled that, India’s requirement of only domestic solar equipment’s for its ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is inconsistent with the international trade norms.

II.            Washington based Centre for Global Development (CGD) released a report on the future of tropical deforestation from 2016-2050 with and without carbon pricing policies. The report says that in the next 35 years, an area of tropical forest equivalent to the size of India will be deforested.

III.   Wealth-X released the list of Top 20 Wealthiest People under 35: Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is the wealthiest individual under the age of 35.

IV.          Union Cabinet approved Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Civil and Commercial matters with Oman.

V.            Serbia and Kosovo agreed to implement 2013 Brussels Agreement: It has paved the way for normalizing the relations between both the countries.

VI.         US designated Aziz Haqqani as global terrorist: He is the new leader of the Haqqani Network and has been declared as Global terrorist for being involved in planning and carrying out attacks against Afghan Government targets.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.          Balchandran M re-appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Payments Corporation for a further period of two years.

II.           RBI Governor cautions US Fed against raising rates: India’s apex bank has cautioned its US counterpart on going ahead with a rate hike, especially at a time when world economic growth is stalling which has led to massive volatility in currency, equity and commodity markets

SPORTS:

III.         India women’s hockey team books 2016 Rio Olympics berth: Indian women’s hockey team will return to the Olympics after a long gap of 36 years as it has qualified for the next year’s Rio Olympics.

IV.          Tennis player SaniaMirza gets Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna Award.

OBITUARIES:

   

 V.          Veteran Journalist Pranab Kumar Borah passed away.