Daily GK Updates - 6th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.   Government announces ‘One Rank One Pension’ but veterans reject key provisions: It said that OROP for the ex-servicemen will be implemented with effect from July 1, 2014, which will cost around Rs 10,000 crore to the exchequer per year. The expenditure of arrears would also be around Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore. The Congress and the veterans, however, have rejected the government’s announcement and said the government has rejected six of their demands and about 46% of the ex-servicemen, who took VRS, will be hit by the decision.

II.      ICAR and NRC for Orchids, to work for commercialisation of organic Orchid cultivation in Sikkim: Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Nation Research Centre for Orchids have join hands for commercialisation of organic Orchid cultivation in Sikkim. Sikkim is home to a number of varieties of Orchids and hence is also known as the Orchid Capital of India.

III.      Government to invest Rs 8.5 lakh crore in Railways: The decision was announced at the 55^th Annual convention of Automotive Component Manufacturers of India in New Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 I.       China and Tajikistan agreed to $500 mn currency swap deal: China and Tajikistan have agreed to 3.2 billion Yuan ($500 mn) currency swap deal. The deal signed by the central banks of both the countries will last for three years.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

 I.        HDFC Bank rolls out its CSR campaign in Odisha: It has rolled out its educational film ‘Dhanchayat’ in Odisha which aims to raise awareness about the dangers of borrowing money from the unorganised sector, particularly in rural areas. This film has been launched under the aegis of ‘Swachh Banking’, the bank’s latest corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.

SPORTS:

II.       Narang achieves No.1 spot in Asian Ranking, Jitu is No.2: GaganNarang of India has achieved the number one spot in men’s 50m rifle prone shooting category in Asia and Pistol King JituRai was placed number 2 in men’s 50m pistol shooting.

III.     Vikas settles for silver in Asian Championships: Indian boxer Vikas Krishnan (75 kg) fought his heart out but still fell short as he settled for the silver medal at the Asian Championships.

AWARDS:

IV.      17^th century Pune temple gets UNESCO award: ParvatiNandanGanpati Temple, a 17^th century temple has been recognised with an ‘Honourable Mention’ in the 2015 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Daiy GK Updates - 5th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I.            Government to develop Bodh Gaya as spiritual capital: Describing Bodh Gaya as the ‘Land of Enlightenment’, the Government has decided to develop the site as the spiritual capital for it to serve as a civilizational bond between India and the Buddhist world. PM Modi has arrived at Bodh Gaya to join the concluding ceremony of the three days 4^th International Buddhist Conclave, which started in New Delhi. 

II.            Maharashtra to train 55,000 employees under KRA programme: It has decided to provide training to over 50,000 employees as part of its Key Result Area (KRA) programme to enhance their performance and bring them on par in competence with the corporate sector. 

III.            Multi component Expedition to commemorate Golden Jubilee of 1965 War flagged off: A multi component expedition including ocean sailing, motorcycling and cycling was flagged off from Visakhapatnam to New Delhi was flagged of by the eastern naval command chief. 

IV.            FM calls upon Turkish industries to invest in smart cities projects, textiles, food processing and renewable energy sectors in India. 

V.            Jharkhand CM orders withdrawal of CSAT from JPSC: Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das has ordered the withdrawal of Civil Services Aptitude Test, from the forthcoming 6^th civil services examinations of the Jharkhand Public Services Commission. 

VI.            Historical annual Manimahesh Yatra begins on the occasion of Janmashtami in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh. 

VII.            Women to get permanent commission in Navy: In a landmark judgement, the Delhi High Court allowed women to be granted Permanent Commission in the Navy, ensuring the women naval officers enjoyed rights similar to their counterparts in the Army and Air Force.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I.            G20, OCED announce new corporate governance code: To safeguard minority shareholders’ interests and promote capital market as a key platform to raise funds, G20 and OCED announced new corporate governance principles for listed companies and regulators in all member countries, including India.

II.            US job growth slows down and unemployment rate falls to 5.1%.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I.            India among few bright spots in Global economy, sys IMF: The regards from IMF chief Christine Lagarde came at a meeting of G20 finance minister and Central Bank Governors where they discussed monetary policy uncertainties. 

II.            Nearly 1.65 lakh account holders avail overdraft facility under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

SPORTS:

III.               India gains a place to 155^th rank in FIFA rankings.

AWARDS:

IV.            Unwilling to remain silent despite the risk involved in speaking out, Hindi writer Uday Prakash decided to return his Sahitya Akademi award in protest against the murder of Kannada scholar and rationalist M M Kulburgi.

V.            Obama picks JumpaLahiri for top White House medal: The Pulitzer prize winner has been included in the list of persons to be presented with the award this year.

OBITUARIES:

VI.            World’s shortest man, Chandra BahadurDangi dies at the age of 75.

VII.            Bollywood music composer-director AadeshSrivastavawas had been battling cancer passed away in Mumbai.

Daily GK Updates - 4th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I.            Commemorative coins of Rs 125 and Rs 10 released in honour of former president S Radhakrishnan: PM Modi released two commemorative coins of 125 rupees and 10 rupees in the memory of former president SarvepalliRadhakrishnan. This was done on the eve of Teachers’ day, which is celebrated across the country on 5^th September to mark the birth anniversary of India’s 2^nd president. 

II.        Union Government cancelled FCRA registration of NGO Greenpeace: It cancelled the registration of Greenpeace India under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010. This move of the government will make the NGO ineligible to receive funds from abroad, which means it my force it to close down its operations in India.

III.       InSPA, global alliance of 107 sunshine countries to be launched in New Delhi: The term InSPA was in news as the Union Government is planning to launch the global alliance on solar energy at a conclave in New Delhi in the 3^rd week of November 2015 ahead of the COP-21 of the UNFCCC in Paris. InSPA stands for International Agency for Solar Policy and Application. Its launch event is expected to be attended by 107 member countries that are located between tropic of cancer and tropic of Capricorn including China and Australia.

IV.  Vinod Dasari appointed as President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers: He is also the MD of Ashok Leyland.

V.         SAARC countries’ conference on Disaster Mitigation begins in New Delhi: The two day conference seeks to chalk out and undertake various joint efforts on various issues related to disaster mapping and mitigation in the member nations. The meet is named as SAADMEx (South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise).

VI.   Punjab Government established Special MGNREGA cell: This cell will monitor implementation of Union Government’s flagship 100 days employment guarantee scheme of MGNREGA.

VII.   Maharashtra Government approved ordinance to amend MPDA Act, 1981: The Maharashtra Government gave nod to an ordinance for amending the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, 1981 which will enable it to put sand mafias behind the bars without any bail for one year.

VIII. The Delhi High Court directed the Union Government to treat Group-A officers of all paramilitary forces as organised services.

IX.     J&K High Court ordered CBI probe into multi-crore JKCA scam: It ordered CBI probe into the multi-crore scam in the state’s cricket association. The scam occurred during the tenure of former CM Farooq Abdullah as its President.

X.       Andhra Pradesh assembly passed Andhra Pradesh Special Courts Bill, 2015: It was passed for the constitution of special courts to facilitate time bound disposal of corruption cases and attachment of assets.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 I.    NASA and ISRO jointly working on NISAR mission: NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar is a dedicated US and Indian mission in partnership with ISRO, optimized for studying hazards and global environmental change.

II.     India and Australia agreed to deepen bilateral Defence Partnership: India and Australia have agreed to deepen their bilateral defence partnership based on their strategic interests by setting up of a joint working group on defence research and material cooperation. The 1^st ever bilateral Maritime exercise AUSINDEX between both countries is scheduled to be held in September 2015. The decision was taken after the delegation level talks between both countries defence ministers in New Delhi.

III.      ONGC buys 15% stake in Russia’s 2^nd largest oil field Vankor from Rosneft.

IV.   11^th session of India-UAE joint commission meet concluded: The meeting for Technical and Economic Cooperation held at New Delhi was co-chaired by His highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nayhan and External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj.

V.         R Sampanthan became first tamilian to lead opposition in Sri Lankan parliament in 32 years.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.     Lloyd’s City Risk Index 2015-2025 released: The index is 1^st of its kind as it quantified the expected loss to cities’ GDP from various natural and manmade threats. While Taipei topped the list, Mumbai is expected to face maximum risk in India.

II.        RBI to issue Rs 5 coin on golden jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war: These coins will be issued under The Coinage Act, 2011 and will be considered as legal a tender.

SPORTS:

III.   Kerala to name cricket stadium after Sachin Tendulkar: The Kerala Cricket Association is all set to name the new stadium built by it after Sachin Tendulkar.The new stadium is built at Wayanad and recently hosted the two four-day matches between South Africa A and India A.

IV.      Mourinho, Ronaldo, Djokovic receive Guinness World Records certificates: Some of the biggest names in the sporting world Frank Lampard, Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic and many more have been included in the New Guinness World Records book and were honoured with certificates.

V.         Marvan Atapattu resigned as Head coach of Sri Lankan Cricket team:He resigned just two days after the team’s test series loss to India at home.

AWARDS:

VI.   Naxal hit Bastar district wins Literacy Award: The Naxal hit Bastar district of Chhattisgarh has won a national award for achievement in the field of literacy.

VII. Haryana bags Skoch Order of Merit National Award for implementing e-governance, IT.