Daily GK Updates - 9th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.     Union Cabinet approved the introduction of Gold Monetisation Schemes: Under this initiative, revamped Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) and the Gold Metal Loan (GML) Scheme will be implemented. The objective of these schemes is to mobilize the gold held by households and institutions in the country.

II.      Union Cabinet approved constitution of 21^st law commission of India:The formation of the law commission was necessitated as the term of the 20^th law commission headed by Justice AjitPrakash Shah ended on 31 August 2015. The 21^st law commission will be functional for a period of 3 years from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2018.

III.    Haryana Government banned manufacture, storage, sale of gutka, pan masala in the state.

IV.   Tamil Nadu Government launched Amma Baby care Kit Scheme: TN CM J Jayalalitha launched the Amma Baby Care Kit scheme wherein the state government will provide accessories for newborn and its mother.

V.         Jharkhand Government approved the formation of Anti-terrorism Squad in state: The ATS will be headed by an official of the rank of Superintendent of Police and will have 6 DSPs and 11 Inspectors in it.

VI.       Union Government inaugurated New Production facility for producing prosthetic systems: Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment T C Gehlot inaugurated the new production facility for producing affordable lower limb prosthetic systems at Kanpur.

VII. Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty on Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation for contravening Competition Law.

VIII. Government launches online training programme ‘NiryatBandhu @ your desktop’ for potential exporters: The Commerce Ministry has launched an online certification programme to reach out to potential exporters and mentor them through orientation, counselling sessions, and individual facilitation.

IX.     Hrithik Roshan’s fitness and sportswear brand HRX has signed Tiger Shroff as brand ambassador.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.       UNEP released Global Waste Management Outlook: It was jointly prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). The report released in Antwerp (Belgium) was a first of its kind report on waste management at the global level.

II.       Queen Elizabeth II became longest reigning UK monarch: She passed the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who ruled for 63 years. Queen Elizabeth II assumed the throne on February 6, 1952 at the age of 25 upon the death of her father George VI.

III.    India and Bangladesh agreed on fast repatriation of fishermen: Both the countries agreed on expeditious repatriation of the fishermen who stray into each other’s territorial waters.

IV.     7^th Session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission held at Minsk: The commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was co-chaired by Minister of State (independent charge) for Commerce and Industry NirmalaSitharaman and her counterpart V.M Vovk. Both countries have set the bilateral trade target of one billion dollar by 2018.

V.       Pakistan SC ordered adoption of Urdu as official language: With this order, Urdu will be used as an official language at the government offices of Pakistan.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    UBS cuts India’s growth forecast to 7.1 % for FY16: Swiss brokerage UBS has revised downwards India’s GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.1 % from 7.5 % earlier on account of weaker external demand prospects.

II.     Fallout of Slowdown in Chinese Economy: Economic reforms introducing market principles began in 1978 in China that led to unprecedented growth of 9.5%. Per capita income grew 6.6% yearly. But recent crash of stock market in China that started in July 2015 has sent jitters across the world about stability and strength of Chinese economy. Root cause of this crash is that over the past years investors poured more and more in Chinese stock market even though companies’ growth profile was weak.

III.    Union Government approved Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme to reduce dependence on physical gold: The purpose of this scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds. Bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold on payment of money and would be linked to price of gold.

IV.    The World Federation of Exchange (WEF) announced that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has the highest number (5689) of listed companies in the world.

V.       100% FDI through automatic route in white labelled ATMs Okayed: The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to allow 100% FDI in white labelled ATMs through the automatic route.

AWARDS:

   

 VI.   Muziris Heritage Project of Kerala Tourism has bagged the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award for 2015 under the heritage category.

Daily GK Updates - 8th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.     DRDO names 1^st female Director General J Manjula: J Manjula has been appointed as the new DG-Electronics and Communications Systems. She will be one of the seven DGs who are heading different clusters within the DRDO, which has nearly 50 national laboratories and Institutes under its network.

II.       Maharashtra Government to abolish LBT on petrol and diesel within 15 days: It will abolish the Local Body Tax on petrol and diesel to end the disparity between fuel dealers and other traders.

III.      B R Sharma appointed as Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir.

IV.     Haryana assembly passed Panchayati Raj (Amendment Bill) 2015: The bill seeks to amend the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 1994 and fixes matriculation as minimum educational qualification for elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions.

V.      BSNL to upgrade Broadband speed to minimum 2 Mbps at no additional cost: Under the scheme, BSNL is upgrading the speed of existing Broadband plans of 512 Kbps and 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps speed. This service will be effective from 1 October 2015.

VI.      First ever census on India’s Leopard presented: Lead Scientist of the tiger census Y V Jhala presented the 1^st ever data on India’s Leopard which shows the availability of around 7910 of leopards across India.

VII.   Arun Jaitley launched the e-version of the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) in New Delhi.

VIII.Himachal Pradesh organised organic fair and food festival to boost organic farming: The Organic Fair and Food Festival was organised in Shimla, the capital city of HP.

IX.     6^th Indo-Maldives Joint Military exercise begins in Thiruvanathpuram: Aim of the Joint Exercise is to acquaint forces of both the countries with each other’s operating procedure and increase understanding and interoperability between the Armies of both countries.

X.     Agriculture Expert Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new member of the Niti Aayog: He is the 3^rd member with economist BibekDebroy and Former DRDO chief V K Saraswat already the members of the organisation.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.         Reliance Defence signs MoU with Abu Dhabi Ship Building: Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Anil Ambani led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to explore an opportunity to set up strategic partnership for the construction of naval ships including frigates, destroyers and other specialised vessels to addressthe needs of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over the next 10 years.

II.    International Literacy Day 2015 celebrated across the world: The International Literacy Day 2015 was celebrated on 8^th September 2015 across the world. The theme of International Literacy Day 2015 was Literacy and Sustainable Societies.

III.    North Korea and South Korea agreed to resume family reunions: A decision in this regard was taken at the working-level Red Cross meeting of both the countries at the border village of Panmunjom in North Korea.

IV.  Black Mamba anti-poaching unit of South Africa selected for 2015 UNEP Champions of the Earth award: The Black Mamba APU consisting of mostly women was selected for the award by the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) for its courage in combating poaching and community led initiatives in protecting wildlife.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.       NPCI launches new RuPay credit cards co-branded with Mudra Bank: In a move to increase penetration of RuPay cards, soon National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will roll out a new credit card that will be co-branded with Mudra Bank. It is also in the final stage of discussion with China UnionPay and Japan-based JCB Co. Ltd, which would allow RuPay card holders to use their cards in other parts of the world.

II.      Doha Bank tied up with Reliance ADA Group to generate business opportunities: The MoU is envisaged to provide tangible business opportunities and further prospects for expansion for Doha Bank and Reliance.

III.     MCX Ltd and IamSMEofIndia signed MoU to unveil benefits of Commodity Price Risk Management: The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd and Integrated Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of India signed the deal aimed at creating awareness among MSMEs on the benefits of commodity price risk management.

IV.      Sahara India’s Para-banking licence scrapped by RBI: The licence of Sahara India Financial Corporation Ltd has been cancelled by the bank regulator RBI.

SPORTS:

V.      Anirban Lahiri became the 1^st Indian Golfer to qualify for the Presidents’ Cup:He will be part of the International Team in the 2015 Championship which is scheduled to be held at Incheon in South Korea.

VI. Weightlifter Deepak Lather wins gold in 62 kg category at 5^th Youth Commonwealth Games.

Daily GK Updates - 7th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.  PM inaugurates Badarpur-Faridabad Metro: PM Modi inaugurated Badarpur-Faridabad Metro in Delhi National Capital Region. The Metro corridor will connect the national capital with the satellite town and give impetus to economic growth in the region by fast transportation of people.

II.       ‘e-Pragati’ to pave way for Digital Andhra Pradesh: With Andhra Pradesh already topping the country in e-transactions, the state government is now rechristening the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA) as ‘e-Pragati’. APSEA is a comprehensive architecture to leverage the latest advances in e-governance tools. ‘e-Pragati’ is developed in association with technology giant Wipro.

III.  Puducherry government announced annual Teacher’s Day awards: CM N Rangasamy distributed the awards to encourage the teaching community and also to recognise their professional competence and achievement in the field of education at various levels.

IV.  Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple renovated under India-Nepal Economic programme inaugurated: It is situated on the back of glacial river ThuliBeri in Dolpa district of Nepal.

V.      Haryana Government passed the Haryana Police Amendment Bill, 2015, abolishing the Police Recruitment Board and transferring the Police Recruitment to Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC).

VI.      Odisha renames Wheeler Islands as Abdul Kalam Island: The Odisha Government has renamed the Wheeler Island, the missile launching station of the DRDO after Former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  

 I.        China and Pakistan launch joint ‘Shaheen (Eagle)-4’ Air Drill in China: It is the 4^th edition of air exercise between the air force of both the countries which was launched as part of a series of military exchange programme between the two countries. The 1^st air exercise took place in 2011 in Pakistan.

II.     G20 launches W-20 grouping for gender inclusive economic growth: It was launched by Group of Twenty (G-20), a forum of world’s 20 largest economies, including India, in the on-going G-20 Summit of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Ankara under Turkish Presidency. The W20 group would include 20 women leaders from G20 nations. It will host its 1^st summit in October 2015 in Istanbul. G. Turktan from Turkey has been appointed as the 1^st president of the W20 forum.

III.     Thailand’s military appointed National Reform Council rejected the draft of the new constitution: The draft was rejected mainly due to a clause that enabled a 23-member panel to take over government during a national crisis.

IV.      Austria and Germany open their borders to thousands of exhausted, rain-soaked migrants: The migrants are mostly refugees from Syria’s civil war.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.            Australian cricketer Shane Watson announces retirement from Test Cricket.

II.        Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins 2015 Italian Grand Prix of Formula One: This was his 7^th victory of the season. He has won Australian GP, Chinese GP, Bahrain GP, Canadian GP, Belgian GP and British GP other than the latest Italian GP.

III.     Apurvi Chandela bags silver at ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals held in Munich.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

IV.    Book titled ‘To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story’ authored by Jairam Ramesh was released.