Daily GK Update - 11th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I. National Web Portal for apprenticeship training launched: Human resource development minister SmritiIrani launched the portal for promotion of a national apprenticeship scheme. The scheme which provides opportunities for practical training is for graduates, diploma holders and 10+2 pass vocational certificate holders. A logo and a slogan ‘ShakshatYuva, Samarth Bharat’ was also released for the portal.

II.       10^th World Hindi Conference begins in Bhopal: The theme for the conference is Hindi-JagatVistarAvamSambhavanaye.

III.      Download ‘NarendraModi Mobile App’; connect with the PM, learn about his day to day activities digitally: He is the 1^st political leader to have a mobile app, developed for him to digitally connect with the citizens of the country. He himself has launched the app.

IV.        Shashidhar Sinha has been appointed as the new head of ABC.

V.        Mumbai dialogue: Towards a TB-free India launched: It was launched by the US Ambassador to India Richard Verma along with Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and Ratan Tata, Chairman Tata Trusts.

VI.     Global Investors Meet 2015 held in Tamil Nadu: It was officially inaugurated by Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha at the Chennai Trade Centre. The 1^st of its kind investor’s summit in Tamil Nadu was aimed at targeting investment commitment of 1 lakh crore rupees. Over 5000 delegates including from foreign nations attended the 2-day summit.

VII.    Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories signed pact with US Firm PanTheryx: It has signed pact with US based PanTheryxto market PanTheryx’s nutritional invention ‘DiaResQ’ for infectious diarrhea in Nepal, India, Russia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and many other countries.

VIII.  Rajasthan 1^st state to submit Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission (AMRUT): It has become the 1^st state to submit the Annual Action Plan under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

IX.    Expert discovered existence of thriving port town in Thanjavur district in Sangram Era: The findings were based on the results unearthed during an archaeological excavation at Mandripattinam fishing hamlet in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.      Indian American JagdeepGrewal chosen as postmaster of Sacramento: The post service in Sacramento has got a female postmaster after a span of 166 years and the new postmaster is an Indian American named JagdeepGrewal.

II.       UNGA adopted resolution on Raising of Flags by non-member observer states: The resolution introduced by Iraq says the flags of non-member observer states like Palestine shall be raised at UN Headquarters and United Nations Offices following the flags of the Member States of the organisation.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

 I.       FIPB clears 14 FDI proposals: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board cleared 14 investment proposals including that of ShyamSistema Teleservices and IIFL Holdings.

SPORTS:

II.        Virat Kohli starts tennis innings as UAE Royals co-owner in IPTL: After picking up minority stake in the Goa franchise of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) last year, Indian Test captain ViratKohli has now invested in the Dubai franchise of Mahesh Bhupati promoted Coca Cola International Premier Tennis League.

OBITUARIES:

 III.     Former Member of Parliament BalkrishnaWasnik died of cardiac arrest at the age of 86.

IV.        Renowned Water Policy Expert Ramaswamy R Iyer died at the age of 86.

Daily GK Updates - 10th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.   Union Cabinet gave nod to transfer regulatory authority on potable alcohol to states: It will ensure that industries engaged in manufacturing alcohol meant for Potable purposes shall be under the total and exclusive control of states in all respects.

II.       Election Commission of India announced election dates for Bihar Assembly polls: The election will be held in five phases from 12 October to 5 November and counting will take place on 8 November.

III.      Union Cabinet approved National Offshore Wind Energy Policy 2015: The focus of the policy is to harness offshore wind energy potential in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The EEZ is an area up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

IV.    Telangana Language Day observed to commemorate birth anniversary of Kaloji Narayana Rao: 1^st Telangana Language Day was observed on 9 September 2015 to commemorate the birth anniversary of noted poet Kaloji Narayana Rao who was also called people’s poet.

V.   Union Cabinet approved India’s Preferential Treatment to LDCs in Trade in services in the WTO.

VI.  Union Cabinet approved guidelines for spectrum trading between service providers: Under the approved norms, spectrum trading will be allowed between two access service providers in 800 Mhz/1800 Mhz band. Till now, a licensee had the sole authority to use spectrum as it was not tradable.

VII.   Sun Edison Inc., Tamil Nadu Government signed MoU to develop 2-GW projects: US based global renewable energy company SunEdison Inc, signed MoU with TN Government to develop 2 GW of wind and solar power projects in the state in the next five years.

VIII.  Union Government approved 6% hike in DA for central government employees: With this announcement the total Dearness Allowance will go up to 119 % from 113 %.

IX.      INS Vajrakosh commissioned by Defence Ministry at Karwar: It was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at Karwar, Karnataka.

X.         Andhra Pradesh interlinks mighty Godavari and Krishna rivers.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.         Seven Indians featured in the Forbes Asia’s list of philanthropists: The list includes Infosys co-founders Senapathy Gopalkrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and S D Shibulal, Rohan, son of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, Kerala born entrepreneur Sunny Varkey and two India-born brothers Suresh Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan.

II.         World Suicide Prevention Day observed with theme ‘preventing suicide: reaching out and saving lives’: It was observed on 10 September 2015. The theme speaks up to reduce the stigma around talking about suicide prevention.

III.         India, Indonesia signed pact to cooperate on criminal matters: Both the countries signed the pact for repatriation of wanted prisoners and cooperation in all matters including gathering evidence.

IV.         NASA’s Mini Satellites set to transform Space Exploration: NASA is working on miniaturised satellites, known as Nanosatellites or CubeSats that can fit in the palm of your hand and are providing new opportunities for space science.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.        Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das bagged bronze medals in 2015 CYG: Manuel won the medal in girls 800m race, while Das won it in shot put event on the final day of the Commonwealth Youth Games held at Apia, Samoa.

AWARDS:

 II.         President conferred Gandhi Peace Prize on ISRO: On behalf of the organisation, the award was received by ISRO’s Chairman A S Kiran Kumar. It was awarded for its contribution in development of space technology and satellite based services like launch of Mangalyaan, PSLV and others.

III.      Anupam Kher conferred with Honoured Guest of Texas Award: The 60-yr old actor received the award from Deputy Mayor of Houston Ed Gonzalez for his contribution to the cinema and the world of art.

IV.    Acclaimed writer Jhumpa Lahiri awarded with 2014 National Humanities Medal by White House: The medal was conferred onto her by President Barack Obama at a ceremony at the White House.

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.