Daily GK Updates - 17th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Kochi based South Indian Fertilizers to set up Kissan Kendra, agri super markets in Kerala: The Kissan Kendra will provide all information on agriculture and make available organic fertilizers, different varieties of seeds, organic pesticides, grow bags, etc. under one roof.

II.            Godavari and Krishna rivers have been formally linked at Ibrahimpatnam ferry village in Andhra Pradesh.

III.            NGT passed directions to prevent pollution of Yamuna River: In its directions, bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar issued ban on immersion of idols except those made of bio-degradable materials.

IV.            Nana Patekar established Naam Foundation to fund drought relief for farmers: The Naam Foundation, a brain child of Nana Patekar and fellow Marathi actor MakrandAnaspure, was set up for donating money to drought affected farmers. The foundation will collect the contributions from people and for this purpose Nana Patekar has opened a bank account with SBI.

V.            Union Government banned NSCN-K for 5 years: It banned the Naga rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) for 5 years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. It was banned following due legal process as it had unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement with the Union Government and perpetrated a string of terror attacks.

VI.            Union Finance Ministry launched NXT DIGITAL-Headend in the sky platform: It launched the Headend in the Sky (HITS) digital platform initiative, under the brand name NXT DIGITAL promoted by Hinduja Group. The platform will provide viewers access to over 500 television channels of their choice be it international, national, regional and local; besides a host of other services like e-applications and TV everywhere.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Nepal approves new constitution: Nepal’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a new constitution which is due to come into effect on 20^th September 2015. It was passed by 507 votes to 25 in the assembly. The present prime minister of Nepal is Sushil Koirala.

II.            India, Cambodia ink 2 MoUs for bilateral cooperation in Tourism, Mekong Ganga Project: These MoUs were signed in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari and his Cambodian counterpart Prime Minister Hun Sen in Pnom Penh.

III.            Apus Group tied up with mobile advertising network InMobi: One of the world’s biggest Android application development companies has tied-up with Bengaluru based Indian mobile advertising network InMobi.

IV.            5 cities officially named as candidates to host 2024 Summer Olympics: International Olympic Committee announced name of five cities namely Los Angeles, Hamburg, Paris, Rome and Budapest as the candidates to host 2024 Summer Olympics.

V.            Private Equity investor Blackstone Group LP repurchased the India based BPO operations of the UK’s Serco Group Plc.

VI.            Sun Pharma, the largest Indian drugmaker entered into a deal to acquire US-based InSite Vision Inc. for about 300 crore rupees.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            RBI grants small finance banks licence to 10 entities: It gave in-principle licence for small finance banks to ten entities namely Au-Financers, Capital Local Area Bank, DishaMicrofin, Equitas Holdings, ESAF Microfinance and Investments, etc. The in-principle approval will be valid for a period of 18 months.

II.            RBI gives flexibility to banks for equity investment: It allowed banks to invest in equities of financial service ventures including stock exchanges and depositories without any prior approval. The investment flexibility will be limited to banks that have capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) of 10% or more and also made net profit in the previous fiscal.

III.            Banks CEOs can avail loan below base rate, says RBI: Banks CEOs and Directors will now be able to avail personal loans from their own bank below the base rate-the floor rate below which banks do not lend to their customers.

IV.            Spice Digital launches m-wallet SpiceMudra, focus on remittances: Spice Digital, a subsidiary of Spice Connect has launched mobile wallet ‘SpiceMudra’ which will focus on domestic remittances.

V.            EPFO raises maximum insurance cover to Rs 6 lakh: Retirement body Employees Provident Fund Organisation substantially increased the maximum amount assured under its Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) to 6 lakh from the existing 3.6 lakh.

SPORTS:

VI.               ManpreetKaur breaks national shot put record on road to Rio Olympics: Railway shot putter ManpreetKaur today became the latest Indian Athlete to qualify for next year’s Olympics when she shattered an 18-year old national record en route to a sixth title at the 55^th National Open Athletics Championship.

VII.       Chanderpaul receives Icon Award: Veteran West Indies Test cricketer ShivnaraineChanderpaul has been honoured with the Icon Award by the Indo-Carribbean Alliance.

VIII.               India Cements won Moin-udDowlah Gold Cup Tournament 2015-16: India Cements won the tournament defeating Hyderabad XI in the final match played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. This was the 3^rd title for the winning team.

AWARDS:

  IX.            Afghan refugee teacher AqeelaAsifi awarded with 2015 Nansen Refugee Award by UNHCR: It was awarded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to her for dedicating her life to bring education to refugee girls in Pakistan.

Daily GK Updates - 16th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Suvidha acquires mobile PoS platform AasaanPay: SuvidhaInfoserve, India's largest payment management company has acquired a mobile PoS device AasaanPay, along with its intellectual property rights. It is a device developed by IIT-Hyderabad dropouts Sainath Gupta, PruthviSubbu and ShashankSahni, that can be plugged into a mobile phone, which can then be used for credit or debit card transactions.

II.            National Engineer’s Day celebrated on 15^th September: It is marked on the birth anniversary of the most beloved engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The 48^th Engineer’s Day was celebrated with the theme of ‘Engineering Challenges for Knowledge Era’.

III.            Godavari, Krishna Rivers to be formally linked today: Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu released water of river Godavari into Krishna to mark the formal linking of the two rivers.

IV.            Union Cabinet approved Shyama Prasad MukherjiRurban Mission for overall development of rural areas: The mission approved with an outlay of 5142 crore rupees, is a bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces.

V.            Only Marathi speaking people to get auto-rickshaw permit in the state: Maharashtra Government: Maharashtra Government issued an order stating that it will give away one lakh new auto-rickshaw permits for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), but only to those applicants who speak Marathi.

VI.            Delhi Government approved Victim Compensation Scheme: It enhanced the upper limit of compensation to rape victims to 5 lakh rupees from existing 3 lakh rupees and to the victims of acid attack to 7 lakh rupees from 3 lakh rupees.

VII.            Shauryanjali Exhibition on 1965 Indo-Pak War inaugurated on 15^th September: The Exhibition celebrates the victory of India over Pakistan and remembers the supreme sacrifice of Indian soldiers.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            International Democracy Day observed on September 15^th: The International Democracy Day was celebrated with the theme ‘Space for Civil Society’.

II.            Pentagon sets up India Rapid Reaction Cell: The Pentagon has established a first-ever country special cell to speed up its defence ties with India and accelerate the process of co-development and co-production of hi-tech military equipment in the country.

III.            World’s largest Continental Volcanic Chain discovered in Australia: The team of scientists led by Rhodri Davies, an earth scientist at Australian National University, have discovered the longest chain of continental volcanoes of the world in Australia, stretching almost 2000 km along Australia’s east coast.

IV.            India, Sri Lanka exchanged four agreements to ensure peace and stability in the region: The agreements in various fields including medicare facilities were exchanged with an aim to ensure peace and stability in the region. These agreements were exchanged during the visit of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka RanilWickremesinghe to India from September 14-16.

V.            Hungary declared emergency in areas near Serbian border to check Migrant crisis: This state of emergency empowers the Hungarian Police to detain anyone trying to breach a razor-wire fence built on the border with Serbia.

VI.            Indian origin lawmakers SeemaMalhotra and Lisa Nandy have been appointed to the shadow cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn, the newly elected leader of Labour Party in the United Kingdom.

VII.            National Geographic Society has been selected for 2015 UNEP Champions of the Earth award in Science & Innovation Category.

VIII.            Natura Brasil has been selected for 2015 Champions of the Earth award in Entrepreneurial Vision category.

IX.            Jeremy Corbyn was elected as the leader of Labour Party in UK.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               Hangzhou to host 2022 Asian Games: The Chinese City of Hangzhou was confirmed as the host of the 2022 Asian Games, the Olympic Council of Asia announced at its General Assembly in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan).

II.               American Boxer Floyd MayweatherJr announced retirement after defeating Andre Berto: He took the decision after the win against Andre Berto in the Welterweight World Championships held at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, USA. The present win was his 49^th overall and he never lost a game since his 1^st match in 1996. He had a 19 year long career in the ring.

AWARDS:

 III.            Sheikh Hasina wins UN Award for leadership on climate change: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has been announced as one of the winners of the United Nations Champions of Earth Award in recognition of her country’s initiatives to address climate change.

IV.            Indian origin British author SunjeevSahota has been shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2015 for Fiction.

V.            AnupamKher honoured with Certificate of Recognition in US: AnupamKher received the ‘Certificate of Recognition’ from the California legislature for his dedication to help Kashmiri Hindu Community.

VI.            Indian American SwethaPrabakaran selected for Champions of Change award in US: She was chosen for the award in recognition of her efforts for empowering the community by imparting education of internet coding through her non-profit Organisation ‘Everybody Code Now’.