Daily GK Updates - 24th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            MukeshAmbani India’s richest person for 9^th consecutive year: Industrialist MukeshAmbani has been named as India’s richest person for 9^th consecutive year in a row with a net worth of 18.9 billion dollars in the 2015 Forbes magazine’s India list.

II.            Union Government gives nod to IAF’s Integrated Air Command and Control System: IACCS system is an automated command and control system for Air Defence which integrates different air sensors and radars to protect Indian airspace.

III.            Marathi Film ‘Court’ selected as India’s official entry to Oscars: Critically acclaimed Marathi film ‘Court’ has been selected as India’s official entry to the best foreign language category of the 88^th Academy Awards 2016 (popularly known as Oscars). It is directed by Chaitanya Tamhane.

IV.            Arvind Panagariya replaces Suresh Prabhu as G20 Sherpa: A Sherpa represents the government or the Prime Minister at Group of 20 countries meetings and helps articulate the official position on critical issues.

V.            Uninor rebranded as Telenor India: Telenor Group announced that it has changed its brand identity along with legal company name from Unionor, its subsidiary in India, as Telenor India Communications Pvt Ltd.

VI.            Telangana-Chhattisgarh inked Power Supply pact to buy 1000 MW power: The supply pact aims bridging the demand-supply gap in Telangana, particularly when the demand spikes up during the Rabi crop season and the summer months.

VII.            UNDP to provide support for Arunachal Vision 2030: The United National Development Programme (UNDP) stated its intention to provide support in implementation of Arunachal Vision 2030 of Arunachal Pradesh. An announcement in this regard was made by Dr JacoCilliers, the country head of UNDP India during his meeting with the CM of the state NabamTuki in New Delhi.

VIII.            NITI Aayog constituted T Haque Expert Group on Land Leasing: The expert group will be headed by former Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) chairman T Haque.

IX.            Haryana Government increased the pension given to World War Soldiers: The pension has been increased by 1500 rupees to 4500 from 3000 rupees.

X.            Ex-Penguin India publisher ChikiSarkar launched publishing company Juggernaut.

XI.            Delhi Government approved Slum Policy for in situ rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers.

XII.            Stuti Narain Kacker appointed as Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

XIII.            Heritage Flying Expedition held to commemorate 1965 Indo-Pak war: 55 Year old Pushpak aircraft which was used by the IAF for observation role touched down Sanganer airport in a ceremony attended by Rajasthan CM VasundharaRaje. The aircraft was flown by Brig. A S Sidhu and Lt. Col. ArvindSaini.

XIV.            Filmmaker Rahul Rawail resigned from Oscar Selection Jury.

XV.            MoEF Committee gave environmental clearance for Ramagundam Urea Plant, Telangana.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            India-US Ministerial Energy Dialogue 2015 held: The India-US Ministerial Energy Dialogue 2015 was held at the US Department of Energy, Washington.Indian delegation was led by Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, New and Renewable Energy and the US delegation was led by Dr. Ernest Moniz, the US Secretary of Energy.

II.            BhartiAirtel ties up with Liquid Telecom in Africa:BhartiAirtel has signed an agreement with Liquid Telecom to share its fibre network to connect its mobile base stations across Africa, which will enable subscribers in Africa to access better speeds on 3G and 4G networks.

III.            India, US conclude MoU on energy security, climate change: India and the US have signed a significant MoU on energy security, climate change and clean energy which Secretary of State John Kerry said reflects the commitment of the two countries to make the Paris Summit later this year a success.

IV.            Alexis Tsipras sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece for second time in 8 months.

V.            Joint Statement on the 1^st India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue released: It was released in Washington, the USA, after conclusion of first of its kind bilateral dialogue that was joined by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and US Secretary of Commerce P Pritzker. The purpose of the dialogue was to ramp up bilateral economic exchange to 500 billion USD and enhance regional security.

VI.            Michel Kafando reinstated as president of Burkina Faso:He was reinstated in the capital Ouagadougou and the reinstatement was a result of an agreement reached between the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) and the National Army.

VII.            Martin Winterkorn resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen.

VIII.            Prime Minister NarendraModi visited Ireland: He is the 1^st PM of India to visit Ireland in 59 years. PM Modi held discussions with Irish PM E Kenny.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            RBI draft proposes allowing companies to tap SWFs, pension funds for external debt: In order to encourage overseas funding, the RBI proposed to allow domestic companies to borrow money from pension funds; sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and insurance funds as part of the External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs).

II.            Paytm invests $10 million in logistics data startupLogiNext.

SPORTS:

III.               Indian Air Force won 2015 Baba Farid Gold Cup hockey title: The Indian Air Force defeated the Army XI 2-1 to lift the 24^th edition of the championships.

IV.               Abdul Bari Siddiqui elected as Bihar Cricket Association President.

OBITUARIES:

 V.            New York Yankees Catcher’s baseball legend Yogi Berra dies aged 90.

VI.            Revered Monk of the Hindu monastic order Swami DayanandSaraswati died in Rishikesh at the age of 85.

Daily GK Updates - 23rd September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            CCS clears Military helicopters deal with US aviation giant Boeing: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has given its approval to a multi-billion dollar deal to purchase Military helicopters from United States aviation giant Boeing. Under this deal India will purchase 22 Apache Attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy lift choppers from Boeing.

II.            Union Cabinet gives nod to amend MoU on Indo-German Partnerships in Higher Education: Indo-German partnership in higher education will help to strengthened education relationship between both countries through the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI).

III.            Union Cabinet gives nod to set up India Sign Language Research and Training Centre: ISLRTC will be set up as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and initially will be located at the Institute for Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.

IV.            Korea Caravan 2015 organised by Korea-Andhra Pradesh Friendship Forum held at Vishakhapatnam: During this, the forum called upon the Koreans to join hands with the Indians to set up various industries in the state and in building the capital Amravathi. 

V.            MoU for Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme for Disabled Persons signed: The Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, under the Department of Empowerment of People with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, signed anMoU with the New India Assurance Company Ltd.

VI.            CCEA approves four laning of Cuttack-Angul section of NH-42.

VII.            Google, Tata Trusts announced the launch of Android Developer Nanodegrees programme: As a part of the programme, 1000 scholarships will be offered to deserving students by Google and Tata Trusts. The students will be awarded with Android Developer Nano degrees.

VIII.            P V Chandran elected President of Indian Newspaper Society 2015-16.

IX.            Two bills on reservation to specially and economically backward classes passed in Rajasthan assembly: The purpose of the bills is to ensure advancement of backward communities and financially weaker sections of unreserved categories in the state.

X.            Haryana Government decided to develop Gurgaon as Smart City.

XI.            Odisha Government decided to implement 5 sub-schemes for transgender: The state government’s newly created Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will implement the sub-schemes. The department will provide the transgender with certificates as third gender.

XII.            Consultative workshop on Climate Change Mitigation in Urban Sector held in New Delhi.

XIII.            Union Government released National Health Profile 2015: The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda released the National Health Profile (NHP) prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence. This is the 11^th edition of the NHP and the 1^st edition of e-version NHP.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 I.            Cisco’s John Chambers elected as new US India Business Council (USIBC) chairman.

II.            Indian Author Samanth Subramanium in UK Non-Fiction longlist: An account of Sri Lanka’s civil war by Indian author Samanth Subramanium has been longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious awards for non-fiction.

III.            World Rhino Day observed across the world: The World Rhino Day 2015 was observed on September 22^nd across the world.

IV.            Researchers developed SafePay prototype system to prevent mass credit card fraud: The research was led by Yinzhi Cao, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University.

V.            9^th Regional PravasiBharatiyaDiwas (RPBD) to be held in Los Angeles: The theme for RPBD Los Angeles will be ‘The Indian Diaspora: Defining a New Paradigm in India-US Relationship.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            CANBANK Venture Capital Fund Ltd appointed as implementation agency of EDF Policy: The CVCFL was appointed as the implementation agency of the Electronics Development Fund (EDF) Policy. The EDF is set up as a Fund of Funds to participate in Daughter Funds which in turn will provide risk capital to companies developing new technologies in the area of electronics, nano-electronics and Information Technology.

II.            Asian Development Bank lowered India’s Growth Forecast for 2016 from 7.8% to 7.4%.

SPORTS:

III.               Zyan Khan elected as President of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India.

 IV.               Bermuda cricketer Jason Anderson has been banned for life after ugly on- field brawl.

AWARDS:

 V.            Indra Nooyi, ShobhanaBhartia awarded 2015 Global Leadership Award: Hindustan Times Group chairperson ShobhnaBhartia and PepsiCo Chairman IndraNooyi have been awarded 2015 Global Leadership Award of the US-India Business Council (USIBC).

VI.            Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai of Odisha won Community Impact award at Google Science Fair: A class 9^th student from Koraput district of Odisha bagged the prestigious Community Impact Award at the 5^th Google Science Fair held in California.

VII.            24^th Vyaas Samman conferred on eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka: He was awarded for his work ‘PremchandkikahaniyonkakaalkramanusaarAdhyayan’.

IX.            Famous American fantasy drama television series, Game of Thrones, created by HBO won an unprecedented 12 awards at the 67^th Primetime Emmy Award function held in California.

OBITUARIES:

   

 X.            Odia Lyricist Nizam died in Bhubaneswar at the age of 62.

Daily GK Updates - 22nd September 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            EMI-EMC and NFTR test facilities inaugurated at BEL-Ghaziabad: Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI)-Electro Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) test facility and Near Field Test Range (NFTR) were inaugurated at the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) – Ghaziabad by Chairman Chief of Staff Committee (COSC) Arup Raha.

II.            Supreme Court issued notice to Telangana Government on omission of 26 castes from state BC list: It was done followong a petition filed by SettiBalija Youth Association.

III.            Union Government released Draft National Encryption Policy: The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity) released the policy to encourage use of encryption technologies and product among governmental agencies, businesses and citizens for more secure communications and financial transactions in the cyber space.

IV.            Indian Coast Guard commissioned indigenously built vessels Apoorva and C-421: They were commissioned at the Naval Dock in Mumbai by Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of Western Naval Command SPS Cheema.

V.            Rajasthan Assembly passed Rajasthan Vexation Litigation Prevention Bill 2015: The objective of the bill is to prevent filing of baseless cases and to check the misuse of law for personal benefits. With this Rajasthan became the 5^thstate in India after Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Madhya Pradesh.

VI.            VikramPawah appointed as Managing Director of Harley Davidson’s India operations.

VII.            Aditya Birla Group announced sale of Australian copper mine for 10.75 million US dollars: Aditya Birla Mineral Limited (ABML) announced the sale of its closed Birla Mt Gordon (BMG) copper mine in Queensland, Australia to Lighthouse Minerals Holdings Pvt Ltd.

VIII.            Bharat Dynamics ties up with Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL): Two public sector units have joined hands to develop missile electronics and weapon support systems for major defence projects.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Cow declared as National Animal of Nepal: Cow was declared as the National animal of Nepal as per the new secular constitution of Nepal unveiled by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav at a special ceremony held in Parliament at Kathmandu.

II.            UN Broadband Commission released State of Broadband Report 2015: As per the report the global broadband growth is slowing down sharply as 4 billion people are still offline.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               Richie Richardson appointed to Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees: He will replace Sri Lanka’s RoshanMahanama who stepped down from the position.JavagalSrinath is the only Indian in the 7 member panel.

II.               Indian Wushu team won 12 medals at Pars International Cup in Tehran: The tally of medals comprise of one gold, four silver and seven bronze medals. India’s Budhachandra Singh won the gold medal.

OBITUARIES:

   I.            British-born author Jackie Collins died of breast cancer at the age of 77.