Daily GK Updates - 26th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Shiv Mohan Singh resigned as executive vice-chairman of Fortis Healthcare Ltd: After a brief transition period, he will be designated as non-executive vice-chairman of Fortis with effect from 1 January 2016. Fortis is a New Delhi based hospital chain.

II.            Kolkata start-up launches portal for preparing IT returns: A Kolkata base start-up has announced the launch of its portal that helps in preparing income-tax returns and their filing. It is named as ‘Make Your Tax Technologies’.

III.            Bajaj Auto finally launches quadricycle named ‘Qute’: It has launched its much awaited RE60 quadricycle at a free-on-board price tag of $2000 (around Rs 1.35 lakh).

IV.            Centre announces Rs 1000 crore Special Assistance to Andhra Pradesh.

V.            CCI cleared Heidelberg-Italcementi deal: The Competition Commission of India approved German firm Heidelberg Cement’s proposed acquisition of ItalcementiSpA.

VI.            Rear Admiral Sanjay Mahindru took charge as Flag Officer Submarines.

VII.            CSI released survey report on prevalence of cardiovascular disease in India.

VIII.            Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 to apply on Muslims also: Gujarat HC: The ruling held that the Child Marriage Act is a special act and it will override the provisions of Muslim Personal Law, Hindu Marriage Act or any personal law.

IX.            S K Sharma appointed as Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Volkswagen AG appoints Matthias Muller as new CEO: German auto maker Volkswagen AG has appointed Matthias Muller as the new CEO, who was earlier serving as the CEO of Porsche AG, a subsidiary of Volkswagen.

II.            UNGA adopted ‘Transforming Our World:The 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development’: The 193 member United Nations General Assembly formally adopted the agenda. It was adopted during the UN Sustainable Development Summit that is being held at the UN headquarters in New York.

III.            Facebook to test wireless broadband services in India: It has announced its partnerships with Internet Service Providers in India to launch Wi-Fi enabled broadband services, called Wi-Fi Express, which will provide internet access in rural areas. The initiative is a part of Facebook’s Internet.org platform.

IV.            WADA and China signed MoU on Performance Enhancing Drugs: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the General Administration of Sport of China signed anMoU on performance enhancing drugs.

V.            EU imposed anti-dumping duty on Indian Water and sewage pipes for six months: It has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of up to 31.2 percent on imports of water and sewage pipes made of ductile cast iron from India for six months to protect its industry.

VI.            Indian tribal woman PermilaTirkey won 1^st discrimination based case in United Kingdom: She won the case against her Indian-origin employers Ajay Chandok and Puja Chandok. Tirkey was discriminated against because of her low caste.

VII.            UNICEF unveiled Assembly of Youth digital installation at the UN headquarters in New York: The purpose of the installation is to bring the voices of children and young people from across the world to the heart of the UN General Assembly. It was developed by Goolge.

VIII.            China successfully launched carrier rocket Long March-11: The rocket carried four micro-satellites into space, which will be used mainly for testing.

IX.            Conference on contemporary relevance of Bhagvad Gita held in United Kingdom: The conference was organised by Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and High Commission of India.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               SaniaMirza and Martina Hingis win Guangzhou Open title.

AWARDS:

II.    Assam Conservationist 1^st Indian to get Harry Messel Award: Conservationist Goutam Narayan has become the 1^st Indian to get Harry Messel Award for Conservation Leadership in recognition of his pivotal role in leading the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme in the North-East.

Daily GK Updates - 25th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi got additional charge of Governor of Tripura: He will discharge the functions of the Government of Tripura, in addition to his own duties, during the absence of Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura who has gone on leave.

II.            Union Home Minister released a Graphic booklet on Sardar Post: Union Home Minister RajnathSingh released a graphic depicting the valour and sacrifice of the CRPF personnel during the battle of Sardar Post, Rann of Kutch in the 1965 Indo-Pak War.

III.            Ministry of External Affairs appointed envoys for Pakistan, China, UK and other countries:NavtejSarna will be the new high commissioner to the United Kingdom. GautamBambawale, India’s Ambassador to Bhutan will take over as the New High Commissioner to Pakistan. Syed Akbaruddin will be the next permanent representative of India to the United Nations. Vijay Gokhale will be the Ambassador to China.

IV.            Union Environment Ministry notified Guidelines on Sustainable Sand and Minor Mineral Mining: The Policy seeks forward to strike a balance between increasing demand of sand and sustainable sand mining practices. It may help in achieving the goal of Sustainable development.

V.            Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM):India’s Pride: The MOM successfully completed one year of the mission life around the mars with a large data set acquired by all five payloads of MOM. On this occasion, Space applications centre of ISRO, Ahmedabad launched a Mars Atlas.

VI.            MUDRA credit camp on Sept 28: The banks in Dakshina Kannada district will conduct a mega credit to disburse loans under the MUDRA scheme of the centre. MUDRA stands for Micro Unit Development and Refinance Agency.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull announced 70 million USD package to fight domestic violence: The package was announced to tackle rising domestic violence in the country and declared violence against women as a national disgrace.

II.            Haj stampede killed more than 700 people in Mecca.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            RBI relaxed Change in Ownership Norms of Borrowing Entities: It announced relaxation in norms that allow banks to upgrade credit facilities extended to borrowing entities upon a change in ownership, only if the ownership has been changed outside Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme (SDR)

SPORTS:

II.               Government Chawngfiang Middle School won U-14 sub-junior Subroto Cup Football tournament: Government Chawngfiang Middle School of Mizoram defeated Esteqalal School of Afghanistan 3-2 in the finals.

III.        Former Cricket Captain SouravGanguly appointed President of Cricket Association of Bengal.

AWARDS:

 IV.            EPFO won Skoch Award for Smart Governance Initiatives: It was awarded at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi for its initiatives on UAN Programme and Transformation of Social Security Agenda in India. Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation won two Skoch Order of Merits.

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.