Daily GK Updates - 30th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Microsoft launches data centres in India at cost of $200 million: Microsoft India launched commercial cloud services from local data centres in India. The company has invested around $200 million to set up three centres in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai.

II.            Neelesh Garg appointed as MD and CEO of Tata AIG General Insurance.

III.   Union Government appointed four Brand Ambassadors for Digital India Programme: The list of brand ambassadors comprises of SatwatJagwani (IIT-JEE Advance Topper-2015), KratiTiwari (IIT-JEE Advance Girl Topper-2015), AnkitFadia (Author and Ethical Hacker) and PranavMistry (Computer scientist- Samsung USA).

IV.            Piyush Goyal launched ‘Access to clean cooking energy and electricity-survey of states report’: The study was conducted by the council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in collaboration with Columbia University with support from the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.

V.            NOC online application portal and processing system for the National Monument Authority launched: An initiative of the National Monument Authority, NOAPS will make the approval procedure more efficient for construction related activities in regulated/restricted areas in the vicinity of ASI protected monuments in different cities of India.

VI.        Jayant Prasad appointed as Director General of Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

VII.       CCMB Scientists developed nano-particle-based drug delivery method to fight fungal keratitis: Scientists from Centre of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad have developed the innovative drug delivery method.

VIII.     Can’t force political parties to keep poll promises:SC: A bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu said that it was not the judiciary’s job to force political parties to fulfil their pre-election promises or stay away from post-poll alliances.

IX.            21^st meeting of the Western Zonal Council held in Panaji: The council was headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting planned upon development issues which have mostly social and economic bearing. Issues related to internal security were also discussed in the meeting.

X.   NDTV signed 100 crore rupees deal with Taboola, a US based content recommendations engine: The deal is signed to boost the entire network of desktop and mobile sites of NDTV.

XI.      The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched ‘Accessible India Campaign’: Social Justice and Empowerment minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot launched the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan) that focuses on building accessible government buildings for persons with disabilities.

XII.    17^th All India Government Whips Conference held in Visakhapatnam: It was presided by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu. The two day conference was attended by 179 whips from various state assemblies, legislative councils and the two houses of Parliament.

XIII.    Tamil Nadu Government increased the MSP for paddy crops.

XIV.      Praveen Dixit appointed as Maharashtra DGP.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   

I.            Leader’s Summit on Peacekeeping held at the UN headquarters in New York: The high level summit reviewed the on-going operations of 125000 strong UN Peacekeeping force and announced commitments to modernize the force. Besides the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, it was attended by leaders of more than 50 countries including PM Modi and the US President Barack Obama.

II.            International Translation Day observed across the world: It was observed on 30^th September 2015 with the theme ‘The Changing Face of Translation and Interpreting’.

III.     1^st ever US-India-Japan trilateral ministerial dialogue held: It was held on the sidelines of the 70^th UN General Assembly session in New York. It was attended by Japanese Foreign Minister F Kishida, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Union External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj.

IV.  A team led by Charles Chiu, associate professor of laboratory medicine at University of California San Francisco developed DNA sequencing-based blood test to diagnose Ebola and other pathogens.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  

I.        RBI allows corporates to raise up to $750 million via rupee denominated bonds overseas: The Reserve Bank of India has allowed corporates to raise $750 million under the automatic route per annum by way of rupee denominated bonds overseas. Cases beyond this limit will require prior approval of the RBI.

II.     SBI cuts lending rate by 0.4%: Soon after reduction in repo rate by the RBI, the country’s largest lender SBI slashed minimum lending or base rate by 0.4% to 9.3%, setting the trend for benign interest rate regime.

III.     London based business daily Financial Times released FDI data for the period January-June of 2015. As per the data, India in the 1^st half of 2015 surpassed China to emerge as the most favoured destination for FDI.

SPORTS:

IV.   M R Poovamma and BabitaKumari conferred Arjuna Award 2015: Both sportspersons have been conferred the award for their outstanding achievements in Athletics and Wrestling respectively.

V.           India’s Gurpreet Singh wins silver medal at 2015 Asian Air Gun Championship held in New Delhi.

VI.     Sportzlive appointed as official marketing partner for 2^nd India Badminton League 2016.

AWARDS:

VII.          Indo-British van driver Dee Patel honoured with Pride of Britain Award.

VIII. India-American environmental engineer KartikChandran named MacArthur Fellow.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

IX.      Book titled ‘Hungry Bengal: War, Famine, Riots and the End of Empire’ authored by Janam Mukherjee was released.

OBITUARIES:

   

X.          Twin Peaks star Catherine Coulson died at the age of 71.

Daily GK Updates - 29th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Meghalaya Governor V Shanmugnathan got additional charge of Governor of Manipur: He was given the additional charge by President Pranab Mukherjee after the demise of incumbent Dr Syed Ahmed Khan.

II.            Ministry of Railways launched Indian Railway Knowledge Portal:It was launched by Suresh Prabhu for dissemination of detailed information on Indian Railways. It is an initiative of the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR) which allows the user to access most of the available knowledge about Indian Railways at one location due to linkage of websites, documents and much more.

III.            Boat with 200 onboard capsized in River Koholi in Kamrup district of Assam.

IV.            NLC set up its first 10 MW Solar power plant: Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) set up its 1^st 10 MW solar power plant at Neyveli. It is the 1^st renewable energy project of the corporation.

V.            Union Ministry of Road Transport launched Green Highways Policy, 2015: The policy that seeks to promote green covers along the National Highway corridor was launched at the National Conference in New Delhi.

VI.            Wipro selected as member of Dow Jones Sustainability World Index: It was selected as the member for the 6^th consecutive year.

VII.            INS Kochi commissioned into Indian Navy:Indian Navy has commissioned INS Kochi, a Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer in its contingent to showcase India’s indigenous efforts in the field of underwater warfare. The ship was commissioned by Union Defence Minister ManoharParrikar in Mumbai.

VIII.            Delhi HC admitted plea challenging validity of Article 370 of constitution of India: The High Court of Delhi agreed to hear a PIL that challenges the constitutional validity of Article 370 of the constitution of India that deals with the special status of J&K.

IX.            Maharashtra Government declared 2017 as ‘Visit Maharashtra Year’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   

 I.            Seven MoUs signed to boost start-ups in India: Aimed at giving a big boost to start-ups in India, as many seven MoUs have been signed between various organisations of India and US. These were signed as PM Modi attended the India-US Start-up Konnect 2015 in San Jose.

II.            Reliance Defence and EDIC sign MoU to manufacture defence equipment: Reliance Defence Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, has signed a strategic MoU with Emirates Defence Industries Co. (EDIC) for manufacturing, servicing, knowledge transfer and technology development from the UAE.

III.            India signs deal with Boeing, US for Apache, Chinook copters: India signed a nearly USD 3 billion deal for purchase of 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy lift  choppers with American aviation giant Boeing and the US Government.

IV.    Evidence of summertime water flows on Mars:NASA Study: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found the first evidence that briny water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months.

V.      World Heart Day 2015 celebrated with theme creating heart-healthy environments: It was celebrated on 29^th September 2015 across the world. The purpose of the day is to ensure people participation across the globe in the world’s biggest intervention against cardiovascular disease (CVD).

VI.         India signed 123.51 million USD loan agreements with Asian Development Bank: This was done to upgrade tourism infrastructure and services in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

VII.       India-Sri Lanka joint military exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2015 begins in Pune.

VIII.   1^st Indo-Africa ICT Expo launched in Nairobi: Indian Government in conjunction with ICT Authority of Kenya, India’s Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) launched the 1^st Indo-Africa ICT Expo in Nairobi.

IX.         China’s DidiKuaidi joined hands with Ola to compete Uber in India.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  

 I.      RBI Governor has surprized with 50 bps cut: This surprise is pleasant with the announcement of 50 bps rate cut. Banks need to pass on this rate cut to industry and consumers. The new repo rate is 6.75% and the reverse repo rate is 5.75%. The MSF and Bank rate is 7.75%.  The CRR and SLR remain unchanged at 4% and 21.5% respectively.

II.     The World Bank has promised $30 billion financial assistance to the Indian Railways.

AWARDS:

 III.           Indo-British van driver Dee Patel honoured with Pride of Britain Award.

Daily GK Updates - 28th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Union Government formed B S Baswan committee to revisit civil services examination pattern: The seven member committee headed by B S Baswan is to submit the report within six months from the date of its constitution.

II.            Grant citizenship to Chakma-Hajong refugees within 3 months: Supreme Court: The Supreme Court has directed the Union and Arunachal Pradesh Governments to grant citizenship to Chakma-Hajong refugees who migrated to India from Bangladesh in 1964-69 and settled in the state.

III.            India’s 1^st dedicated satellite for Astronomy research ASTROSAT launched: The satellite was launch from the 1^st Launchpad of SatishDhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 10 am by PSLV-C30. PSLV-C30 is the 10^th flight of PSLV in its ‘XL’ configuration. It also carried six foreign satellites from Canada, Indonesia and USA.

IV.            Google teamed up with Indian Railways to provide free Wi-Fi at 400 stations: The facility will be provided under the ‘Project Nilgiri’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            Zuckerberg backs call for Universal Internet Access by 2020: A day before he met PM Modi, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a call to world leaders at the UN to ensure universal internet access by 2020 to ‘give a voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless’.

II.            World Tourism Day observed with theme One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities: The World Tourism Day was observed across the world on 27^th September 2015. Burkina Faso will host the official celebrations 2015.

III.            Qualcomm announced investment of 150 million USD for Indian start-ups: Silicon valley based chip maker Qualcomm has announced that it will invest 150 million USD for Indian start-ups. The investment will come through a venture fund. The announcement was made by company’s executive chairman Paul E Jacobs who met with PM Modi at the Digital Economy event in San Jose.

IV.            Nepal imposed vehicle curbs due to fuel shortage: It enforced an odd-even licence plate system for plying of vehicles on alternate days. With this, drivers are permitted on the roads only on alternate days depending on whether their licence plates end in odd or even numbers.

V.            G-4 countries issue Joint Statement on UNSC Reforms: G-4 countries viz. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have issued a joint statement on United Nations Security Council Reforms at the G-4 meeting held at New York.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            World Bank released report entitled Leveraging Urbanisation in South Africa: The report provided original empirical and diagnostic analysis of urbanisation and related economic trends in the South Asia region.

SPORTS:

II.               Advani pockets 14^th World Title: India’s most successful cueist PankajAdvani added another feather to his cap by winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship by outplaying his opponent in the final to take his world title count to 14.

III.               Bindra shoots down gold in Asian Air Gun Championships: Beijing Olympic champion AbhinavBindra produced some excellent shooting to clinch the gold while London Games bronze medallist GaganNarang failed to finish on the podium in the men’s 10m Air Rifle event.

IV.               Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka circuit.

AWARDS:

V.     Mathematician Jacob Tsimerman won 2015 SASTRA Ramanujam Prize: Tsimerman is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto. He primarily conducts research on Number Theory.

VI.            Lucknow based CSIR-CIMAP won CSIR Award for S&T Innovations for Rural Development, 2014: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants was awarded for enhancing the incomes of farm communities through Vetiver based Technological Interventions.

OBITUARIES:

VII.            England’s former fast bowler Frank Tyson died at the age of 85.

VIII.       Manipur Governor Syed Ahmed died of cancer at the age of 70.

  IX.     Meghalaya’s longest serving legislator Hoping Stone Lyngdoh died at the age of 86.

Daily GK Updates - 27th September, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            NCC enters Limca Book of Records: National Cadet Corps was presented the certificate by Limca Book of Records for the ‘Largest Yoga performance simultaneously by a single uniformed youth organisation’ at multiple venues on International Day of Yoga (June 21).

II.            Assam Government launches mobile app: The mobile application will disseminate information about disaster management to the people in need. The application-‘Disaster Ready Assam’was inaugurated by Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia in Guwahati.

III.            Rajan Wadhera appointed as ARAI President: Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has appointed Rajan Wadhera and Vikram Kirloskar as its new president and vice president respectively.

IV.            CAG orders a dengue audit for Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General Shashi Kant Sharma ordered an audit of the preparedness of the Delhi Government and local authorities to deal with dengue.

V.            Balika Vadhu completes 2000 episodes: Popular TV show BalikaVadhu, starring Toral Rasputra in the lead, has become the 1^st drama series to cross the 2000 episode milestone.

VI.            London’s Ambedkar house is finally India’s: After a relay of around nine months and many moments of embarrassment, the Maharashtra Government has finally acquired the London bungalow where B R Ambedkar lived as a student. The 2,050 sq-ft three storey bungalow on King Henry Road, NW3, was bought at Rs 31 crore.

VII.            Chinese gift of Mansarovar water enriches ShahiSnan: In a gift by the Chinese Government, water from the Mansarovarlake was poured into the Godavari river on the last ShahiSnan of SimhasthaKumbhMela.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.            U S moots ‘Sri Lankan Judicial mechanism’ with foreign judges: A draft resolution submitted by four countries, including the US and the UK, in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has mooted the participation of commonwealth and other foreign judges in ‘a Sri Lankan Judicial mechanism’ to probe allegations of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

II.            Corbion Purac, the Netherlands based speciality chemicals firm has acquired lactic acid business of Chennai based Malladi Specialities.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               World Bridge Team Championships: The 42^nd World Bridge Teams Championship is being held in Chennai with 66 teams participating in it. This is the 1^st time India is hosting the event.