Daily GK Updates - 21st October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.   Justice Vaiphei appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court: The President of India Pranab Mukherjee appointed Justice T Vaiphei, senior most judge of the Gauhati High Court, as the acting Chief Justice for the Gauhati High Court.

II.      Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports constituted All India Council of Sports: It has constituted All India Council of Sports to advise the ministry on matters relating to the promotion and development of sports and games in the country. It will be headed by Prof V K Malhotra.

III.  Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reconstituted Central Press Accreditation Committee: It has reconstituted the Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC) that issues Press Information Bureau (PIB) cards to journalists.

IV.         Snapdeal has appointed AnupVikal as Chief Financial Officer.

V.    Union Cabinet approved agreement between India and Egypt on Maritime Transport: The agreement will be signed on a mutually convenient date and venue. It will help both the nations to encourage and facilitate the development of their maritime relationship.

VI.     Union Cabinet approved amendments to Payment of Bonus Act 1965 hiking bonus for Industrial workers: The bonus ceiling under the legislation was increased from 3500 rupees to 7000 rupees.

VII.   Union Cabinet approved treaty between India and Maldives on Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal matters: The treaty aims to boost efficiency of both the countries in investigation and prosecution of crime, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in terrorism, transnational crime and criminal matters.

VIII. Erstwhile Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Areas divided into two Separate Headquarters: It was divided into two under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area and Flag Officer Gujarat Naval Area. This was done with an objective to enhance operational and administrative structure of the organisation.

IX.       Reva Khetrapal appointed as Lokayukta of Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        A B De Villiers of South Africa has been named as the brand ambassador of MRF.

II.      Russia and USA signed deal to avoid clashes between their air forces over Syrian skies: Both the countries signed a MoU on preventing incidents and providing for aviation flights during operations in Syria. It was signed between the Defence Ministers of Russia and the United States.

III.    Global Iodine Deficiency Disorders Prevention Day observed across the world on 21^st October 2015.

IV.      United Nations released ‘The World’s Women 2015: Trends and Statistics report: The report provides an update of the statistics and indicators on the situation of women and men around the world covering gender-specific information on eight key areas- population and families, health, education, work, power and decision-making, violence against women, environment and poverty. The report also shows that Indian women are facing inequality at all stages of life cycle.

V.       Global Maternal New-born Health Conference 2015 held in Mexico City: It was a technical meeting focused on accelerating progress towards effective and sustainable coverage of maternal and new-born interventions at scale.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) signed agreement to acquire Goldman Sachs mutual funds business in India.

II.        Bank of Baroda first PSU bank to join Chillr platform: It has become the second bank after HDFC Bank to join the Chillr payment platform which enables peer to peer payment through a mobile application.

SPORTS:

III.    Anil Kumble named Brand Ambassador of Champions Tennis League team Raipur Rangers.

IV.     Yuki Bhambri becomes 1^st Indian to enter top 100 since 2010 by achieving a career best rank of 99 in the WTA rankings.

V.           Golfer Anirban Lahiri wins Asian Tour Golfer of the Month award.

AWARDS:

VI.   Noted Criminologist K Chockalingam won Paul H Appleby Award: He was awarded for his distinguished services to public administration and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), where he was a member.

VII.  Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea won 17^th International Frederic Chopin Piano competition in Warsaw, Poland.

OBITUARIES:

VIII. Renowned Marine Biologist Syed ZahoorQasim died at the age of 88: He is considered as the founder of Polar Biology in India and was part of the first Indian Expedition to Antarctica in 1981-82.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

VIII.  The book titled ‘Dreaming Big: My Journey to connect India’ by Sam Pitroda has been released.

Daily GK Updates - 20th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.   PM NarendraModi, President Pranab Mukherjee to launch one stop research funding mechanism ‘IMPRINT’: PM Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will next month launch a single window funding clearance mechanism backed with Rs 1000 crore kitty to get Indian technical institutions to conduct original research in areas where the country is heavily dependent on foreign technology.

II.            VK Malhotra appointed as the head of the All India Council of Sports.

III.  Urvashi Rautela crowned Miss Diva 2015: Model-Actress UrvashiRautela was crowned as Fascino Miss Diva 2015 at a star-studded event in Mumbai. With this she became India’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant.

IV.      Konkan Railway to set up a tunnel technology institute at Margao in Goa: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced that Konkan Railway will establish a tunnel technology institute at Goa’s Margao town. The institute is the first of its kind in the nation.

 V.    Union Government increased import duty on wheat to 25% from 10%: It was raised in view of the continued fall in international prices of wheat and the anticipated adverse impact of increased imports during the first half of the financial year 2015-16.

VI.      APSEZ inked MoU with IPGA to handle pulses across its ports in country: Gujarat based Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) signed a MoU to handle pulses across its ports to ensure smooth and cost efficient availability of the commodity across the nation.

VII. UP Government announced 50000 rupees monthly pension to YashBharti awardees: The YashBhartiSamman, which was instituted in 1994, is conferred by the UP Government for excellence in literature, fine arts, folk and classical music and sports.

VIII.    Karnataka and Gujarat lifted ban on Maggi noodles.

IX.      Maharashtra Government declared 14708 villages as drought-hit: It has declared 14708 out of 40053 villages as drought-hit where the monsoon rainfall was deficient by 50%.

X.         Union Ministry of Environment extended validity of Environment Clearance to 7 years:This increase in period of validity of EC for longer time would provide more leeway to corporations to manoeuvre and manipulate the actions and activities.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        NATO launched military exercise Trident Juncture in Italy: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and partner nations launched the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercise at the Trapani air force base in Italy. The three week long intensive training involves 36000 troops from more than 30 nations across Italy, Spain and Portugal.

II.         Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index report 2015 released: The seventh edition of MMGPI report measured 25 retirement income systems against more than 40 indicators, under the sub-indices of Adequacy, Sustainability and integrity. The report rated Denmark as the country with the best retirement system for the fourth consecutive year in 2015.

III.     Moody’s released a report on the Global Green Bonds Market: It released a report on the global green bonds market titled ‘Third Quarter Issuance Lags, but COP21-Linked increase is likely. It says that in the third quarter (Q3) of 2015, the green bond issuance reached 7.5 billion dollars compared to bond issuance of 27.2 billion dollars in Q3 in 2014.

IV.     World Statistics Day observed across the world: It was observed across the world on 20^th October 2015 with the theme ‘Better Data, Better Lives’

V.     UNESCO released Gender and Education for all 2000-2015 report: As per the report, which delineated educational attainments among girls across the world, only fewer than half the countries have achieved the goal of ensuring gender parity in both primary and secondary education before 2005.

VI.     Justin Trudeau elected as the Prime Minister of Canada: Canada’s Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau was elected as the PM of Canada after his Liberal Party won 189 seats, a majority of Parliament’s 338 seats. The party needs 170 seats to gain a majority.

VII.     Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay elected as non-permanent members of UNSC by the United Nations General Assembly.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.        Narendra Modi inaugurates IDFC Bank: Prime Minister NarendraModi inaugurated the IDFC Bank in New Delhi. IDFC Bank Ltd started its operation on 1^st October, 2015, is an Indian Bank company with headquarters in Mumbai that forms a part of IDFC, an integrated infrastructure finance company.

II.            RBI, UAE Central Bank ink MoU for supervisory information exchange: The RBI has signed a MoU with the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on supervisory cooperation and exchange of supervisory information.

SPORTS:

III. Virender Sehwag retires from International cricket: The flamboyant VirenderSehwag, one of the world’s most destructive batsmen to have played the game, announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL, bringing an end to an illustrious career spanning over a decade.

OBITUARIES:

   IV.     Veteran Kannada film maker KSL Swamy passed away at the age of 77.

Daily GK Updates - 19th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 I.            Swadhar Greh Scheme approved by Haryana Government for women in distress: The Haryana Government approved SwadharGreh Scheme, which will assure economic and social security to women in distress.

II.         Telecom Operators to compensate consumers by Rs 1 for call drop:TRAI: As per the new TRAI rules, the compensation will be limited to three dropped calls in a particular day. It is mandatory for telecom operators to send a message to the calling customer within 4 hours of the occurrence of call drop along with details of amount credited in his account.

III.  Post-doctoral fellowship in name of APJ Abdul Kalam: The Ministry of Environment, forest and climate change has announced the launching of post-doctoral research fellowships in the name of APJ Abdul Kalam on his 85^th birthday.

IV.     Infosys to acquire Noah Consulting for $70 mn: IT major announced a definitive agreement to acquire Noah Consulting, LLC, a provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry in a $70 million all cash deal.

V.          Housing.com appointed Mani Rangarajan as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

VI.     IRCTC launches pilot project on ‘e-catering’ service: The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation has launched a pilot project of a ‘station-based-e-catering’ service allowing  passengers to order meals as per their choice, which will be delivered at stations from popular private caterers.

VII.     Gurjeet Singh has been appointed as India’s new envoy to Germany.

VIII.    BaichungBhutia appointed as All India Football Association’s advisor.

IX.     Alkesh Kumar Sharma has been appointed as the MD&CEO of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.        Typhoon Koppu hits northern Philippines: Powerful typhoon Koppu, (also known as Lando) has hit the northern Philippines battering the coast with powerful winds with speed of 240 kph.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.     ICICI Bank leads in mobile banking transactions: India’s largest private sector lender has outpaced its peers to record the highest number of mobile banking transactions.

SPORTS:

II.      Great Britain beat India to win Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey tournament: GBR defeated defending champions India by 4-3 in sudden death penalty shootout in the final after the match had ended in 2-2 in regulation time.

III.      China’s Xuerui Li wins 2015 Denmark Open title of badminton by defeating P V Sindhu of India in the finals.

IV.    Saketh Myneni wins 2015 Vietnam Open Tennis Trophy by defeating Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

V.      Novak Djokovic won 2015 Shanghai Rolex Master Tennis title after defeating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the final match held in Shanghai, China.

VI.   FIFA suspended Kuwait Football Association because of interference of the government officials in the running of the sports by the KFA.

AWARDS:

VII.   Indian short film ‘An Old Dog’s Diary’ wins award at 2015 London Film Festival: It was awarded with the best short film award at the 2015 LFF.The 11 minute film has been directed by Shai Heredia and ShumonaGoel.

 

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

VIII. The book titled SmitaPatil: A brief Incandescence authored by Maithili Rao was released on SmitaPatil’s 60^th birthday.

 

OBITUARIES:

 IX.     Renowned Egyptian writer Gamal-al-Ghitani died at the age of 70.

X.        Noted Telugu Comedian Kallu Chidambaram died at the age of 67.

XI.       Actress Pat Woodell died of cancer at the age of 71.