Daily GK Updates - 31st October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Unity Day observed across India: It was observed on 31 October 2015 to commemorate the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. On Sardar Patel’s 140^th birth anniversary, PM Modi flagged off Run for Unity at Rajpath in New Delhi.

2. Shaktikanta Das nominated on RBI Central Board of Directors.

3. Ministry of Civil Aviation released Revised Draft National Civil Aviation Policy: The policy aims at providing a favourable environment and a level playing field to various aviation sub-sectors, such as Airlines, Airports, and Cargo, Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) services and so on.

4. Railways launches ‘Vikalp’ for waitlisted passengers to get confirmed birth: Railway is launching a new scheme under which waitlisted passengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative train it they opt for the option while booking their tickets online.

5. GSAT-15 to be launched on November 10 from French Guiana: ISRO’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 is all set to be launched on November 10, 2015 from French Guiana on board Ariane 5. The satellite will provide C and Ku band telecommunications and navigation services to India.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BRICS nations signed Moscow Declaration for supporting Multilateral Science Projects: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa signed Moscow Declaration for co-investment of resources for supporting multilateral Research and Development (R&D) Projects in mutually agreed areas.It was signed during the third meeting of the BRICS Ministers for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences.

2. Paul Ryan elected as 54^th Speaker of US House of Representatives.

3. European Parliament gave status of whistle-blower to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden: A resolution in this regard was approved by the parliament by 285 votes to 281.

OTHER UPDATES:

AWARDS:

1. Raif Badawi wins EU’s Sakharov Prize 2015: Saudi Blogger RaifBadawi has been selected for European Union’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Human Rights for the year 2015.

Daily GK Updates - 30th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.       Sanjeev Mohanty appointed as CEO and MD of Jabong.

II.   Defence Acquisition council cleared military projects worth over 12000 crore rupees: The proposals include the acquisition of two additional regiments of the indigenous Pinaka multiple-launch rocket systems to upgrade of 26 Ilyushin transport aircraft by Russia.

III. WCD Ministry launched initiative to spread awareness about BetiBachaoBetiPadhao Scheme:The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in partnership with Celltick Mobile Media India Pvt. Ltd to generate awareness about BBBP Scheme to an estimated 100 million mobile users in India.

IV.  HCL Technologies acquired CRM services firm PowerObjects for 299 crore rupees:PowerObjects is a leading North American provider of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

V.   Bombay HC asked NEERI to study River Godavari’s pollution during KumbhMela: The Bombay High Court asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to study the pollution of River Godavari caused by the ‘ShahiSnaan’ events during the KumbhMela that was held in Nashik.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.         China abandons its decades old One Child Policy: China, the world’s most populated country has announced to abandon its decades-long one child policy and changed it to two-child policy.

II.           John Magufuli elected as President of Tanzania: J P Magufuli of ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party has won the 2015 Tanzanian Presidential election. He became the 5^th President of Tanzania after Independence. Dodoma is the capital of Tanzania.

III.     China’s first Lunar rover Yutu sets record for longest stay on Moon: With working on the Moon for almost two years, it has surpassed previous record of Soviet Union’s 1970 launched rover Lunokhod 1, which had spent 11 months on the moon.

IV.        Global Tuberculosis Report 2015 released by WHO: The 2015 edition, which is the 20^th Global report focuses on whether 2015 global TB targets set in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were achieved worldwide and at regional and country levels.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.       RBI allows NRIs to subscribe to National Pension System: The RBI has allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to subscribe to the National Pension System (NPS) enabling them to access old age income security.

II.      RBI allows Indian corporate to issue offshore rupee-denominated bonds outside India: The Reserve Bank of India has granted permission to the Indian corporate to issue offshore rupee-denominated bonds outside India. Such bonds will attract a withholding tax of 5% and gains arising in case of appreciation of rupee against the foreign currency.

SPORTS:

III.    Amit Kumar won silver medal in men’s club throw F51 event of IPC Athletics World Championships: The championship was held in Doha.He sealed a berth for the Rio Paralympic Games.

AWARDS:

IV.       Raif Badawi wins EU’s Sakharov Prize 2015: Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi has been selected for European Union’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Human Rights for the year 2015.

V. Activist Bindeshwar Pathak selected for New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award: Sociologist and founder of Sulabh International,BindeshwarPathak was selected for the prestigious New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award for his contribution to sanitation and improving the quality of life for millions of manual scavengers.

Daily GK Updates - 29th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  

I.    Aruna Sundarajan appointed as new Steel Secretary: She has been appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Steel.

II.        Govt. appoints 5 member committee to review Research Grants offered by UGC: The Review Committee will submit its report to the Ministry by December 2015. The ministry has also directed the UGC not to implement its decision to discontinue the non-NET fellowships and continue all existing fellowships.

III.    India, France ink MoU on preserving Written Heritage at National Library in Kolkata:Both the countries have signed a MoU to conserve, develop and publicize written heritage at the National Library in Kolkata.

IV.        MP Government announces 33 percent quota in Government jobs.

V.      Najib Shah appointed as Chairman of CBEC: He has been appointed as the Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs.

VI.     IBM and TASK signed MoU to ensure cloud technology in Telangana colleges: The agreement aims at making the IBM cloud available to colleges in Telangana for faculty and students to utilize it for practicals and project work.

VII.   Supreme Court reinforced its earlier view of No Reservation in Super Speciality Courses in Medicine.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.  Mahatma, Modi among most admired globally: WEF Survey: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 10^th most admired personality globally, as per a new survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that has ranked late South African President Nelson Mandela on the top.  Mahatma Gandhi is ranked 4^th most admired leader.

II.     Asia Pacific Region most disaster prone part of the world, says UN report: The Asia-Pacific region is the most disaster prone part of the world as it had suffered around 1625 disasters in the decade through 2014. It was revealed in recently released 2015 United Nations Asia-Pacific Disaster Report.

III.   UNGA members voted a resolution condemning US embargo on Cuba: United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the resolution condemning an economic embargo imposed by the US on Cuba. It stated that existence of such restrictions undermines multilateralism and credibility of the UN.

IV.  Freedom on the Net 2015 Report released: Freedom House, a non-government watchdog, released the report on the theme-Privatizing Censorship, Eroding Privacy. As per the report, global online freedom declined for a 5^th consecutive year as governments, including some advanced democracies, continue to clamp down dissidents using social media platforms on the internet. With respect to India, the report found that freedom on the internet is partly free with a total score of 40 on a 0 to 100 scale.

V.       Nepal signed MoU with China to ease fuel crisis: Nepal signed the MoU with China in order to ease fuel crisis in the country by importing all kinds of fuel. This will be the 1^st time that China is commercially supplying petroleum to Nepal.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.          Hockey India signed three years partnership with Sports Authority of India: As per the terms of agreement, SAI will promote hockey, which is amongst the world’s most popular sports, as a tool for youth development and excellence in sports.

II.   Sarbhanand Sonowal inaugurated Games Secretariat of 12^th SAF Games in Shillong: The secretariat would oversee the smooth functioning of the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games 2016.

Daily GK Updates - 28th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.        Government sets up Justice R V Easwar Panel to simplify Income Tax Laws: The Government set up a high level committee under a former Delhi High Court judge to suggest simplification of Income Tax laws, a report that could form basis for tinkering with the controversial retrospective applicability of tax.

II.    Sajjan Singh Yadav has been appointed Delhi’s VAT Commissioner by Lt.Governor Najeeb Jung.

III.     Union Finance Ministry launched E-Sahyog Pilot Project to facilitate Taxpayers: It launched the e-Sahyog pilot project of the Income-Tax Department to facilitate taxpayers by reducing their need to physically appear before tax authorities. The project is aimed at reducing compliance cost, especially for small taxpayers.

IV.  ABIL, Versace to develop new project in South Mumbai: Pune based realty developer ABIL (AvinashBhosale Group) is partnering with Versace to develop a new exclusive residential project in Hughes Road, South Mumbai.

V.       Government of Andhra Pradesh declared 196 mandals as drought-hit: With this, Andhra Pradesh became third state to declare drought in the country as Karnataka and Maharashtra earlier made the announcement in this regard.

VI.   Bengaluru based Saankhya Labs developed ‘Pruthvi’ chip to power White-Fi devices: The Pruthvi-based White-Fi devices will be used by Microsoft to extend the reach of internet services in remote areas of the country.

VII. NITI Aayog panel on Innovation submitted its report recommending private funding for R&D: The panel headed by Prof. TarunKhanna submitted its report recommending that the private sector should help fund research and development, including in research labs at universities and startups.

VIII. Sub Group of Chief Ministers on Centrally Sponsored Schemes submitted its report to the NITI Aayog Chairperson and PM NarendraModi.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.     India overtakes China, becomes biggest gold consumer: India regained its top position from China as the biggest overall consumer of gold in the first nine months this year with a total consumption of 642 tonnes, a survey said.

II.       Tata Trusts, Harvard University announce collaboration: Tata Trusts and Harvard University South Asia Institute (SAI) announced collaboration on knowledge creation and capacity building for social and economic empowerment in India.

III.     4^th Edition of the India-Sri Lanka bilateral naval exercise SLINEX 15 begins in Sri Lanka: The six day exercise seeks to reinforce the strong neighbourly ties underscored by extensive maritime interaction and improved understanding between both countries.

IV.  Sylvie Lucas appointed as Chair of the IGN on UNSC reforms: Luxembourg ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Sylvie Lucas was appointed as the Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on UN Security Council (UNSC) reforms.

V.     Russia to launch manned moon missions by 2029: The Russian Federal Space Agency, commonly called as Roscosmos, announced its plans to launch a manned flight to the moon by 2029.

VI.         Bidhya Devi Bhandari elected as the first woman President of Nepal.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.            City India appoints SamiranChakraborty as its chief economist for India.

II.   India ranked 130 in ease of doing business: World Bank Report: World Bank announced that India ranked 130 out of the 189 countries surveyed in terms of ease of doing business for domestic firms. It was revealed in the report entitled ‘Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency’.

III.   Barclays names former JP Morgan banker as new boss: Troubled British Bank Barclays announced the appointment of former JP Morgan investment banker James Staley as its new Chief Executive.

IV.        PK Gupta elevated as SBI Managing Director.

V.          EXIM Bank announced setting up of project development firm KPDC in Africa: It announced that it will be set up a development firm, the Kukuza Project Development Company (KPDC), in Africa to facilitate Indian participation in infrastructure projects across the continent. IL&FS Group, African Development Bank and State Bank of India are also the shareholders in KPDC.

SPORTS:

VI.        Jammu and Kashmir to host South Asian Rugby 7’S Championship in 2016.

VII.    IOC allowed refugees to compete in Olympics for the first time: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach announced that all the highly qualified athletes who are refugees will be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games.

AWARDS:

VIII.  India’s Chintan Group bags UN Climate Solutions Awards: An Indian environment group was awarded this year’s UN Climate Solutions Awards for their work with waste pickers and e-waste to tackle climate change. The prestigious award was given to the Delhi-based group for its project ‘E-waste: From Toxic to Green’.

IX.       Shashi Kapoor honoured with Retrospective at 2015 International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

OBITUARIES:

  X.    Renowned Ireland born Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara passes away at the age of 95.

XI.      Britain’s Curry King Lord Gulam Noon died of cancer at the age of 79:Known as the Curry King, Noon founded the Noon Products business, which is credited with the popularity of Chicken Tikka Masala in Britain.