Daily GK Updates - 3rd November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. ‘Project Loon’ in India: Google, government working on balloon internet project: Internet giant Google is working with the Government on a pilot project for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons.

2. ICGS Arinjay commissioned in Kochi: The ship will be based at Okha under the administrative and operational control of the commander, coast guard region (north-west).

3. National Tribal Crafts Mela Aadishilp-2015 begins in New Delhi: The 11^th National Tribal Crafts MelaAadishilp has begun in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs JualOram. It is being organised by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED).

4. Meghalaya HC asked Union Government to enforce AFSPA 1958 in Garo Hills region.

5. SC issued notice to Union Government over improper implementation of MGNERGA.

6. Odisha Government banned fishing to protect Olive Ridley turtles.

7. Captain Krishna Swaminathan took over command of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

8. International Indigenous Terra Madre 2015 started in Shillong: The theme of the event is ‘The future we want: Indigenous Perspective and Actions. The five day long unique event, which brings over a 100 tribes from 58 countries kicked off on 3 November.

9. RavikumarSreedharan appointed as MD of Unisys Corporation India.

10. Suresh N Patel appointed as MD and CEO of Andhra Bank.

11. India and Indonesia signed MoUs on Energy, Culture Exchange: The MoUs were signed to strengthen ties in energy and culture exchange area. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari and his counterpart Jusuf Kala in Jakarata.

  

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 1^st International Film Festival for persons with disabilities to be held in Delhi: To recognise the spirit of the persons with disabilities, 1^st International film festival for the persons with disabilities will be held from 1 December to 3 December 2015.

2. Lionel Messi appointed Tata Motors’ global brand ambassador. 

3. Nepal, US armies launched Joint Military training Balance Nail 16-01: To strengthen bilateral defence tie, the special forces of the US and Nepalese armies launched a month long joint military training codenamed Balance Nail 16-01.

4. The Legatum Prosperity Index 2015 released: It was released by the Legatum Institute in London. The index offers insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world. Norway topped the Index. 

5. Security Officials in China launched Spy Hotline to report on foreign spies:The hotline targets foreign organisations and individuals who conduct espionage activities or instigate and sponsor others in conducting them.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Deepak Singhal appointed as Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India.

SPORTS:

2. Mana Patel, Virdhawal won best swimmers’ award in 69^th Senior National Aquatic Championships: Mana Patel and VirdhawalKhade emerged as the best swimmers of the 69^th senior National Aquatic Championships 2015 that concluded in Rajkot.

AWARDS:

3. C-DOT’s GyanSetu bagged Recognition of Excellence award at ITU World Telecom Event, Budapest: The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) bagged the Recognition of Excellence award for GyanSetu at the International Telecom Union (ITU) World Telecom 2015 held at Budapest, Hungary. 

4. AIR programme on Child Labour bagged top prize at ABU Prizes: AIR’s programme on Child Labour bagged the 1^st prize under the Community Service Announcement category at the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prizes 2015. The prize function was held at Ankara, Turkey. The Malayalam programme was named as NilkkamIvarkkoppam.

OBITUARIES:

5. Former West Bengal assembly speaker Hashim Abdul Halim died at the age of 80.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BrahMos missile test-fired from Indian Navy’s stealth destroyer INS Kochi, hits target: Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, with a strike range of over 290 kms, was test fired from the Navy’s newest stealth destroyer INS Kochi successfully hitting a decommissioned target ship in the Arabian Sea.

2. Punjab to set up bio-ethanol refinery: In what a major step towards tackling the menace of wheat and paddy straw burning in Punjab, the State Government signed a MoU for setting up a bio-ethanol refinery. The MoU was inked with a consortium of Beta Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Pvt Ltd for an estimated project worth Rs 950 crore, during the Progressive Punjab Investor Summit, 2015.

3. Ex-cabinet Secretary to head panel on new education policy: Former Cabinet secretary T.S.R Subramanium has been appointed chairperson of a committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to draft the new education policy.

4. A K Jha takes over as CMD, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (a subsidiary of Coal India).

5. Reliance Communications to merge SistemaShyam Tele with itself: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd (R-Com) is merging the telecom business of SistemaShyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) that operates MTS brand with itself in an all-stock deal worth Rs 4,500 crore.

6. Air Marshal Virender Mohan Khanna took over as the Air Officer-in-charge Maintenance(AOM) of IAF.

7. NPPA capped prices of 18 drug formulations: The revision in respect to 18 formulations like anti-diabetic MetmorfinHCltablets was done under the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO) 2013.

8. Facebook and BSNL partnered to set up 100 WiFi hotspots in rural India: During the partnership, Facebook will invest 5 crore rupees per annum for buying bandwidth from BSNL. The hotspots will be set up by BSNL selected vendor Quad Zen and Trimax.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Flight 7K9268 of Russian Airbus A321 crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula: All the 224 people aboard are supposed to be killed in the deadly plane crash. 

2. China made sexual assault on men a crime: In this regard, an amendment to sexual assault laws was approved by the National People’s Congress, Country’s central legislature. As per the amendment, indecent assault on men or women now carries a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison.

3. Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won majority in Parliamentary elections of Turkey: The Party founded by President RecepTayyipErdogan secured 316 seats in the 550-member parliament and garnered 49.4% votes.

4. Punjabi selected as third language in Parliament of Canada.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. NicoRoseberg wins Mexican Grand Prix: Mercedes driver NicoRoseberg claimed victory at the Mexican Grand Prix ahead of teammate and newly-crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton.

2. New Zealand All Blacks run over Australia to win record third Rugby World Cup: New Zealand cemented their status as the greatest team in rugby history when the overwhelmed Australia 34-17 at Twickenham to become world champions for a record third time, and the first nation to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.

3. Sania-Hingis won Women’s Doubles title of Singapore Open: The tope seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated 8^th seed Spanish team of GarbineMuguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.

4. Rodger Federer won 2015 Swiss Indoors Men’s singles title by defeating Rafael Nadal: It was the 88^th title of his career. The final was played at Basel, Switzerland.

AWARDS:

5. Khel Ratna to be conferred posthumously on former footballer Late Ram Bahadur Chetri: The names of former footballer and Asian Games gold medallist late Ram Bahadur Chetri and renowned athletics coach Renu Kohli have been officially approved by the state sports ministry for the prestigious Khel Ratna (posthumous) and Devbhoomi Uttarakhand Dronacharya respectively.

OBITUARIES:

6. Hero Moto Corp’s Brijmohan Lall Munjal, doyen of India’s 2-wheeler industry, passes away at the age of 92.

7. Eminent Archaeologist V.N Misra passed away at the age of 80.

8. American actor, best known for TV series ‘Happy Days’ Al Molinaro passed away at the age of 96.

Daily GK Updates - 1st November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Rashtriya Ekta Divas observed across the country: The Nation celebrated the birth anniversary of India’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel as Rashtriya Ekta Divas on 31^st October 2015.

2. Indira Gandhi’s 31^st martyrdom anniversary: People across the country are remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 31^st martyrdom anniversary on 31^st October 2015.

3. Centre to set up National Tribal Advisory Council: Central government has decided to set up National Tribal Advisory Council under chairmanship of the Prime Minister. National Tribal Advisory Council will be set up for monitoring of various tribal development programmes and schemes in the country.

4. Indian Air Force to commence Exercise- Livewire: The Indian Air Force is commencing its annual exercise, Exercise Livewire on 31^st October 2015.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Afghan local citizens launched an uprising against IS: In Afghanistan, six hundreds of local citizens in eastern Nangarhar province have launched an uprising against Islamic State, IS.

2. India recorded largest number of Tuberculosis cases: According to a report by the WHO India recorded the largest number of TB cases in the World in 2014.India, Indonesia and China had the largest number of cases at 23%, 10% respectively of the global total in 2014. 

3. India announces Concessional Credit to Africa: India announced a concessional credit of $10 billion to Africa in the next five years and grant assistance of $600 million at the 3^rd India Africa Forum Summit.

4. Pakistan loses UN Human Rights Council election: Pakistan failed to win a re-election to the top UN Human Rights body, garnering just 105 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. India is also a member of the council and its term will end in 2017.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. World Bank retains India’s growth forecast at 7.5% for 2015-16: The World Bank reports says that India, now the world’s fastest growing economy, is relatively well positioned to weather the global volatility and even set for a modest acceleration in growth in the years ahead.

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.