Daily GK Updates - 7th January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Mufti Sayeed passes away, Mehbooba likely to succeed as CM: Jammu and Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, a crafty politician who took on the powerful Abdullah family and rose to become the country’s first Muslim Home Minister, died at AIIMS. Her daughter Mehbooba is likely to succeed as CM.

2. Watan ko Jano initiative, A programme that aims to expose youth from J&K to rest of India: Watan ko Jano, an initiative being carried out by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in coordination with the J&K Government was in news. It is essentially a Youth Exchange Programme under which the children of militancy-hit victims, orphanages, and weaker section of society are identified by J&K State Rehabilitation Council as beneficiaries under the programme in the state.

3. Gadkari launches India’s first River Information System: Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the River Information System (RIS)-the first of its kind in India-to facilitate safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway-1 (the Ganga River).

4. International media conference in Mysuru: The Global Communication Association (GCA), a not-for-profit professional organisation, to host the 11^th international conference of media experts and communication specialists from around the world at Mysuru.

5. Mysuru to get Cauvery river gallery: Karnataka’s Tourism and the National Academy of Sciences of India (NASI) have signed a MoU to set up a Cauvery river gallery in Mysuru.

6. Telangana Cabinet Okays ‘Sampoorna Arogya Keralam’ medical care project: The project aims to bring all major government health services under one umbrella. With this, people will not be required to visit multiple offices or agencies for medical care.

7. India to skip BS-V, leapfrog to BS-VI norms from April 1, 2020: In a bid to curb vehicular pollution, the centre decided to implement stricter emission norms of Bharat Stage VI from April 1, 2020 skipping BS-V altogether.

8. Uber launches ‘uberEXCHANGE’, start-up mentorship programme:  Taxi-hailing app Uber announced a new start-up mentorship programme in the country in partnership with Invest India called ‘uberEXCHANGE’.

9. A B Khare appointed as the CMD of Madras Fertilizers.

10. Achyuta Samanta elected as General President of 105^th Indian Science Congress.

11. Sam Pitroda appointed as the Technical Advisor of Odisha Government.

12. Pavan Kapoor appointed as India’s Ambassador to Israel.

13. Tata Trusts and Mars sign MoU to work on food safety in India: The Global food manufacturer Mars Incorporated will help develop methods and tools to increase crop productivity, farm income among others.

14. Centre approved Rs 815 cr drought aid for Odisha.

15. Tata Motors and Petronas joined hands for lubricants: Tata Motors in association with Petronas Lubricants International launched Tata Motors Genuine Oil (TMGO) for its passenger vehicles range in the Indian market.

16. Delhi Government scrapped management and other quotas in private schools.

17. Vedanta appointed Samir Cairae as India metals business CEO.

18. National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to Bihar Government over poor conditions of prisons.

19. Union Cabinet approved MoU with Bangladesh to set up border haats.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Filippo Grandi takes helm as UN High Commissioner for Refugees. 

2. California declared state of emergency in Los Angeles after methane gas leak: The leak happened at the Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon storage field in Porter Ranch of Los Angeles.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Cabinet nod for credit guarantee fund for MUDRA loans: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the creation of a credit guarantee fund for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency loans.

SPORTS:

2. Hashim Amla resigned as Test Captain of South Africa.

AWARDS:

3. Subodh Sarkar conferred with Gangadhar National Award for Poetry.

OBITUARIES:

4. Noted Gujarati writer Labshankar Thakar passed away at the age of 80.

5. Pierre Boulez, French Conductor and Composer passed away at the age of 90 in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Daily GK Updates - 6th January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Union Cabinet Okays India-Singapore MoU on civil aviation: This MoU was signed in November between the Airports Authority of India and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise during PM Modi’s visit to Singapore. The objective of the MoU is to establish mutual cooperation in the field of civil aviation, which will cover, to begin with, the airports of Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

2. Union Cabinet approved Stand Up India scheme: The Union Cabinet approved the Stand Up India Scheme to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST tribes and women entrepreneurs. The scheme is intended to facilitate at least two projects per bank branch, on an average one for each category of entrepreneur.

3. CCI cleared Reliance Capital-Goldman Sachs deal: The Competition commission of India gave its approval to Reliance Capital Asset Management’s proposed acquisition of Goldman Sachs’ mutual fund business in India for 243 crore rupees.

4. Union Government launched Ganga Gram Yojana in Uttar Pradesh: Under the scheme, 1600 villages of UP situated along the banks of river Ganga will be developed.

5. India keen to promote operational oceanography: Y S Chowdary, Minister of State for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences said that the government is keen to promote operational oceanography since it plays an important role in translating the benefits of science for the common public.

6. Union Government abolished export duty on Iron ore pellets to improve the capacity utilisation of pellet plants and boost the sector.

7. CRPF to deploy women commandos in Anti-Naxal operations: It has decided to deploy about 300 women commandos for undertaking anti-Naxal operations in select Left-wing Extremism-affected states.The decision in this regard was taken by CRPF DG Prakash Mishra.

8. Jharkhand Government and JBVNL signed MoU under UDAY Scheme:  With this, Jharkhand has become the first state to sing MoU with centre for power scheme UDAY.

9. Union Government approved 33% representation of women in Central Armed Police Forces.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Forbes released 2016 30 Under 30 list; 45 Indian-origin people figured: Forbes released the 2016 30 Under 30 list featuring 600 men and women who achieved remarkable professional success before attaining the age of 30. Indian-origin people figured are RiteshAgarwal (CEO OYO Rooms), Karishma Shah (Alphabet’s Google X) DivyaNettimi (Viking Global Investors), NishaChittal (MSNBC), etc.

2. World’s largest blue star sapphire discovered in Sri Lanka: The world’s largest blue star sapphire that weighs 1404.49 carats was discovered near Ratnapura city in Sri Lanka. 

3. Sri Lanka and Pakistan signed 8 MoUs to enhance bilateral cooperation: The MoUs were signed in the field of Science and Technology, Health, Financial Intelligence, Gem and Jewellery research, etc.

4. US President Barack Obama unveiled steps to reduce gun violence: The executive actions will require more gun sellers to get licences from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and more gun buyers to undergo background checks.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Andhra Bank launches Immediate Payment Service: It has announced its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) across branches to provide interbank electronic transfer service, capable of processing person to account remittances.

SPORTS:

2. Australia pulled out of U-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh due to safety concerns.

3. Wayne Rooney named 2015 England Player of the Year.

4. Apurvi Chandela sets world record to win gold in 10m air rifle event for women at Swedish Grand Prix.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

5. The book titled ‘Go set a Watchman’ authored by Harper Lee topped 2015 US bestseller list.

Daily GK Updates - 5th January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 15 states have joined UDAY Scheme: Piyush Goyal: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar have agreed to join the central government’s electricity distribution utility (Discom) financial turnaround scheme to take the total number up to 15.

2. Wipro management changes, T K Kurien elevated as Vice Chairman, COO becomes CEO: T K Kurien was the CEO earlier. Abidali Neemachwala has been appointed as the new CEO. He was the COO earlier.

3. Paytm acquires Shifu for $8 million to enrich customer experience: Shifu, a context-aware personal assistant application, mines the smartphone usage patterns of users and makes personalized and highly relevant recommendations to them.

4. LIC offers longer cover under ‘Jeevan Labh’: LIC is offering a ‘New Year gift’ to the public in the form of a limited-premium, non-hiked and with-profit endowment assurance plan ‘Jeevan Labh’. The highlight of the plan is that premium is payable for a limited period while risk is covered for the whole policy term.

5. PM Modi lays foundation for HAL’s new helicopter plant in Tumkur, Karnataka.

6. Jharkhand Government inaugurated land bank web portal jharbhoom.nic.in: Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das inaugurated the state’s land bank web portal, jharbhoom.nic.in, which will help investors know land related information.

7. LinkedIn names Akshay Kothari as India Country Manager.

8. Supreme Court directed Gujarat Government to make Gujarat State Cooperative Tribunal functional.

9. Toilets made mandatory to contest Panchayat polls in Bihar: State Election Commissioner (SEC) Ashok Kumar Chauhan announced that toilets will be made mandatory requirement for eligibility to contest panchayat elections. This declaration means that no one can contest the Bihar Panchayat elections 2016 without having a toilet at their home.

10. Union Government to launch River Information System for Inland Waterways: The system is expected to improve navigation in Inland Waterways in the country as the government is set to expand the network across the country through the National Waterways Bill, 2015.

11. Sterlite Grid commissioned first power project under TBCB incentive regime: Sterlite Grid set a new benchmark by commissioning the Transmission Project to Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) ahead of the schedule under the Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) incentive regime.

12. PM Modi inaugurates Indian Science Congress in Mysuru: This is the 103^rd edition of the ISC and the theme of this year is ‘Science and Technology for Indigenous development in India’. The Congress will continue till January 7.

13. Volvo Buses India merged with Volvo India Pvt Ltd.

14. IRB Infra bagged 10050 crore rupees project to build Zozila Pass Tunnel Project in Jammu & Kashmir.

15. BHEL commissioned 600 MW thermal unit at Kakatiya Thermal Power Project in Warangal.

16. Radha Krishna Mathur took charge as Chief Information Commissioner of India.

17. Industry body the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) appointed FreeCharge CEO Kunal Shah as Chairman.

18. Vishal Suri appointed as the new MD of Kuoni India.

19. Department of Posts formed Kamlesh Chandra Panel on Gramin Dak Sevaks.

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INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nokia completed acquisition of Alca-Lucent for 15.6 billion euro: Nokia Corporations announced that it has completed the regulatory formalities for acquiring the French telecom equipment company Alca-Lucent. 

2. Mary Barra elected as the Chairperson of General Motors Board of Directors: She was earlier serving the company as its CEO.

3. India-Nepal bus service resumed after 27 years: The service was suspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo-Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty. The service runs between Kanchanpur in Nepal, which is close to Banbasa border in Champavat district of Uttarakhand, and Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi.

4. IUPAC announced addition of four elements to complete the Seventh row of Periodic Table: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced discovery and assignment of elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118.

5. Filippo Grandi takes helm as UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

6. Sachin Tendulkar has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Danish Pharmaceutical Company Novo Nordisk for the disease awareness campaign ‘Changing Diabetes’ initiated by it in India.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on State Bank of Travancore, for violation of some of its instructions.

2. Andhra Bank launches Immediate Payment Service: It has announced its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) across branches to provide interbank electronic transfer service, capable of processing person to account remittances.

SPORTS:

3. ONGC won 26^th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament by defeating Indian Railways.

4. Pranav Dhanawade became the first batsman to score 1000 plus runs in an innings in any form of cricket.

AWARDS:

5. Kate Atkinson won 2015 Costa Novel Prize for her book ‘A God in Ruins'

OBITUARIES:

6. Ian Murdoch, best known for founding one of the World’s best known Linux distributions, passed away in San Francisco.

7. Former CJI S H Kapadia died at the age of 68 in Mumbai.

8. Former Wigan Athletic defender Steve Gohouri passed away at the age of 34 after he went missing on 12 December 2015.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

9. The book titled ‘Jinnah often came to our house’ authored by Kiran Doshi released by Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Daily GK Updates - 4th January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Arunima Sinha scaled Mount Aconcagua in Argentina: Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer who set a record by climbing the Mount Everest, conquered Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. 

2. India successfully test fired indigenously developed MBRL Pinaka II at Pokhran: Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) successfully test fired Pinaka II multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system from Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

3. Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for MoU on BRICS Network University: The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for signing of MoU among BRICS countries on BRICS Network University. The MoU will help in developing pro-active cooperation among the BRICS nations for the purpose of enhancement of scientific research, higher education and information exchange.

4. Terrorist attacked IAF Airbase at Pathankot: Several heavily armed terrorists belonging to Jaish-e-mohammad, an islamist militant group attacked Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force.  

5. Union Government announced setting up of CCL Sports University in Jharkhand: The University will have a capacity of 1400 students and 15 sports academies. As 700 out of the total 1400 students will be selected from Jharkhand, the university will help the youth from the state to sharpen their skills under coaches of international standards. A MoU was signed between Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and the Jharkhand Government.

6. Justice R M Lodha Committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court: The Committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court suggesting reforms in the Board of Cricket Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The panel has recommended separate governing bodies for IPL and BCCI, with limited autonomy for the IPL Governing Council. It has also recommended legalising betting.

7. President Pranab Mukherjee gives assent to five key legislations: The legislations are the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, the Schedule Castes and the Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act and the Payment of Bonus Act, 2015.

8. A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake jolts North Eastern and Eastern parts of the country.

9. CM Akhilesh Yadav kick starts three day long UP Pravasi Divas at Agra.

10. R K S Bhadauria takes over as Deputy Chief of Air Staff.

11. Maharashtra Government inks MoU with Pawan Hans: In a bid to give impetus to tourism in state, Maharashtra government has signed a MoU with private helicopter company Pawan Hans.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced that his country has broken off diplomatic ties with Iran. The announcement was made amid a row over the Saudi execution of prominent Shia Muslim cleric.

2. World Braille Day observed on January 4: World Braille Day was observed across the World on January 4 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. 

3. Indian consulate in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif city attacked: All consulate personnel are safe. Explosions and gunfire were heard at the compound when the attackers tried to storm the consulate building. 

OTHER UPDATES:

OBITUARIES:

1. Veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan passed away at the age of 92 after prolonged illness.

2. Oscar winning Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond died at the age of 85 in California (USA): He won the Oscar award for Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the third kind’.

3. English cricketer Matthew Hobden passed away at the age of 22: He played for Sussex.

Daily GK Updates - 3rd January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Atul Sobti took charge as CMD of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited. 

2. Government constitute Kamlesh Chandra Committee to study wage structure of Gramin Dak Sevaks: The Union Government has constituted a committee to examine the wage structure, service conditions of the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in the Department of Posts (DoP).

3. Shekhar Saran took charge as the CMD of Ranchi based Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI).

4. Telangana becomes first state to accept e-motor insurance policies: Electronic motor insurance policies are legally accepted by the police and transport authorities in Telangana from today, making it the first state in the country to do so. The e-Vahan Bima, an electronic motor insurance policy issued in digital form with Quick Response (QR) code, has been formally launched here by the Minister of IT, K T Ramarao.

5. Government clears tax information exchange pact with Maldives and Slovenia: The agreement will stimulate effective exchange of information between the two countries which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.

6. Norway to help India manage construction waste: India will sign a MoU with Norway for training of human resource to handle construction and demolition waste, in tune with the Clean India Campaign launched by PM Narendra Modi. An MoU will be signed between SINTEF, Norway and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for cooperation in the development of human resource capacity-building and scientific research in the field of Recycling of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste in India.

7. CBSE launches ‘E-CBSE’ mobile app for e-learning material: The Central Board of Secondary Education has launched its latest mobile application ‘E-CBSE’ for providing e-learning material for students and teachers.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Copyright of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ expires: For the first time in 70 years, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi manifesto Mein Kampf is to be available to buy in Germany. The copyright has now expired and Munich’s Institute of Contemporary History is to publish a new edition.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. India won 2015 SAFF Cup football tournament for the 7^th time defeating Afghanistan.