Daily GK Updates - 5th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. CAMS launches Aadhaar based e-KYC for setting up MF account instantly: The leading services solutions provider for fund houses CAMS has launched Aadhaar-based e-KYC using OTP authentication to make mutual fund account opening and transactions a paperless and presence less process through myCAMS at www.camsonline.com. 

2. SEBI forms task force to review risk management norms for commexes: Capital market regulator SEBI has set up a task force to review the risk management norms for national-level commodity bourses following the suspension of futures trading for castor seed on NCDEX.

3. Centre to contribute Rs 1 lakh crore for Karnataka Road: Central Government will spend Rs 1 lakh crore for development of road infrastructure in Karnataka.

4. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the two day India Investment Summit in New Delhi.

5. Reliance Infra to sell cement business to Birla for 4800 crores.

6. Finance Minister gets a dedicated YouTube channel: Finance Minister now has an official YouTube Channel, which is expected to disseminate information about the official events.

7. B2B meet for SMEs begins in Kochi: Three day Kerala Business to Business Meet 2016 started in Kochi today.

8. Gurdeep Singh named Chairman and MD of NTPC.

9. Ananda Shankar to address India Conference in Harvard: Renowned dancer-choreographer and speaker Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant will address the high-profile India Conference at Harvard in USA.

10. PM Modi dedicated Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd to the nation by inaugurating the unit built at Lepetkata, Assam.

11. India signed agreement to become an Associate Member State of European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).

12. Odisha Government allowed tourists into certain tribal areas after three years ban.

13. Tea Board issued Version 5.0 of Plant Protection Code expanding list of pesticides for use.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. EU Commission, United States agreed on framework for transatlantic data flows: The framework that will be known as the EU-US Privacy Shield will enable the government agencies to transfer data relied on by Facebook and Google across the Atlantic.

2. BHEL launches 500 MW Kosti Thermal power plant in Sudan.

3. Supporting Syria and the Region Conference 2016 held in London: The objective of the conference was to discuss issues related to the over 5 year old civil war in Syria and measures to mitigate the humanitarian conflict faced by the country and the region as a whole.

4. NASA’s New Horizons mission spotted floating hills on Pluto. 

5. US General John Nicholson named NATO commander in Afghanistan.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI gets XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) International Award for Excellence for its efforts to improve regulatory reporting.

SPORTS:

2. Rahul Dravid has been named in ICC’s Anti-Corruption Oversight Group.

3. PM Modi inaugurated 12^th South Asian Games in Guwahati.

AWARDS:

4. Geethu Mohandas won Global Filmmaking Award 2016 for script of Insha Allah at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Awards held in Park City, Utah.

5. Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn chosen for First World Sanskrit Award.

OBITUARIES:

6. Voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck Joe Alaskey passed away at the age of 63.

Daily GK Updates - 4th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Union Government to set up a BGRL to understand earthquake mechanism in Koyna region: Dr. Harshvardhan, the Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences inaugurated the construction work of Borehole Geophysics Research Laboratory (BGRL) at Hazarmachi, Karad of Maharashtra. It is being developed to understand and address the challenges of the seismological problems of societal relevance in the Koyna Region through drilling investigation. 

2. NIIF signed MoU with Rusnano OJSC to set-up Russia-India High Technology Private Equity Fund: National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) Ltd signed a MoU with RUSNANO OJSC of Russia to set up this fund for joint implementation of investments into projects in India.

3. Union Government set up two panels to reform tax policies: The Union Government set up two new committees in order to bring coherence and streamline the direct and indirect tax policy and administration. These panels are Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) and Tax Policy Council (TPC).

4. Maharashtra announced Babasaheb Ambedkar Special Collective Incentive Scheme: Under this scheme, special facilities would be given to Dalit entrepreneurs besides the present Collective Incentive Scheme 2013. Businessmen in Commodities and Service sector would be able to avail the benefits of this scheme.

5. SC appointed Lodha Committee to sell PACL’s assets: The Supreme Court appointed a committee headed by former CJI RM Lodha to sell assets of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL) and refund 49 thousand crore rupees to the investors.

6. Odisha Government extended Aahar Cheap meal scheme to 29 districts.

7. CCEA approved REIL to delink from IL and become an independent CPSE: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Ltd of Jaipur to delink from its parent company Instrumentation Limited (IL) and turn into an independent Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Department of Heavy Industry.

8. World Bank’s Water and Sanitation specialist, Parmeshwaran Iyer appointed as the new Secretary of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department to lead Swachh Bharat Mission.

9. Aruna Sethi appointed as first women head of Indian Cost Accounting Service.

10. India to participate in Cobra Gold 2016 military exercise in Thailand.

11. D J Pandian appointed as Vice President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

12. Dhirubhai Ambani Centre of Innovation and Research in Aerosapace proposed to be built at Whitefield in Bengaluru.

13. Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) signed a MoU with Karnataka Government to set up Advanced Polymer Laboratory in Bengalurus.

14. Union Government granted Miniratna Category-I status to Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (I) Ltd (HSCC).

15. India and China held inaugural talks on Maritime Cooperation.

16. India’s first Ayurvedic anti-diabetic drug, BGR-34, launched by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

17. Bharat Biotech developed world’s first, two promising candidates ZikaVac vaccines for Zika virus infection.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. EU Commission, United States agreed on framework for transatlantic data flows: The framework that will be known as the EU-US Privacy Shield will enable the government agencies to transfer data relied on by Facebook and Google across the Atlantic.

2. Mobile messaging app WhatsApp crossed the one billion user milestone globally with the addition of 100 million users in last five months.

3. WHO recommended to rate movies with smoking scenes to protect children from tobacco addiction.

4. European Union approved 3.3 billion euros funding to Turkey to cope with Syrian refugee crisis.

5. World Cancer Day observed across the world on 4^th February 2016 with a theme ‘We can. I can’.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI keeps key rates unchanged in the 6^th bi-monthly monetary policy: The repo rate or short term lending rates remains unchanged at 6.75% and the reverse repo rate at 7.75%. CRR is also unchanged at 4% while the MSF and Bank rate are kept at 7.5%.

2. SBI and Thomas Cook team up for ‘inflation-proof’ holidays: SBI has tied up with Thomas Cook to offer online customers a recurring deposit that help them save towards an ‘inflation proof’ holiday.

AWARDS:

3. Manipuri documentary film Phum-Shang won Golden Conch Award at 14^TH Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Animation and Short Films (MIFF 2016).

4. Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan gets Bhimsen Joshi Award.

Daily GK Updates - 3rd February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Invest Karnataka Meet 2016: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah urged the global investor community at ‘Invest Karnataka 2016’ to consider Karnataka as their partner for growth. He pointed out that Bengaluru is the only Indian city to be ranked amongst the 20 Start-up Eco-systems in the World. 

2. Vice President visits Thailand: Vice President Hamid Ansari reached Thailand on a three-day visit during which he will hold discussions on a range of issues with the country’s top leadership to boost bilateral ties.

3. Titli became first Indian film to win Best Foreign Film award by French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2016 (FSCC).

4. Reliance Entertainment and film maker producer duo Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia’s Friday Filworks join hands to form film production venture named Plan C Studios.

5. Haryana, Ontario ink pact for cooperation: Haryana and the province of Ontario in Canada inked pact for enhancing commercial and cultural ties.

6. ZTE Soft inks pact with Andhra Pradesh: Chinese Telecom Company ZTE has inked pact with the Andhra Pradesh government to work on smart city projects in the state.

7. H L Samariya given additional charge Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC).

8. R S Reddy appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.

9. R S Mann appointed as the Chairman of 6^th Punjab Pay Commission.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon appointed Retd. Major General Jai Shanker Menon as the head of a key United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) stationed in Golan to maintain the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces.

2. TCS rated world’s most powerful brand in IT Services as per Brand Finance’s 2016 annual report.

3. UK granted licence to use gene editing techniques on human embryos: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) of United Kingdom granted licence to the Francis Crick Institute to use new gene editing techniques on human embryos.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Kerala emerged as the winner of 61^st National School Athletics championships held at Kozhikode, Kerala.

AWARDS:

2. Amitabh Bachchan conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award at the NDTV Indian of the Year Awards for his contribution to the Indian film industry.

OBITUARIES:

3. Former Deputy Governor S S Tarapore passed away at the age of 80.

4. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away at the age of 92.

5. Veteran Urdu writer Intizar Hussain died at the age of 92.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Bank approved $35 million to improve citizen access to public services in Madhya Pradesh: The Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project will improve access to selected public services for the people of Madhya Pradesh and particularly those belonging to deprived groups. 

2. Companies Law Committee submitted report recommending changes in the Companies Act, 2013: The committee was chaired by Tapan Ray Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and consist of 8 members and one member convener.

3. Archana Ramsundram became 1^st woman to head paramilitary force: Tamil Nadu cadre IPS Officer Archana Ramsundram was appointed as the Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards India’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.

4. Urban Ladder appointed Sanjay Gupta as Chief Marketing Officer.

5. Ashish Kumar Goel takes charge as General Manager, Eastern Railways: He is also the General Manager of South Eastern Raailways.

6. Saroj Kumar Jha appointed Senior Director for Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group at World Bank.

7. SC refers curative plea on Section 377 to five-judge bench: A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear curative petitions of seeking re-examination of its verdict criminalising sexual activity between same sex consenting adults under section 377 of IPC.

8. India and Brunei sign MoUs on Defence, Health and Sports: The three MoUs were signed during the visit of Vice President of India Shri Hamid Ansari. The capital of Brunei is Bandar Seri Begawan.

9. Bajaj unveils bike with INS Vikrant metal: The 150-cc bike was named ‘V’ and it contains metal sourced from India’s first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant which got decommissioned in 1997.

10. Himachal Pradesh to spend 15 crore rupees on Swachh Bharat Mission in Kinnaur.

11. Jai Kumar Garg appointed as MD and CEO of Corporation Bank.

12. S N Prasad assumes charge as Coal India Limited director.

13. PM Modi inaugurated the Global Ayurveda Fest at Kozhikode which is being held from 31^st January to 4^th February 2016.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Google’s Alphabet comes before Apple as world’s most valuable company: The shift occurred in Monday’s extended trading after Alphabet, Google’s new parent company, released fourth-quarter earnings report that highlighted the robust growth of the digital ad market.

2. WHO declared Public Health Emergency of international concern over Zika Virus outbreak.

3. UK granted licence to use gene editing techniques on human embryos: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) of United Kingdom granted licence to the Francis Crick Institute to use new gene editing techniques on human embryos.

4. Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra is set to join Hollywood A-listers to present at the upcoming 88^th Academy Awards.

5. World Wetlands Day observed 2^nd February 2016 with theme Wetlands for our Future-Sustainable Livelihoods.

6. TCS, Wipro, Infosys join Obama’s ‘computer science for all’ plan. 

7. Bangladesh cabinet approved draft of Citizenship Law, 2016 expanding scope for dual citizenship.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI keeps key rates unchanged in the 6^th bi-monthly monetary policy: The repo rate or short term lending rates remains unchanged at 6.75% and the reverse repo rate at 7.75%. CRR is also unchanged at 4% while the MSF and Bank rate are kept at 7.5%.

SPORTS:

2. Rishabh Pant of India U-19 slams fastest fifty in just 18 balls to beat Nepal U-19 in the on-going U-19 World Cup.

OBITUARIES:

3. Noted Dravidian Ideologist Annamalai died at the age of 78.

Daily GK Updates - 1st February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. TRAI recommends PPP Model to roll out rural broadband network ‘BharatNet’: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended a public private partnership model for rolling out government’s ambitious project BharatNet, which involves setting up of a broadband network in rural India. 

2. Government bans Zero Duty import of capital goods for power plants: The decision is aimed at encouraging manufacturing of power equipment and giving a push to domestic capital goods sector, with an aim to boost overall economy.

3. India and Afghanistan ink pact for Visa-free travel by diplomats.

4. Vietnam lifts ban on import of groundnut from India.

5. 30^th Surajkund International Crafts Mela started at Faridabad: Telangana was selected as the Theme State and will showcase its unique culture and rich heritage and about 300 artistes from the state will perform different folk arts. Chandigarh was the theme for the 29^th edition of the mela in 2015.

6. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi appointed as India’s Envoy to Mexico.

7. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey appointed as Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.

8. Metro Cash and Carry appoints former Walmart executive Arvind Mediratta as India MD.

9. Datta Padsalgikar appointed as the Commissioner of Police of Mumbai.

10. CBDT signed two bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with United Kingdom: This is a significant step towards providing a stable and predictable tax regime.

11. India and NASA to study Ladakh region under Spaceward Bound Programme: Under this programme, a team of scientists from NASA, the Mars Society Australia and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow will undertake an expedition to Ladakh in August 2016 to study the region’s topography and microbial life to the surroundings of Mars.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Cabinet of Somalia agree on Election Model outlined by Mogadishu Declaration 2015: The declaration which was adopted in December 2015, calls for election process in Somalia to establish a new, bicameral Federal Parliament in 2016, based on inclusivity and representation.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. SBI launches new home loan scheme ‘FlexiPay’ for working executives: Under the scheme, young working professionals will get higher amount than they are eligible for. The additional loan amount will help such professionals in acquiring better and spacious living spaces for themselves and their families.

SPORTS:

2. Virat Kohli replaces Aaron Finch as No. 1 batsman in T20 Internationals.

3. Kidambi Srikanth wom men’s singles title of Syed Modi International Badminton Championships 2016.

4. Virender Sehwag appointed as mentor for Kings XI Punjab for IPL season 9.

5. Aditya Mehta won 83^rd Senior National Snooker Championship.

6. Japanese city of Fukuoka to host 2021 World Aquatics Championships.

7. Brazilian driver Pietro Fittipaldi won 2015-16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 held at Madras Motor Racing Track

AWARDS:

8. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar selected for K Veeramani Award for Social Justice.

9. Veteran Wildlife Filmmaker Naresh Bedi honoured with V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award.

10. Mahesh Joshi received the ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Gaurav Award’ for his poetry.

OBITUARIES:

11. Famous British television and radio personality Terry Wogan died at the age of 77.

Daily GK Updates - 31st January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. First revised estimates of macroeconomic indicators for 2014-15 released: The Central Statistics Office (CSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the first revised estimates of national income, consumption expenditure, savings and capital formation for 2014-15. 

2. Anti-Leprosy Day was observed across the country on 30 January 2016.

3. Three month long awareness campaign on Mission Indradhanush concludes: The three month long regional media campaign on Mission Indradhanush conducted by the Nagaland and Manipur Regional Office of the Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India concluded.

4. California based free app builder Appy Pie launched in India: Appy Pie, the free app builder from California is now available to Indian users. Appy Pie’s app builder enables user to design a professional looking app without writing any code by selecting a theme from the gallery.

5. Gurgaon based start-up Pluss ties up with Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved for delivery of medicines and healthcare products.

6. Government of India ships ‘Made in India’ metro coaches to Australia.

7. ITC appoints Nirupama Rao as Additional Independent Director.

8. Akshay Kumar’s Airlift movie made tax free in Uttar Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Cabinet of Somalia agree on Election Model outlined by Mogadishu Declaration 2015: The declaration which was adopted in December 2015, calls for election process in Somalia to establish a new, bicameral Federal Parliament in 2016, based on inclusivity and representation.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Novak Djokovic beat Rodger Federer to win Australian Open 2016.

2. India beat Australia in the last T20 by 7 wickets to win the series 3-0: India jumped to No.1 ranking in the T20s after getting this win.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

3. The book titled ‘Nathuram Godse-The Story of an Assassin’ authored by Anup Ashok Sardesai was released.

Daily GK Updates - 30th January, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Uttar Pradesh joins UDAY Scheme: It has become the fourth state to join the centre’s scheme to revive state electricity distribution utilities. 

2. Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank sets up cell to monitor government schemes: The Dharwad headquartered Karnataka Gramin Vikas Bank has set up a separate cell for monitoring progress under all the government sponsored schemes.

3. Goa launches project tracking portal: Goa CM Laxmikant Parsekar launched Goa e-Suvidha Portal, an online project tracking mechanism to fast track projects.

4. KK Jalan in now MSME Sectretary.

5. Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba to take over as Western Naval Command Chief.

6. Blue Star appoints Vir S Advani as MD.

7. The Nation remembered Mahatma Gandhi on his 68^th death anniversary as it paid homage to the father of the nation on the occasion of Martyr’s Day, 30^th January 2016.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Cabinet of Somalia agree on Election Model outlined by Mogadishu Declaration 2015: The declaration which was adopted in December 2015, calls for election process in Somalia to establish a new, bicameral Federal Parliament in 2016, based on inclusivity and representation.

2. Prince Mahidol Award 2015 conferred in Bangkok: It was conferred upon Professor Morton Mower and Sir Michael Marmot for outstanding achievements in medicine and public health worldwide respectively. Mower, a citizen of USA, received the award in the category of medicine for invention of the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator.

3. Leslie Berland appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer of Twitter Inc.

4. Indo-Canadian Sikh Amrik Singh Ahluwalia elected as the head of Canada’s Peel Police, the country’s third largest municipal police force.

5. Japan unveiled first stealth fighter aircraft X-2: The domestically built fighter aircraft seeks to augment defence capabilities of the country that is surrounded by China and Russia that already have radar-evading aircraft technology.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Germany’s Angelique Kerber stuns Serena Williams to win Australia Open.

OBITUARIES:

2. Former Army Chief Gen K V Krishna Rao passes away at the age of 92.

3. Noted Writer, Educationist Nayani Krishnakumari died at the age of 86.