Daily GK Updates - 10th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. E-commerce giant Flipkart ties up with Hero Cycles.

2. Bidyananda Barkakoty appointed as new vice-chairman of Tea Board.

3. Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East released: The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has consciously and constantly focused efforts towards making hydrocarbons a tool to enable social and economic development.

4. Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela appointed as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.

5. Andhra Pradesh proposed to develop INS Viraat as Tourism Centre.

6. National Deworming Day observed on 10^th February 2016: The first Deworming Day was observed in schools and preschools to combat parasitic worm infections among preschool and school-age children.

7. Sikkim Government to construct Mini Sikkim for showcasing state’s diverse and rich culture.

8. Rs 580 crore sanctioned for construction of railway track to connect Kolkata and Tripura via Bangladesh: The Agartala-Akhaura rail link between Indian Railway and Bangladesh Railway will reduce the current 1700 km road distance between Kolkata to Agartala via Siliguri to just 350 km by railway.

9. Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection of International Civil Aviation Organisation proposed binding of carbon emission standards for aviation industry.

10. National Arogya Fair-2016 concluded at Dehradun: The themes were based on Immune system, homeopathy in women’s disorders, treatment in Ayurveda, Yog se Arogya and Non-communicable Diseases management in Sidhha System etc.

11. Two day Governor’s Conference hosted by President held in New Delhi today: It was the 47^th such conference to be held at RashtrapatiBhavan.

12. UAE crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is on a three day visit to India along with seven ministers.

13. Vodafone launched 4G services in Mumbai.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pakistan approves Hindu Marriage Bill after decades of inaction: After decades of delay and inaction, the Hindu minority community in Pakistan will soon have a marriage law as parliamentary panel has unanimously approved the Hindu Marriage Bill.

2. US President unveiled Cyber Security National Action Plan to protect US from risks from new technologies. 

3. US Supreme Court stalled Obama’s Clean Power Plan: The Court’s five conservative member bench in its verdict ruled that the President’s Clean Power Plan to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide from US power plants could not go forward until all legal challenges were heard.

4. UN Secretary General launched One Humanity: Shared Responsibility Report: The report was launched as part of the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit that is scheduled to be held from 23 May to 24 May 2016. The report called for a global campaign to prevent the erosion of humanitarian law and protect civilians in conflict. 

5. World’s largest concentrated Solar Plant Noor opened in Morocco.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI released PG Apte Working Group Report on Introduction of Interest Rate Options in India.

SPORTS:

2. Quinton de Kock of South Africa became fastest cricketer to make 10 ODI centuries by achieving the feat in mere 55 innings.

3. Lord’s to host Women’s Cricket World Cup Final in 2017.

OBITUARIES:

4. Renowned Musician Dan Hicks passed away at the age of 74.

Daily GK Updates - 9th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Brijbhushan Saran Singh appointed as the President of SAWF: Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brijbhushan Saran Singh has been appointed as the President of the South Asian Wrestling Federation (SAWF). 

2. Coast Guards to induct 38 aircrafts and helicopter by 2020: The Indian Coast Guards has proposed to induct 38 more aircrafts and helicopter into its fleet by 2020. The CG has a fleet strength of 62 airplanes and helicopters.

3. Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran 9 begins in Uttarakhand: The 9^th edition of the Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran has commenced at Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.

4. R K Pachauri appointed as Executive Vice Chairman and Dr. Ajay Mathur as the Director General of TERI.

5. Rs 1 lakh crore disbursed under MUDRA Yojana: Loans worth about Rs 1 lac crore have been sanctioned to small entrepreneurs under the PradhanMantri MUDRA Yojana.

6. Prime Minister Shram Awards 2014 announced: There are 9 nominations for the ShramBhushan, 19 nominations for the ShramVir and 26 nominations for Shram Shree awards. ShramRatna award is the highest award in this category.

7. Chettinad cotton saree won India Handloom tag for its unique designs and identity: The Union Ministry of Handlooms and Textiles authorised the Amarar Rajiv Gandhi Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, which produced the sarees, to use the brand and logo for marketing the product.

8. DGCA signed grant agreement with USTDA for India Aviation Safety Technical Assistance Phase-II: India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and United States Technical Development Agency (USTDA) signed the grant agreement for India Aviation Safety Technical Assistance Phase II in New Delhi.

9. Union Government signed MoU with Chhattisgarh for development of railway infrastructure.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. North Korea launched Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite: North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) launched the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite on board the Kwangmyongsong rocket. It is an earth observation satellite and was launched as per the 2016 plan of the 5-year program for national aerospace development. 

2. MukeshAmbani and Sam Pitroda elected as members of US National Academy of Engineering.

3. Storm Imogen lashed parts of Britain: It forced the environment agency to issue multiple flood warnings requiring immediate action for parts of south west, south east and Wales. 

4. UNESCO medals conferred for contributions to development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies:  2014 Nobel Prize winner in Physics Professor Isamu Akasaki, Prof. L Jiang, Dr. Mikhail Dubina were among the names conferred with the medals at Paris.

5. Bangladesh cancelled Sonadia Island Port Project with China.

6. New species of Hybrid Poly also called Hydrozoas, emitting green fluorescence discovered in Red Sea.

7. Royal Navy of UK to study India’s Operation Raahat.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. JoshnaChinappa wins gold in squash at 12^th South Asian Games.

2. Indian wrestlers win 14 out of 16 gold in 12^th South Asian Games: India won gold in all eight women’s categories, while their men counterparts won 6 gold and 2 silver. Pakistan won 2 gold.

3. New Zealand cricket team won Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia by 2-1.

OBITUARIES:

4. Former Nepal Prime Minister SushilKoirala passes away at the age of 78.

Daily GK Updates - 8th February,2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. TRAI bats for net neutrality, says no to differential pricing: In a big blow to social media giant Facebook, India’s telecom regulator TRAI ruled out differential pricing for internet service providers. 

2. DMICDL to implement India’s largest green-field Smart City in Dholera: With Larson and Toubro being awarded the Rs 1734-crore EPC contract, work on the construction of ancient port-city of Dholera in Gujarat, touted as India’s largest green-field smart city under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is all set to roll out with a SPV created to manage the new township on a sustainable basis.

3. National Air Quality Indices for 24 cities released by Central Pollution Control Board: The CPCB published the National Air Quality Indices (NAQI) for 24 cities. The NAQI published with a colour code and a numeral value will help in comparing pollution levels in each cities. Varanasi and Muzzafarpur topped the list and were coded as ‘severe’.

4. India’s first aviation park to come up in Gujarat: To strengthen the aviation sector in Gujarat, the state government has planned to set up the country’s first ever aviation park here, having a slew of facilities, including an airstrip, training school, helipad and space for setting up small manufacturing units among others at 30km from Bagodara village.

5. Union Government launched 24X7 toll free Tourist Infoline in 12 International languages including Hindi, English, Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

6. PM Modi inaugurated Paradip Oil Refinery in Odisha: It is Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s 11^th refinery, which was dedicated to the nation by PM Modi.

7. First machine harvestable chickpea variety NbeG 47 released: It was released by International Corps Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) in Andhra Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. HCL to collaborate with Microsoft for Industrial Internet of Things: HCL Technologies has launched an Internet of Things (IoT) incubation centre in Redmond, Washington, USA, designed to leverage Microsoft Azure IoT Suite to accelerate enterprise IoT adoption.

2. First joint tactical exercise Sino-India Cooperation 2016 held in Chusul-Moldo area along LoAC.

3. France became first country in the world to ban supermarket food waste: The French Senate unanimously passed a law to ban large food stores from throwing away food that is approaching its expiration date, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.

4. United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) unveiled a set of six commemorative stamps to promote UN Free and Equal, a global United Nations campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.

5. NASA to launch its new rocket Space Launch System carrying 13 CubeSats in 2018.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI cancels licence of 4 NBFCs: The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the certificate of registration of four non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in exercise of the powers under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Goyal Commercial Pvt Ltd and First Debt Management Co. of India Ltd are the NBFCs belonging to Kolkata, while Nostalgia Finvest Pvt Ltd and Narad Realtors Pvt Ltd belong to Mumbai.

SPORTS:

2. Brendon McCullum ends ODI career with series win against Australia.

3. Sapna Devi won gold in women WushuTaulu competition of the 12^th South Asian Games.

4. ICC suspends Pakistan’s leg-spinner Yasir Shah for doping offence.

5. Australia won three match women ODI series against India 2-1.

AWARDS:

6. The Revenant director Alejandro Gonzalez won Directors Guild of America Award 2015.

OBITUARIES:

7. Acclaimed Poet-Lyricist Nida Fazli died at the age of 78.

Daily GK Updates - 7th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. In a first, NDRF trains 160 dogs for disaster response: In a maiden initiative, a squad of 162 dogs is being raised by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to aid its personnel in rescuing people trapped under debris in the aftermath of natural calamities like earthquake. 

2. Geographical Indication tag for Basmati rice of 7 states approved: The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IAPB) has ordered Chennai based Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) to issue ‘Geographical Indication’ tag for basmati rice.

3. Project Sunrise launched for prevention of AIDS in NE states: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched Project Sunrise on prevention of AIDS especially among people injecting drugs in the 8 north-eastern states.

4. Enrolments under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, PMKVY have crossed ten-lakh mark.

5. 9^th Indo-Nepal Combined Battalion level Military Training Exercise ‘Surya Kiran’ to commence at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.

6. Adani Power to sign deal to build $2 billion plant in Jharkhand: The utility, controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, plans to build two power units with a total capacity of 1600 MW and construction could begin by December 2016.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Sushma Swaraj inaugurated Rise of Digital India Exhibition in Colombo: The exhibition was part of Sangam-The Festival of India in Sri Lanka 2015-16. The Rise of Digital India exhibition showcases the initiative of Indian government to take the benefits of Information Technology to the common man.

2. Zimbabwe’s President declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country hit by drought.

3. Earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hits southern Taiwan.

OTHER UPDATES:

OBITUARIES:

1. Cartoonist Sudhir Tailang died of brain cancer at the age of 56.

Daily GK Updates- 6th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Labour Ministry signed agreements with organisations engaged in employment and career activities: The agreements were signed to exploit the potential of the National Career Service (NCS) project. The MoUs signed with Uber, Quikr, Monster, Tech Mahindra, Babajobs, India Staffing Federation, Buzzmatic Ventures and GoldFish will help in widening the scope and scale of the project. 

2. Mahindra AMC received SEBI nod for Mutual Fund business.

3. Pranab Mukherjee reviews Indian naval fleet at IFR 2016: A fleet review is a ceremonial inspection of naval warships by the supreme commander of the armed forces, the President of India. Around 50 navies and 24 foreign ships are participating in the International Fleet Review, the second to be held by India and the largest military exercise hosted by the country so far.

4. Union Government to set up National Organic Farming Research Institute in Sikkim.

5. Indian social worker Renana Jhabvala to be on UN Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment.

6. Union Government approved Heritage development projects for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: Union Ministry of Urban Development approved projects worth over 12 crore rupees for improving tourist infrastructure in heritage places of Amravati in Andhra Pradesh and Warangal in Telangana. Amravati and Warangal are among the 12 cities included in the Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for improving the social, cultural and economic ecosystems.

7. India ratified convention on supplementary compensation for nuclear damage: India’s Permanent Representative in IAEA, Vienna Rajiva Misra submitted its Instrument of Ratification of the Convention of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), 1997 to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Vienna, Austria.

8. MoU on Health and School Renovation between India and Sri Lanka signed during the 9^th Session of India-Sri Lank Joint Commission held in Sri Lanka.

9. ICICI Academy aims to impart skills training to one lakh youth by 2017.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Indian origin Singaporean Vishal Mehta appointed as the President of the newly-formed International Grown Diamond Association (IGDA).

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Corporation Bank inks pact with Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Ltd for providing accident death coverage to its savings account holders.

SPORTS:

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

OBITUARIES:

3. Cartoonist Sudhir Tailang died of brain cancer at the age of 56.

4. NASA Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the lunar module pilot on Apollo 14 who was also the sixth man to walk on the moon died at the age of 85.