Daily GK Updates - 12th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India and UAE signed 9 agreements to boost bilateral cooperation: The agreements were signed during the second day of the three day visit to India of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. These nine agreements are covering cooperation in the fields of currency swap, culture, investments in the infrastructure sector, renewable energy, space research, insurance supervision, cyber security, skill development and commercial information sharing. 

2. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu launched 3 IT enabled services: These apps include handheld terminals for Indian Railways travelling ticket examiners (TTEs), a paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application and a facility for E-booking of disposable linen on trains.

3. Indian-origin lawyer Davinder Singh appointed as Vice-Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce Commission (ICC).

4. Wipro to buy US Healthcare services: Global software major and India’s 3^rd largest exporter Wipro has made an announcement buying ‘Healthplan Service’ business in the US for $460 million (Rs 3,150 crore).

5. Amazon to invest in Westland (A Tata Group Company): E-Commerce Company Amazon has made an investment in Westland, a Trent Ltd subsidiary (Tata Group) in support of its publishing business.

6. Retail inflation hits 16-month high in January at 5.69%.

7. Health Minister J P Nadda launched National Framework for Elimination of Malaria 2016-30 at New Delhi.

8. Karnataka Mobile One Project won 2016 Best m-Government Service Award at World Government Summit.

9. Indian American danseuse Pavithra Nagarajan named for US Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India Australia Energy Security Dialogue held at Canberra, Australia: To implement the PM’s vision of affordable energy for all, Shri Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State (IC) for Coal, Power and New and Renewable Energy had an energy security dialogue with Australian minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, Mr Josh Frydenberg at Canberra.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Anirban Lahiri wins Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Year award.

OBITUARIES:

2. Leslie Bassett, Pulitzer winner composer passed away at the age of 93.

3. Soviet football legend Anatoli Ilyin passed away at the age of 84.

Daily GK Updates - 11th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 6^th National Science Film Festival begins in Mumbai: The festival has been jointly organised by Nehru Science Centre and Vigyan Prasar. 

2. R K Verma assumed charge as Secretary of Railway Board.

3. India ranks 37 on USCC IP Index: India has ranked 37 out of 38 countries for its intellectual property rights environment in the annual IP index released by the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC).

4. Draft National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) 2017-31 unveiled by the environment ministry accords special emphasis to rehabilitation of threatened species of wildlife.

5. Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori to quit Flipkart: Mukesh Bansal, the head of commerce and advertising business and Ankit Nagori, Chief Business Officer of Flipkart has put in his papers.

6. Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank inks pact with NSFDC: Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank has signed a MoU with the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) for obtaining funds. These funds will be used for onward lending to schedule caste borrowers.

7. Kalyan Jewellers partners with Flipkart to sell jewellery online.

8. Isuzu Motors India appoints Hitoshi Kono as new Deputy MD.

9. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified wild boar as Vermin for a year in Uttarakhand.

10. Marine Museum inaugurated at Marine Aquarium and Regional Centre in Digha, West Bengal.

11. Assam CM Tarun Gogoi unveiled a draft document, Vision Assam-2030: Everything for Everyone-Achieving inclusive and Sustainable development.

12. HeyBiz, a sales-marketing support application for SMEs tied up with Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd.

13. Elephanta Island, famous for its Hindu cave sculptures depicting the cult of shiva will be completely electrified by Independence Day 2016.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India Australia Energy Security Dialogue held at Canberra, Australia: To implement the PM’s vision of affordable energy for all, Shri Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State (IC) for Coal, Power and New and Renewable Energy had an energy security dialogue with Australian minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, Mr Josh Frydenberg at Canberra.

2. National Assembly of France voted for stripping of nationality for terrorists.

3. NATO and European Union signed agreement on Cyber Defence Cooperation.

4. Tamar Hahn of Israel took charge of Director of United Nations Information Centre in Buenos Aires.

5. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company agreed to store crude oil in India’s Strategic Storage.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI tells banks to set aside more for stressed loans: The Reserve Bank of India has directed commercial banks to accelerate provisioning requirement from April 1, for existing stock of restructured loans that are showing signs of stress.

2. Yes Bank partnered with Smartbox to help reduce delivery returns for ecommerce firms.

AWARDS:

3. Adele named International Federation of Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) the Global Recording Artist of 2015 across all music formats.

OBITUARIES:

4. Veteran Director Aurobindo Mukherjee passes away at the age of 97.

5. Siachen Avalanche survivor Lance Naik Hanamanthappa passes away at the age of 33.

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.