Daily GK Updates - 18th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Sufi Forum: PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate four-day conclave: PM Modi will inaugurate the World Sufi Forum in New Delhi, where more than 200 Indian and international delegates, including Sufi Shuyukh, spiritual leaders, scholars, academicians and masters of Sufism, are participating.

2. India has signed $35 million loan agreement with The World Bank for MP Project: The Government of India has signed a loan agreement with the World Bank for Neeranchal National Watershed Project in Madhya Pradesh.

3. Arun Jaitley to inaugurate National Community Radio Sammelan in New Delhi: The theme of the conference is ‘Community Radio in India: Towards Diversity and Sustainability’.

4. Indian Railways tied up with ISRO for route surveys: The agreement will leverage the space technology for providing passenger information in all trains. 

5. Denmark firm to set up pumps manufacturing unit near Hyderabad: Desmi Technology a leading international manufacturer of pumps and pump solutions to set up a plant on the outskirts of Hyderabad shortly.

6. Vijay Mallya quits as RCB Director.

7. TCS named Virgin Money London Marathon as official tech partner for London Marathon.

8. Surat is the cleanest railway station in the country followed by Rajkot and Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), according to an Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) survey; Varanasi is among the dirtiest one.

9. Hitachi to setup ATM making firm in India.

10. Amar Abrol appointed as the new CEO of Air Asia India.

11. Freecharge allows payments via chat in 5 seconds: Mobile wallet and digital payments player FreeCharge has announced the launch of its ‘Chat and Pay’ feature.

12. Ex Wipro CFO Suresh Senapathy has been appointed the new chairman of Honeywell Automation.

13. Union Minster Ram Vilas Paswan launched FCI’s Depot Online System.

14. Goa Government classified its country liquor, Feni as Heritage Spirit of Goa.

15. Llyod’s appointed Shankar Garigiparthy as Country Manager for India.

16. Pfizer India names S Sridhar as Managing Director.

17. Ramesh Iyer re-designated as vice-chairman at Mahindra Finance.

18. India, ASEAN Plus multilateral military exercise FORCE 18 concluded in Pune.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 10^th Asian Film Awards announced in Macau; The Assassin won maximum awards: Best Film: The Assassin, Best Director: H Hsiao-Hsien for the Assassin, Best Actor: Lee Byung-hun for The Inside Men, Best Actress: Shu Qi for The Assassin.

2. Bangkok to impose curfew during Songkran festival, the world’s biggest water festival.

3. 90% of domestic workers excluded from Social Protection: It was revealed by the International Labour Organisation in its Social Protection Paper 16 entitled Social Protection for Domestic Workers: Key Policy Trends and statistics.

4. Glenmark Pharma received final approval from US Food and Drug Administration for Frovatriptan Succinate tablets for Migraine.

5. My Biosphere, My Future campaign launched in Lima.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. 5600 wilful defaulters owe banks Rs 60K crore: According to the data from credit information bureau CIBIL, more than 5600 borrowers who owe banks close to Rs 60,000 crore have been declared wilful defaulters by lenders as on December 31.

2. Interest rate in Public Provident Fund cut to 8.1% from 8.7% and to 7.8% from 8.7% in KVP schemes.

SPORTS:

2. UN suspended Maria Sharapova as goodwill brand ambassador after doping allegations.

3. Vijender Singh registers fourth straight win in Pro Boxing beating Hungary’s Alexander Horvath.

4. Sri Lankan Cricket Board constituted Arvinda de Silva-led National Cricket Selection Panel.

AWARDS:

5. India-based software engineer Abdulqadir Rashik won first prize in UN #LinksSDGs Data Visualisation Challenge.

6. Priyanka Kakodar and Raksha Kumar won Chameli Devi Jain Award for their work that clubs social concern and compassion with pioneering reportage and analytical skills.

OBITUARIES:

6. US Actor Larry Drake passed away at the age of 66.

7. Renowned Singer and Actor K Mani passed away at the age of 45 following a liver ailment.

8. American Actress Nancy Reagan died at the age of 94.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

9. Book titled ‘Gandhi: An illustrated Biography’ authored by Pramod Kapoor was in news recently.

Daily GK Updates - 17th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Research and Development Corporation (NRDC) signed License Agreement with Kudos Laboratories for commercialisation of anti-diabetic drug Ayush-82.

2. Punjab Government notified Swine Flu under Epidemic Disease Act.

3. PM Modi to join world leaders in wax at Madame Tussauds.

4. RUSA Scheme to be implemented to improve equity, quality of higher education: Central Government is implementing the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for providing financial support to proposals contained in State Higher Education Plan (SHEP) approved by the State Higher Education Councils in order to achieve the objectives of equity, access and quality.

5. Bharti Airtel buys Videocon Telecom for Rs 4428 crore.

6. India Aviation Show 2016 begins in Hyderabad: It is the 5^th edition of the biennial series of this international exhibition and was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Begumpet Airport.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for Chief Justice of US Supreme Court.

2. India became the second biggest investor in London: London & Partners, the official promotional company for London announced that India has emerged as the second biggest investor in London after the US.

3. TIME magazine released 30 Most Influential People on the Internet list: The list has been topped by the artist and entrepreneur Kayne West. India’s PM Narendra Modi stood at 15^th in the list. 

4. United Nations Development Programme appointed Michelle Yeoh as Goodwill Ambassador.

5. United Nations Population Fund appointed Ashley Judd as Goodwill Ambassador: Judd is an acclaimed humanitarian, actor, writer and political activist.

6. Fazle Kabir appointed as Governor of Bangladesh Bank.

7. United Nations Social Development Network (USDN) released World Happiness Report 2016 in Rome: The fourth edition of the report was released ahead of the UN World Happiness Day which will be observed on 20^th March 2016. India ranks 118^th out of 156 countries and the list is topped by Denmark.

8. UNESCO released e-Atlas of Gender Inequality in Education: The e-Atlas shows gender gaps from primary to tertiary education and educational pathways of girls and boys in more than 200 countries and territories. The gender disparity remains highest in Arab States.   

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI likely to pay Rs 57,000 crore in dividends to the Government in 2016-17.

SPORTS:

2. FIFA admits taking bribe for Hosting World Cup.

AWARDS:

3. British Mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles won 2016 Abel Prize: He won the prize for solving a centuries-old hypothesis, Fermat’s Last Theorem.

OBITUARIES:

4. American singer Frank Sinatra Junior died at the age of 72.

5. Shehnai exponent Ustad Ahmed Ali Hussain Khan died at the age of 77.

6. Paul Daniels, TV Magician died at the age of 77.

Daily GK Updates - 16th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 7^th Governing Board Meeting of Indo-German Science and Technology Centre held in New Delhi: The meeting was chaired by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences. During the meeting he highlighted the achievements and progress of IGSTC in accelerating the bilateral Science and Technologies Collaboration.

2. Singareni 600 MW power unit synchronised in Telangana.

3. MoU signed between Ministry of Tourism and Ecotourism Society of India for Responsible and Sustainable Tourism.

4. Union Government and Jammu & Kashmir Government signed MoU on UDAY Scheme: J&K will be the 9^th state to join the scheme. 

5. Lok Sabha passed Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015: The bill aims at protecting the interests of the large number of aspiring house buyers and enhances the credibility of construction industry. It was earlier passed by Rajya Sabha on March 10.

6. Reliance Industries and Tata Motors among top 10 sustainable firms: Sustainable Plus survey.

7. Lok Sabha passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016: The proposal relates to the inclusion of certain communities, modification and removal of area restriction in respect of certain communities and exclusion of certain communities in the case of State of Odisha.

8. India’s first education focused accelerator programme Edugild started at MIT, Pune.

9. Maharashtra Assembly passed amendment to Public Trusts Act, 1950: The bill provides for de-registration of long-defunct trusts among other things.

10. Punjab passed Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal land (Transfer of Proprietary Right) Bill, 2016: The bill is an attempt to divest its neighbouring states from getting share from Punjab’s river waters.

11. Career Guidance Counselling Centres launched in Delhi to improve employment opportunities for women.

12. Union Government imposed anti-dumping duty on plastic-processing imports.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. March 15 celebrated as World Consumer Rights Day across the world: The theme for this year was ‘Antibiotics off the menu’.

2. World Kidney Day observed on 16^th March 2016 across the world with theme ‘Kidney disease and Children. Act early to prevent it’.

3. 90% of domestic workers excluded from Social Protection: It was revealed by the International Labour Organisation in its Social Protection Paper 16 entitled Social Protection for Domestic Workers: Key Policy Trends and statistics.

4. Glenmark Pharma received final approval from US Food and Drug Administration for Frovatriptan Succinate tablets for Migraine.

5. My Biosphere, My Future campaign launched in Lima.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. ICICI Bank launched NFC-based mobile payment solution Touch & Pay: This solution is based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and will enable the bank’s customers to make secure contactless payments at retail stores using smartphones.

SPORTS:

2. UN suspended Maria Sharapova as goodwill brand ambassador after doping allegations.

AWARDS:

3. India-based software engineer Abdulqadir Rashik won first prize in UN #LinksSDGs Data Visualisation Challenge

4. Priyanka Kakodar and Raksha Kumar won Chameli Devi Jain Award for their work that clubs social concern and compassion with pioneering reportage and analytical skills. 

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

5. Book titled ‘Gandhi: An illustrated Biography’ authored by Pramod Kapoor was in news recently.

Daily GK Updates - 15th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India Inc first in the world to formally adopt UN’s SDG: India Inc is set to formally adopt the United Nations’ agenda for the world’s sustainable development and the 17 goals identified for its implementation. SDG stands for Sustainable Development Growth. 

2. Paryataka Mitra Programme to enable students act as Tourist Facilitators: The Programme was launched by Union Ministry of Tourism on 12^th January 2016 to inculcate appropriate tourism traits and knowledge amongst the trainees to enable them to act/work as Tourist Facilitators.

3. Non-Banking Financial Company Altico Capital names Naina Lal Kidwai as Non-Executive Director.

4. India Posts selects Deloitte as consultants for Payments Bank: The Public Investment Bank has already approved the Rs 800 crore proposal for Payments Bank of India Post and in 15 days, it will go to the cabinet for final approval.

5. 253 Indian villages lit up in just one week under the scheme Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana: Out of the electrified villages, 86 in Odisha, 73 in Jharkhand, 61 in UP, 42 in Arunachal Pradesh, 33 in Bihar, 16 in Assam, 6 in Chhattisgarh, 3 in Madhya Pradesh and 3 are in Rajasthan.

6. Odisha Cabinet approved constitution of Food Commission as per National Food Security Act.

7. UP Cabinet approved Senior Citizen Policy: Under the policy, the state government will set up old age homes and also announced increase in monthly pension by Rs 100 i.e to Rs 400 per month.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. SAARC Programming Committee Meet begins in Pokhra: External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will leave for Nepal to attend SAARC ministerial meet. Before the ministerial meet, a session of Programming Committee of SAARC will be held in Pokhra.

2. Anil Wadhwa concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of San Marino: The capital of San Marino is San Marino City.

3. Myanmar Parliament elected Htin Kyaw as first civilian President: He is a close aide and advisor of Aung Sung Kyi, the leader of National League for Democracy (NLD) Party. 

4. Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro extended economic emergency to protect citizens from economic warfare: The capital of Venezuela is Caracus.

5. Pope Francis announced that Mother Teresa is to be granted Sainthood.

6. Mauritania ratified 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention: The Protocol requires the states to take effective measures for prevention of forced labour, protection of victims and ensuring their access to justice and compensation.

7. 59^th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs inaugurated in Vienna, Austria.

8. 60^th Session of Commission on States of Women inaugurated in New York: During the session, the Commission will discuss on its priority theme-Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development.

9. China to set up International Maritime ‘Judicial Centre’ to handle territorial disputes and protect China’s sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests at sea.

10. Malawi, UNICEF tested first UAV flights for early diagnosis of HIV in Infants: As a part of the test, simulated blood samples were transported from a community health centre to Kamuzu Central Hospital lab that is located at a distance of 10 km. This will reduce the waiting times for HIV testing of infants.

11. Indian Scholar H Deep Saini appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Canberra University, Australia.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. YES Bank inked MoU with India Brazil Chamber for strategic cooperation: It signed the MoU to enable significant cooperation in terms of knowledge partnerships, project consultancy, B2B opportunities, skill and technology initiatives.

SPORTS:

1. Lin Dan from China has won the prestigious 2016 All England Badminton Title in the Men’s singles category.

2. Delhi clinched Llyod Business Today Pro-Am of Champions Golf title.

3. UK Anti-Doping appointed as Secretariat for International Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Taskforce.

OBITUARIES:

4. Booker Prize winner British Author Anita Brookner died at the age of 87.

Daily GK Updates - 14th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India successfully test fired Agni-I ballistic missile: It was launch from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) on the Odisha coast.

2. Maritime India Summit 2016 to be held in Mumbai from 14^th to 16^th April 2016.

3. Free Wi-Fi service launched at Srinagar International Airport: The service was launched by State run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.

4. Lt General N P S Hira appointed as the Deputy Chief of Indian Army. 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 13^th meeting of Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development held in Dubai: The meeting was held to promote the power of broadband networks and services for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

2. Palestinian Hanan Al Hroub won 2016 Global Teacher Prize: The teacher from a refugee camp was awarded for her outstanding contribution to the profession.

3. 4^th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves inaugurated in Lima, Peru: The congress will discuss on education for sustainable development, the economic viability of nature conservation systems, human migrations and protection of natural resources, among others. 

4. Record-breaking Astronaut Scott Kelly who set a record of spending the most cumulative days in space by an American (nearly a year) will retire from NASA this year in April.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. ICICI Bank tied up with Ferrari for co-branded credit card.

SPORTS:

2. Services won Santosh Trophy of Football 2-1 defeating Maharashtra in the finals.

3. Vijender Singh registers fourth straight win in Pro Boxing beating Hungary’s Alexander Horvath.

AWARDS:

4. Kerala Tourism’s Responsible Tourism Campaign ‘New Worlds’ directed by Malayalam filmmaker Anwar Rasheed wins Golden City Gate Award at ITB, Berlin.

OBITUARIES:

5. British Rock legend Keith Emerson died at the age of 71.

Daily GK Updates - 13th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. IMF and India to set-up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre in Delhi: In this regard, Union Minster of Finance Arun Jaitley and Christine Lagarde, MD of IMF have signed a MoU to set up SARTCC in New Delhi.

2. Mahindra and Mahindra Chairman and MD Anand Mahindra conferred with France’s Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneor.

3. Union Power Ministry named LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme as UJALA: UJALA is acronym for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for all. The scheme was launched for energy conservation by reducing energy consumption.

4. Lt General N P S Hira appointed as the Deputy Chief of Indian Army. 

5. Crisil sees GDP growing at 7.9% in 2016-17: On the occasion the actress also launched the new campaign of the brand titled ‘Be more human’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India and US launch Fullbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship: India and the United States have launched the Fullbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship enabling Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field of climate change.

2. Arab league declares Lebanese movement Hezbollah a terrorist group: The Arab league has declared Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Shia political organisation a terrorist group.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. HDFC Bank ties up with 5 start ups: These companies are Sense forth Technologies, Tagpin, Safe 2 Pay, Bugclipper, Taptis Technolgies. The bank tied up with these companies to strengthen their web, mobile and payment offerings.

Daily GK Updates - 12th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India to supply 18 meter gauge Diesel Electric Locomotives to Myanmar: RITES (Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways) signed a contract to supply 18 meter gauge 1350 HP Diesel Locomotives to Myanmar Railways. The contract was signed at Naypyitaw on 4^th March.

2. Suresh Prabhu has launched ‘Clean My Coach’ service: The service allows a passenger to make request for a dirty coach to be swept and cleaned by sending an SMS on mobile number 58888.

3. Government sets new norms for Hydrocarbons licensing: Government of India has approved a new policy for exploration and also defined the norms for pricing of existing and new discoveries made in difficult areas.

4. Aadhar scheme collects biometric data of 99 crore Indians: The Aadhar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 was passed by a voice vote after a brief debate, during which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured the House that details provided for the card will not be misused in any manner. 

5. Union Cabinet gave green signal for amendment to Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925: The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs to amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 through the Parliament retrospectively with effect from 8 October 2013.

6. Long march against Indo-Bangladesh power plant near Sundarbans started: A 250 km long protest march against plans to build Rampal Power Station, Indo-Bangladesh coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans, was kicked-off.

7. PM Modi to unveil railway project in Bihar: PM Modi will arrive in Patna today on a day-long visit to Bihar where he will dedicate to the nation the newly constructed Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road Bridge and inaugurate a new rail bridge in Munger.

8. Gujarat; Leaks in Kakrapar Nuclear Plant, One unit shut.

9. Crisil sees GDP growing at 7.9% in 2016-17: On the occasion the actress also launched the new campaign of the brand titled ‘Be more human’.

10. Uber opens Asia’s 1^st Engineering Hub in India: The ride sharing service provider has opened its first Asian engineering centre in Bengaluru highlighting the focus on India to solve the localized challenges of Uber users in the country.

11. Defence Ministry gives nod to 7 stealth frigates worth Rs 13,000 crore.

12. Cabinet approves ratification of BIMSTEC Convention: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and ratification of the Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

13. Honey festival in Mangaluru from March 12: The Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, in association with the Karnataka Horticulture Department, will conduct a ‘Honey Festival’ in Mangaluru on March 12 and 13.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Egyptian Diplomat Ahmed Abul Gheit named as Secretary General of Arab League.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. HDFC Bank ties up with 5 start ups: These companies are Sense forth Technologies, Tagpin, Safe 2 Pay, Bugclipper, Taptis Technolgies. The bank tied up with these companies to strengthen their web, mobile and payment offerings.

AWARDS:

2. Tezpur University and JNU won the annual Visitor’s Awards for Central Universities.