Daily GK Updates - 5th April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Maritime Day observed across the country on 5^th April 2016: It is marked as the National Maritime Day of India to commemorate the sailing of India’s first steamship Loyalty on April 5^th 1919 from Mumbai to London.

2. India’s fastest train ‘Gatimaan Express’ flagged off from Delhi to Agra: The Nizamuddin-Agra Gatimaan Express is the first semi-high speed service in railways and will run at a speed of 160 km per hour, covering the 188 km distance in 100 minutes.

3. India’s first cash giving app ‘CASHe’ launched: This new application is very helpful and provides users a personalised experience to borrow cash anytime, anywhere within minutes for their needs.

4. Aadhaar enrolment hit 100 crore: Over 100 crore people, including 93% of the adult population, now have an Aadhaar number. 

5. Union Government releases Rs 25834 crore to Food Corporation of India (FCI) as food subsidy.

6. India’s Manish Sharma appointed to Panasonic’s Global Executive Council.

7. Bhubaneshwar Smart City Limited, India’s first SPV on smart city started operations.

8. Aon Hewitt released list of India’s Best Employer 2016: Accor Hotels topped the list while Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co stood second.

9. Indian Air Force to participate in Red Flag exercise along with US, NATO and allied forces that will be conducted from 28^th April in Alaska.

10. Keeping a criminal case pending is violation of Article 21 of Constitution: Delhi HC.

11. India’s first Aadhaar enabled ATM launched by DCB Bank in Mumbai: The ATM will use finger prints to dispense cash rather than ATM PIN.

12. GoAir elevated Wolfgang Prock-Schauer as Managing Director.

13. President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Geoscience Awards 2014: Prof Ashok Singhvi was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience Award for Excellence for his outstanding contributions in the field of sedimentary technologies.

14. PM Modi launched Stand Up India Scheme in Noida to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes and Women entrepreneurs.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World’s first public dengue vaccination programme launched in Philippines: The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in Philippines as nurses began injecting the first batch of a million children with a French drug to combat the sometimes deadly disease.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. First bi-monthly monetary policy statement 2016-17 released: RBI has cut the Repo Rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.5% in its first bi-monthly monetary policy review for the 2016-17 fiscal and kept the CRR unchanged at 4%.

SPORTS:

2. Kenya’s Cyprian Kotut and Jepkesho win Paris Marathon.

3. Waqar Younis resigned as head coach of Pakistan cricket team.

4. ICC released Test, ODI and T20I rankings: The 1^st place in the test and ODI was grabbed by Australia while India stood 1^st in the T20I rankings.

AWARDS:

5. Vishwanathan Anand to be feted with Hridyanath Award for his outstanding achievements as a chess player.

OBITUARIES:

6. Grammy winner American Jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri died at the age of 83.

Daily GK Updates - 4th April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India ranked 6^th in top 10 largest manufacturers list: UN report: According to a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) report, India ranked 6^th among the world’s top 10 manufacturing countries which the US was ranked 1st.

2. PM Narendra Modi conferred Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honour: He was conferred with Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honour-the king Abdulaziz Sash.

3. IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore top the list of best Indian universities: According to the list, IIT Madras is the top engineering college followed by IIT Mumbai and IIT Kharagpur. IIM Bangalore is the top management college followed by IIM Ahmedabad at rank no.2 and IIM Calcutta at rank no.3.

4. World’s largest oil firm Aramco to invest in India: India and Saudi Arabia have vowed to substantially boost investments and their trade ties as PM Modi invited cash-rich Saudi firms to invest in infrastructure and form joint ventures for oil exploration. 

5. Blackstone to acquire HP’s 60% stake in Mphasis.

6. Vedanta sets Guinness World Record for mass plantation by planting 2,08,751 saplings at a single location in less than an hour.

7. World’s first White Tiger Safari inaugurated at Mukundpur in Satna district in Madhya Pradesh.

8. India, Saudi Arabia signed five agreements in the field of labour co-operation, technical co-operation, financial intelligence, investment promotion co-operation etc. to boost bilateral co-operation.

9. Union Government notified Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016.

10. Trimbakeshwar Temple Trust barred entry for all men and women from entering the sanctum till the next decision.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action observed across the world on 4^th April 2016 with theme ‘Mine action is humanitarian action’.

2. Vietnam Police Chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as the 9^th President of the nation. 

3. Planet KELT-4Ab with triple-star system found: A research team of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics published a paper in The Astronomical Journal on their findings of a stable orbit planet with a triple-star system.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Miami Open Title 2016 won by Novak Djokovic: The world no.1 from Serbia defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan to grab the trophy.

2. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia to win the Miami Open Title 2016 in the women’s singles category.

3. Germany’s Nico Roseberg of Mercedes won 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix: Capital of Bahrain is Manama.

OBITUARIES:

4. Renowned American Actor Larry Drake passed away at the age of 66.

5. Former AC Milan player from Italy Cesare Maldini died at the age of 84.

Daily GK Updates - 3rd April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Union Government releases Indian Intellectual Property Panorama: It has released Indian Intellectual Property (IP) Panorama to increase awareness and build sensitivity towards IP in the SME sector, academia and researchers. The IP Panorama is a single window interface for information on IP and guidance on leveraging it for competitive advantage.

2. Union Government imposes safeguard duty on import of steel products: The Union Finance Minister has extended the safeguard duty on import of some steel products by two years i.e. till March 2018.

3. Germany’s Development Bank KfW to provide loan assistance to metro system for Nagpur: It will provide loan assistance of 3750 crore rupees for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city.

4. India pledged a contribution of $ 1 million to the IAEA nuclear security fund at the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit (NSS). 

5. Modi Government undermining democracy, HRW tell EU: The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has written in a letter to the European Union (EU) that the Indian government seeks foreign investments abroad citing Indian Democracy and diversity, but uses harsh laws to undermine the same.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 4^th Nuclear Security Summit begins in Washington.

2. Obama, Xi vow to sign Paris Accord: US President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping of China have indicated that they would sign the Paris Agreement on climate change on April 22, the first day the UN accord will be open for government signatures.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Ace Boxer Shiv Thapa wins silver medal at Asian/Oceania qualifying event in China in the 56 kg category final.

2. West Indies Women and Men lift the World Cup T20 trophy for 2016: West Indies Men beat England by 4 wickets to lift the T20 World Cup while the women’s team beat Australia to grab the trophy.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. MoU signed to promote research with IMPRINT programme: A MoU was signed on 31^st March 2016 by 25 Union Ministries of the Government of India under the IMPRINT programme of the union government to promote research in premiere technical institutions.

2. ISRO signs a MoU with the Airports Authority of India: It has signed a MoU with the AAI to provide scientific parameters for construction of airports.

3. India expects $500 million AIIB loan for solar power projects in 2016: India is hopeful of receiving the first loan issued by the newly formed Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) in the second half of the year.

4. Maharashtra first state to link colleges to national cancer grid: In a major step towards improvement of infrastructure for cancer cure, Maharashtra tied up with Tata Trusts to link all government colleges and medical colleges to the national cancer grid for uniform cancer profiling and quality treatment. 

5. Mehbooba Mufti to be sworn in as first woman CM of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4.

6. President Pranab Mukherjee signed the Uttarakhand Appropriation (Vote on Account) Ordinance, 2016 which authorizes expenditure in the hill state that has come under direct federal rule because of a political crisis.

7. Kallol Roy appointed as the new CMD of Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI).

8. Ranveer Singh to be feted as ‘Maharashtrian of the Year’ for his role of Peshwa Bajirao II in Bajirao Mastani.

9. Government of India a new set of Income Tax Return (ITR) forms that require people with an income of Rs 50 lakh and above per annum to disclose their assets.

10. Union Government notified Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 to properly manage the 484 tons per day bio-medical waste from the healthcare facilities across the country.

  

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 2^nd April: World Autism Awareness Day: The theme for this year is ‘Autism and 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and Neurodiversity’. This is the 8^th Annual World Autism Awareness Day encouraged by the members of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about children with autism throughout the world.

2. US and Saudi Arabia impose joint sanction on fundraising for terrorists: The US and Saudi Arabia have imposed a joint sanction on four individuals and two organisations, aiming to disrupt terrorism fundraising operations in South Asia and the Middle East.

3. Pakistan’s Sikh religious body elected Tara Singh as caretaker President after the death of its first chief Sham Singh.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. NIFTY launches new index for mid and small Cap stocks: The new index was named as Nifty Midsmallcap 400 and will comprise of 400 companies which are the constituents of Nift Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 indices.

2. Banks adopt new rate formula: Consumer loans became cheaper with banks moving to a new way of setting lending rates following RBI’s diktat to ensure faster and effective transmission of its policy rate cuts to borrowers.

SPORTS:

3. Australian Pacer Clint McKay announces retirement from international cricket.

AWARDS:

4. Jailed Egyptian Novelist Ahmed Naji to receive PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award by PEN America.

OBITUARIES:

5. Renowned journalist Babu Bharadwaj died at the age of 68.

Daily GK Updates - 1st April, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India becomes fourth largest spender on defence: India has become the world’s fourth largest spender on defence, following a 13.1% increase in its 2016-17 defence budget, according to the US research firm IHS Inc.

2. Japan to lend Rs 14000 crore for Indian projects: The Government of Japan has committed a loan of JPY 242.2 billion for various projects across India, including Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and the North East.

3. Union Government launches Startup India portal and Mobile app.

4. UltraTech buys Jaypee cement unit for Rs 15,900 crore. 

5. Flipkart acquires mobile payments firm PhonePe.

6. FICCI, AIBC sign MoU to strengthen business ties: In a bid to further strengthen and promote business ties with Australia, FICCI announced inking a MoU with Australia India Business Council (AIBC).

7. Telangana Government launches M Wallet mobile App: The app will help motorists to avoid physically carrying documents like driving licence, registration certificate and other vehicle related documents, since digital certificates can be uploaded through the app.

8. Haryana fixes educational qualification for Urban Bodies’ polls: The minimum educational qualification for a general male candidate will be class X, while that for women and those belonging to SC category would be class VIII.

9. Mumbai to get International Arbitration Centre by August for dealing with financial disputes.

10. Rajeev Gauba takes over as Secretary of Urban Development Ministry.

11. J Geetha Reddy appointed as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairperson of Telangana: She will be the first woman legislator to be appointed for the post in India.

12. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launched Phase 1 of Green Delhi Initiative.

13. Gujarat Assembly cleared amendments in Land Acquisition Act: It passed the Right to fair compensation and transparency in the land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement (Gujarat amendment) Bill, 2016.

14. India and Sri Lanka signed MoU to provide 150 boats and fishing equipment to Mullaithivu fishermen in North Sri Lanka.

15. Union Government launched Vidyut PRAVAH Mobile App to empower people to demand 24x7 electricity.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Vietnam’s Parliament elects first female speaker: Vietnam’s National Assembly elected Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan as the country’s first female house speaker.

2. 4^th Nuclear Security Summit begins in Washington: In this edition, heads of about 53 countries and representatives of five international organisations including the UNO, IAEA, EU and Interpol are taking part.

3. ICCR to set up first Indian chair in Arab world at Cairo: An MoU in this regard was signed between India’s Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharya on behalf of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Prof Abdel Wahab Ezzat, acting President of ASU.

4. Russia approved ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) deal to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield for $1.3 billion. 

5. Taiwan’s Foxconn agreed to buy Japan’s Sharp Corporation for $3.5 billion.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. West Indies beat India by 7 wickets in the second semi-final to enter the finals of 2017 WC T20.

OBITUARIES:

2. Renowned Iraqi-British Architect Zaha Hadid passed away at the age of 65.

3. British Comedian Ronnie Corbett passed away at the age of 85.

Daily GK Updates - 31st March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Prime Minister Modi and Belgian PM Charles Michel launch Asia’s biggest telescope: This is built by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) with the assistance of Belgium.

2. India-US to sign MoU for building LIGO Project: India and the US will sign a MoU for building a state of the art Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Project in the country.

3. J P Nadda launches GIS-enabled HMIS application, self-printing of e-CGHS Card.

4. LIC increases stake in Andhra Bank and Dena Bank to 14.39% and 14.5% respectively. 

5. European Investment Bank to loan 450 million euros for Lucknow Metro: It will lend India around 3300 crore rupees for constructing a 23-km long Lucknow Metro rail line and for purchasing a fleet of new trains.

6. Adani ties up with Elbit-ISTAR of Israel and Alpha Design Technologies Ltd for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

7. Star India to launch Hotstar service overseas.

8. Kachhabali becomes 1^st liquor-free village in Rajasthan.

9. Jitendra Jagota appointed as the Chairman of Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Faustin Archange Touadera took oath as the President of Central African Republic.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Vijaya Bank to get Rs 220 crore capital infusion from government.

SPORTS:

2. Virat Kohli rose to the No. 1 rank in the ICC T20 World Rankings defeating Aaron Finch of Australia.

OBITUARIES:

3. Oscar winning actress Patty Duke passed away at the age of 69.

Daily GK Updates - 30th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Prime Minister reaches Brussels for India-EU Summit: PM Modi arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia. During the course of the visit Modi will attend the India-EU summit and the global nuclear summit in the US.

2. ISRO to launch 22 satellites in single mission: The Indian Space Research Organisation is set to script history by launching a record number of 22 satellites in a single mission in May 2016. In this mission 18 satellites are being launched for foreign agencies including those from the US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia.

3. India ranks 3^rd globally in financial Trojan infections: India ranks 3^rd among countries with high number of financial Trojan infections, where cybercriminals defraud customers of online banking services, security solutions firm Symantec said.

4. Arun Jaitley launched ‘Make in India’ conference in Sydney. 

5. 11 unilateral Advance Pricing Agreement signed by CBDT: The Advance Pricing Agreements programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 to provide a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and to reduce litigation in the Indian transfer pricing regime.

6. Manohar Parrikar flags off India’s first indigenous Sonar Dome: India’s 1^st indigenous composites sonar dome, a ship’s underwater eyes and water, was today flagged off by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar from here to be delivered to Mazagaon docks in Mumbai.

7. Government permits 100% FDI in Online Marketplaces.

8. GVK sells 33% stake in Bangalore International Airport to Fairfax.

9. Reliance Defence, Israel’s Rafael to set up missile, air defence joint venture.

10. P Susheela Mohan enters into Guinness World Records: The playback singer entered the Guinness World Records book for singing the most number of songs in Indian languages.

11. Union Government launched Innovative Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme of MANAS: Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptullah launched innovative entrepreneurship and skill development programme of Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) through leading national and international experts in different skill sets.

12. Tata Motors signed agreement with Maharashtra Ex-Servicemen Corporation for creation of employment opportunities for ex-servicemen of Indian Army.

13. BHEL commissions 250 MW unit at Nabinagar Thermal Power Plant of Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Ltd in Aurangabad district of Bihar.

14. Haryana Government launched Project Salamati for injectable contraceptive in Chandigarh: The project seeks to maintain a healthy balance between the births of children by using injectable contracepitve.

15. IIT-Patna organised first International Symposium on 5G.

16. Wipro appoints PayPal executive Patrick Dupuis to Board.

17. SEBI approved Mrugank Paranjape as MCX Managing Director.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Japan’s NTT Data has acquired Dell Services, the IT services arm of PC maker Dell.

2. Htin Kyaw sworn in as Myanmar President.

3. China launched 22^nd BeiDou navigation satellite: The satellite was launched on board a March-3A rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Registration of 22 NBFCs cancelled by RBI: The RBI said in a statement that it has cancelled registration of 22 non-banking financial companies including Amazon Capital and Mascot Commerce.

2. RBI signed currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

SPORTS:

3. England beat New Zealand by 6 runs to enter the finals of the World Cup T20 2016.