Daily GK Updates - 7th April2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Chairs meeting of CSIR Society: The PM was given an overview of the work done by CSIR in addressing national challenges, and its recognition as a major Indian innovator.

2. 3^rd phase of Mission Indradhanush begins today: It will cover 216 districts across several states including Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Under the mission, children against seven vaccine preventable diseases will be vaccinated.

3. East Coast Railway (ECoR) becomes largest freight loading railway zone.

4. Bronze bust of Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhatta unveiled by HRD Minister Smriti Irani at the UNESCO HQ. 

5. NTPC suspends power generation from Faraka Plant in West Bengal owing to shortage of water.

6. Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel launches ‘Maa Annapurna Yojna’: It was launched under the National Food Security Act. Under the Maa Annapurna Yojna, 3.82 crore people of Gujarat will be benefited. Each of them will get rice at Rs 3 per kg and wheat at Rs 2 per kg.

7. Santosh Gangwar inaugurates 3 mega projects in Nagaland: The three projects included Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Dimapur, Muga P3 Basic Seed Station Kobulong in Mokokchung district and newly approved Integrated Eri Silk Development Project under North East Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS).

8. Future Group has acquired FabFurnish for an undisclosed amount.

9. Foundation stone for Haryana’s first Horticulture University laid in Karnal by Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

10. ASCI upholds 51 complaints against misleading ads: The advertising industry watchdog’s Consumer Complaint Council (CCC) found the claims in various categories to be either misleading or false or not adequately/ scientifically substantiated and hence violating ASCI’s code.

11. CP Gurnani appointed as the Nasscom Chairman.

12. S Balaji Arunkumar appointed as the new Deputy Chairman of Kolkata Dock System under Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 7^th April celebrated as World Health Day across the world: The day aims to draw attention to important health issues facing the world each year. The theme for this year is ‘Halt the rise: beat diabetes’.

2. Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson named as new PM of Iceland.

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. India men win Asia Nations Cup Chess Tournament by defeating Vietnam in the finals played at Abu Dhabi.

Daily GK Updates - 6th April. 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Madhukar Gupta Committee constituted to suggest ways to strengthen security along Indo-Pak border: It will also address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along India-Pakistan border.

2. Odisha Government launches 100 Adarsha Vidyalayas: It has launched 100 Adarsha Vidyalayas and CBSE-affiliated English medium schools in 14 districts of the state.

3. Complete ban on Alcohol in Bihar imposed by CM Nitish Kumar.

4. Government to develop 25 regional airports: Arun Jaitley: Government is looking to develop 15 airstrips owned by the state governments and 10 that are with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). 

5. India signed $100 million draft export pact with IDB: India has signed a MoU with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for a possible $100 million line of credit to simplify the exports to IDB’s member countries.

6. BHEL commissions repositionable canal top solar plant at Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh.

7. Mumbai gets its first ever AC local train.

8. Memorial for Abdul Kalam to be opened at Dilli Haat: This memorial will include the notes, books, clothes and other personal belongings of the former President and will be opened to the public on July 27, Kalam’s Death Anniversary.

9. Indian scientists from the Institute of Advance Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, Assam developed eco-friendly nanotechnology for water purification.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Researchers from the University of Georgia and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) developed the world’s smallest diode, the size of a single molecule.

2. Iceland PM S Gunnlaugsson resigned after Panama papers leak revelations: He resigned after the leaked Panama papers exposed offshore finance and tax evasions by him. The leaks were from Panama based Mossack Fonseca, the world’s 4^th biggest offshore law firm.

3. International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2016 observed on 6^th April 2016 with theme ‘Let’s Play for Sustainable Development Goals’.

4. US Senate unanimously approves Defend Trade Secrets Bill: The bill empowers companies to sue in federal court if their commercial secrets are stolen.

5. Myanmar Parliament approved bill to grant PM-like role to Aung San Suu Kyi.

6. International Conference on Zero held in Paris: It was hosted by the permanent delegation of India to UNESCO along with Pierre and Marie Curie University.

7. China launched SJ-10 retrievable space science probe with an aim to help scientists in their study of microgravity and space life science.

8. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Trends in world military expenditure, 2015 report: As per the report, while USA remained as world’s biggest spender in 2015, India moved up one spot in the global rankings to reach the 6^th position in terms of military expenditure.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Mother Dairy partners with Delhi Daredevils as Principal sponsor.

OBITUARIES:

2. M H P Rao, the architect of Madras Atomic Power Station passed away at the age of 88.

3. Hollywood actress and screenwriter Barbara Turner died at the age of 79.

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.