Daily GK Updates - 2nd June, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Prime Minister releases National Disaster Management Plan to make India disaster resilient: The plan aims to make India disaster resilient and reduce loss of lives. It is the first of its kind of national plan prepared in India. It emphasises on a greater need for information, education and communication activities to prepare communities to cope with disasters.

2. Union cabinet approved several MoUs: The Union cabinet has given its approval for signing of MoU between India and United States to enhance cooperation in the field of wildlife conservation and combating wildlife trafficking. It has also given its ex-post facto approval to the signing of MoU between DGCA and French Civil Aviation Authority.

3. Cabinet clears India Post’s payment bank proposal: The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to set up India Post payment bank as Public Limited Company under Department of Posts, with 100% government equity.

4. India and the US sign an agreement on ‘exchange of terrorist screening information’: An agreement between the authorised governmental agencies of the Government of India and United States of America has been signed for the exchange of terrorist screening information, in wake of the recent terror attacks. With the help of this agreement both the countries will share real time terrorist screening and exchange of information.

5. Government of India approves Mau-Tarighat new railway line project.

6. India gifts 2000 bicycles to poor dalit girls in Nepal: India has gifted 2000 bicycles to poor dalit girls in different government schools of Nepal to encourage them to enrol in schools and enhance the literacy rate among them.

7. Union Cabinet approves proposal for extension of Corridor-1 of Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase-1.

8. TRAI launches mobile app for subscribers to register complaints against pesky calls, SMSes.

9.  Two Indian-origin women in Forbes’ self-made American women list: India born Neerja Sethi, who co-founded IT consulting and outsourcing firm Syntel with her husband Bharat Desai, is ranked 16^th on ‘America’s Richest Self-made Women’ list while President and CEO of Arista Networks Jayshree Ullal is ranked 30th.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BRICS Bank to issue first Yuan denominated bonds: The reason behind the grant is to support China from sharp slowdown as Chinese economy slipped to 6.9% last year. Although, India is the only member among the BRICS countries whose GDP continues to grow above 7%.

2. China successfully launches three satellites: It has successfully launched three (one domestic and two foreign) satellites namely Ziyuan III 02 satellite and two NewSat satellites.    

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. ICICI Bank cuts lending rate by 0.05% to 8.95%.

SPORTS:

2. Rahul Johri assumes charge as first ever CEO of BCCI.

3. Novak Djokovic becomes the first player to win $100m prize money when he made the French Open quarter finals for the 10^th time.

4. League system for test matches to start by 2019.

OBITUARIES:

5. Former Eden Gardens curator Prabir Mukherjee passed away at the age of 86.

Daily GK Updates - 1st June, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Four month window to disclose black money opens today: The Income Declaration Scheme which seeks to provide an opportunity to all persons who have not declared their income correctly in previous years to come forward and declare undisclosed income, will open today and will remain in force till 30^th September 2016.

2. Government raises retirement age of doctors to 65: The PM has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for enhancing the age of superannuation of all doctors of the Central Health Service to 65 years with effect from 31^st May 2016.

3. India and Morocco conclude five MoUs to enhance cooperation in various fields: Both the countries have signed MoUs covering fields as diverse as water resources management, television broadcasting, institutional co-operation and cultural and educational exchanges, further providing venues for enhanced cooperation. The MoUs were signed during the delegation level talks in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari and Moroccan PM Abdelilah Benkirane in the capital city Rabat.

4. India and World Bank sign agreement for efficient bus service: The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a 9.2 million USD grant agreement under the World Bank-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Programme for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project.

5. India and Morocco launch Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Both the countries have launched the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat which was inaugurated by Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and the Moroccan Prime Minister.

6. Admiral Sunil Lanba takes over as the Chief of Naval Staff.

7. IPS (Retd) Bhim Sain Bassi appointed as the member of UPSC.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Asia’s largest tech trade show COMPUTEX kicks off in Taipei: The trades show has four main themes that focus on IoT, Applications, Innovations and Start-ups, Business solutions and gaming.

2. China successfully launches three satellites: It has successfully launched three (one domestic and two foreign) satellites namely Ziyuan III 02 satellite and two NewSat satellites.

3. World’s longest and deepest rail tunnel has been inaugurated in Switzerland: The 57-km long tunnel has connected the northern and southern Europe and shortened travel time for many rail routes.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Sri Lanka’s NuwanKulasekara retires from Test Cricket.

AWARDS:

2. India-American Scientist Arnab De wins Springer Theses Award in recognition for his outstanding research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumour-suppressor called A20.

OBITUARIES:

3. Bollywood actor and comedian Razzak Khan passed away in Mumbai due to cardiac arrest.

Daily GK Updates - 31st May, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. No tax deduction for PF withdrawals of up to Rs 50,000 from June 1: The Government has notified that it has raised the threshold limit of PF withdrawals for deduction of tax (TDS) from existing Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. So there will be no deduction for PF withdrawals of up to Rs 50,000.

2. Indian Railways, PEC sign MoU to set up Kalpana Chawla Chair on geospatial technology: The PEC University of Technology of Chandigarh and Union Ministry of Railways have signed a MoU for setting up of Kalpana Chawla Chair on Geospatial Technology for Indian Railways at the University. The objective of the chair is to encourage research activities of Indian Railways in Geospatial Technology.

3. India and US to sign two key pacts during Homeland Security Dialogue: India and the US are all set to sign two key agreements in the month of July during the Homeland Security Dialogue, which is going to be held in Washington. The first deal is likely to be signed would exempt prominent Indian citizens from immigration checks in America and the other one pave the way for exchange of information on terrorists on a real time basis.

4. Public sector company NBCC to launch Ganga cleaning project in Bihar.

5. ONGC Videsh Ltd signs pact with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to foray into oil trading.

6. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) sells stake in African oil retailer Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation (GAPCO) to Total S.A of France.

7. Surajit Kar Purkayastha appointed as the Director General of West Bengal Police.

8. Ashok Lavasa named as the new Finance Secretary after the retirement of the Former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal.

9.  India and Australia sign MoU to enhance R&D capabilities in biotech: India and Australia have signed a MoU to enhance research and development capabilities in biotechnology by launching joint funding call. The MoU was signed between India’s BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) and Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide a loan of Rs 1,548 crore to improve the quality of urban healthcare services in Tamil Nadu.

2. Snapdeal opens data sciences centre in California: Online marketplace Snapdeal has established a data sciences centre in California which will help it to get top global talent and build high-value solutions.    

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Virat Kohli named T20 Player of the Year in Ceat Award event.

2. Alastair Cook becomes the youngest cricketer to score 10000 test runs breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record.

AWARDS:

3. AR Rahman conferred with Japan’s Fukuoka Prize 2016 for his outstanding contribution towards creating, preserving and showcasing South Asian tradition fusion music.

OBITUARIES:

4. Noted Kannada writer D Javare Gowda passed away in Mysuru at the age of 101.

5. Former Lok Sabha MP Rudra Madhab Ray passed away at the age of 80.

Daily GK Updates - 30th May, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched PMO’s official website in six regional languages including Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali.

2. Railways holds trial of high-speed Talgo coaches: Indian Railways has conducted the first ever trial run for high-speed Talgo trains of Spain on the Bareilly-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh with speeds averaging 80-115 kmph.

3. Manohar Parrikar inaugurated second submarine assembly workshop in Mazgaon Dock Limited (MDL).

4. Gujarat CM launches state-wide campaigns against malnutrition: She has launched two state-wide campaigns i.e. Bal Amritam and Mission Shakti against malnutrition at Ahwa town in Dangs district. As per the campaigns, iron-rich supplementary food would be provided to children and women, whether they live in towns or remote forested areas.

5. Vice Admiral Girish Luthra takes charge of Western Naval Command, Mumbai.

6. Kiran Bedi took oath as the Lt Governor of Puducherry.

7. V Narayanaswamy to be Puducherry Chief Minister where the Congress-DMK alliance won the May 16 Assembly polls.

8. Actor R Madhavan becomes the goodwill brand ambassador of LEPRA India, an organisation that fights against diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis.

9.  India and Australia sign MoU to enhance R&D capabilities in biotech: India and Australia have signed a MoU to enhance research and development capabilities in biotechnology by launching joint funding call. The MoU was signed between India’s BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) and Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. China to launch world’s 1^st quantum satellite: According to a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China will launch the world’s first quantum communication satellite in July. It aims to improving the security of data transmission. 

  

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. SRH defeated RCB by 8 runs to clinch their maiden IPL title.

2. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes wins Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

AWARDS:

3. India-American Scientist Arnab De wins Springer Theses Award in recognition for his outstanding research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumour-suppressor called A20.

OBITUARIES:

4. Veteran film and Television actor Suresh Chatwal passed away in Mumbai.

Daily GK Updates - 29th May, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh bagged India Biodiversity Award 2016.

2. India’s first integrated web portal to promote Net Energy Buildings launched: The portal www.nzeb.in was designed to promote and mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) in India. The portal is first of its kind and provides complete information about Net Zero Energy Buildings that generate as much energy as they use.

3. Formulate national policy to provide adequate relief to rape survivors: Supreme Court tells Union Government: It said that setting up a separate fund like the Nirbhaya fund is not enough and amounted to just a lip service.

4. Cancer-causing chemical, potassium bromated/iodate, found in bread samples from Delhi as per a study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

5. India emerges as 5^th largest producer of e-waste in world as per a study conducted by ASSOCHAM-KPMG.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Guinea Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz named BaciroDja as Prime Minister.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Real Madrid beat Atletico de Madrid in the penalty shoot out to win the UEFA Champions Trophy for the record 11^th time.

OBITUARIES:

2. Noted Marathi literary critic R G Jadhav passed away at the age of 83.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

3. Book titled ‘Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a cover up’ authored by RanaAyyub released.

Daily GK Updates - 28th May, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Lakshadweep becomes the first Union Territory to sign 24x7 ‘Power for All’ documents: The document chalks out a plan to increase solar capacity of the region from 2.15 MW to 8.45 MW.

2. New committee to swipe towards cashless society: From past couple of month, the GOI and RBI have been working on how to reduce cash transactions in the economy. For this, they have formed a committee of 7 members which is chaired by a ministry official, Neeraj Kumar Gupta. The committee is working on maximizing the acceptance of card payments.

3. PM Modi flags off direct train from Kamakhya to Katra: The train will connect the two pilgrim towns of Devi Peeth of MaaKamakhya and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

4. President of India to present MaltiGyanPeethPuraskars tomorrow: Every year the MaltiGyanPeethPuraskars are awarded to five teachers, one each in the subjects of Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, English and Social Studies.

5. FM ArunJaitley to embark on six-day official visit to Japan: He will have meetings with CEOs of Japanese companies including Soft Bank in Tokyo and will also attend the 22^nd International Conference on the Future of Asia.

6. Bihar Government, UNICEF and MDM join hands to curb Malnourishment: As per the MoU signed between the three, an Agriculture Nutrition Cell would be set up in the Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa.

7. Committee of Evolution of a National Education Policy submits report to Ministry of HRD: The committee headed by Ex-Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanium submitted the report. The report containing its recommendations to the Ministry of HRD which had undertaken a consultation process for framing a New Education Policy and this process included online, grass-root and national-level thematic deliberations on 33 themes.

8. Special webpage on two years of NDA Government unveiled by Press Information Bureau.

9.  Sadhguru to lead Yoga Session at UN on 2^nd International Yoga Day: Spiritual leader and Isha Foundation founder, SadhguruJaggiVasudev will lead a yoga session at the UN on the occasion of the 2^nd International Yoga Day on 21^st June. The theme for this year will be Sustainable Development Goals.

10. Tata Group forays into e-commerce with the launch of ‘Tata CliQ’, an online and app-based platform to let users buy apparel and electronics.

11. Tech Mahindra to acquire UK-based Target Group.

12. Ashok Leyland reappoints Vinod K Dasari as Managing Director for 5 years.

13. Three school-girls from J&K scale Mount Everest: The girls StanzlinLaskit, TashiLaskit and TseringAngmo were a part of the first ever all-girls Mount Everest expedition of the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

14. Telangana Government enters Limca Book of Records for conducting the most intensive household survey by a state.

15. Man gets 366 flag tattoos for Guinness record: HarPrakash Rishi is an Indian man who holds the Guinness World Record for having the maximum number of flags (366) tattooed on his body.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Google cleared of infringement in Oracle lawsuit over Java: Google has won a major US court battle with software firm Oracle after a jury ruled it did not unfairly appropriate parts of the Java programming language.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Number of public sector banks to come down to 8-10: As per the Minister of State for Finance JayantSinha, India will have 8-10 very competitive public sector banks once the ‘dust settles’ and the consolidation phase ends.

2. RBL Bank to launch scheme for fintech entrepreneurs: RBL Bank is going to set launch an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) programme for fintech start-ups in the next 9-12 months.

AWARDS:

3. India Author AditiKrishnakumar wins Asian Book Award for her 32000-word manuscript rooted in ‘Love of Indian History’.

Daily GK Updates - 27th May, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government approves over Rs 5500 crore investment to improve infrastructure in six states: The centre has approved an investment of over 5500 crore rupees for basic urban infrastructure in six states under the Atal Mission. The states are Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Meghalaya.

2. 1^st bullet train to run in India in 2023 as per a statement by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu: According to him the train will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad and is expected to cover 508 km in about two hours, running at a maximum speed of 350 kmph.

3. I&B Ministry frames guidelines for online government advertisements: All online ads from the Centre would now be routed via the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), which would empanel eligible websites.

4. India’s growth to rise to 8% in FY 2019 according to the US Global rating agency Fitch.

5. Mamata Banerjee takes oath for second successive term as West Bengal CM.

6. Centre approves Rs 4241 crore National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Odisha: The project will create job opportunities for around 1.5 lakh people and will help Odisha grow as a manufacturing hub and help Paradip port’s growth.

7. BrahMos supersonic cruise missile successfully test-fired by IAF at the Pokhran field range in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.

8. Indian Coast Guard Ship ARUSH commissioned at Kochi.

9.  Cabinet approves the takeover of Hindustan Steel Works Construction Limited (HSCL) by National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) for financial restructuring of HSCL.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Google cleared of infringement in Oracle lawsuit over Java: Google has won a major US court battle with software firm Oracle after a jury ruled it did not unfairly appropriate parts of the Java programming language.

2. China signs deals with Sudan to build 600 MW atomic reactors: The agreements were signed during a three day visit to Sudan by a Chinese delegation led by Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA) and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

3. Guinea Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz named Baciro Dja as Prime Minister.     

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. HDFC among world’s top 10 consumer financial services company: The mortgage lender HDFC Ltd has been ranked among the world’s top ten biggest and most powerful companies in the consumer financial services sector on a Forbes list. The list is topped by American Express and HDFC was ranked 7^th in the list.

SPORTS:

2. Indian boxer Sonia Lather settles for silver after losing World Championship final.

3. Para-athlete Amit Kumar Saroha from Haryana won gold medal in record breaking performance in men’s club throw (F-51) at the recently concluded 2016 French Open Athletics Championship in Paris.

4. Sanjay Bangar appointed India’s coach for Zimbabwe tour and Abhay Sharma to be fielding coach.

AWARDS:

5. Indian-American Rishi Nair wins 28^th Annual National Geographic Bee Competition.

6. Sunil Bharti Mittal receives 2016 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award.

OBITUARIES:

7. Veteran Communist leader K C Mathew passed away at the age of 92.

8. Noted Marathi literary critic R G Jadhav passed away at the age of 83.