Daily GK Updates - 10th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. New series of Rs 500 & 2,000 notes to be available from today: Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley has announced that the new series of 500 and 2,000 rupees notes will be available in banks and post-offices from today and assured that there will be adequate availability of the new notes in the coming days.

2. ATMs to dispense Rs 50 notes from Nov 11: RBI: Come November 11, ATMs in the country will also dispense banknotes of Rs. 50 denomination. Currently, the lowest denomination note a customer can get at an ATM is Rs. 100.

3. Nadda launches “Healthy India Initiative” magazine and mobile app: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched Healthy India Initiative magazine and No More Tension mobile App for the promotion of health and to strengthen the health communications programmes.

4.Union Government launches Smart India Hackathon: The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched Smart India Hackathon 2017. It is the world’s largest digital national building initiative. 

5.Delhi Declaration on Agro-biodiversity Management adopted: The 1st International Agro-biodiversity Congress that was held in New Delhi from 6 November to 9 November 2016 concluded with the adoption of Delhi Declaration on Agro biodiversity Management. The event saw the participation of 900 participants from 60 countries.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Twitter COO Adam Bain is stepping down: In a big loss to Twitter, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Adam Bain who was in charge of the micro-blogging website’s revenue business has decided to leave the company. 

2.China launches pulsar navigation satellite: China has launched a navigation satellite, which will conduct in-orbit experiments using pulsar detectors to demonstrate new technologies. The X-ray pulsar navigation satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center today.

OTHER UPDATES:

AWARDS:

1. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today conferred the Uttarakhand Ratna award on his arch rival and former chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari on the occasion of the state's 17th foundation day. 

2. Professor Raj Bisaria to get Madhya Pradesh government govt's Kalidas Samman for Theatre: Renowned theatre personality and Padma Shri, Prof Raj Bisaria is all set to weave another feather in his cap with the Madhya Pradesh government honouring him with its prestigious 'KalidasSamman' national award for 2015-16 for achievement in theatre. 

Daily GK Updates - 9th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes invalid now: Prime Minister NarendraModi talked about fighting corruption and black money during his address to the nation. In a major step to check black money, the prime minister announced demonetization of Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes from 8th November midnight. The RBI has issued new series of notes for 500 rupees and 2000 rupees denomination with improved features and newer sizes.

2. Government to open Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Kendra in every LS constituency: The Centre has decided to open Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Kendra in every Parliamentary Constituency to impart skill training to the people and make them employable.

3. President of India inaugurated Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of ECGC: The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Limited (ECGC) on November 8, 2016) in New Delhi.

4. India’s first LNG powered bus rolls out in Kerala: India’s first liquefied natural gas-driven bus has been launched in Kerala. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan jointly flagged off the first pilot run eco-friendly bus.

5. Amitav Ghosh to be honoured with Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award: Acclaimed Indian American fiction author Amitav Ghosh, 60, has been named for 2016 Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian literary space.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. UCO Bank to raise Rs 271 crore equity from LIC: UCO Bank has announced that it would raise Rs.271 crore from Life Insurance Corporation of India in preferential allotment of equal shares at Rs.37.74 apiece.

2. Asian Development Bank $48 million loan to help Assam improve power distribution: This is the second tranche loan of the USD 300 million multi-tranche financing facility for the Assam Power Sector Investment Programme that was approved by the ADB Board in July 2014.The project will help Assam to enhance capacity and efficiency of its power distribution system to improve electricity service to end user. 

3. Corporation Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army on the defence salary package.

OBITUARIES:

4. Janet Reno, first female US attorney general, dies: Janet Reno, the first woman to be appointed as Attorney General of US, passed away as a consequence of Parkinson’s disease. She was 78.

Daily GK Updates - 8th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India and Britain sign two agreements: India and the United Kingdom have signed two pacts to boost cordial relations between the two nations.The pacts were inked during the 3 days visit of Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to India.PM Theresa May was on a three Day visit to India. Two agreements, one on intellectual property (IP) and another for bilateral cooperation on raising ease of doing business were signed.

2. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan starts: The Union Government launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals.

3. Demchok mission of Indian Army successfully completed: The Indian army has successfully completed its task of laying an irrigation pipeline in the Demchok region of Eastern Ladakh. The project was being conducted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to link the villages in the region with a hot spring.

4. VinodRai to head advisory commission: VinodRai has been appointed as the Chairman of Fund Trustee and Advisory Commission of Kerala. He will be entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that the funds of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) are properly utilised and the interest of investors is protected.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 600 million pounds masala bonds to be listed in London: The British government has announced that, 4 rupee-denominated bonds worth of 600 million pounds are expected to be listed in London in the next three months.

2. NASA’s MMS creates new Guinness World Record: NASA’s Magnetospheric Multi-scale (MMS) Mission on 5 November 2016 set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal at 70000 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. Magnetospheric Multi-scale (MMS) mission successfully completed commissioning activities on 1 September 2015 and is now in full science mode.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. RBI issues clarifications on hedging for ECBs: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the Clarifications on hedging for External Commercial Borrowings (ECB). The Clarifications were issued under section 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

2. Ratnesh Kumar appointed MD and CEO of BOB Capital Markets.

AWARDS:

3. Tunisian leader among four conferred Jamnalal Bajaj awards: Well-known Gandhian and President of Tunisia's Ennahdha Party, Sheikh RachedGhannouchi was among four prominent personalities conferred with the prestigious 39th Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation Awards for 2016.Mohan HirabaiHiralal, founder and convenor of Vrikshamitra was honoured for outstanding contribution in the field of Constructive Work.BonBehari Vishnu Nimbkar, founder of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute was presented the award for application of science and technology for rural development.Dr.Nannapaneni Manga Devi, founder secretary of Sri VenkateswaraBalaKuteer and Chetana Charitable Trust was honoured with the award for development and welfare of women and children.

Daily GK Updates - 7th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India to host Conference on Tobacco Control today: India is set to host the crucial global tobacco control conference today for the first time, where it will push for incorporating smokeless tobacco as an agenda. The 7th Session of the Conference of Parties to World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will begin today at Greater Noida.

2. 128^th anniversary of Sir C V Raman celebrated on 7^th November: The 128th anniversary of Nobel laureate Bharat Ratna Sir CV Raman is being celebrated on 07 November. Sir CV Raman won the Nobel prize in Physics 1930 for his discovery -Raman effect - the scattering of light which makes the sea and clear sky look blue.

3. First S4A debt recast gets approval: Construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) became India’s first firm to get debt recast under RBI’s new Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).The RBI-mandated Overseeing Committee (OC) under the S4A has approved HCC’s Rs. 5,000-crore debt recast passed by an ICICI Bank-led joint lender forum in September 2016.

4. India and Sri Lanka sign pact to address fisherman crisis: India and Sri Lanka have signed an agreement under which a hotline will be set up between officials of the two countries to address the fishermen crisis. It also set up procedures to return arrested fishermen and have a minister-level meeting every few months on the issue.

5. BJP’s Avinash Khanna all set to be appointed NHRC member: BJP Vice President Avinash Rai Khanna is all set to be appointed as a member of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with a high-level selection panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearing his name.

6. India rises to second place in Global business optimism index:The latest Grant Thornton International Business Report for the July-September quarter has placed India 2nd on the global scale for business optimism.

7. ‘Lost’ Chandrabhaga River found in Odisha: Scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) claimed to have found evidence confirming the existence of a mythical Indian river, Chandrabhaga. This is the second among such findings. In October 2016, KS Valdiya led expert committee had found that Saraswati River did exist. The IIT study aimed to verify this myth.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Google Capital changes its name to ‘CapitalG’: Google Capital, the search giant's venture arm that invests in growth-stage companies, has changed its name to 'CapitalG'. The old GoogleCapital.com domain now forwards to CapitalG.com, and Google Capital's Twitter account has announced that it’s being retired in favour of a new @CapitalGTweets account.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                 

1. RBI appoints M Rajeshwar Rao as Executive Director: The Reserve Bank has appointed M Rajeshwar Rao as Executive Director (ED) following G Mahalingam’s voluntary retirement from the central bank. As Executive Director, Rao will look after Department of Statistics and Information Management, Financial markets Operations Department and International Department.

SPORTS:

2. Petra Kvitova wins 2016 WTA Elite Singles Trophy: Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova on 6 November 2016 won the 2016 WTA Elite Singles Trophy. She defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-2 to grab the title at Zhuhai, China. Venus Williams was the defending champion for the title.

3. Henri Kontinen, John Peers win 2016 BNP Paribas Masters Doubles Title: Henri Kontinen and John Peers have won the ATP World Tour Masters Doubles title at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. Kontinen and Peers defeated top-seeded Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 to claim the title.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

4. Book titled ‘An Era of Darkness: British Empire in India’ authored by Dr Shashi Tharoor released by Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Daily GK Updates - 6th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM to inaugurate 1^st International Agro-biodiversity Congress: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first ever International Agro-biodiversity Congress, IAC in New Delhi today. The event will initiate and encourage a dialogue among stakeholders, including farmers, to better understand everyone role in agro-biodiversity management and the conservation of genetic resources.

2. India and Japan NSAs hold bilateral consultations in New Delhi: National Security Advisors of India and Japan held bilateral consultations in New Delhi. ii. During their discussions, Mr. Shotaro Yachi and Mr.Ajit Doval expressed satisfaction at the implementation of important understandings reached during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India in December last year.

3. CII launches unique platform ‘Startup Mentorship Circle’: In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of nurturing entrepreneurship, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched a unique platform called ‘Startup Mentorship Circle’ to help in connecting start-ups with the global marketplace. 'Startup Mentorship Circle’ is truly a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and startups to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.

4. Odisha Government signs MoU to set up four more STPI centres: Odisha Government has signed aMoU with the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) for setting up of four more centres in the State.The new centres would come up at Angul, Jajpur, Koraput and Sambalpur. With this, the number of STPI centres will rise to eight in the State which is highest in the country.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. India Women’s hockey team lift Asian Champions Trophy 2016: Indian Women's hockey team have lifted the Asian Champions Trophy 2016 in Singapore. In a thrilling summit clash, India defeated China 2-1.This is for the first time that Indian eves won the Asian Champions Trophy competition.

2. Manny Pacquiao reclaims WBO welterweight title for third time: The 37-year-old Filipino pugilist, who had announced his retirement seven months ago, was declared the winner with unanimous decision after he defeated American Jessie Vargas in his comeback fight in Las Vegas.

Daily GK Updates - 5th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President approves payment of 2% DA from July 1: President Pranab Mukherjee on 04 November 2016 approved the 2% hike in Dearness Allowance to central government employees, a move that could benefit 50.68 lakh employees and 54.24 lakh pensioners.

2. Switzerland appoints Ranveer Singh as brand ambassador: Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh has been now named the first Indian ambassador for Switzerland Tourism.Singh will now be in charge of promoting Switzerland Tourism’s campaign for 2017 – “Nature wants you back!”

3. Twitter India MD Parminder Singh resigns: Two days after Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly announced his exit, the microblogging network’s MD for India, Southeast Asia and Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). Singh’s departure marks a series of high-level changes in Twitter’s management, even as the company’s growth slows down globally and layoffs continue at its offices around the world.

4. Centre imposes Rs 10,000 crore penalties on RIL and its partners: Government has slapped a nearly 10,000 crore rupee fines on Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its partners BP and Niko for pumping out gas that flowed to the Krishna Godavari-D6 Block from an adjoining field owned by ONGC.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. First World Tsunami Day observed: The First World Tsunami Awareness Day is being observed today across the world. The theme for the year is Effective Education and Evacuation Drills.The observance of the day will help to spread awareness among people across the world in matters related to the dangers of the tsunami.

2. Sonu Sood’s Xuanzang is China’s official entry to Oscars: China has selected historical-adventure film Xuanzang, which co-stars Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, as its official entry for the 89th Academy Awards.The project is a part of the three-film agreement signed between India and China.

Daily GK Updates - 4th November, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. GST Council approves 4-tier rate at 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%: GST Council approved a four-tier GST tax structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with lower rates for essential items and the highest for luxury and de-merits goods that would also attract an additional cess.

2. India to host 7^th session of COP7 on tobacco control from Nov 7-12: 7th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP7) to World Health Organization, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) will be held from november 7th to 12th of this month at Greater Noida.

3. Government and 3 PSUs to set up $2 billion equity fund for renewables: The Centre, along with state-run power entities NTPC, REC and PFC, will soon launch a USD 2 billion clean energy equity fund to support the government's ambitious target of adding 175 GW renewable energy generation capacity by 2022.

4. Young Indian Lawyer gets elected into UN’s top body of Legal Experts: 33-year-old Aniruddha Rajput is among the 34 individuals elected by the General Assembly as members of the International Law Commission.

5. Google ties up with ASI for virtual tour of monuments: American multinational technology company, Google has tied up with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for 360-degree virtual tour of 280-odd monuments across the country

6. Minister of Railways inaugurates International Conference on Decarbonisation of Indian Railways in New Delhi: Minister of Railways Shri Suresh PrabhakarPrabhu has inaugurated the International Conference on Decarbonisation of Indian Railways – Mission Electrification in New Delhi on November 3, 2016. It was organised by Institution of Railways Electrical Engineer (IREE) in partnership with ASSOCHAM India.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Paris Climate Agreement becomes international law: The agreement deals with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance. The Paris Agreement’s entry into force comes a month after countries representing 55% of the world’s emissions committed to joining the deal. As of November 2016, 192 states and the European Union have signed the Agreement; 97 of those parties have ratified or acceded to the Agreement, most notably China, the United States and India.

2. Saudi Arabia awards water prize to 8 scientists: Saudi Arabia has awarded eight scientists the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water at a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York.The ceremony was hosted on Thursday by UN. Friends of Water and presided over by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon along with the prize committee chairman Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz. The bi-annual prize, established in 2002, aims to provide recognition to scientists and others whose work creatively addresses the problem of water scarcity

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Yes Bank launches new mobile banking app: India's Private sector lender Yes Bank has launched “Yes Mobile 2.0” its new mobile banking app with multiple new features and extensive support for banking transactions on Apple and Android-based SmartWatches.

OBITUARIES:

2. Sri Lankan music legend Pandit Amaradeva passes away at the age of 88: Legendary Sri Lankan singer and composer Pandit Amaradeva, recipient of many international honours, including Padma Shri, for his contribution to music, died on 03 November 2016 after a heart attack.

3. Former J&K Deputy Chief Minister passes away at the age of 85: Former Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma died on 03 November 2016, after a prolonged illness.