Daily GK Updates - 7th December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. ISRO launches PSLV-C36 carrying remote sensing satellite: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched PSLV C36 Resource Sat-2A from the SatishDhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

2. Hindi language in the top 10 most powerful languages: The World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Hindi language ranked 10th in the top 10 most powerful languages on the planet. The list features English as the most powerful language followed by Mandarin. The index applied for the consensus took into account various factors including geography, economy and diplomacy. The WEF further forecasted the list for 2050, with Hindi climbing one spot to ninth.

3. RXIL gets RBI nod for 1^st trade receivable exchange platform: The Reserve Bank of India has authorised the Receivables Exchange of India (RXIL), promoted by Sidbi and NSE, to launch the country's first trade receivables exchange platform for MSMEs, buyers and financiers.

4. IOC, BPCL, HPCL join hands to set up India’s biggest oil refinery: The three firms signed the pact for the 60-million tonne a year refinery in Maharashtra with IOCBSE 2.78 % as leader of the consortium. IOC will hold a 50 % stake in the project while BPCL and HPCL will have 25 % each.

5. Mahila E-haat ties up with India Post, SBI: The Women and Child Development Ministry has tied up with India Post and SBI. This will offer more payment options to buyers and simplify shipping of products bought from "Mahila E-haat", an online marketing platform for women entrepreneurs.Now, SBI customers abroad can make use of "SBI Global".

6. The Lifeline Express to get two more coaches for cancer treatment: The world’s first hospital train, Lifeline Express is all set to get two additional coaches for cancer treatment. The decision was announced by the Ministry of Railways on 6th December 2016.  Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu along with Health Minister JP Nadda will be inaugurating the new additions. The coaches are purely equipped for detection and control of oral, cervical and breast cancer and prevention of stroke. They will be accompanied by three fully equipped operation theatres.

7. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary to be observed as ‘Water Day’ in the country: Dr BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary to be observed as 'Water Day' across the country on 14 April, will be observed as “Water Day” across India. The day will be observed to mark Ambedkar’s contribution in water resource management of the country.

8. India to train Vietnam’s Sukhoi fighter pilots: In order to further boost its growing defence ties with Vietnam, India has agreed to train the southeast nation’s Sukhoi-30 fighter pilots. ii. The agreement regarding the same was signed during bilateral discussions between Defence Minister ManoharParrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart, General Ngo Xuan Lich, in New Delhi.

9.  Russia and India to hold naval drills: The Russian-Indian- Indra NAVY-2016 naval exercise will be held from 14th to 21st December. The exercise will be held in the city of Visakhapatnam and in the Bay of Bengal. The first Russian-Indian naval exercises were held in May 2003.

10. Joint maritime exercise ‘Konkan 16’ between India and UK begins: The annual bilateral maritime exercise Konkan-16 between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy (British Navy) started in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The 2016 edition of the exercise (from 05 to 16 December 2016) will play an important chapter in the maritime interactions.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Singapore tops Global Education Rankings: Singapore has the highest achieving students in international education rankings, with its teenagers coming top in tests in maths, reading and science. The influential Programme for International Student Assessment, Pisa rankings, run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, are based on tests taken by 15-year olds in more than 70 countries.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI leaves repo rate unchanged at 6.25%: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept its key policy rate, the Repo Rate (RR), at 6.25 %. This was the second meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) since its formation two months ago. It was the second monetary review of Urjit Patel, since his taking over as the Governor of RBI on 6th September this year. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered the growth forecast by 0.5% to 7.1% for 2016-17.

2. RBI withdraws incremental CRR OF 100% amid note ban: The Reserve Bank of India has withdrawn the incremental cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 100%. The incremental ratio was effective from the fortnight beginning November 26 as a temporary measure to absorb excess liquidity in banking system following demonetisation.

AWARDS:

3. MSME Award for Corporation Bank: Corporation Bank has bagged the ‘Best MSME Bank Award 2016’ instituted by Assocham. Corporation Bank is a public sector banking company headquartered in Mangalore, India.

4. Vijaya Bank bags SME Award: Vijaya Bank has been adjudged ‘Best Bank for SME Lending award’ by Assocham. The award was received by Kishore Sansi, Managing Director & CEO of the bank under ‘Best SME Lending’ category for public sector banks at the fourth SMEs Excellence Award function in New Delhi.

5. BEML bags CII National Quality Award: Bharat Earth Movers Limited Ltd (BEML) has bagged the ‘CII National Quality 2016 Award’. The award has been jointly instituted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Export Import Bank (EXIM).

6. Artist Helen Marten wins 2016 Turner Prize: Multimedia artist Helen Marten on 5 December 2016 won the Turner Prize, which is Britain’s top award for contemporary art. The prize comes with a cash award of about USD 31800.

OBITUARIES:

7. Noted Journalist Cho Ramaswamy passes away: Political satirist and founder editor of Thuglak magazine, SrinivasaIyerRamaswamy is popularly known as Cho Ramaswamy passed away due to cardiac arrest in a Chennai hospital on 07 December. He was 82 years old. He was an advisor to former Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Daily GK Updates - 6th December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa passes away: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaraman passed away at a Chennai hospital last night (05th December 2016), the 68-year old AIADMK supremo breathed her last at 11:30 PM at the Apollo Hospital. She had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 2016 following complaints of fever and dehydration, but she never fully recovered.

2. O Panneerselvam sworn in as new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: After the demise of AIADMK supremo & Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Apollo Hospital, her loyalist O Panneerselvam has been sworn in as Chief Minister at a sombre ceremony at the Raj Bhawan along with all the ministers in the erstwhile Jayalalithaa Cabinet.

3. NITI Aayog to provide Rs 5 lakh per district: To encourage each district in the country to take the digitization route without fear, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog will be immediately transferring Rs.5 lakh each district as seed money to kick start this drive.

4. Bengal forms anti-child trafficking panel: The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has announced that the state would be setting up a special panel to stop child trafficking. Chaired by Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee, the committees would constitute a Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DGP and officers and members of the opposition parties, Congress and CPI (M).

5. Air Asia India appoints Amar Abrol as Managing Director.

6. President Pranav Mukherjee to inaugurate 1^st ever International Gita Mahotsav: President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the first ever International Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra, Haryana today. The President will also lay the foundation stone of Krishna circuit on the occasion. In a five-day mega event, many spiritual leaders from different religions, scholars and artists from various countries will participate. The Mahotsav will set a world record with the recitation of Ashtadash Shaloki Gita by as many as 18 thousand students at one go.

7. B S Bhullar appointed as Chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

8. MMTC to tie-up with SBI to sell government minted ‘Indian Gold Coin’: India’s largest public sector trading body MMTC (Metals and Minerals Trading gold Corporation) tie-up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to sell government-minted Indian Gold Coin(24 Karat)which will be available in denominations of 5gm, 10gm and 20 gm bar.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Bernard Cazeneuve named as new French Prime Minister.

2. Alexander Van der Bellen elected as Austrian President: Independent candidate and pro-European Alexander Van der Bellen has won the Austria's re-run presidential election with around 53.5% votes.  Bellen had won an earlier election in May by a narrow margin after which it was declared void by the Constitutional Court due to irregularities.

3. Shavkat Mirziyoyev elected as Uzbekistan President: Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev became the country's second president after winning 88.61% vote in the first presidential election since the death of the authoritarian leader and President Islam Karimov.

Daily GK Updates - 5th December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Website to educate women on their legal rights launched: Tasmania-based Women's Legal Service in collaboration with TRS Law Offices (India) has launched a website (www.Girlsgottaknow.In) for women in the country to educate them about their legal rights.

2. MSS limit raised to Rs 6 lakh crore to manage liquidity: In order to mop up extra liquidity from the system in view of demonetisation, government and the Reserve Bank on 03rd December sharply raised the Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) ceiling to Rs 6 lakh crore from Rs 30,000 crore.

3. Flipkart’sBinnyBansal and Sachin Bansal named Asians of the Year: Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and BinnyBansal have been jointly named "Asian of the Year 2016" by Singapore-based newspaper The Straits Times. The "Asian of the Year 2016" award recognises entrepreneurs operating at the frontiers of technology's interface with business.

4. KPMG and Microsoft partner to help grow India’s digital transformation: KPMG in India and Microsoft India have established a strategic IoT Advisory partnership. This will enable them to combine their advanced technologies, industry insights, and creative thinking to accelerate the digital transformation of large and mid-market Indian enterprises.

5. Airtel appoints Sunil Taldar as CEO, Director of Digital TV arm: Telecom operator BhartiAirtel announced top level changes by appointing Sunil Taldar as CEO & Director of its DTH arm Airtel Digital TV and moving incumbent Shashi Arora as MD & CEO of Airtel Payments Bank.

6. Amazon launched global startup program ‘Launchpad’ in India:E-commerce major Amazon has launched its global startup program 'Launchpad' in India, an online portal featuring over 400 products from different startups including 25 Indian startups. The program will also help Indian startups to sell their products overseas. First started in 2015, Amazon Launchpad is now available in seven regions.

7. India’s internet population to touch 600 million by 2020: Study: Driven by increased 4G and 3G penetration, India's internet population is likely to increase from current 343 million users to 600 million by 2020, according to a study by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and Deloitte. India is the world's second largest mobile phone market with over a billion mobile phone connections. Among these, 240 million mobile connections belong to smartphones.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Volunteer Day: 5 December: The International Volunteer Day (IVD) is observed across the world on 5 December every year. This year theme is “Global Applause – give volunteers a hand". This year's theme recognises the volunteers worldwide and their efforts in making peace and sustainable development a reality.

2. World Soil Day: 5 December: The World Soil Day 2016 is observed on 5 December annually. The theme for this year is “Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life”. The theme for the 2016 WSD focuses on the positive contributions of pulses to soil properties, such as fixing the atmosphere nitrogen and improving its biodiversity, fertility and structure.

3. Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn becomes Thailand’s new king: Thailand named its crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn as its new king on 1 December 2016, 50 days after the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadei.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Praful Patel appointed as All India Football Federation President.

2. Mukesh Kumar makes history in Golf Asia Tour: Indian Golfer Mukesh Kumar became the oldest golfer to win an Asian Tour title on December 4, 2016 at Delhi Golf Club (DGC) after winning the Panasonic Open India.

AWARDS:

3. Star Screen Awards 2016: The 23rd edition of the annual film awards show, Star Screen Awards, was held at Mumbai on 4th December 2016. The main attraction of the awards show was Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan hosting the event.ShoojitSircar's critically-acclaimed Pink bagged as many as four awards, including for the Best Film, at the 23rd Star Screen Awards 2016.

OBITUARIES:

4. Former International hockey umpire Phulel Singh Sujlana passed away: The jovial Sujlana, who was also secretary of the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited (MHAL) for four years from 2000-2004 after being its vice president from 1997, donned quite a few hats in hockey, officiating first at the international level as an umpire at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.

Daily GK Updates - 4th December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Hailakhandi first in Assam to pay tea workers via bank account: Hailakandi has become the first district in Assam to pay wages to tea garden workers through individual bank accounts before the December 15 deadline set by the state government for cashless transactions to the plantation workers.

2. India to train Qatar Police to host FIFA World Cup 2022: The training arrangement was agreed upon during a meeting between Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.

3. India, Qatar ink pacts on visas, cyberspace and investments: India and Qatar has signed four agreements on visas, cyberspace and investments following delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani on key issues of energy, trade and security. PM Modi and the Qatari Prime Minister, who is in New Delhi on his first visit, discussed enhancing cooperation in defence and security, in particular in cybersecurity and agreed on joint action to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. The two sides inked five pacts including in the field of visas, cyberspace and investments.

4. PM Modi extends greetings to Indian Navy on Navy Day: The day is observed on 4th of December every year to celebrate the magnificence, achievements and role of the naval force to the country. During the India-Pakistan war of 1971, the Indian Navy played a significant role in the bombing of the Karachi harbor. The name of the operation was Operation Trident and it was launched on 4 December.

5. Heart of Asia’ conference has kicked off in Amritsar: The sixth 'Heart of Asia' ministerial conference has kicked off in Amritsar, Punjab from 03rd December 2016 to discuss peace, cooperation and economic development in Afghanistan. Delegates from nearly 40 countries will participate in the conference organised on the theme 'Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity'. The main conference has been inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister NarendraModi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Finance Minister ArunJaitley has led the Indian delegation in place of External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj, who is unwell.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. La La Land named best film by New York Film Critics Circle: Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling starrer romantic drama La La Land has been chosen as the best film of 2016 by the New York Film Critics Circle. The film, directed by Damien Chazelle, is widely tipped to be an Oscar frontrunner. The top award was the only win for the musical drama where Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight won three trophies each.

2. Elon Musk named most admired leader in technology: esla and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk has been named the most admired leader in the technology space, in a survey conducted by VC firm First Round Capital involving over 700 startup founders. Amazon's Jeff Bezos emerged as the second most admired technology leader, followed by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Steve Jobs.

3. Donald Trump names General Motors CEO to his advisory panel: US President-elect Donald Trump has named General Motors CEO Mary Barra to his economic and job-creation panel. The panel, set to meet for the first time in February, consists of CEOs from JPMorgan Chase, Walt Disney, Boeing, and other companies.

4. Universal Studios Hollywood named World’s Best Attraction: Universal Studios Hollywood has been named the Best Attraction in the World by ticket selling site 'AttractionTix'. The winners of the 2016 'Worldwide Attraction Awards' were announced across 19 different categories.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. PV Sindhu jumps two places in latest Badminton World Federation Rankings: Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu jumped two places to achieve her career-best ranking of seven in the latest BWF World Ranking, while SainaNehwal is also back in the top 10. Sindhu, who clinched the China Open and then reached the finals at the Hong Open, has 68,699 ranking points. She will carry India hopes at the Dubai Super Series Final, a prestigious tournament she qualified for the first time.

2. Indian women’s team beat Pakistan by 17 runs to win Asia Cup: India women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup T20 after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the regional tournament by 17 runs. Played in Bangkok, India had beaten Pakistan in the group stages too and made it two-in-two in the final on 04th December 2016.

3. Smith registers joint-highest score by an Aussie captain: Australian captain Steven Smith smashed a career-best 164(157) in the first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday, to equal Ricky Ponting's record for the highest individual score by an Aussie skipper. In the process, he also became the second batsman to score 1,000 ODI runs this year. Smith is the third Australian captain to score 150+ in an ODI innings.

AWARDS:

4. Indian contestant Srinidhi Shetty wins miss Supernatural crown: India's representative Srinidhi Shetty has been crowned Miss Supranational 2016, an international beauty pageant. This marks the second time that India has won the pageant following the win by Asha Bhat in 2014.

Daily GK Updates - 3rd December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nation pays tribute to RajendraPasad on his 131^stbirt anniversary: Remembering Rajendra Prasad, the first President of Independent India on the 131st birth anniversary on 03rd December 2016, Prime Minister NarendraModi said the nation bow to him forhis inspirational guidance in the time when India was getting freedom.Dr.Rajendra Prasad was an eminent freedom fighter, a renowned jurist, an eloquent parliamentarian, an able administrator, a statesman par excellence and above all, a humanist to the core. Dr.Rajendra Prasad, affectionately addressed as ‘RajenBabu’, was born at Village Ziradei in Saran district (now in Siwan) of Bihar on 03 December 1884.

2. Delhi’s airport world’s 22^nd connected : The Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi is the 22nd most connected airport in the world, according to air travel intelligence company OAG. Mumbai Airport has been ranked 28th,while OAG's 2016 Megahubs Index has been topped by Chicago Airport in the United States. Meanwhile, the Atlanta and Dallas Airports, also in the US, have ranked second and third.

3. Kolkata gets best cities award for tackling climate change: Kolkata, along with 10 other cities from across the globe, has been honoured with the best cities of 2016 award in recognition of its programme on solid wastemanagement. Kolkata, the only Indian city to win the honour, received the award during the C40 Mayors Summit held in Mexico. Other cities which won the award include Copenhagen, Sydney, and Paris.

4. Chitra Ramkrishna quits NSE, J.Ravichandran interim chief: Ramkrishna unexpectedly quit as chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE), ending her 24-year career at the country’s largest bourse that she helped found. Ramkrishna, who took over as head of the exchange in 2013, quit due to personal reasons, J Ravichandran, group president, will be in charge till the board appoints a new CEO.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed on 3^rd December:

International Day of Persons with Disabilities being observed on 03rd December 2016.Disability Day is a day that has been promoted by the United Nations since 1992. The aim of Disability Day is to encourage a better understanding of people affected by a disability, together with helping to make people more aware of the rights, dignity and welfare of disabled people, as well as raise awareness about the benefits of integrating disabled persons into every aspect of life. The theme of World Disability Day for 2016 is: Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want, which draws attention to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and how these goals can create a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.

2. Spanish city changes name for third time in a decade: A Spanish city has changed its name for the third time in adecade, renaming itself Palma from Palma de Mallorca. The regional government voted for the name change, claiming the "de Mallorca" tag to be a leftover from Spain’s centralist past. The city was renamed Palma in 2008, but its name was changed to Palma de Mallorca in 2012.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:                                                                                         

1. RBI defers Aadhaar-enabled devices: RBI defers mandatory implementation of Aadhar-enabled  PoS (Point of Sale) devices till June30,2017. The RBI said banks, authorised card payment networks and white-label ATM operators have time till June 30, 2017, for deployment of Aadhaar-enabled devices. The central bank said the rate of deployment of acceptance infrastructure has slowed owing to the mismatch between demand and supply of such Aadhaar-enabled devices. As there is currently a limited capacity to produce such devices.

2.Airtel Patments Bank to offer Talk-Time on new savings account: Airtel Payments Bank, the first payments bank in India introduce that any customer opening a savings account with it will get one minute of talk time on his/her Airtel mobile for every rupeedeposited.If a customer opens an account with a deposit of Rs1,000 then he/she will get 1,000 minutes of free talk time on his/her Airtel mobile number. The talk time can be used for calling all over India. This benefit is applicable on first time deposits only.The offer will be valid from Airtel to Airtel mobile minutes with a validity period of 30 days. 

3. Ruchi Soya to provide assistance to farmers: Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya Industries in association with State Bank of India (SBI) launched an initiative to provide banking assistance to farmers.To start off, banking assistance will be provided to soybean farmers in Indore, Samwer, Manglia and Ujjain mandis in Madhya Pradesh.The company will further plans to expand this initiative across the country in states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.Under the initiative ‘KisanKalyanAyojan’, the company will help farmers to open bank accounts, procure the produce directly from farmers at the right price and ensure farmers get their payment immediately through internet banking.

SPORTS:

4.Usain Bolt wins a record sixth “Athelte of the Year” award: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the International Association of Athletics Federations' award for male athlete of the year for a record sixth time on Friday. He last won the award in 2013, while his first win came in 2008. Bolt, who is undefeated this season in all distances, completed his 'triple-triple' of 100-metres, 200-metres and 4x100-metres Olympic golds in August. 

AWARDS:

5. UAE-based Indian wins International Children’s Peace Prize: A 16-year-old Indian girl based in the UAE has won this year's International Children's Peace Prizevfor her fight for climate justice and combating environmental degradation. KehkashanBasuwaspresented the award by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus at The Hague. At the age of 12, Kehkashan founded her organisation Green Hope, which now has operations in over 10 countries.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India’s GDP growth stays healthy at 7.3 in Q2: The Central Statistical Office has announced that India’s Gross Domestic Product accelerated to 7.3 % in the second quarter (July-September) of the 2016-17 financial year from a provisional 7.1 % expansion in the previous quarter. On the other hand, the Gross Value Added (GVA) increased to 7.1 percent. While GDP growth accelerated in the second quarter from the 7.1 percent seen in the April-June quarter, GVA growth slowed from the 7.3 percent registered in that period.

2. Union HRD Minister launches “Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan’: Union HRD Minister launches 'Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan' to use the network of Centrally-run educational institutions for propagating the benefits of digital mode of payment in wake of the government’s demonetisation move. 

3. Maharashtra gets its first cashless village: The Maharashtra Finance Minister, Sudhir Mugantiwar announced that Dhasai village in Thane district has become the first "cashless village" in Maharashtra amidst the Centre's push for the digital transaction. All payments in the Dhasai village are being done through plastic money. Traders, vegetable and fruit vendors and others providing goods and services in Dhasai are using swipe machines for cashless transactions.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UNESCO includes Yoga in Intangible Cultural Heritage list: Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices to keep oneself healthy, has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It was inscribed on the list during the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The declaration describing Yoga as a Human Treasure got unanimous support of the 24 members of the Committee.

2. Nihonium becomes Asia’s first Periodic table element discovery:Chemistry’s highest gatekeepers have accepted the newly proposed names for elements 113(Nihonium), 115(Moscovium), 117( Tennessine) and 118(Oganesson).Periodic Table elements with atomic number 113, Nihonium (Nh) has become the first ever element to be discovered by an Asian country after it was officially revealed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).Along with three other elements that helped to complete the Periodic table, Nihonium was discovered and proposed by the RIKEN collaboration team in Japan.

3. Pak-China start direct rail and freight service: China and Pakistan have launched a direct rail and sea freight service with the first cargo train departing from China’s south-western Yunnan province. The service was launched with the first cargo train loaded with 500 tonnes of commodities left Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, an inland province in south-west China departed for Karachi, state-run Xinhua reported.

4.Emirates launches shortest service on world’s largest Plane:.Emirates launched the world's shortest scheduled service on an Airbus A380, flying it from Dubai to Doha in 80 minutes. The 378-kilometre route is the shortest on which an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, is used. The double-decker aircraft has 14 first class suites, 76 business class flat-bed seats and 429 economy class seats.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1.  Magnus Carlsen wins 2016 Worlds Chess Championship:Magnus Carlsen won the 2016 World Chess Championship on 30 November 2016 in New York City, USA.Carlsen defeated Sergey Karjakin to retain the World Chess Champion title. It’s the third time that Carlsen has won the championship.

2.   India’s Football Federation wins Asian Award: The All-India Football Federation has won the Asian Football Council's Developing Member Association of the Year Award in Abu Dhabi.The award is given on the basis of organisation of courses, seminars and competitions, grassroots, youth development and women's programmes and special projects. In 2014, AIFF had earlier won the AFC President's Recognition Award for grassroots football.

AWARDS:

3.  Katy Perry awarded the Humanitarian Award at UNICEF.

Daily GK Updates - 1st December, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography ‘Playing it my way’ named Book of the Year: The autobiography of India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar “Playing it my way” has won the prestigious Crossword Book of the Year Award in the Autobiography category. The book is penned by renowned cricket historian and Tendulkar’s close friend BoriaMajumdar.Earlier, it also had entered the Limca Book of World Records for being the best-selling adult hardback across both fiction and non-fiction.

2. Andhra CM Chandrababu to head central committee to promote e-payments: NITI Aayog, under the banner of the Union Government, on 30 November 2016 constituted a 13-member committee to promote cashless economy. The committee will be headed by Andhra Pradesh CM ChandrababuNaidu.The committee will be formed by Chief Ministers of various states representing different political parties to examine and promote the use of digital payment systems across the country.

3. Naveen Patnaik inaugurates Tata Steel’s 55,000 TPA ferro-chrome plant in Gopalpur: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurates the 55,000-tonne per annum (TPA) Odisha ferro-chrome plant set up by Tata Steel at a cost of Rs 542 crore in its Gopalpur Industrial Park in Ganjam district. The plant is a unique environment-friendly unit with state-of-the-art pollution control equipment and technology such as ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) and STP (Sewage Treatment Plant).

4. National Anthem must be played in theatres before movies, orders Supreme Court: A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said that “People must show respect to the national anthem and the national flag and pay respect to the anthem.

5. Himachal Pradesh Raj Bhawan adopts cashless system after PM’s appeal: Raj Bhawan of Himachal Pradesh has adopted the cashless system for all kind of payments. Governor Acharya Devvrat has directed Raj Bhawan’s official in Shimla to use a cashless system or cheque in all kinds of payments.

6. 15 new castes to be included in Central OBC list: The Union Government has approved inclusion of 15 new castes and modification of 13 other castes in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) on 30 November,2016.

7. Government approves Rs 2,000 crore for displaced families from POK: Union Cabinet has approved Rs 2,000 Cr development package for one-time settlement of 36,384 displaced families from Pakistan occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Chhamb. It followed the announcement of the Prime Minister’s Development Package for Jammu and Kashmir in November last year.

8. Cabinet approves Mumbai Urban Transport Project: The Union Cabinet has approved the Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase-III estimated to cost Rs 10,947 crores on completion. The Cabinet was chaired by the Prime Minister NarendraModi. The project is expected to be completed in the next five years during 13th Five Year Plan period.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Aids Day: 1^st December: World AIDS Day is observed across the world on 1st December annually. The theme for 2016 World Aids Day is ‘Hands Up for HIV Prevention’.The day is observed to raise awareness to the Aids pandemic caused by the spread of the HIV infection.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Federal Bank ties up with Spice Digital: Federal Bank has tied up with Spice Digital for cash management services through the bank’s e-collection facility. As per the arrangement, 20,000 plus retail outlets of Spice Digital can now remit its cash collection at the Federal Bank branches pan India.