Daily GK Updates - 14th March, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Government launches Mission Fingerling to achieve Blue Revolution: The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare has launched Mission Fingerling to achieve the Blue Revolution by enabling holistic development and management of fisheries. The programme will enhance the fisheries production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21.

Fish Fingerling production is the single most important critical input visualized to achieve fish production targets under the Blue Revolution.

2. Women Safety app ‘Ammavin Aran’ launched by AIADMK: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) IT Wing has launched the women safety application 'Ammavin Aran' in Tamil Nadu.

The app will give the user details about the nearest police station and hospital along with map details and phone number. 

The app carries an in-built call recorder and 'Tips' icon to provide life- saving information.

3. Rs. 605-crore ‘KCR Kit’ scheme for pregnant women, new born: Focussing on women welfare and new born, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has come out with an innovative scheme – KCR Kit. The scheme is designed to address complications during the time of pregnancy and aimed at reducing infant mortality rate and encourage institutional deliveries. The KCR Kit consists of 16 essential things needed for a new-born and will be useful for up to three months. The government proposes to earmark Rs605 crore for the scheme.

4. Admiralty Bill  by Lok Sabha: Lok Sabha passes The Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims Bill which is also known as Admiralty Bill. Mr. Mansukh Madaviya has introduced the bill who is the Minister of State for Shipping on 16th November 2017.

5. SSB signs a MoU with National Skill Development Corporation: Sashastra Seema Bal signs a Memorandum with the NSDC popularly known as National Skill Development Corporation tp increase the skills of the individuals and their families. As a result, It is a step towards the development of India. Archana Ramasundaram is the Director of Sashastra Seema Bal.

6. New Chief Justices in High Courts of various states in India: In various states in India like Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, new Chief Justices are appointed in the High Courts. Justice Hemant Gupta, the Judge of Patna court is now the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Rajendra Menon, the judge of Madhya Pradesh Court is now the Chief Justice of Patna.

7. Arunachal Pradesh Launches Adarsh Gram Yojana for Rural Poor: The Arunachal Pradesh government has launched a new scheme 'Adarsh Gram Yojana' to reach the poor people in rural areas of the state to serve them better.

Under the scheme, 123 villages will be developed as “Model Villages” during the FY 17-18.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Vienna tops the list of cities offering the highest quality of life (research by consulting firm Mercer’s): While Baghdad is again considered the worst place to live. This survey of 231 cities helps companies and organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. Singapore was the highest ranked Asian city, at 25 while 29th-placed San Francisco was the United States’ highest entry.

2. Pakistan is set to conduct its first national census in 19 years: With the assistance of over 200,000 troops, Pakistan will conduct its national census. The National census will be conducted in two phases from 15th March and will be completed on 25th May 2017.

3. Bangladesh’s unanimously adopted a resolution declaring 25th March as Genocide Day:  The day will be observed in remembrance of the atrocities carried out by the Pakistani Army in the night of 25th March, 1971.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. OnePlus India Ropes Amitabh Bachchan as its New Brand Ambassador: Chinese smartphone company OnePlus has roped in Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan as its new brand ambassador for India. Mr Bachchan is the first major face that OnePlus India is associating with for its latest flagship smartphone, OnePlus 3T. With this, Amitabh Bachchan has now joined the first-ever 'OnePlus Star' which is a select group of distinguished OnePlus users.

2. Intel to buy Mobileye for $ 15.3 billion: U.S. chip giant Intel has agreed to buy Israeli driverless technology firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion, the largest ever acquisition of an Israeli high-tech company. The $63.54 per share cash deal is the world's biggest purchase of a company solely focused on the autonomous driving sector. 

Mobileye accounts for 70 percent of the global market for advanced driver-assistance and anti-collision systems.

3. KPMG elects Bill Thomas as Global Chairman: William B Thomas has been elected Chairman of KPMG International. He will lead the KPMG global network of professional services firms for a 4-year term, effective October 1, 2017, succeeding John B Veihmeyer who is completing his term as Chairman and retiring from the firm, at the end of September 2017.

SPORTS:

4. Winners of 2017 All England Championship Title of Badminton:

Men’s Single: Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei won the 2017 All England Championship Title of Badminton by defeating China’s Shi Yuqi by 21-12, 21-10 score.

Women’s Single: Tai Tzu-ying (China) won the title by defeating Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) by 21-16, 22-20 score. 

Men’s Double: Indonesia’s Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo won the title by defeating China’s Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen by 21-19, 21-14 score. 

Women’s Double: South Korea’s Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee won the title by defeating Denmark’s Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen by 21-18, 21-13 score. 

Mixed Double: China’s Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong won the title by defeating Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh by 18-21, 21-19, 21-14 score.

5. Punjab wins 2017 Santosh Trophy of Football: Punjab has won the 71st Santosh Trophy football tournament by defeating Railways by 2-1 goals. 

It was Punjab’s overall ninth Santosh Trophy after it had earlier won it in 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, 2006 and 2007. 

Daily GK Updates - 13th March, 2017

­­­­                     NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Narendra Kumar appointed as new Chairman of Central Water Commission: Union Government has appointed Narendra Kumar as the new chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC).

2. Arun Jaitley given additional charge of Defence Ministry: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been given the additional charge of the Defence Ministry after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted Manohar Parrikar's resignation. Parrikar resigned as the Defence Minister to head the BJP-led alliance in Goa as the Chief Minister.

3. BJP to announce Uttar Pradesh CM on March 16: The Bharatiya Janata Party will announce the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on March 16. This comes after BJP parliamentary board met on Sunday and nominated Anil Jain and Kailash Vijayvargiya as observers for a BJP legislative party meeting convened in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP won UP elections with a massive majority, winning 325 of the 403 seats.

4. Mulayam defends son, says no single person behind UP loss: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav defended his son and outgoing CM Akhilesh Yadav for the party's loss in the UP elections, saying no one person is responsible for the defeat. "It seems that we were unable to impress the people. Everyone is responsible for the loss," Mulayam said. SP won just 47 seats in UP against BJP's 325 seats.

5. BJP won 78% of the seats where PM Modi campaigned: PM Narendra Modi had covered 180 seats across five states to campaign for the recent assembly elections and the BJP and allies won 140 (nearly 78%) of those constituencies. Modi addressed 23 rallies and held two roadshows covering 118 seats in UP and BJP won 99 of them. In comparison, Congress won 22% of the seats where Rahul Gandhi campaigned.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  China warns of trade war if US imposes tariffs on its goods: China has warned of a trade war with the US if President Donald Trump's administration decides to unilaterally impose tariffs on its goods, ignoring WTO rulings. This comes after Trump told the Congress that America is not bound by WTO decisions. Branding China as a currency manipulator, Trump had threatened to impose 45% tariffs on Chinese goods.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Indian boxers to miss international championship due to visa delay: Indian boxers will miss the Chemistry Cup in Germany owing to a delay in procuring the visas. The sport's national federation has assured that the boxers will be compensated by being sent for another event soon. Federation officials came to know that visa applications have to be directed from the regions players belong to instead of the Delhi-based centralised process.

Daily GK Updates - 12th March, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India successfully test-fires new BrahMos supersonic cruise missile: India successfully test-fired an extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Chandipur Integrated Test Range, off the Odisha coast.

The strike range of the new BrahMos missile has been enhanced from 290 to 450 km.

2. PM Narendra Modi launches #IAmNewIndia campaign: PM Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled #IAmNewIndia, a nation-building exercise on the NaMo App, which is "a pledge to build a new India".

3. 'Dangal' won the viewer's choice best film award at 2017 Zee Cine Awards: Alia Bhatt (for Udta Punjab) and Amitabh Bachchan(for Pink) have won Best Actor Female and Best Actor Male awards respectively at Zee Cine Awards 2017.

'Dangal' won the Viewer's Choice Best Film award.

Salman Khan (Best Actor) and Anushka Sharma (Best Actress) for their film 'Sultan' based on votes by viewers. Further, the song 'Channa Mereya' from the film 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' was named the Viewer's Choice Song of the Year.

4. Venkaiah Naidu Inaugurates India’s Largest Waste-To-Power Plant in New Delhi: The North Delhi Municipal Corporation launched India’s largest municipal waste-to-power plant at Narela-Bawana in New Delhi on March 10, 2017.

The 24 megawatt (MW) Narela-Bawana waste-to-energy plant was inaugurated by the Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu at the Civic Centre.

5. Exhibition “Revolutionary Patriots (1905-1947)” inaugurated: On the occasion of 127th Foundation Day of National Archives of India (NAI), an exhibition entitled “Revolutionary Patriots (1905-1947)” was inaugurated by Shri N.K. Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture in the presence of Shri Raghvendra Singh, Director General of NAI and many dignitaries. 

6.  India’s Largest Floating Solar PV Plant Installed by NTPC in Kerala: State-run National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has installed India’s largest floating Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Plant at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant (RGCCPP) at Kayamkulam in Kerala on March 10, 2017.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Thai contestant wins transgender beauty pageant: Thai contestant Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin was crowned Miss International Queen 2016 on Friday at a contest billed as the world's largest and most popular transgender pageant. The contest was held at the Tiffany's nightclub in the Thai seaside town of Pattaya.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Paytm withdraws 2% fee on adding money to mobile wallets using credit cards: Paytm has withdrawn the 2 % fee on adding money to mobile wallets using credit cards, after introducing the levy.

The company had introduced the fee after finding multiple users using its platform to get free credit by using credit cards to top up their mobile wallets and then transferring the money back to their bank accounts at zero transaction cost.

BANKING:

2. Karnataka Bank, Bajaj Allianz sign MoU on general insurance business: Mangalore based Karnataka Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pune based Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company for General Insurance business on March 10, 2017

OBITUARIES:

3. Chemistry Nobel laureate George Olah dies aged 89: Hungarian–American chemist George Olah was passed away in in Beverly Hills, USA. He was 89. Olah received the chemistry Nobel prize for his work on carbocations via superacids in 1994. He also won the Széchenyi Grand Prize of Hungary and the American Chemical Society’s Priestley Medal.

Daily GK Updates - 11th March, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BJP wins UP, Uttarakhand: Akhilesh Yadav submitted his resignation as UP chief minister to governor Ram Naik. BJP+AP has won 324 seats, SP 48, BSP 19, INC 07 & OTH 04.

In Uttarakhand - BJP has won 57 seats, Congress 11 & Other 02. 

2. President of India inaugurates the 12th CII-Exim bank conclave on India Africa Project Partnership: President Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated the two-day 12th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership in New Delhi.The first conclave has held in 2005.

It was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the EXIM Bank of India with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.

3. Government releases draft rules for wallet companies: In a bid to make transactions through e-wallets safer and strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism for consumers, a government has released a set of guidelines for wallet firms.

The draft Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules 2017 which have been released for public consultation by the ministry of electronics and IT cover an entire spectrum such as protecting consumer information, especially financial data. 

The Rules mandate that each Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) company or wallet firm will have a privacy policy posted on its website. It will also have to appoint a chief grievance officer, the contact details of whom will have to be prominently displayed on the website. The grievance officer will have to "act upon" any complaint within 36 hours and "close" it in a month's time. 

4. Congress wins Punjab: The Congress party has registered a landslide victory in Punjab Assembly elections, winning 77 seats in the 117-member house. 

Congress has won 77 seats, SAD+BJP 18, AAP 20 & OTHERS 02.

5. NTPC commissions 45 MW of Bhadla solar plant: India’s largest power generator NTPC Ltd has commissioned another 45 Megwatt (MW) capacity solar power plant at Bhadla in Rajasthan. With this, the company’s total installed capacity has become 48,188 MW.

6. Germany’s KfW, EESL in energy efficiency pact: The German Development Bank (KfW) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has signed a loan agreement for €200 million to enhance energy efficiency in India. EESL will invest these funds in energy efficiency in buildings, households, street lighting, agriculture, water supply and industry.  KfW also signed a funding deal of €500,000 with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) to maintain solar projects.

7. Four States come together for elephant census: For the first time in India, four states Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have decided to conduct a synchronised elephant census in May 2017. 

These four together have the maximum number of human-elephant conflict-prone regions in India.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. IBM Researchers Creates World’s Smallest Magnet to Store Single Bit Data: A team of researchers at IBM has created the world’s smallest magnet using a single atom which can store one bit of data on it.Currently, hard disk drives use about 100,000 atoms to store a single bit.

2. Cyclone in Madagascar – kills 3 people and 500 homeless: Tropical Cyclone Enawo in Madagascar took the lives of 3 people and made 500 people homeless. The cyclone was at the extreme level. The country has given a red alert for the danger-prone areas.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Ford Foundation appoints Pradeep Nair as regional director for India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka: New York-based Ford Foundation has appointed Pradeep Nair as regional director for India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.Nair will take charge at the end of March from David Hulse.

BANKING:

2. RBI Restricts Cash Loan Against Gold by NBFC to Rs 25,000: Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) cannot lend more than Rs 25,000 in cash against gold. RBI reduced the amount to Rs 25,000 from the earlier Rs 1 lakh in line with the provisions of the Income Tax Act.

SPORTS:

3. Sachin Tendulkar appointed as official ambassador of women’s World Cup 2017: International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar as the official ambassador of Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017. The women’s World Cup is scheduled to be held in June 2017 at England and Wales.

Daily GK Updates - 10th March, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India-Belgium signs Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and Protocol: India and Belgium have signed an agreement to amending the existing Agreement and Protocol between the two countries for avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income in New Delhi.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Sushil Chandra, Chairman CBDT and Jan Luykx, Ambassador of Belgium to India.  

2.  Maternity Benefit Bill, 2016 passed by the Parliament: Under the recommendations of the bill, Bill, 2016, working women in all establishments (either public or private) will be entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave.

If a woman adopts a child below 3 months of age, she will be entitled to 12 weeks leave from the date the child is handed over to her. This entitlement will be applicable for the first two children. For the 3rd child, any women will be granted 12 weeks of maternity leave.

3. Himachal Pradesh launches mobile App ‘Mera Hunar’ : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has launched mobile App and website ‘Mera Hunar HP’, a first of its kind in the country.‘Mera Hunar’ is a web based platform where the skilled, semi-skilled persons can apply for various jobs as per their convenience like plumber, carpenter, mechanic, security guards, drivers, tourists guides, etc online. The platform is available both in English and Hindi.

4. Tamil Nadu launches Rs 1,580 crore housing scheme: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami launched a housing scheme estimated at Rs 1,580 crore. The scheme was being implemented by the state government with Central assistance for the economically poor. In the year 2016-17, concrete houses will be constructed for 50,170 beneficiaries in town panchayat limits.

5. Odisha govt launches 181 helpline for distressed women: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched 24*7  helpline number 181 to assist women in distress on the occasion of International Women’s Day (8th March 2017). A woman from any part of the Odisha can dial 181 to get immediate assistance.

6. HDFC Bank digitizes over 1200 dairy co-operatives across India: Private sector lender HDFC Bank has digitised payments at over 1,200 dairy co-operatives in the country. It benefits 3.2 lakh dairy farmers across 16 states under the aegis of its Milk to Money (M2M) programme.

Launched in 2010, M2M is aimed at bringing dairy farmers into the organized banking system, digitising the entire dairy value chain.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pakistan adopts Hindu marriage law: The Pakistani parliament has adopted the landmark Hindu Marriage Law to regulate the community's marriages in the country. 

According to the bill, the minimum age of 18 has been prescribed for marriage.

The law will be applicable in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

2. Park Geun-Hye, South Korean President removed from office: The Constitutional court has removed South Korean President, Park Geun-Hye from the office. The impeachment was carried out over allegations of corruption and cronyism on Park.The new president will now be elected by South Korea within 60 days.

Hwang Kyo-ahn will serve as the acting president meanwhile.

3. Donald Tusk re-elected as European Council’s President: Tusk has been re-elected for a term of two and a half year by 27 to one votes. Poland, Tusk’s home country was the only one to oppose his election. He’ll take over the office from 1st June 2017.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Google acquires Kaggle for undisclosed amount to boost data play: Technology giant Google has announced to acquire a start-upKaggle which hosts a number of data scientists for an undisclosed amount at the Cloud Next 2017 conference.

BANKING:

2. RBI Will Soon Introduce New Rs 10 Notes with More Security Features: The Reserve Bank of India on March 9, 2017 notified that it is soon going to issue Rs. 10 denomination notes with enhanced security features for circulation.

Besides, RBI also notified that all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued in the past will also continue to be legal tender.

The note will be in the Mahatma Gandhi series-2005 and carry inset letter ‘L’ on both number panels. Rs.10 Numerals on both the panels will be in ascending size from left to right. The first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.

HONOURS & AWARDS:

3. Konkani author Mahabaleshwar Sail gets Saraswati Samman: Eminent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail has been honoured with the 26th Saraswati Samman 2016 for his novel ‘Hawthan’. The selection for the award, is made by a jury presided by former chief justice A S Anand. Sail is a renowned bi-lingual writer who has four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his credit.

Daily GK Updates - 9th March, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.  Girl child ratio increases to 938 per 1000 male: Haryana: The Haryana govt. has informed that the girl child ratio has increased to 938 per 1000 male children in February in Haryana. In January 2017, the registered girl child ratio was 922.

The gradual increase in the ratio of girl child is the result of effective implementation of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme.

2. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah launches 'Pratibimba' to project achievements:  Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched a comprehensive web-based platform Pratibimba to showcase the government’s performance and achievements to the citizens. This dash board will serve as a tool to improve efficiency in governance and allow citizens to track government’s progress.It is available both in English and Kannada.  After Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka has such dash board which will help to report, track and measure departmental performance on programmes, projects and promises made by the government.

3. 2-day North-East Business Summit begins in New Delhi: A two-day North-East Business Summit (NEBS) begins in New Delhi. The summit aims to display the strengths, potentials, and initiatives of the North-East, promote investment the region and also have focused deliberations on strategic areas like healthcare, connectivity, agriculture, food processing and energy.  The Summit will also showcase the untapped business potential of North-East to investors worldwide.

4. INS Tillanchang commissioned by Indian Navy: India Navy has commissioned INS Tillanchang at Karwar, Karnataka. It is a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) It is the third ship of four follow-on WJFAC built by the Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE).  The first two ships INS Tarmugli and INS Tihayu which were commissioned in 2016.

5. India Has Highest Bribery Rate Among 16 Asia-Pacific Nations: According to the Global Corruption Barometer released by Transparency International (TI), in Berlin for 16 Asia Pacific countries India tops the list for being the most corrupt nation. According to the survey, about 69 percent of the population in India paid bribe to get their work done. India was followed by Vietnam (65%), Thailand (41%), Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar, each with 40%.  Besides, China (26%) was one of the least corrupt nations and it was the lowest in Japan (0.2%).

6. Vice President Hamid Ansari Attends IORA Summit in Jakarta: Vice President Hamid Ansari was on a two-day visit to Indonesia to attend the 21-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia from March 6-7, 2017. The theme of Summit is ‘Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean’. IORA has 21 member states, including Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, and Yemen.

7.  'India by Nile' fest to begin in Egypt: India has organized the fifth edition of the mega cultural festival 'India by the Nile' in Egypt on 8th March to showcase the diversity of the country's culture, arts and cuisine for building enduring partnership between the two ancient civilizations. For the first time, the Indian flag will be projected onto the Giza Pyramids as part of the celebration. The festival, to be held in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Port Said and Ismaila governorates from March 8 to April 27, 2017. It is the largest cultural foreign festival in Egypt and has been a great success in the country.

8. India launches Stage II of HCFC Phase Out Management Plan: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched Stage II of HCFCs Phase Out Management Plan (HPMP) for the 2017-23 period.  It aims to phase out use of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), harmful ozone-depleting substances (ODS) by switching over to non-ozone depleting and low global warming potential technologies.

9. D. Bala Venkatesh Varma concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to Andorra: IFS officer, D. Bala Venkatesh Varma has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of lndia to the Principality of Andorra, with residence in Madrid (Spain). Venkatesh was presently working as the ambassador of lndia to the Kingdom of Spain.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. China's Parliament approves Prez Xi Jinping as core leader: China's Parliament has approved President Xi Jinping as the core leader, elevating him to a status higher than others in the ruling Communist Party of China's collective leadership system. The core leader status, that had earlier been approved by the Communist Party, puts him at par with party founder Mao Zedong reinforcing his hold over all the organs of power.

2. CIA contractors source of WikiLeaks release: US officials: US officials on Wednesday said that CIA contractors likely breached security and handed over documents about the agency's use of hacking tools to whistleblower organisation WikiLeaks. Intelligence agencies have been aware of the breach since the end of last year, they added. The officials further said that the documents about CIA hacking techniques used between 2013 and 2016 were authentic.

3. US, Russia set up buffer zones to protect Kurdish town: In their first team up, the US and Russia have created buffer zones in Syria to protect the Kurdish town of Manbij from being seized by their common ally Turkey, which threatened to capture it last week. The US considers Kurdish forces allies in the fight against the Islamic State while Turkey considers Kurds as terrorists.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1.  Ashwin, Jadeja jointly ranked number one in ICC Test rankings: India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have become the first pair of spinners to be jointly top-ranked in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as Jadeja has caught up with his spin-partner in the rankings after the second Test against Australia in Bengaluru.  

2.  Vijay Goel constitutes committee to look into women players' grievances: The sports minister Vijay Goel has constituted a high-level committee to look in to the grievances of women players in New Delhi. The five- member (two- woman player and one sports journalist) committee will be headed by Joint Secretary of Sports Ministry. The government will soon start a diploma course for women coaches.

First “Gramin Khel Mahotsav” will be held from 25th to 31st March in New Delhi.

This festival will help participation of rural youth in large numbers in popular sports and encourage them to achieve excellence and adopt healthy life style.

3. India beat Belarus 3-1 to clinch series 5-0: The Indian women’s hockey team defeated Belarus 3-1 to make a clean sweep of the five-match Test series (5-0) in Bhopal. For India, Vandana Katariya, Gurjit Kaur and Rani (Captain) scored one each, while Yuliya Mikheichyk scored the solitary goal for Belarus.

4. Cuevas wins third Brasil Open tennis title:  Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay) has won his third consecutive Brazil Open title by beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spain) 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4 in a final. It was Cuevas' sixth career ATP singles title

BANKING:

5. IDFC Aadhaar Pay launched: IDFC Bank has launched India’s first biometric-based payment system 'Aadhaar Pay' in New Delhi. The Aadhaar Pay app has been developed by IDFC Bank under the guidance of the Ministry of IT, NITI Aayog, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The android app will use the fingerprint of the customer as a digital identity. Customers simply need to select their bank’s name and enter their Aadhaar number in the merchant’s phone.

  

HONOURS & AWARDS:

6. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wins the best actress award for Sarabjit: The actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has won the Best Actress award for her performance in Sarbjit at the International Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA).

The film “Sarabjit“ was based on the story of an Indian national Sarabjit Singh (Randeep Hooda) who was punished by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on the charges of spying. Sarbjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) fought for him for years to get him back to the country.

Daily GK Updates - 8th March, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government launches Web Portal for obtaining CRZ Clearances:  The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched the web portal for obtaining Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances. The portal is a web-based system for obtaining clearances required from the Ministry under the (CRZ) by the Project proponents for ease of doing business.

2. Government announces new licensing policy to boost oil output: The Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has announced new Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) for oil and gas exploration. The new policy will allow bidders to carve out areas where they want to drill. It will help energy hungry India and world’s third-largest oil consumer to attract greater foreign investment to boost output.

3. Prez Pranab Mukherjee honours Asia's first woman diesel engine driver: Mumbai motorwoman Mumtaz M. Kazi was honoured with this years "Nari Shakti Award" by President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday. Kazi is presently a motorwoman piloting suburban locals trains of Central Railway on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.

4. International Yoga fest to begin today in New Delhi: Today, the two-day International Yoga fest has been inaugurated by the union Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu at Talkatora stadium in New Delhi. More than 3,500 participants including yoga gurus, yoga masters, scholars, policy makers and representatives from 15- 18 countries has participated in this event. It will comprise parallel yoga workshop, lectures, Satsang, cultural programs and yoga demos. A half-day seminar will be conducted on Life Sketch and contributions of two Yoga Gurus ‘Swami Ved Bharati’ and ‘T K V Desikachar’ for the promotion and development of Yoga.

5. CBSE introduces mobile application for class 10th,12th students locate their exam centers: The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has introduced a mobile application 'Exam Locator' to help students appearing for class 10th and 12th examinations locate their exam centres. The App will help students to quickly know the exam centre (address, images, and geolocation) on the basis of their roll number. A student or a parent will have to register using mobile number to receive one time password which will help the user log in to the mobile application. The user can then access information by selecting the option class X or XII and entering the roll number.

6. IISc becomes first Indian university to be ranked among top 10 in world: The Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bangalore has become the first Indian educational institution to make it to the top 10 of a global ranking for universities. The IISc has been ranked eighth in the Times Higher Education Rankings, 2017 in the best small universities category. It joined the elite list that includes California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from the US, Ecole Normale Superieure from France and Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea. Small universities are those with a student strength of less than 5,000. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings was founded in 2004 by the UK-based Times Higher Education magazine. Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has congratulated IISc for the recognition. IISc, a public university for scientific research and higher education, was established in 1909 with active support from Jamsetji Tata and Sir Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore.

7. Giriraj Singh launches air conditioned jacket made of cotton fabric: The Union Minister Giriraj Singh has launched the first of its kind Air Conditioned jacket made of cotton fabric in Nawada district of Bihar. This jacket has been made by a villager of Khanwa of the district through Solar charkha using swadeshi technology.  Climate gear has been fitted in this jacket which controls temperature. The cost of this jacket price would be decided by NITI AAYOG.

8. India tops in bribery rate among 16 Asia-Pacific nations: Transparency International:  According to recent survey released by Transparency International (TI), India had highest bribery rate among the 16 Asia-Pacific countries surveyed between July 2015 and January 2017. The survey was conducted among more than 21,000 people in the region. It revealed that more than one in four people, when accessing basic services like medicine, education or water.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Commonwealth launches Peace in the Home programme to stamp out domestic violence: The Commonwealth of Nations has launched “Peace in the home” programme to help member states tackle domestic violence which still remains a “stubborn stain” on communities, disproportionately impacting women. The programme was launched on Women’s Day (March 8) and will continue through till 2018 when there is expected to be an accord on ending domestic violence in the Commonwealth.

2. International Women's Day being observed on 8th March: International Women's Day is observed globally on 8th March every year. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The theme of International Women's Day (IWD) 2017 campaign is'Be Bold For Change'.  IWD has been observed since in the early 1900's - a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. IWD is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action - whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, it has been occurring for well over a century and continues to grow from strength to strength.

3. EU launched 5th satellite of Copernicus observation program: The European Unio ((EU).) has launched the fifth satellite of the Copernicus observation program. It will cut the time of imaging the earth by half and improve the services for farmers, fishermen and other users of land and sea maps. The program is aimed at improving the life of EU communities by providing near-real-time global environment data.

                       OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Man has world record for 1,871 underwater skips in one hour: Professional rope skipper Peter Nestler from the United States is recognised by the Guinness World Records for the 'most underwater rope jumps in one hour' with 1,871 skips. Nestler established the record in October 2014. He also has the record for most skips in one hour at 12,702 skips.

2. Cuevas wins third Brasil Open tennis title: Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas won his third consecutive Brasil Open title by beating Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a final. Rogério Dutra Silva (Brazil) and André Sá (Brazil), defeated Marcus Daniell (New Zealand) and Marcelo Demoliner (Brazil) in Doubles Men's Category.

BANKING:

3. SBI launches 'Work from Home' facility for employees: Country's largest lender State Bank of India launched a new facility to enable its employees to 'work from home'. The Board of the bank has recently approved the 'Work from Home' policy to enable its employees to work while at home using mobile devices to address any urgent requirement they may have, that prevents their travel to work.

4. China overtakes eurozone as world’s biggest bank system: According to the Financial Times, China’s banking system has overtaken the eurozone  to become the world’s biggest by assets. Statistics show Chinese bank assets hit $33 trillion at the end of 2016, versus $31 trillion for the eurozone. US assets stood at $16 trillion and the Japanese at $7 trillion. The value of China’s banking system is more than 3.1 times the size of the country’s annual economic output, compared with 2.8 times for the eurozone and its banks.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

5. Fitch Estimates Indian Economy to Grow 7.1% in 2016-17: Global rating agency Fitch stated that Indian economy will grow by7.1% in the current fiscal, 2016-2017 before stepping up to 7.7% in the next two financial years. The US-based agency, however, termed the 7% GDP growth for the October-December, 2016 quarter as surprising, a tad lower than 7.4% in the previous quarter. 

HONOURS & AWARDS:

6. Actress Viola Davis named Harvard ‘Artist of the Year’ award: Viola Davis has honored with the Harvard foundation 'Artist of the Year-2017 award" in Cambridge. Recently, She has won an Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild Award for the best-supporting actress female for her performance as Rose Maxson in the film adaptation of August Wilson’s play ‘Fences’.