Daily GK Updates - 6th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 14th India-EU Summit in New Delhi: The 14th India and European summit held in New Delhi, to remove hurdles to implementation of free trade agreement.Donald Franciszek Tusk (President of European Council) and Jean-Claude Juncker (President of the European Commission) accompanied by a high-level delegation including EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European commission Federica Mogherini.India-EU Business Event will also be organized, on the sidelines of the Summit.

2.First ASEAN India Music Festival to be held at Purana Qila today: The First ever three-day ASEAN-India Music Festival to be held at Purana Quila in New Delhi.The Festival aims to boost cultural influences among the peoples of the ASEAN member states and India.The festival has been organized by the External Affairs ministry in collaboration Culture Ministry to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations.

3. India’s first-ever Industrial Training Institute for the Divyangans will come up in Assam: India’s first-ever Industrial Training Institute (ITI) for the Divyangans will come up in Assam. Recently, the foundation stone for the institute was laid at Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah in Assam. As per the guidelines of National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT), the ITI will have sixty seats for three different trades with 20 seats per trade. The three different trades included in the curriculum are Computer Operator and Programming Assistant, Cutting and Sewing Technology and Hair & Skin Care.

                      

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Mongolian Parliament Confirms New Prime Minister: The Mongolian Parliament confirmed Ukhnaa Khurelsukh as the country's new Prime Minister (30th).His confirmation comes after Jargaltulga Erdenebat was voted out of office over allegations of corruption and incompetence.Earlier, Mr. Khurelsukh served in the army and joined the parliament as a member in 2000.

2. India & Ethiopia sign agreements on trade, communication: India and Ethiopia have signed agreements to boost bilateral ties after talks between President Ram Nath Kovind and his Ethiopian counterpart Mulatu Teshome on trade, communication, and media at Addis Ababa(Ethiopia).The President thanked Ethiopia for its participation in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource-rich countries and promote the use of solar energy. They also addressed the India-Ethiopia Business Dialogue and released a book titled ‘India-Ethiopia: 70 years of Diplomatic Relations’.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1.FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 starts from today: FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 kicks off with four opening day matches to be played in Delhi (Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium) and Mumbai (Dr. DY Patil stadium).This is the first time that India will be participating in a FIFA World Cup.India are placed in a tough Group A along with United States, Colombia, and two-time champions Ghana.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1.Airtel gets approval of Ghana Government over Tigo merger: Bharti Airtel has received Ghana’s National Communication Authority’s approval for the merger between Bharti Ghana (Airtel) and Millicom Ghana (Tigo).This merger will result in an entity which will be the second largest mobile network operations in the country.

2.Bangladesh has signed a loan deal with India for its infrastructure and social sector development: Bangladesh has signed $4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its infrastructure and social sector development on October 4, 2017. The new Indian line of credit will be used to fund 17 major projects in Bangladesh, which include electricity, railroads, roads, shipping and ports. As with previous LoC agreements, Bangladesh will pay an interest rate of 1 % a year. It will have 20 years to pay back the loans, with a grace period of five years. Under the agreement, Bangladesh would have to purchase 65 to 75% of the services, goods or works from the Indian market with the money to be provided under the third LoC following the precedence of the previous two nearly identical agreements. Bangladesh has two other LoCs open with India: the first one was signed in 2010, and the second one in 2016. These LOCs are collectively worth Tk3.06 billion, but till last year, Bangladesh government has been able to use only USD 576 million.

 AWARDS/HONOURS:

 1.Gauri Lankesh Fetches Anna Politkovskaya Award: Late Indian Journalist- activist Gauri Lankesh (first Indian Journalist) has been awarded the Reach All Women in War (RAW) Anna Politkovskaya Award alongside, Gulalai Ismail, a women's rights activist from Pakistan.Gauri Lankesh was fatally shot by unidentified attackers in Bengaluru in September.The Anna Politkovskaya Award was established to remember and honour Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006 over her reportage of the second war in Chechnya.

2. Kazuo Ishiguro wins 2017 Nobel Literature Prize: The 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to British writer Kazuo Ishiguro (64-Year), whose best-known novels include ‘The Remains of the Day" and "Never Let Me Go’.Mr. Ishiguro was born in Japan and his family moved in 1960 to the United Kingdom when he was five.The awards are presented every year on 10th December, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.The amount of money awarded depends on the income of the Nobel Foundation that year.

3. Nobel Peace Prize 2017 awarded to ICAN: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - 2017 for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO) from around 100 different countries around the globe.In 2016, Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Peace Prize “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”.

Daily GK Updates - 5th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. ‘India Rich List 2017’ released: Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of USD 38 billion, topped the India Rich List 2017 for the tenth straight year. Savitri Jindal, with a net worth of USD 7.5 billion ranked at the 16th place, and is the richest woman in India. Savitri Jindal is followed by the Gupta family, which is ranked at the 40th in Forbes magazine’s annual ‘India Rich List 2017’

2. Valmiki Jayanti being observed today: Valmiki Jayanti was observed today across India and people paid their respects to the great writer and poet. Maharishi Valmiki also authored the epic Ramayana.

3. Swayam to offer special course for untrained teachers: The HRD Ministry started a special training course for untrained teachers, designed by NIOS, called Diploma in Elementary Education. The HRD Ministry had announced that ‘untrained teachers’ have to complete the Diploma in Elementary Education course, till 2019. This course would be offered through ‘Swayam’, a platform for online education and knowledge through Dish TV.

4. Environment Education Portal by WWF launched: WWF-India, in partnership with Capgemini, launched One Planet Academy, the first environment education portal for students and teachers in India. The One Planet Academy website is a digital network for schools, teachers and students.

5. Paryatan Parv begins across the country:  A festival of Tourism ‘Paryatan Parv’ is beginning all over the country and continue till 25th of this month. It is being organized with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country and reinforcing the principle of “Tourism for All”. It will have three main components, Dekho Apna Desh, Tourism for All and Tourism & Governance.

6. National School and College Games to be launched to tap talent: The Sports Minister ‘Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has announced the launch of National School and College Games to tap talent from the country. The union government has decided to start for the first time the Khelo India National School Games in December 2017 and Khelo India National College Games in January 2018.

7. Khushwant Singh Literary Festival to start in Kasauli: The 6th Khushwant Singh Literary Festival will be held at the Kasauli Club, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, from Oct 6 to 8. This year’s theme is ‘70’, marking the seven decades of India’s independence after Partition from Pakistan.

8. Maharashtra to have Samruddhi Corridor: Samruddhi Corridor is a ambitious Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project in Mumbai. The project aims to create state-of-the art road connectivity within a period of three years

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Teachers’ Day being observed today: The World Teachers’ Day (WTD) 2017 is being observed across the world on 5th October since 1994. The theme of 2017 World Teachers’ Day is “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers”.

2. World Space Week – October 4 -10 being observed: World Space Week is being observed all over the world from 4th to 10th October. It was declared as World Space Week in 1999. It was to mark two big events, first, on October 4th, 1957 Sputnik 1 was launched and second, the signing of The Outer Space Treaty on October 10th 1967. World Space Week theme for 2017 is ‘Exploring New Worlds In Space’.

3. Conference of SAARC Speakers: The 8th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians is being held in Colombo. The three day conference which started on October 4, 2017 is lead by Sumitra Mahajan.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. HDFC Life launches service-bot Neo: HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Neo, a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for customer service.

The insurer hopes to deploy the bot in answering policy related queries on social media.

2. Strategy to revitalize PPPs in India: The Asian Development Bank, in its report titled “Meeting Asia’s Infrastructure Needs”, has estimated that $4.36 trillion is needed to fix India’s infrastructure deficit by 2030. That entails more than $300 billion of spending every year for the next 13 years, as compared to recent spend rates of $120 billion per year.

3. WEF’s India summit begins: World Economic Forum’s 33rd India Economic Summit started on 4th october, in partnership with industry body CII. The theme of the conference is ‘Creating Indian Narratives on Global Challenges’.

BANKING/FINANCE:

4. Senior citizens and differently-abled to be taken care of-RBI: According to the Reserve Bank of India, banks should remain sensitive to requirements of senior citizens as well as differently-abled persons and should not turn them away from branches in order to promote digital transactions. Banks are discouraging or turning away senior citizens and differently abled persons from availing banking facilities in branches.

Daily GK Updates - 4th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. SECURE Himalayas project launched: The Centre has launched a six-year project for conservation of Himalayan ecosystem. SECURE, which stands for, Securing Livelihoods, Conservation, Sustainable use and Restoration of High Range Himalayan ecosystems, is meant for specific landscapes.

2. Satyapal Malik became new Bihar governor: Satyapal Malik, a former lawmaker and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) national vice-president took oath as the governor of Bihar. The position was vacant after Ramnath Kovind became the President.

3. India to help Myanmar in police training, MoU signed: The Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to a MoU between India and Myanmar on upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin, Myanmar. MoU was signed on September 6.

4. National waterway on Krishna River: Vice president Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of the 2,890-km National Waterway-4 at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh. The first phase involves development of a water channel from Muktyala to Vijayawada on Krishna river along with 4 floating terminals and 3 fixed terminals to handle cargo operations.

5. President of India reaches Djibouti: Indian president, Shri Ram Nath Kovind reached Djibouti on October 3, 2017 in the first leg of his state visit to two African countries – Djibouti and Ethiopia. This is President Kovind’s first overseas visit after assuming office.

6. Allahabad to have Turtle Sanctuary: In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures a Turtle sanctuary is built in Allahabad. The Sanctuary along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme.

7. Women’s health scheme ‘Sanitease’ launched: The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has launched ‘Sanitease’ under its social development activity, Swachhagraha, to promote women’s health and hygiene, especially in rural areas. The objective of ‘Sanitease’ is to create awareness and provide logistics for women specially in the rural parts of the state.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 2017 Chemistry Nobel Prize announced: Swiss researcher Jacques Dubochet and Americans Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. They got the nobel for developing cryo-electron microscopy which simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules.

2. Aung Suu Kyi stripped of “Freedom of Oxford” honour: An honour bestowed on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi by the city of Oxford has been withdrawn as a reaction to her perceived inadequate response to the plight of Rohingya Muslims in the country. The ‘Freedom of Oxford’ had been granted to her in 1997 for her long struggle for democracy by the Oxford City Council.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. CRPF constable wins gold at Wushu Worlds: Rohtak player Puja Kadian created history by becoming first Indian wushu player to win a gold medal in the World Championships in Kazan, Russia. Kadian, who is a head constable with CRPF, became the world champion with a win over Evgeniya Stepanova of Russia in the women’s 75 kg event.

2. Claire Polosak, a woman umpire, all set to make a history: Claire Polosak is going to make history with her umpiring debut in JLT Cup one-day match between New South Wales and Cricket Australia XI, scheduled to be held on Sunday at the Hurstville Oval in Sydney. Polosak will become the first woman to officiate a first-class men’s domestic fixture.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

3. MobiKwik partners with IRCTC Rail: Digital payments firm MobiKwik announced its partnership with IRCTC Rail connect app, which will allow customers book railway tickets using the former’s payment gateway. Mobikwik’s Payment Gateway currently powers payments for more than 3,000 e-commerce websites and apps.

BANKING/FINANCE:

4. Rajnish Kumar to be next SBI chairman: Rajnish Kumar has been appointed as the next chairman of State Bank of India. He will take over Arundhati Bhattacharya, whose term will come to an end this week.

Daily GK Updates - 3rd October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Kovind declares Rural Gujarat as Open Defecation Free: President Ram Nath Kovind has declared the Rural Gujarat as ODF (Open Defecation Free) at a function held at Kirti Mandir in Porbandar. He has felicitated rural women for achieving ODF status for rural Gujarat.

2. 1.80 metres tall bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi unveiled at Rajghat: The Vice-President of India M.Venkaiah Naidu unveiled a 1.80 meter tall bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his ‘148 Birth Anniversary’ at Rajghat Samadhi Complex, New Delhi. The famous message of Mahatma Gandhi “Be the Change You Wish to See” is inscribed on the front side.

3. Khandu announces to make Arunachal Open Defecation Free by this year-end: Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu has announced that Arunachal Pradesh shall be Open Defecation Free by 31th December this year. Sikkim is the only state in North East to achieve ODF free status and Arunachal to be the next.

4. Third National Wildlife Action Plan unveiled: India unveiled the third National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031 spelling out the future road map for wildlife conservation. The third National Wildlife Action Plan is unique as this is the first time India has recognized the concerns relating to climate change impact on wildlife.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 2017 Nobel Physics Prize announced: Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne & Barry Barish were awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for decisive contributions to LIGO detector & observation of gravitational waves. Waves which were predicted by Einstein 100 yrs ago, came from a collision b/w 2 black holes & took 1.3 bn yrs for the waves to arrive at LIGO detector.

2. King Salman - First Saudi monarch to visit Russia: King Salman of Saudi Arabia will arrive in Russia to conduct the first official visit to the country by a Saudi king.

Main topic of talks in Moscow will be Syria, where Russia & Saudis are backing different sides in the 6 year-long conflict.

3. Nepal and India to conduct joint tiger count: Nepal & India are going to conduct a joint head count of tigers in national parks, forests & sanctuaries of Nepal & India using the same camera tapping method. Conservation authorities & experts from both countries would install cameras in various locations & capture & track down their movements.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Indian GDP to hit USD 6 trillion by 2027 on digital leap - Morgan Stanley report: According to the Morgan Stanley report, India is likely to be the world's fastest-growing large economy in the next 10 years. Morgan Stanley expects digitization will provide an enhancement of 50-75 bps to GDP growth and forecasted, India will grow to a 6-trillion-dollar economy and achieve upper-middle income status by 2026-27.

2. India to be the fastest growing oil market: According to Moody’s Investors Service, India will surpass China as fastest-growing petroleum product market in Asia with fuel consumption rising 6% in 2018 As economic activity in China dials back, Moody expects its refined product demand growth will moderate to 2.5 -3 % in 2017-18.

3. Yatra partners OYO to expand inventory: Yatra Online has tied up with OYO to bring hospitality firm’s inventory on its platform. It brings OYO’s inventory onto a online travel agent platform & with this Yatra’s total hotel inventory will expand to over 70,000 hotels.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Urban Maharashtra declared open defecation free: President Kovind on his maiden visit to Maharashtra declared urban areas of the state as Open Defecation Free. Almost half of Maharashtra has become open Defecation free, since 49% population in lives in urban areas.

2. Free Eye Check-up Campaign for truck drivers and their helpers: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will launch countrywide Free Eye Check-up Campaign & distribution of spectacles for truck drivers, cleaners & helpers in Maharashtra. The objective of this initiative is to ensure clearer vision and safe travel for truck drivers who are the most frequent users of national highways.

3. Meenakshi temple the cleanest: Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai has been adjudged the cleanest iconic place in India under Swachhta Hi Seva programme. Temple earned the top slot from among 10 iconic places selected under Swachh Bharath Mission.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Day of Non-Violence observed:  International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2 Oct, birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, pioneer of philosophy & strategy of non-violence. International Day of Non-violence was established by UNGA by passing the resolution in 2007 in an effort to spread the message of non-violence.

2. 2017 Nobel Prize for medicine announced: The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young. The trio have been given the prize “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm”. Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth’s revolutions.

3. International Day of Older Persons: The International Day of Older Persons is observed on Oct 1 each year. It aims to raise awareness of how vital older people are as a part of community & break down age discrimination. This year’s theme is – Stepping into Future: Tapping Talents, Contributions & Participation of Older Persons in Society.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. SBI waives off account closure charges: SBI has waived off account closing charges for all savings bank customers under the condition that their account has existed for over a year. Earlier, the bank used to deduct a sum of Rs 500, along with the applicable GST, in the form of account closing charges.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

2. RCom-Aircel merger collapses: Reliance Communications has called off the merger of its wireless services business with Aircel,citing regulatory delays  and opposition from some creditors.

SPORTS:

3. Government to dilute 10% stake in HAL: Govt. has approved sale of a 10% stake in military planemaker Hindustan Aeronautics through an IPO. This comes at a time when it is witnessing competition from private players bidding to bag fighter plane contracts for Indian armed forces.

4. Vishwanathan Anand finishes joint-second at Isle of Man Chess Championship: 5 time world champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Chinese grandmaster Hou Yifan in the 9th and final round to sign off joint 2nd at the Isle Of Man Chess Championship. He shared the second spot with America’s Hikaru Nakamura. World Champion Magnus Carlsen won the title with 7.5 points after a short draw against Nakamura.

5. Verstappen wins Malaysian GP: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sealed victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finished second to extend his lead in the championship standings.

Daily GK Updates - 1st October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands gets new Lt. Guv.: Admiral D K Joshi (retired), who quit the Indian Navy in a huff in 2014, has been appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar islands.

2. India’s holdings of American securities increases to $135.7b: India has sharply increased its exposure to US government securities with holdings worth $135.7 billion at the end of July. China continued to top the charts withholding to the tune of $1.166 trillion, followed by Japan with exposure worth $1.113 trillion.

3. IDS celebrates its 17th Raising Day: Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters celebrated its 17th Raising Day. IDS Headquarters was created in October 2001 in the aftermath of ‘Operation Vijay’ in Kargil war. The main objective was to promote synergy among the three Services and to integrate them with the Ministry of Defence.

4. India opens two border crossing points along the borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh: India has opened 2 immigration check posts along the borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh. Zorinpui check post of Mizoram has been authorised as immigration check post for entry into or exit from India for all passengers to or from Myanmar. Kawrpuichhuah post of Mizoram has been authorised as immigration check post for entry into or exit from India for all passengers to or from Bangladesh.

5. Govt. to exempt small exporters from bank guarantee: The government has decided to exempt small exporters from furnishing bank guarantee for shipping goods and services. Under the Goods and Services Tax, an exporter can get an exemption from payment of IGST if he submits bonds or Letter of Undertaking.

6. Rajni Mishra takes charge as new DG SSB: Rajni Kant Mishra has taken over as the Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal succeeding Smt. Archana Ramasundaram. A 1984 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Mishra was serving as Additional Director General of Border Security Force.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Vegetarian Day: World Vegetarian Day is observed annually on the planet on October 1. The day brings global attention to the health and environmental benefits of vegetarianism and focuses on the ethics of following a vegetarian lifestyle. World Vegetarian Day initiates the month of October as Vegetarian Awareness Month, which ends with November 1, World Vegan Day, as the end of that month of celebration

2. Catalonia to hold referendum: Catalonia is holding a referendum on independence from Spain despite the govt calling it a mockery of democracy. The govt. has called the referendum as unconstitutional & country’s Constitutional Court has suspended the vote so that it could consider the matter.

3. China holds world’s first Intercontinental quantum video call: China has held the world’s first quantum intercontinental video conference between laboratories in Beijing and Vienna. The call was held using a new world first space-ground quantum communication network that experts say could revolutionize how humans connect. The encrypted communication system was being trialed for potential ‘real-world applications by govt, banks & insurance companies.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Official Ball for FIFA U-17 World Cup, Krasava, launched: FIFA has launched the official ball for U-17 football World Cup & it will be called Krasava, a word generally used by Russian sports fans to describe a striking performance. The ball is manufactured by ‘Adidas’ and the pattern on it features a striking red design with jagged lines running through it.