Daily GK Update - 3rd July 2015

DAILY GK UPDATE - 3rd JULY 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I.            Union Government released caste and socio-economic census for better policy making: This is the 1^st paperless census conducted on hand held electronic devices by the government that said that 23.52% rural families have no literate adult above 25 years pointing towards a poor state of education among the rural masses.

II.            Union Government launched web portal for issuing green clearance category B projects

III.            Nationwide mobile number portability became reality today: This means mobile subscribers can now keep their mobile numbers even while shifting between states.

IV.            Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal launches Punjab e-PMS portal (Electronic Project Management System): It is an initiative to fast track infrastructural development. The portal was launched during the Digital India week.

V.            India launched eMigrate system for Foreign Employers: This online registration system named eMigrate system (www.emigrate.gov.in) for foreign employers who wants to recruit Indian workers, including nurses.

VI.            Union Cabinet approved institutional framework for National Skill Development Mission 2015: This mission will provide a strong institutional framework at the centre and states for implementation of skilling activities in the country.

VII.            Now the contribution of Rag Pickers will get recognition: The government decided to give National Awards for their contribution to keep India clean. The best three rag pickers and three associations involved in innovation of best practices will get a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakhs

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I.            US space agency NASA successfully flight tested ‘Prandtl-d’, prototype of the first Mars airplane: Prandtl-d stands for The Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to land on Mars.

II.            UNESCO classified Sanna as endangered heritage site: UN Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation has inducted the old city of Sanna in Yemen to the list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the serious damage done by the Houthi rebels.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

I.                 Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today launched an initiative to provide doorstep services and expedite home loans application process known as ‘Project Tatkal’

II.                 India has become a $2-trillion economy: India’s GDP crossed the $2 trillion mark in 2014 according to the data released by the World Bank in Washington.

III.                 Kotak Mahindra Bank gets FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) nod to raise investment limit to 55%

SPORTS:

I.            HrishikeshKanitkar and Ajay Ratra retired from all forms of cricket

AWARDS:

I.            Indo American professor R P Singh named for 2015 Agriculture Prize: He is known for research areas of agricultural sector such as freezing preservation, energy conservation, post-technology and mass transfer in food processing.

II.            Four Indo- Americans honoured with Great Immigrants Award: US attorney PreetBharara along with RakeshKhurana, MadhulikaSikka and Abraham Verghese got the prestigious ‘Great Immigrants: The Pride of America’

OBITUARIES:

I.            Nicolas Winton ‘Britain’s Schindler’ dies at 106

II.            Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron) founding chairman K P PNambiar passed away

III.            Adelaide Crows football coach Phil Wash died as he was found stabbed at his Adelaide home

MISCELLANEOUS:

I.            Aircraft maker Airbus to build military choppers in India with Mahindra.

II.            MobiKwik ties up with stationary retailer WHSmith India to enable online shopping at all its retail stores.

III.            Research article on the role of IL-21 against HIV-1 virus published in Nature Communication Journal: The discovery was published by Stanley Adoro of Cornell Medical College, New York that the Interleukin-21 protein plays an important role in limiting replication of Human Immunodeficiency Virus in infected humans.

Daily GK Updates - 2nd July 2015

Daily GK Updates

Date: July 2, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES

        i.         Cabinet clears setting up of online National Agri Market :

This move will provide more options to the farmers for selling their produce. They will be able to sell the farm products both in Mandis and on the online platform.

       ii.        Kerala Tourism holds its 1^st road show in China:

Kerala tourism marked its presence on the streets of Shanghai with a first ever road show aimed at attracting the high spending Chinese tourist as it participated in the Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE) 2015.

   iii.  Ratan Tata invests in Taxi hailing company OLA. This is Tata’s 8^th investment in an e-commerce company.

       iv.      Industrial Policy 2015 for Chandigarh city launched:

The Governor of Punjab, Haryana and Administrator of Chandigarh Kaptan Singh Solanki released the Industrial Policy for Chandigarh. It is aimed at boosting employment and motivates medium and small industries in the city.

        v.         CCEA approved Pradhanmantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana:

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Yojana with an outlay 50000 crore rupees over a period of 5 years i.e. from 2015-2020. This yojana aims to provide convergence to existing schemes of water management, thus bringing efficiency to the use of water.

     vi.       ChandrasekharanRamakrishnan appointed as the CFO of TATA Motors’ Group

    vii.       Rahul Yadav sacked as CEO of Housing.com by the board of Directors.

  viii.     Digital Guddi-Gudda Board of Jalgaon district adopted as best practice under BBBP Scheme:

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, on the occasion of Digital India week adopted it as best practice under the BetiBachaoBetiPadhao scheme. The Digital Guddi- Gudda Board is an innovation of district Jalgaon in Maharashtra.

     ix.        U P Singh appointed as Interim CMD of Oil India Limited:

He succeeded S K Srivastava who superannuated on July 1 2015.

       x.         ‘MharaGaon-JagmagGaon’ scheme launched in Haryana:

The Haryana Government launched this scheme aimed at providing 24 hour uninterrupted power supply to rural domestic consumers in a phased manner with their active participation. With this Haryana becomes the state in the country to launch such an innovative voluntary scheme.

     xi.        India banned trade with ISIS, other terror groups linked entities:

India announced a ban on trade with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria linked entities, the Al-Nusra Front and other groups and individuals associated with Al-Qaeda. The move comes in compliance with the United Nations Security Council resolution of Feb 2015 to act against militants active in oil-rich countries to squeeze terror finances.

 xii.         Maharashtra Government signed MoU with Blackstone and Panchsheel SPV for 3 projects worth Rs 4500 crore and generation of around 50000 jobs

  xiii.        Union Government notified dates for Compliance Window under Black Money Act:

It gave three months’ time (till September 30, 2015) for people to declare their undisclosed foreign income and assets to escape prosecution under the new Black Money Law. The notice says that those making the disclosure during this period will have further 3 months’ time till 31^st Dec 2015 to pay the taxes and the penalty on their foreign income and assets.

  xiv.      Dr.Anup K Pujari joins as Secretary, MSME:

He succeeded ShriMadhavLal who superannuated as the secretary of Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

        i.        UK Food Standards Agency gave clean chit to India made Maggi:

FSA OF UK released test results of Maggi manufactured in India and said that levels of lead in the product are well within the European Union permissible levels and it would not be a concern to customers.

      ii.        Cuba becomes 1^st Nation to eliminate mother to child HIV:

Cuba has become the 1^st country in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV and Syphilis from mother to baby as declared by the WHO.

      iii.       NASA unveils prototype of plane to fly on Mars:

It has unveiled a boomerang shaped aircraft that could be the first to take flight on Mars to look for potential landing sites for future manned mission to the red planet.

    iv.      Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who is the current commander of the International Space Station, has set a new record for most time spent in space, with a total of 803 days, Russian space agency said.

OTHER UPDATES

FINANCE/BANKING:

i.   Pension regulator to allow private sector NPS to invest in ETFs

Pension regulator Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will soon allow National Pension System related contributions made by employees of corporate sector (private sector) to be invested in Exchange traded funds

SPORTS:

i.   World Archery Championship: DeepikaKumari to lead Indian Challenge

DeepikaKumari will lead India’s challenge at the forthcoming World Archery Championship to be held in Copenhagen. This championship will be the qualifier for Rio Olympics

ii. Shukla and Akhil shine for India during the 2^nd ISSF Junior Cup Shooting in Germany

ShivamShukla won his 3^rd gold medal while AkhilSheoran added silver to India’s tally at the on-going tournament in Suhl, Germany.

AWARDS:

  i.  Darshan Jain, an Indian- American teacher named for US Presidential

Award

He is named for the US Presidential Award for Excellence Mathematics and Science Technology by President Barack Obama along with other 108 teachers.

ii.  SanjeevGalande selected for G D Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2014

The name was announced by the K K Birla Foundation and he is the 24^th recipient of the award.

Daily GK Update - 1st July 2015

Daily GK Update Introduction