Daily GK Updates - 14th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.       Arun Jaitley chosen ‘Finance Minister of the Year, Asia’ by Emerging Markets: The London based magazine said that Jaitley too deserves some recognition for India’s relative economic success over the last 18 months.

II.            Tamil Nadu Government banned drug Ketoprofen to save vultures.

III.   Delhi  Government launched Bill Banvao, InaamPao scheme: Citizens will be eligible for the scheme only on a bill or cash memo/retail invoice of not less than 100 rupees for purchases made from a registered dealer in Delhi. The maximum prize to be given under the scheme is 50000 rupees.

IV.   Akhilesh Sharma appointed as the CEO and MD of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.

V.          Sweet Banana species ‘Musa Indandamanesis’ discovered in tropical rain forest of Andaman Islands.

VI.        Ministry of Shipping launched a programme to develop 78 Lighthouse as tourism centres: The lighthouses are in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Puducherry, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

VII.    Rajasthan Government signed 27 MoUs under Housing for All Scheme: 27 MoUs were signed worth 12478 crore rupees in the presence of Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu and state CM VasundharaRaje.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.            China operationalizes Zam Hydropower Station on Brahmaputra in Tibet: China has operationalized the Zam Hydropower Station built on Brahmaputra River which has raised concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies of River.

II.        India climbs 16 places in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index: In a rather dramatic turnaround, India has climbed a spectacular 16 places to the 55^th position among 140 economies in this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index, ending five years of decline.

III.     Alexander Lukashenko won Presidential election of Belarus for the 5^th time: With 83.5% votes, the 61 year old who has governed the former Soviet republic almost unchallenged for 21 years, will be in power for the 5^th time.

IV.    Etihad Airways signed deal worth 700 million USD with IBM: The deal aims at improving the airline’s operations and security. The deal incorporates analytics of customer data and the development of technology that can forecast weather patterns to better manage the airline’s flights at its Abu Dhabi centre.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.               Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo wins record 4^th Golden Boot: He has received a record 4^th Golden Boot after topping Europe’s goal scoring charts for the 2014/15 season.

II.         Shweta Rathore became 1^st Indian Female bodybuilder to win silver in Asian body building championship: She became the 1^st ever Indian female bodybuilder to win a medal at a continental level tournament. The 49^th Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Championship was held in Uzbekistan.

III.    India beat SA in the 2^nd ODI of the Freedom Series at Indore:Mahendra Singh Dhoni was adjudged Man of the Match for his knock of 92 not out, with the help of which India managed to put up a fighting total of 247 runs. In the end, India managed to clinch a 22 run victory over the visitors.

AWARDS:

IV.       Jamaican writer Marlon James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction: He was given the award for his novel ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’. With this, he has become the 1^st Jamaican writer to win this prize.

V. Al-Quds University conferred Honorary Doctorate on President Pranab Mukherjee: He was awarded the Honorary Doctorate at a ceremony held in Ramallah during his visit to Palestine. He is the 1^st Indian Head to visit Palestine. On this occasion, he met with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and PM Rami Hamdullah and also announced setting up of an Indian-chair in the Al-Quds University.

Daily GK Updates - 13th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   

I.            Jayakumar takes over as the new CEO and MD of Bank of Baroda.

II.       India funded 5 million USD grant to Palestine as Budgetary Assistance: The grant was handed over by the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during his visit to Palestine.

III.      Green India Mission plans approved for four states: National Executive Council of the National Mission for a Green India approved perspective plans and Annual Plans of Operations submitted by four states namely Manipur, Mizoram, Jharkhand and Kerala.

IV.    Gujarat proposed 15375 crore rupees AMRUT plan to ensure basic infrastructure in 31 mission cities: The amount of money is proposed for the next five years.

V.  Centre drafts rules to regulate Uber, other taxi-hailing firms: The federal transportation ministry has asked the states to ensure companies operate with call centres and their taxis follow emission norms, according to a six page advisory issued last week.

VI.       Reliance Power appoints N VenugopalRao as its Chief Executive Officer.

VII.   India-Sri Lanka Joint Exercise ‘Mitra Shakti-2015’ culminated: The 3rd India-Sri Lank joint military exercise, named Mitra Shakti culminated at Aundh Military Camp, Pune.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  I.          Indian Diaspora in UK launches ‘Modi Express’ bus   ahead of Modi’s November visit: The Indian community in the UK launched a ‘Modi Express’ bus that will take the travellers on a tour around iconic landmarks ahead of PM Modi’s maiden visit to the country in November.

II.         India inks Rs 130 croredeals for 194 microlight aircraft: India signed aRs 130 crore deal for 194 microlight aircraft from Slovenian company Pipistrel Aircrafts, for use by its National Cadet Crops (NCC), Air Force and Navy.

III.     African Development Bank to triple Annual Climate Financing to nearly $5 billion by 2020: With this, the AfDB’s climate spending will increase to 40% of its total new investments in 2020.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    RBI inks MoU with Bank of Botswana for Information Exchange: The RBI has signed an agreement on information sharing with Bank of Botswana under the Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information.

SPORTS:

II.        Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win 2015 China Open Men’s Singles title.

AWARDS:

III.       Veteran film-maker I V Sasi honoured with J C Daniel Award for 2014.

Daily GK Updates - 12th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.      Mission Abaas launched in Odisha to provide affordable houses to urban poor: The Odisha Government launched Mission Abaas, state’s urban housing mission to provide affordable houses to Economically Weaker Sections, Low Income Groups and slum dwellers.

II.    IRCTC and Apollo Hospitals tied up for medical tourism: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has partnered with Chennai based Apollo Hospitals to offer hassle-free travel for people who travel for medical care.

III.         Sharad Mehrotra appointed as CEO of Telenor India.

IV.        Infosys Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Bansal resigns: The Board of Directors of the Company also appointed Ranganath D Mavinakare as the new CFO, who is also the Executive VP.

V.   PM lays foundation stone of 4^th terminal of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

  

I.      Indian, Chinese army kicks off anti-terrorism exercise: Indian and Chinese armies kicked off their 5^th annual anti-terrorism exercise in China’s Kunming City as both the sides seek to share their successful experiences in counter-terrorism operations during the 10-day drill.

II.       K P Sharma Oli elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal: Veteran communist (Unified Marxist Leninist) leader KP Sharma Oli was elected as the new PM of Nepal. He is the country’s 1^st PM under the newly introduced constitutional system.

III.       Jioji Konrote elected as Fiji’s President.

IV.    4^th International Day of the Girl Child observed across the world: It was observed on 11^th October 2015 with the theme ‘The Power of Adolescent Girl: Vision of 2030’.

V.         5^th Meeting of the India-Maldives Joint Commission held in Maldives:  It was held in Male and was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj and Maldivian foreign minister DunyaMaumoon.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

  I.    RBI inks MoU with Bank of Botswana for Information Exchange: The RBI has signed an agreement on information sharing with Bank of Botswana under the Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information.

II.          Yes Bank gets RBI nod for mutual fund, AMC and trustee co: Private sector lender Yes Bank has got RBI’s approval to set up mutual fund, Asset Management Company and a trustee company.

III.  2015 Annual Meetings of World Bank Group and IMF held in Peru: Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund were held in the Peruvian capital Lima. Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley, RBI Governor Raghuram G Rajan and Chief Economic Advisor ArvindSubramanium attended the meetings.

IV.       India and Jordan inked six MoUs to enhance cooperation: Both the countries inked six MoUs in various fields in Amman. The MoUs were signed as a part of the President Pranab Mukherjee’s state visit to Jordan. Some of the MoUs signed were related to agreement on maritime transport, exchange of information on structure and content of training programmes for diplomats, cooperation in the field of IT and Electronics, etc.

SPORTS:

V.       Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win 2015 China Open Men’s Singles title.

VI.  Punjab National Bank won Beighton Cup of Hockey: PNB defeated Indian Oil Corporation by 5-3 in penalties in the final played at SAI ground in Kolkata.

VII. Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram won 2015 Dutch Open Men’s singles title: He defeated Estonia’s Raul Must in the final held at Almere in Netherlands.

VIII.India won four match Men’s Hockey Test Series against New Zealand by 2-1 margin.

IX.   Spaniard GarbineMuguruza won Women’s singles title of China Open defeating Swiss TimeaBacsinszky.

X.         Lewis Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix held at Sochi.

AWARDS:

XI.   Micro-economist Angus Deaton won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics: Micro-economist born in Edinburgh (Scotland) was awarded for his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare.

OBITUARIES:

 XII. Former British Finance Minister Geoffrey Howe died at the age of 88 due to suspected cardiac arrest.

XIII.    Veteran Tamil actress Manorama died at the age of 78.

Daily GK Updates - 11th October, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

   I.     India’s 1^st Dolphin reserve to come up in West Bengal: It would be set up in the Hooghly River and the methodology to develop the community reserve is being chalked out by a separated committee.

II.    Formation of Indian Skill Development Service approved:  The Government approved the formation of the Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS). It is a Group ‘A’ service of the technical cadre of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSD&E).

III.      Airtel launched its Wi-Fi app: Bhartiairtel launched its new Wi-Fi app named Airtel Hangouts. Airtel customers can download the app free from the Android or i-OS store and latch on to the network in these zones to experience faster internet speeds.

IV.      Telenor launches free Insurance: It has started offering life insurance to its new and existing customers, with covers starting from Rs 5000 going up to Rs 50,000, for which customers don’t need to pay any premium.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 I.        Ramakumar Raman, an 18-yr old Indian Boy is the world’s youngest chartered accountant: This Indian student from the Indian High School Dubai is the youngest CA in the world. He has been recognised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global professional accounting body in the gulf.

II.   New Zealand tourism has roped in actor SiddharthMalhotra as the brand ambassador for India.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

I.     Vijender knocks out Whiting to win his pro debut bout: Lot of surprise, some skepticism and a few brickbats followed by his decision to quit amateur boxing and star Indian pugilist Vijender Singh lived up to the unprecedented hype when he knocked out Britain’s Sonny Whiting in the 3^rd round of  his debut match.

II.       Sania and Martina lift China Open Trophy: The Indo-Swiss pair defeated 6^th seed Taipei girls Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan.

III.       SA beat India in a thriller, by 5 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the India-SA ODI Series.

AWARDS:

 IV.      Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor wins Martin Ennals Award: Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati human rights activist was named the 2015 winner of an award often dubbed as Noble Prize for human rights.

OBITUARIES:

   V.       Bollywood’s veteran music composer Ravindra Jain dies at the age of 71.