Daily GK Updates - 27th November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BIHAR GOVERNMENT BANS SALE OF LIQUOR FROM 1^ST APRIL 2016

Bihar Government has banned sale of liquor in the state from 1^st April 2016. This decision of government will make Bihar as 6th dry state/UT in the country. Some states had already banned liquor consumption in the states of Gujarat, Nagaland, Manipur and Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

2. SOUTH ASIAN ANNUAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT EXERCISE 2015 HELD IN DELHI

It was the first-ever joint exercise to be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force of India. This joint exercise was attended by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation member countries. The member countries are Bhutan, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The exercise aims to synchronize efforts to institutionalize regional cooperation on disaster response among SAARC member countries.

3. NUCLEAR CAPABLE MISSILE AGNI 1 SUCCESSFULLY TEST FIRED

Indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I was successfully test-fired from Dr Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island off the Odisha coast. Agni I Missile Agni-I is the first missile of the Agni series launched in 1983 by the DRDO as part of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) in India. Can travel at a speed of 2.5 km/s and can destroy targets nearly 700 km away.

4. ASW CORVETTE KADMATT HANDED OVER TO INDIAN NAVY BY GRSES:

The second Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette INS Kadmatt has been formally handed over to Indian Navy at Kolkata, West Bengal. It has been built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) and would be inducted into the Eastern Fleet shortly.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. CHINA LAUNCHES LATEST YAOGAN WEIXING VIA LONG MARCH 4C

China launched another satellite in the military’s Yaogan Weixing series via the use of a Long March-4C (Chang Zheng-4C) rocket. The “YG-29″ mission began from the LC9 launch complex at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre (TSLC). Yaogan-29 was launched by a Long March-4C launch vehicle. It was reported as the 219th launch of the rocket family known as the Chang Zheng in Chinese.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TO PLAY THE HISTORIC FIRST DAY-NIGHT TEST MATCH:

    First day-night Test will be played at the Adelaide Oval with a pink Kookaburra ball between Australia and New Zealand. It is for the first time in 138 years, a Test match will be played with at night with a ball that is not red.

OBITUARIES:

2. EMINENT TAMIL SCHOLAR NOBORU KARASHIMA PASSES AWAY

Distinguished Tamil scholar and historian of South India and South Asia,   Noboru Karashima from Japan passed away in Tokyo.

BANKING & ECONOMY:

3. RAJIV BANSAL APPOINTED AS CFO OF OLA CABS

Home grown app-based cab operator OlaCabs has appointed Rajiv Bansal as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as part of its expansion drives in the country. He will succeed Mitesh Shah who will henceforth lead strategic finance initiatives of Ola as part of Rajiv’s team.

4. 11.2% RISE IN BANKING-RELATED COMPLAINTS IN FY15

Reserve Bank of India stated that number of complaints received by Banking Ombudsmen in 2014-15 has rised up to 11.2 percent. The maximum numbers of complaints recieved are from banks' failure to meet commitments and for not following fair practices code. The Deputy Governor of RBI S.S Mundra stated the rise in complaints is a sign of awareness about the banking ombudsmen scheme.

Daily GK Updates - 26th November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. 26 NOVEMBER OBSERVED AS NATIONAL MILK DAY

26 November is observed as National Milk Day to mark birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien. 

He is also known as the Father of the White Revolution Dr.Verghese Kurien. He had also started Operation Flood which was the world’s largest agriculture development programme which had helped Indian to transform from a milk-deficit country into the world’s largest milk producer.

 2. ANJU BOBBY GEORGE APPOINTED CHAIRPERSON OF TOP SCHEME

     Anju Bobby George was appointed as the Chairperson of Target Olympic Podium Scheme by Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. She will replace Anurag Thakur, Member of Parliament and Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India who had resigned from this post. Anju Bobby George was first Indian athlete who had won bronze medal in the World Athletics Championships in 2003Target Olympic Podium Scheme was started with an objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects sportspersons for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.     INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN OBSERVED ON 25 NOVEMBER

The day is observed to raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions that would work for women community. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women will be marked by organization of an event called Orange the world: End violence against women and girls across the world.

2.     10th EAST ASIA SUMMIT HELD IN KUALA LUMPUR 

Theme of the summit was Our People, Our Community, and Our Vision. The summit was chaired by the PM of Malaysia Naiziq Razak and attended by Australia, India, China, Japan, New Zealand, Korea, Russia and the United States of America.

OTHER UPDATES:

OBITUARIES:

1. WRITER AND JOURNALIST MAHIP SINGH PASSED AWAY

He was known for his collection of short stories, the first being Subah ke Phool, which was published in 1959. He had also written novels and some of his famous novels include Ye Bhi Nhi, Abhi Shesh Hai and Bich ki Dhoop.

BANKING & ECONOMY:

2. VIDEOCON TELECOMMUNICATIONS CASHES IN ON SPECTRUM SCARCITY

Videocon Telecommunications sold its 5 MHz spectrum in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West) to Idea Cellular for Rs 3,310 crores.

Daily GK Updates - 25th November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Rishi Gaur appointed as Country President of Sodexho India on-site services:

Rishi Gaur was on 23 November 2015 appointed as Country President of Support services company Sodexho India On-site Services with effect from 1 September 2015. Prior to joining Sodexho, Gaur was associated with WNS Global Services, Accenture and CITIL across various functional areas. He has a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT-Varanasi and a Post-Graduate degree in Management from IIM Ahmedabad.

2. Urban Development Minister launched portal for small traders’ e-Lala

Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on 23 November 2015 inaugurated ‘e-lala’, an e-commerce portal of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in New Delhi. The e-lala initiative is aimed at promoting the interests of 5.77 crore small businesses in the context of rapid expansion of e-commerce in the country. E-lala will enable physical stores to have their own online stores enabling them to retain their customer base besides additional source of growth in business. E-lala, a city and location based portal, seeks to promote business-to-business and trader-to-customer transactions in a city. It seeks to eliminate middlemen and resulting in reduced cost of goods and services. With the emerging global threat from e-commerce to small traders, e-lala initiative will address the problem with proper outreach and marketing strategies.

3. Foodpanda ties up with IRCTC

IRCTC is Indian railways’ catering, tourism and online ticketing platform. Passengers can now order meals of their choice through foodpanda’s aggregator model from a wide variety of cuisine options. To ensure that food reaches consumers in the best condition, food panda will deploy its own delivery fleet to fulfill all deliveries. The service will be initially launched at the New Delhi Railway station post and then it will be rolled out in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Swati Dandekar appointed Executive Director to Asian Development     Bank by Obama

Indian-American politician Swati Dandekar was on 20 November 2015 nominated as executive director to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with ambassadorial rank by US President Barack Obama. Dandekar, 64, will succeed Robert M Orr, who has held the position since 2010. Dandekar will serve as one of 12 international directors and hold the title of ambassador. 

2. Argentina’s President-elect Macri promises an end to divisive politics

Mauricio Marci has upended Argentina's political establishment by defeating the ruling leftist party, in power for more than 12 years, in Sunday's election. Marci has promised market-oriented reforms to revive the economy. These could include currency devaluation, lower energy subsides, and easing protectionist policies like currency controls. He is also likely to distance Argentina from Latin America's hard-left governments like that of Venezuela.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

1. Ratan Tata invests in Singapore startup Crayon Data:

Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based big data company Crayon Data. The investment was made in his personal capacity. 

OBITUARIES:

2. Noted litterateur Surendra Upadhyay passes away :

Noted litterateur and former chairman of Rajasthan Brijbhasha Academy, Professor Surendra Upadhyay died due to cardiac arrest. 

3. Noted labour economist T. S. Papola passes away:

Noted labour economist Dr. T.S. Papola passed away in New Delhi. He was 74. He had served as an advisor with the erstwhile Planning Commission of Union Government for eight years from 1987 to 1995.

SPORTS:

4.  Hockey India announces NTPC as sponsors:

Hockey India, the apex organization governing field hockey in India, has announced NTPC Limited, the largest power utility of the country as an Official Partner for the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015. The Hero Hockey World League Final will be played at the newly inaugurated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Hockey Stadium, Raipur, India from the 27th November- 6th December 2015.

AWARDS:

5. Kuldip Nayar got Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement award

Kuldip Nayar, a veteran journalist and author was honoured with Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement Award in Delhi. He has authored many famous books such as Distant Neighbors: A Tale of the Subcontinent, India after Nehru, India House, and The Judgment: Inside story of the emergency in India, The Martyr: Bhagat Singh Experiments in Revolution etc.

Daily GK Updates - 24th November, 2015

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. The human cost of weather related disasters report released by UNISDR

   The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction released the report titled The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters. The report stated that the 5 countries United States, China, India, Philippines and Indonesia are mostly hit by Disasters.

   2. Asia to power global trade by 2050

Asia is poised to drive global trade to around $68.5 trillion by 2050 and growth of    merchandise export from India is set up to china. According to new forecast in HSBC India is expected to average 6% a year in 2025-2050 compared with just 5% a year for china.

3. Megacity security conference taken place :

It was organized in Mumbai by the US Consulate General, Mumbai in collaboration with the South Asian Centre of Atlantic Council, Washington DC and India foundation.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Michael Keating appointed as Special Representative for Somalia and Head of UNSOM

The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 November 2015 announced the appointment of Michael Keating of United Kingdom as Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).Keating will succeed Nicholas Kay, who will complete his assignment in December 2015. Kay was associated with UNSOM for over the past two and a half years.

Other UPDATES:

AWARDS:

1. Marathi actor Prashant Damle selected for Dinanath Mangashekar Award

Noted Marathi actor Prashant Damle was on 23 November 2015 selected for the Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Award. He was chosen for the award for his outstanding contribution in the field of theatre, film and music.

SPORTS:

2. Dutchman Roger Van Gent was appointed as the strategic coach for the Indian men’s Hockey.

3. Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on 21 November 2015 won the IBSF World Snooker Championship:

It was held at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort in Hurghada, Egypt. In the best-of-15 final, he defeated Zhua Xintong of China 8-6. Earlier, in September 2015 in Adelaide, he had won his 14th World title in the form of IBSF World Billiards Championship.Advani is also the first person in history to take the short (6-Red) and the long snooker (15-Red) format in the same calendar year.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

4. SEBI inked MoU with Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on bilateral cooperation and technical assistance. It will provide training and technical assistance program between the two jurisdictions.

OBITUARIES:

5. Well-known neurosurgeon and Secretary General of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) Dr. Satya Paul Agarwal passed away in New Delhi.

He was 70. Dr. Agarwal was a well-known public health administrator. He had played pivotal role in execution of various disaster and emergency relief operations and control of disease and epidemics outbreak in the country. He was serving as Secretary General of Indian Red Cross Society since 2005.