Daily GK Updates - 18th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Arun Jaitely releases ‘India-2016’ and ‘Bharat-2016’ Year Books: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting ArunJaitely released the books having comprehensive information about the county and various states and union territories including functioning of government and the economy.

2. ENVIS Portal launched by Union Government: PrakashJavadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched Environment Information System (ENVIS) portal and mobile application.

3. Cabinet approves Trade Facilitation Agreement: The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to notify the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to keen on projecting India as a business friendly destination.

4. Lyricist Sameer Anjaan enters Guinness Book of World Records for writing the most number of songs for Bollywood films.

5. Nitin Seth to join Flipkart as Chief People Officer.

6. Jayant Mishra appointed as the Director General of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

7. Jharkhand Government and Adani Group inked MoU to set up thermal power plant: The MoU was signed for investment of 15000 crore rupees in the state to set up a 1600 MW capacity thermal power plant in Godda and Sahibganj district of the state.

8. Odisha Government to introduce self-certifying scheme for industries to set up units: This scheme will ease the process of doing business in the state by shortening the inspection process at the initial levels required for non-hazardous industries to set up units.

9. Paani Foundation joined hands with Maharashtra Government for water conservation: Paani foundation is a non-profit organisation found by Aamir Khan and his wife KiranRao.

10. Apple to set up Technology Development Centre in Hyderabad.

11. Tamil Nadu Government announced Free Bus Pass Scheme for senior citizens.

12. Tata Motors and Bharat Forge tied up for $11 billion Indian Army’s FICV Programme: The Future Infantry Combat Vehicle Programme (FICV) involves development of compact combat vehicles for the Indian Army that will replace Russian-designed BMP series armed vehicles that are in operation since 1980.

13. Amendment to the Delimitation Act, 2002 and Representation of the People Act, 1950 approved.

14. Union Cabinet approved nomination of NITI Ayog CEO as part-time member of Telecom Commission.

15. Northern Central Railway commissioned ultra-modern computer based signalling system at Khurja Jn.

16. PM Modi released guidelines for PradhanMantriFasalBimaYojana at KisanMela in MP: The Yojana will come into force from the 2016 Kharif Season. It aims at boosting the agricultural sector of India and envisages a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops, and 1.5% for Rabi crops while the premium for annual commercial and horticulture crops will be 5%.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. United Nations and Columbian Government launched trust fund for peace-building needs: The Fund will be managed by the UN and the Government, in close cooperation with interested donors to especially support conflict areas in the lead-up to and aftermath of possible peace agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army.

2. 1^st Silk Road train arrives in Tehran from China: The train had started its journey from China’s eastern Zhejiang province and it took 14 days to reach final destination.

OTHER UPDATES:

AWARDS:

1. Renowned Indologist David Shulman awarded Israel Prize for his breakthrough studies in the fields like philosophy and religion.

Daily GK Updates - 17th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Tata Teleservices subsidiary m-RUPEE tied-up with IRCTC: m-RUPEE, a subsidiary of Tata Teleservices announced that it has tied up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation to provide additional payment gateway.

2. CBDT resolves international tax disputes worth Rs 5,000 crore under Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP).

3. Coal India Ltd arm to set up country’s largest coal washery in Korba district of Chattisgarh.

4. HCL Technologies wins $2.8 billion deal from Volvo, largest IT outsourcing deal in recent times: The deal involves HCL buying the IT technology arm of Volvo for $138 million that mandates it to take over 2500 employees and 40 customers of Volvo globally on its rolls.

5. Amazon to acquire online payment service provider Emvantage Payments Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

6. Uber inks pact with Maharashtra government to create 75000 jobs.

7. Prithvi-II missile, capable of carrying up to 1000 kg warhead test fired from ITR Chandipur.

8. Union Government launched Non Tax Receipt Portal: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched Non-Tax Receipt Portal (NTRP) to electronically collect over Rs 2 trillion annually in non-tax receipts.

9. India’s 1^st lightest gun ‘Nidar’ launched: India’s first indigenously developed lightest revolver Nidar weighing merely 250 grams was successfully launched to ‘boost’ the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

10. World’s cheapest Smartphone ‘Freedom 251’ is going to be launched by Ringing Bells: Noida based Ringing Bells is all set to launch the world’s cheapest 3G smartphone at just Rs 251 in India today.

11. Punjab National Bank declared Vijay Mallya led United Beverages Holdings Ltd as wilful defaulter.

12. Amazon launched ‘Tatkal’ initiative for small and medium businesses to go online and sell products on Amazon.

13. BAE Systems, Mahindra join hands for Howitzer facility.

14. Union Cabinet clears LIGO-India Gravitational Wave observatory.

15. Cabinet approves collaboration between AYUSH and WHO.

16. West Bengal Government launched Utkarsh Bangla Scheme for school-dropouts: The scheme is aimed at giving vocational training to school dropouts in the field of Tailoring, driving, repairing television and other electronics. Each Youth will get training ranging from 400 to 1200 hours.

17. Haryana, South Korean state of Chungcheongbuk to collaborate on technology and development.

18. Flipkart hires Fidelity International’s India head Nitin Seth as Chief People Officer.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Taylor Swift received the Best album of the Year award for her album ‘1989’.

2. 1^st Silk Road train arrives in Tehran from China: The train had started its journey from China’s eastern Zhejiang province and it took 14 days to reach final destination.

3. 3^rd US-Asean summit session begins in California: The summit between leaders from the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States has begun in California.

4. PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk led Ukrainian Government survived no-confidence motion.

5. Indo-British Asif Kapadia won 2016 Grammy Award for Best Music Film.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. SBI launches SBI e-Smart SME e-Commerce Loan: The sellers can apply for loan online and get immediate sanction-thereby enabling ‘loans at the click of a button’.

2. SBI, Thomas Cook tie up for Holiday Savings Account for online customers: The country’s largest lender SBI travel firm Thomas Cook to offer a recurring deposit to the bank’s customers to save for their future holiday.

3. Yes Bank partnered with UltraCash partner to launch payments service.

SPORTS:

4. Dominic Thiem defeated Nicolas Almargo to win ATP Argentina Open.

5. Indian women football team defeated Nepal to bag gold at 12^th South Asian Games.

6. Jauna Murmu, Ranjit Nayak included in Target Olympic Podium Scheme that was formulated with the objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

7. ICC Cricket for Good and UNICEF launched Team Swachh clinics in partnership with BCCI.

8. Badminton Asia Cup: India beats Singapore, enters quarterfinals.

9. Indian Railways won 36^th National Chess Team Championship.

10. 2016 South Asian Games concluded, India finished at top with 308 medals.

AWARDS:

11. Fashion designer Manish Arora conferred Knight of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest honour.

OBITUARIES:

12. Former UN General Secretary B. Ghali passed away at the age of 93 in Cairo, Egypt.

13. Renowned Malayalam writer Kakkattil passed away at the age of 62.

Daily GK Updates - 16th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. IT highest-paying sector in India, manufacturing least: Monster salary index.

2. Reliance Jio, eight telcos to set up global operator: Mukesh Ambani led group firm Reliance Jio Infocomm and eight global telecom players MTS, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Millicom, Orange, Rogers, TeliaSonera and TIM will build a new partnering operator alliance aimed at bringing innovative products and services to customers around the world.

3. Vedanta, Odisha Government tie up to commission Aluminium Park: Vedanta Ltd has reached an understanding with the Government of Odisha to commission an aluminium park in Jharsuguda.

4. Mahindra and Mahindra to invest Rs 8000 crore in Maharashtra: Automotive Manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) plans to invest Rs 8000 crore in manufacturing plants in Maharashtra as part of its expansion plan.

5. Swachch Sarvekshan results: Mysuru is India’s cleanest among 73 cities.

6. Barsimlaguri, Assam becomes Northeast’s first ‘smart village’.

7. Jugnoo, leading mobile app that offers largest network of auto rickshaws across the country, has signed TV and film actress Saumya Tandon as its brand ambassador.

8. Shoppers Stop-owned hypermarket chain HyperCITY appointed Ramesh Menon as new CEO.

9. Homeo Vision 2016-inaugurated at Nagpur: The 24^th National Homeopathic Congress Homeo-Vision 2016 was inaugurated by the Minister of State for AYUSH and Health and Family Welfare Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in Nagpur.

10. India and Sweden signed MoU on Technical Cooperation for Railway.

11. Make in India Week: National Capital Goods Policy unveiled: The Government has unveiled the National Capital Goods Policy to give an impetus to the capital goods sector and a leg up to the Make in India initiative.

12. Prof Yogesh Tyagi appointed as the New Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.

13. Apple to set up its 1^st Technology centre at Hyderabad in India.

14. Mahamagam festival celebrated in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu:  The Mahamagam festival in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu is underway and thousands of devotees are taking a holy dip in the Mahamagam tank.

15. Bhubaneswar among the cleanest cities in country among Smart City Mission.

16. UK Sinha gets extension as SEBI Chairman.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Indian-American Ranvir Trehan named Kennedy Centre Trustee.

2. Sindh becomes first Pakistan province to adopt Hindu Marriage Bill.

3. Biocon gets its first generic approval in the European Union: Biopharma major Biocon has received its first generic formulations approval in the regulated markets for a drug to reduce cholesterol. The company will begin selling its Rosuvastatin Calcium tablets indicated for hyperlipidemia.

4. Sri Srinivasan to become the 1^st Indian American Judge of US Supreme Court.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Belgian Hugo Broos appointed as Cameroon’s new football coach.

OBITUARIES:

2. South Indian Music Director and Composer Rajamani, passed away at the age of 60.

Daily GK Updates - 15th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Infosys Prize 2015: The awards were received by 6 winners in New Delhi namely Prof Umesh Waghmare, Prof Jonardan Ganeri, Dr Amit Sharma, Prof Mahajan Mj, Prof G Ravindra Kumar and Dr. Shrinath Raghavan. 

2. What, Why and How of India’s gravitational wave observatory initiative IndIGO: The term IndIGO or Indian Initiative in Gravitational Wave Observations was in news as international physicists announced detection of gravitational waves for the first time since their prediction by Albert Einstein in 1916.

3. 3 MoUs worth Rs 21000 crore signed on the 1^st day of Make in India Week: On the first day of the ‘Make in India’ week in Mumbai, three MoUs between Maharashtra government bodies and various companies for total investment worth Rs 21000 crore have been signed.

4. Devaraja Reddy elected as the new President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

5. Air Vice Marshal R D Mathur promoted to the rank of Air Marshal.

6. Tata Steel wins TIME’s best in class for manufacturing award.

7. Indian Government to distribute 14 crore Soil Health Cards by March 2017.

8. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) launched mobile application ‘DIAL Cargo’ for cargo operations to reduce paperwork and track movement of shipments on real time basis.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 69^th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) announced: The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio won the best film award. Brooklyn was named the Outstanding British Film while Inside Out won the Best Animated Film. Amy won the award in the Best Documentary category. Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Actress: Brie Larson, Best Director: Alejandro Inarritu.

2. 7^th India, Seychelles joint military exercise LAMITYE 2016 began in Seychelles.

3. Indian, Israeli firms join hands for defence cooperation: Around 25 Indian and 100 Israeli firms will come together for a unique business seminar on defence and security in Israel. The seminar will be organised jointly by SIBAT, the Israeli Defence Ministry, the International Defence Cooperation Directorate and Ficci will take place on 21-25 February 2016.

4. President Idriss Deby appoints MP Albert Pahimi Padacke as new PM of the central African country Chad.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI allows 3% more of SLR for LCR: It allowed banks to qualify 10% of SLR bonds as Liquidity Coverage Ratio from 7% earlier, a requirement mandated under the Basel-III accounting norms from their SLR requirements.

SPORTS:

2. West Indies won maiden ICC U19 Cricket World Cup defeating India by 5 wickets.

3. India beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets in the third T20 to clinch the series 2-1.

4. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won 2016 St Petersburg Ladies Trophy: The victory was their 40^th consecutive win.

AWARDS:

5. ‘Nagaland is changing, but…’ Film on conservation efforts by Nagaland villagers won Golden Beaver Best Film Award at the 6^th National Science Film Award and Competition. 

6. Vidya Balan awarded with The Pride of Kerala Award.

OBITUARIES:

7. Indian Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad passed away due to cardiac arrest.

Daily GK Updates - 14th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Banaras Hindu University turns 100: BHU founded by Freedom fighters Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya has turned 100 years on 13^th February 2016. 

2. Neem extract may help treat pancreatic cancer: A new study has claimed that a natural extract derived from the neem tree can potentially be used to treat pancreatic cancer without harming normal, healthy cells. The study was conducted by scientists from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centre El Paso.

3. States can clampdown mobile internet access under section 144 of CrPC: Supreme Court: It ruled that States can clampdown mobile internet access under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) if there is apprehension that a public agitation can turn aggressive and disturb public tranquility.

4. UP Land Revenue Act, 2015 came into effect: The new code that unifies many acts replaced at least 39 old land revenue acts. The new revenue act also replaced the pre and post British era Land Revenue Act of 1901 and Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act 1950.

5. Ministry of Railway signed MoU with Telangana for rail expansion: The MoU was signed in the backdrop of Railway Minister’s Budget announcement regarding setting up of joint ventures with States for focused project development, resource mobilization, land acquisition, project implementation and monitoring of critical rail projects.

6. Madhya Pradesh gets first Mega Food Park: In order to give an impetus to the growth of the Food Processing Sector in Madhya Pradesh, the first Mega Food Park in the state promoted by M/S Indus mega Food Park Pvt Ltd was inaugurated by Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries at village Panwa, District Khargone.

7. Jayalalitha announced free purified water for city’s poor: The scheme named ‘Amma Kudineer Thittam’ to supply drinking water free of cost to the poor in the city who are unable to afford purified, packaged drinking water sold by the private companies.

8. Delhi Government to spend 25% of budget on education.

9. Kalyani Group tied up with Swedish defence major Saab to form joint venture firm for the multi-billion dollar contract for short range surface to surface air missile and man portable very short range air defence programmes.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UAE named women ministers for happiness, tolerance: The UAE appointed women ministers to the newly created portfolios for happiness and tolerance, youth and affairs. There were 5 new women ministers added to the cabinet.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Axis Bank has tied up with fitness firm GOQii to launch wearables for its customers that will allow the customers to make NFC payments.

SPORTS:

2. P Anand clinched first taekwondo gold for India in the U-87 kg category in the 12^th South Asian Games.

OBITUARIES:

3. Malayalam poet ONV Kurup passed away at the age of 84 in Thiruvanathpuram.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

4. The book titled ‘A Kingdom for his Love’ authored by Vani Mahesh and Shinie Antony was launched by Amar Chitra Katha.

Daily GK Updates - 13th February, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Narendra Modi opens ‘Make in India’ centre in Mumbai: PM Modi inaugurated Make in India Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, a commercial complex in the suburbs of Mumbai. 

2. Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year Award 2015: CEO Vinita Gupta and MD Nilesh Gupta, Lupin Ltd have been chosen the EY Entrepreneurs of the Year 2015.

3. MoU signs between NRDC and IICB to promote Entrepreneurship: To promote start-ups and entrepreneurship, the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) signed an MoU to facilitate industry-institute partnership.

4. International Radio Fair 2016 hosted by Bhubaneswar: It was held on 13^th February 2016 on the occasion of World Radio Day.

5. Oracle to setup its campus in Bengaluru: The computer giant Oracle is planning to set up a campus in Bengaluru and start an initiative to help more than half a million students in India develop computer science skills.

6. Ashok Chawla appointed as the Chairman of The Energy and Research Institute (TERI).

7. Jharkhand became first ever state to auction Limestone block online.

8. Manipal University signs MoU for academic cooperation with University of Chicago.

9. Ramesh Abhishek appointed secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

10. Vilas Tonapi appointed as Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research.

11. Facebook India head Kirthiga Reddy steps down after it shut down ‘Free Basics’ in India.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Radio Day celebrated on 13^th February 2016: This year the UNESCO theme for World Radio Day is ‘Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster’.

2. Discovery of the Century: Gravitational Waves: Scientists have observed a stunning discovery in their quest to fully understand gravity. They have observed the warping of space time generated by the collision of two black holes more than a billion light-years from Earth. The gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity 100 years ago in 1915.

3. 4^th World Government Summit concluded in Dubai: The 2016 WGS was attended by 4500 participants from more than 130 countries to discuss challenges and opportunities before present and future governments worldwide.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI allows 3% more of SLR for LCR: It allowed banks to qualify 10% of SLR bonds as Liquidity Coverage Ratio from 7% earlier, a requirement mandated under the Basel-III accounting norms from their SLR requirements.

SPORTS:

2. Kavita Raut clinched gold in South Asian Games Marathon.

3. Lionel Messi named La Liga player of the month for January.

4. Adam Voges of Australia became the first batsman ever in test cricket to reach the magical average of 100 thus beating legendary Don Bradman, whose average was 99.94.

5. BCCI banned Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf for 5 years for involvement in 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.

OBITUARIES:

6. Jnanpith awardee Poet O N V Kurup passed away at the age of 84.