Daily GK Updates - 8th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Fitch maintains India’s growth forecast at 7.5%: Fitch, the global rating agency has maintained India’s growth forecast at 7.5% for the 2015-16 fiscal year and also sees higher growth around 7.7% and 7.9% over the next two financial years.

2. E-Haat; an online marketing platform launched by Union Government: Union Minster for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi launched Mahila e-Haat portal in New Delhi to facilitate women entrepreneurs to sell their products to buyers. The Mahila e-Haat portal, www.mahilaehaat-rmk.gov.in is an online marketing platform.

3. PM Modi selects another village in Varanasi for development under SAGY: SansadAdarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) is a rural development programme broadly focusing upon the development in the villages which includes social development, cultural development and spread motivation among the people on social mobilisation of the village community. PM Modi has adopted Nagepur village in Varanasi under the scheme. He had earlier adopted Jayapur village in the same Varanasi constituency.

4. Government to import 8500 tonnes of pulses: Government has contracted import of 8500 tonnes of pulses and the shipments are on the way. The step is taken to maintain the buffer stock as the target of 50000 tonnes set for this kharif season has been surpassed. 

5. Union Government announced to withdraw tax proposal Employee Provident Fund: Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley announced to withdraw the proposal while clarifying NDA government’s stand on the issue in the LokSabha.

6. Indian Railways signs agreement with Bajaj Power: Bajaj Power Generation Company has signed an agreement with the Indian Railways for electrification of the Lalitpur-Udaipura rail section under the public private partnership (PPP).

7. Countdown for launch of India’s 6^th navigational satellite IRNSS-1F begins in Sriharikota: ISRO’s workhorse PSLV-C32 will lift off at 4pm on Thursday.

8. Union Government re-classified industries on four-colour scheme based on pollution potential: The four colours are red, orange, green and white with red categories industries having the highest pollution potential while white having the least.

9. New species of burrowing snake named MelanophidiumKhairei discovered in Western Ghats.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Women’s Day observed with campaign theme ‘PledgeForParity’: International Women’s day was observed across the world on 8^th March 2016. This year’s theme for the day is ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for Gender Equality’. The campaign theme for the day is #PledgeForParity.

2. SoftBank splits into two subsidiaries: The firm has said that it is planning to separate its profitable domestic mobile business from its international business, which includes a majority stake in US mobile operator Sprint Corp. Both the subsidiaries will be 100% owned by SoftBank. 

3. South Korea, US began largest ever military exercises off the coast of the Korean peninsula: The bilateral exercise comes just days after the UN passed new sanctions against Pyongyang, North Korea following its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

4. France’s highest honour ‘Legion d’Honneur’ was presented to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef by President Francois Hollande. 

5. Women at Work: Trends 2016 report released by International Labour Organisation.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Banks disburse over Rs 1.15 lakh crore under PM Mudra Yojana: Banks have so far disbursed over Rs 1.15 lakh crore under PradhanMantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY).

SPORTS:

2. Maria Sharapova provisionally suspended after failing drugs test at Australian Open.

3. Australian Golfer Adam Scott won 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, Florida (US).

4. Sri Lankan Cricket Board constituted Arvinda de Silva-led National Cricket Selection Panel.

Daily GK Updates - 7th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Gyan Sangam, 3^rd phase of bank reforms to focus on Bad Loan begins in Gurgaon: With mounting bad loans, the second edition of the Finance Ministry’s brain storming session with public sector banks focused on management of non-performing assets and consolidation in the sector.

2. Oil Minister lays foundation stone of Octomax unit at Mathura (UP): Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gases laid the foundation stone of country’s1st of its kind Octomax unit at Mathura refinery.

3. 27 Government banks may be merged into just 6: Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley has indicated that the Government may merge 27 public sector banks into just six because the PSB is working under pressure to tackle their dismal bad loan scenario and consolidation is the way forward to handle this situation.

4. Country’s first small Finance Bank to start operations on April 13: Jalandhar-based Capital Local Area Bank has become the first entity to receive the Reserve Bank of India’s licence to start operations as a small finance bank. 

5. Amazon is India’s most trusted Online Shopping Brand: Amazon world’s largest e-retailer is India’s most trusted online shopping brand followed home-grown Snapdeal and Flipkart.

6. Tata Housing ties up with SBI for Women’s Day offer: Tata Housing will allow its women customers to pay only 20% of the agreement values while the balance can be paid on taking possession of the property.

7. ‘Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit 2016’ begins in Gurgaon with 12 participating countries.

8. President Mukherjee presented Standard to 119 HU and Colours to 28 ED of IAF: The Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces Pranab Mukherjee presented President’s Standard to 119 Helicopter Unit (HU) and President’s Colours to 28 Equipment Depot (ED) of the Indian Air Force.

9. Sirshendu De selected for Innovation Award 2016 for developing laterite based arsenic water filter.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Myanmar grants operating licenses to four more Asian Banks including SBI: It has granted operating licenses to four Asian Banks, bringing to 13 the number of foreign banks allowed conducting business in the previously isolated country. Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, SBI, Taiwan’s Sun Commercial Bank and South Korea’s Shinhan Bank are the four banks which got the licenses.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Patna Pirates beat U Mumba 31-28 to win 3^rd season of Pro Kabaddi League.

2. India beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets to win Asia Cup for the record 6^th time.

AWARDS:

3. Amrita Patel gets Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Lifetime Achievement Award.

4. Renowned Dogri poetess Padma Sachdev awarded Krutitava Smagra Samman.

OBITUARIES:

5. Email inventor Ray Tomlinson dies at the age of 74 due to heart attack.

6. Renowned Singer and Actor K Mani passed away at the age of 45 following a liver ailment.

7. American Actress Nancy Reagan died at the age of 94.

Daily GK Updates - 6th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. RAISINA Dialogue 2016 kicks off at New Delhi: The first Raisina-Dialogue 2016, a flagship conference on Geopolitics and Geo-economics began in New Delhi. The three day conference is a joint initiative of Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an independent think tank based in India. The theme for this year is ‘Asia: Regional and Global Connectivity’.

2. India moves to WTO against US on temporary working VISA issue: India has filed a complaint against the United States decision to impose high fees L-1 and H-1B categories of temporary working visas in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

3. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates National Conference on Women Legislation in New Delhi.

4. Uttar Pradesh Assembly passes UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill, 2016: The bill allows Dalits of the state to sell their land to non-Dalits in the state without approval of the administration even if their remaining holding is less than 3.5 acres. 

5. Flipkart launched its own digital wallet Flipkart Money.

6. Vineet Taneja resigned as CEO of Micromax Informatics Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Veteran singer Stevie Wonder honoured with Global Green Hero Award at the 13^th Annual Global Green USA Pre Oscar party.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Federation of Indian Hockey (FIH) promoted Napoleon Singh as International Umpire.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

2. Book titled ‘Fixed! Cash and Corruption in Cricket’ authored by Journalist Shantanu Guha Ray was in news recently.

Daily GK Updates - 5th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 15 states have joined UDAY scheme: Finance Minister ArunJaitley has given permission to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to issue the bonds as part of the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).

2. MoU between Indian Army and IndusInd Bank: A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Indian Army and Hinduja Grouped IndusInd Bank on the Defence Salary package.

3. Sunil Sabharwal reappointed as Alternate Executive Director at International Monetary Fund (IMF).

4. River Information System like ATC to be launched for Inland Waterways Traffic: The Government has launched a River Information System (RIS) between Haldia and Farakka stretch of the National Waterway-1 (NW-1). The system enhances swift electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations) through advance and real-time exchange of information.

5. ChapcharKut Festival celebrated across Mizoram: The traditional festival of ChapcharKut of the Mizos was celebrated across the north-eastern state of Mizoram and also in the Mizo-inhabited areas in the neighbouring states.

6. Election Commission announces assembly election in 4 states and 1 union territory: It announced the schedule for assembly polls in four states West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and for Union Territory Puduchchery.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World’s costliest train station opened in New York at 9/11 site: The world’s most expensive train station in the world opens at the World Trade Centre site in New York, USA.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. TCS chief N Chandrasekaran appointed as non-official director to board of Reserve Bank.

SPORTS:

2. PepsiCo named as new associate sponsor of BCCI.

3. AnirbanLahiri jumps to 9^th spot at World Golf Championships.

4. Indian shooter JituRai clinches 50m pistol gold at the ISSF World Cup Bangkok.

AWARDS:

5. The Advertising Club Madras conferred its 1^st Distinguished Service Award on Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman and Managing Director, R K Swamy BBDO for his outstanding contribution to the advertising industry.

OBITUARIES:

6. Pat Conroy, Prince of Tides and Great Santini Author dies at the age of 70.

7. Congress MLA R Venkat Reddy passed away at the age of 72.

8. Legendary Film Archivist P K Nair passed away at the age of 86.

Daily GK Updates - 4th March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi launches ‘Setu Bharatam’ Project to boost infrastructure: PM Narendra Modi has launched Rs 50,000 crore ‘Setu Bharatam’ programme to build bridges for safe and seamless travel on National Highways.

2. Kerala Government has taken first of its kind initiative by launching the Air Ambulance.

3. Alappuzha backwaters to get India’s first solar ferry: A 75-seater solar powered passenger ferry, the first of its kind in the country, is quietly taking shape at Aroor in Alappuzha district of Kerala.

4. Government proposes 10 member Kashmiri Pandit Panel: The Government of India has proposed to constitute a committee of Kashmiri Pandits to monitor implementation of packages for rehabilitation of the displaced community. The committee panel will consist 10 members. 

5. Flipkart launches commerce advertising platform: Leading e-commerce company Flipkart launched its own advertising platform, Brand Story Ads, with over 50 leading brands on board. Yes Bank, L’Oreal, Micromax, Intel, Gillete, Datsun and Sony have signed up with Flipkart to launch their ad campaigns on the platform.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World’s costliest train station opened in New York at 9/11 site: The world’s most expensive train station in the world opens at the World Trade Centre site in New York, USA.

2. Veteran singer Stevie Wonder honoured with Global Green Hero Award at the 13^th Annual Global Green USA Pre Oscar party.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. SWIFT Financial Messaging launched in India: Financial messaging services provider SWIFT launched its service in India, bringing with it a unified messaging protocol that can link banks, financial intermediaries, regulators and stock exchanges and clearing agencies through one suit that can secure transactions by keeping records in a dematerialised form.

SPORTS:

2. Mumbai U-23 Cricket team clinched Col CK Nayudu Trophy 2015-16 defeating Madhya Pradesh.

AWARDS:

3. Manoj Kumar to be conferred Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the Year 2015.

4. Veteran playwright and director Ratan Thiyam selected for 11^th Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) for 2016.

OBITUARIES:

5. Veteran Left Chief Ashok Ghosh died at the age of 94.

6. Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma passed away at the age of 68 due to heart attack.