DAILY GK UPDATES - 18TH NOVEMBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 18TH NOVEMBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kiren Rijju conferred with Disaster Risk Reduction Asia Champion honour by United Nations: The honour was conferred by MargareteWahlstrom, Special Representative of the United States Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, during the inaugural session of the Asia Leaders’ Meeting towards implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR in Asia.

 

2. PM Modi concluded his two nation tour to UK and Turkey.

 

3. Intel’s ‘Ed Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ begins in Telangana village: Chip-maker intel has rolled out its ‘Ek kadam unnati ki aur’ programme towards rural digitisation in 10 states from Nadimpalle village in Telangana.

 

4. Delhi to host the 1st International QawwaliFestival 2016: It will host the 1st International QawwaliFestival 2016 titled ‘Taali Ho’ that is scheduled to be held from 12 February 2016 to 14 February 2016.

 

5. Competition Commission of India (CCI) slaps Rs 258 cr penalty on Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Tianhe-2: World’s powerful Supercomputer for the sixth consecutive time: China’s Tianhe-2 Supercomputer has emerged as the world’s most powerful supercomputer system for the sixth consecutive time. It was unveiled in 46th edition of Top 500 list of supercomputers.

 

2. India, China agreed to deepen defence ties, maintain peace at LAC: Both the countries decided to deepen bilateral defence ties and maintain peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

 

3. Kosmos 2510, the first satellite of EKS (Tundra) system, launched by Russia: This new generation satellite is designed to restore Moscow’s capability to detect, track and identify worldwide missile launches from space.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

OBITUARIES:

 

1. India Red Cross Society Secretary General SP Agarwal died at the age of 70.

DAILY GK UPDATES - 17TH NOVEMBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 17TH NOVEMBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Governing Council of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) constituted under the chairmanship of Finance Minister: The GC will be chaired by the Union Minister and the members included Secretary: DEA, Secretary: Financial Services, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Hemendra Kothari, T V Mohandas Pai.

 

2. AMRUT Action Plans for 81 cities approved with total project outlay of 5748 crore rupees: The 81 cities are in 5 states viz. Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram.

 

3. Standard Chartered names Zarin Daruwala as new India CEO.

 

4. Global Cancer Summit on Nov 18-20: Global Cancer Summit, a three-day programme focussed on understanding and suggesting strategies to tackle cancer, will be organised from November 18-20 at the Indian Institute of Science.

 

5. Axis Mutual Fund launches Children’s Gift Fund: Axis Mutual Fund announced its new fund offer, the Children’s Gift Fund. This is Axis’ first goal-based investment option, the MF house said. Investments can only be made for a minor, represented by a parent or guardian.

 

6. World Bank, Andhra Pradesh ink $75 million credit deal for rural project: The project seeks to enhance agricultural incomes of small and marginal farmers and ensure increased access to services related to health, nutrition, sanitation and social entitlements.

 

7. Competition Commission of India (CCI) slaps Rs 258 cr penalty on Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet.

 

8. Andhra Pradesh Government decided to waive off 110 crore loans of over 25000 weavers.

 

9. Foundation stone of first Mega Food Park of Telangana laid: Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal laid the foundation stone of the first Mega Food Park in Telangana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Marriott International to acquire Starwood Hotels and Resorts worldwide: With this, Marriott International is set to become world’s largest hotel company. The all-cash deal is valued at 12.2 billion US dollars.

 

2. India, China agreed to deepen defence ties, maintain peace at LAC: Both the countries decided to deepen bilateral defence ties and maintain peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

 

3. India and Bangladesh agreed to share Militant Information: Both the countries agreed to share information on militants as home secretaries of the two neighbours concluded their talks here reviewing internal security and other cross-border issues.

 

4. 2015 G20 Summit held in Antalya, Turkey: It was the 10th summit since the inception of G20 in 1999. The focus of the summit was to evolve strategies to ensure inclusive and robust growth through collective action.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. FIFA banned Nepal football Chief Ganesh Thapafor 10 years for corruption.

 

2. Siril Verma clinched silver at World Junior Badminton Championships held at Lima, Peru.

 

3. Australian Cricketer Mitchell Johnson retires from International cricket.

 

4. Czech Republic defeated Russia to retain Fed Cup: The victory marked a fourth Fed Cup success for the Czech Republic in five years.

 

OBITUARIES:

5. VHP leader Ashok Singhal died at the age of 89.

 

6. Former RAW chief Shankaran Nair passed away at the age of 94.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAILY GK UPDATES - 16TH NOVEMBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 16TH NOVEMBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. First AMRIT outlet opened at AIIMS Delhi for selling affordable drugs: Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) pharmacy outlet at the AIIMS, New Delhi.

 

2. Maareech, an Advanced Torpedo Defence System, handed over to Indian Navy: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over the Maareech-Advanced Torpedo Defence System, developed by DRDO to the Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan.

 

3. Jharkhand introduced Mobile Governance: The Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das introduced Mobile Governance in the state to realise the dreams of Digital India during the occasion of 16th Foundation Day of the state.

 

4. Aclatel-Lucent, Nokia name new India, MEA heads: Nokia announced that Sandeep Girotra would become the head of India and Amr Karim El-Leithywould become the head of the middle-east and Africa as part of the planned combination of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent.

 

5. Practo and Uber enter into pact: Healthcare booking platform Practo and taxi-hailing platform Uberannounced a global partnership to help people reach doctors easily.

 

6. Thomas Cook India signs pact with OYO Rooms: Travel service provider Thomas Cook India has entered into a partnership with online aggregator of budget hotels, OYO Rooms, offering access to over 3200 hotels, spread over 140 cities across India.

 

7. Union Government declared NSCN-K as terrorist organization under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), 1967.

 

8. Online auto classifieds portal CarTrade acquired CarWale: CarTrade.com acquired car selling portal CarWale.com from Automotive Exchange Pvt Ltd in a full-cash deal.

 

9. PRASAD and Swadesh Darshan schemes of Ministry of Tourism launched: The two initiatives, along with Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs), were launched to achieve 1% share of international tourist arrivals by 2016-17 from the present 0.68%.

 

10. Syed Akbaruddin appointed as next Permanent Representative of India to UN.

 

11. Vishakha Mulye appointed as ICICI Bank Executive Director.

 

12. Former IPL COO Sundar Raman to join as CEO of Reliance Sports.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Day for Tolerance observed across the world: It was observed globally on 16th November 2015 with an aim to educate people about the need for tolerance in society and help them understand the negative effects of intolerance.

 

2. India and Australia completed formalities for Civil Nuclear Pact: Both the countries announced completion of procedures for bringing the two-nation nuclear deal into force. With this, India will be the first country to buy Australian Uranium without being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty.

 

3. International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Russia from the World Track and Field Events due to doping allegations against the country’s athletes, coaches, trainers, doctors and officials.

 

4. India and Bangladesh signed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to operationalize Agreement on Coastal Shipping.

 

5. Ford tested driverless car using LiDARtechnology: With this Ford has joined California tech giants Google, Apple and Tesla that are developing autonomous cars using the Light Detection and Ranging Technology.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. ICICI Bank Canada launches student programme: ICICI Bank Canada, a subsidiary of private sector lender ICICI Bank, has launched Student GIC (Guaranteed Investment Certificate) Program for students applying to study in Canada. As per the terms of the programme, the amount of 10,000 Canadian dollars is paid back to the students while he/she is studying in Canada in 12 equal instalments along with the interest amount.

 

SPORTS:

2. Saina Nehwal wins silver medal at 2015 China Open: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal lost to XueruiLi in the final of the 2015 China Open to settle for the silver medal.

 

3. Nico Roseberg beat Lewis Hamilton to win Brazilian Grand Prix.

OBITUARIES:

4. Children’s book writer Kamala Laxman died at the age of 90.

 

5. Veteran actor Saeed Jaffery passed away at the age of 86.

DAILY GK UPDATES - 15TH NOVEMBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 15TH NOVEMBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Smriti Irani inaugurates National Children Assembly: Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the National Children Assembly at Bal Bhawan.

 

2. Naval ship Vishwakarma commissioned: INS Vishwakarma, the erstwhile Shipwright School (SWS) and a premier training establishment. It was commissioned by Admiral R K Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff at a formal ceremony held at Vishakhapatnam.

 

3. 21st Kolkata International Film Festival began in Kolkata on 14th November 2015.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. PM Modi inaugurates Ambedkar memorial in London: He inaugurated the recently acquired Ambedkar memorial by Maharashtra Government at King Henry’s Road in London, UK.

 

2. 2017 announced as the UK-India Year of Culture: Britain announced 2017 as the UK-India Year of Culture to mark the 70th Anniversary of Indian Independence. To mark the occasion, UK Institute will partner with Indian Institutes for the program and the British Library will digitize 2,00,000 pages from its South Asian Archives. 

 

3. World Pneumonia Day observed with the theme ‘Every breath counts; stop pneumonia now’: It was observed across the world on 12th November 2015.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

AWARDS:

1. Abraham M Keita from Liberia won the 2015 International Children’s Peace Prize: Liberian teenager Abraham M Keita was awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2015. He was awarded for his extraordinary and peaceful fight for justice for child victims of physical and sexual violence, and for successfully campaigning for the Liberian parliament to adopt the Children’s Law.