DAILY GK UPDATES - 24TH OCTOBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 24TH OCTOBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Indian mountaineers climbed an untouched mountain peak, named it after APJ Abdul Kalam: Indian mountaineers Arjun Vajpai and Bhupesh Kumar created history by becoming first people to climb 6180m high unnamed peak in Himachal’s Spiti Valley. The duo named the peak as Mount Kalam, in honour of former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

II. Haryana Government announced New Integrated Licencing Policy 2015: It announced the launch of New Integrated Licencing Policy (NILP) 2015 for development of Hyper and High Potential Urban Complexes (HHPUC).

III. President promulgated Ordinances on Constitution of Commercial Courts and Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996: Ordinance on Constitution of Commercial Courts seeks constitution of Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts for adjudicating commercial disputes of specified value and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto. The Ordinance on amending the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 seeks amendments based on the Law Commission’s recommendations of 246th reports and suggestions received from stakeholders.

IIII. Defence Ministry approved induction of women as IAF fighter pilots: Ministry of Defence approved the induction of women into the combat stream of the Indian Air Force. This approval clears the path for women to fly warplanes for the first time.

V. President gives away Sangeet Natak Akademiawards, fellowships for 2014: While leading musicologist S R Janakiraman, theatre doyen and noted filmmaker M S Sathyu, and musicians Vijay Kumar Kichlu and Tulsidas Vasant Borkerwere awarded fellowships of the Sangeet NatakAkademi, 35 eminent personalities were honoured with Akademi awards.

VI. Ratan Tata invests in Virtual cash start-up Abra: Abra is a Silicon Valley bitcoin startupwhich deals with a system of electronic money.

VII. Himachal Pradesh to host India’s 1stParagliding World Cup: India’s 1st paragliding World Cup has begun at Bir Billing near Baijnathtown in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Snow leopard is the official mascot of this world cup. 

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Indian origin Ashok Alexander Sridharansworn in as mayor of Bonn city in Germany: With this, Sridharan became the 1st Person of Indian Origin (PIO) to be elected as the mayor of a major city in the country. Bonn is the 18th most populated city in Germany.

II. US President designated Brett McGurk as Envoy to US-led coalition fighting ISIS.

III. Maldivian Vice-President arrested on suspicion of links to a blast on President’s boat: Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was arrested at the airport when he returned from an official visit to china. The explosion took place aboard the boat when President Yameen Abdul Gayoomand his wife were returning to the capital from the airport after a Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

IIII. Hurricane Patricia struck Mexico’s Pacific Coast: The hurricane carrying destructive winds with a speed of 165mph forced thousands to flee homes and beach front resorts.

V. Grant Agreement on gas interconnector between Poland and Lithuania signed: Poland and three Baltic states-Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed the grant agreement on the GIPL(Gas Interconnector Poland-Lithuania) in Brussels, Belgium.

VI. Japan offers soft loan to India for bullet train project: Japan has offered soft loan of 15 billion dollars (Rs 90,000 crore) at an interest rate of less than 1% to India’s ambitious first bullet train project viz. Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor along with technology.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. Paytm ties up with Bank of Maharashtra: Paytm, leading mobile payment and ecommerce platform has tied up with Bank of Maharashtra to offer mobile wallet top up facility through bank ATMs

II. KVG Bank, Karnataka government to sign MoU for lending to panchayats: Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank sponsored by Syndicate Bank has entered into a MoU with the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department along with Sanjivani, an NGO, for implementing the Rajiv Gandhi Chaitanya Yojane. KVG Bank plans to lend 150 crore rupees.

 

AWARDS:

VII. Kashmiri Folk Singer Abdul Rashid Hafiz was honoured with the Sangeet NatakAkademi award by President PranabMukherjee.

 

 

 

DAILY GK UPDATES - 23RD OCTOBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 23RD OCTOBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. PM Modi lays foundation stone for Andhra Pradesh’s new capital city: He laid the foundation stone of Amravati, a new capital city of Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of Dussehraand Vijayadashmi. The foundation stone of new futuristic capital city of the state was laid at a grand ceremony held in Guntur district.

II. Alok Rawat becomes first male member of National Commission for Women: His appointment fills the fourth seat in the five member body that seeks to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women.

III. PM Modi laid foundation stone of ShriVenkateswara Mobile and Electronics Manufacturing Hub: He laid the foundation stone of Shri Venkateswara Mobile and Electronics Hub in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The hub will be a dedicated mobile handset manufacturing facility.

IIII. Union Government cleared first batch of AMRUT projects for 89 cities worth 2786 crore rupees: The approved action plans have a total of 143 projects in 89 AMRUT cities in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

V. ISRO to launch six Singapore-made satellites in December: India will launch six Singapore-made satellites, including a dedicated 400 kg spacecraft for carrying out surveillance missions for maritime and border security, in mid-December onboard PSLC C-29.

VI. Flipkart appoints Samardeep Subandh as the new chief Marketing Officer.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Western Digital buying SanDisk in deal worth about $19 billion: Western Digital, a maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computer, is buying SanDisk in a cash and stock deal worth about $19 billion as it looks to extend its reach in the storage industry.

II. Pakistan Nuclear Forces, 2015 Report releasedby Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: It is an update of Nuclear Notebook on Pakistan released in 2011by Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris of Denmark and the USA respectively.

III. New species of Giant Tortoise named Chelonoidis donfaustoi identified in Galapagos Islands: The tortoise was named after a retired Galapagos park ranger.

IIII. Britain signed Strategic Investment Agreements for building three nuclear plants with China: Under the agreement, China will help the UK in building three nuclear plants including Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which will be the 1st since 1980s.

V. China planned to form JV to develop overseas market for third-generation nuclear reactor Hualong 1: China’s top two nuclear power companies, China General Nuclear Power Group and China National Nuclear Corporation announced that they plan to combine their technologies in the country’s flagship third-generation reactor Hualong-1.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. RBI issued direction on implementation of Gold Monetisation Scheme 2015: The RBI issued the direction to all Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) in exercise of powers conferred on it under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The GMS 2015 will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999.

II. Finance Ministry exempts banking correspondents under PMJDY from service tax: The Government has exempted services provided by a business correspondent to a banking company with respect to basic savings bank deposit accounts covered by Pradhan MantriJan Dhan Yojana from payment of service tax.

 

SPORTS:

III. Jacques Kallis appointed as the Head coach of Kolkata Night Riders

IIII. Saina Nehwal lost World No.1 ranking to Carolina Marin: She lost her rank after making early exits from Japan Open and Denmark Open.

V. 1st World Indigenous Games began in Brazil: The games are a multi-sport event involving indigenous athletes has around 2000 athletes participating from many indigenous ethnic groups and 30 countries like Ethiopia, Mongolia, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Philippines and New Zealand.

 

AWARDS:

VI. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe awarded 2015 Confucius Peace Prize by China: The Prize is dubbed as Chinese equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize. He has been chosen for this edition of prize for his inspirational leadership and service to pan-Africanism and African independence.

 

OBITUARIES:

I. RIP Labh Janjua: Bollywood mourns ‘London Thumakda’ singer’s demise:  He was found dead at his residence in Goregaon (West). He was best known for his songs like ‘London Thumakda’ and ‘Jee Karda’.

II. Veteran Labour MP Michael Meacher dies in UK at the age of 75.

III. Ashwini Kumar, IOC honorary member died at the age of 94.

 

BOOKS AND AUTHORS: 

VII. The book titled ‘Dreaming Big: My Journey to connect India’ by Sam Pitroda has been released.