DAILY GK UPDATES - 31ST OCTOBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES - 31ST OCTOBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Unity Day observed across India: It was observed on 31 October 2015 to commemorate the birthday of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. On Sardar Patel’s 140th birth anniversary, PM Modi flagged off Run for Unity at Rajpath in New Delhi.

 

2. Shaktikanta Das nominated on RBI Central Board of Directors.

 

3. Ministry of Civil Aviation released Revised Draft National Civil Aviation Policy: The policy aims at providing a favourable environment and a level playing field to various aviation sub-sectors, such as Airlines, Airports, and Cargo, Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) services and so on.

 

4. Railways launches ‘Vikalp’ for waitlisted passengers to get confirmed birth: Railway is launching a new scheme under which waitlisted passengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative train it they opt for the option while booking their tickets online.

 

5. GSAT-15 to be launched on November 10 from French Guiana: ISRO’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 is all set to be launched on November 10, 2015 from French Guiana on board Ariane 5. The satellite will provide C and Ku band telecommunications and navigation services to India.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. BRICS nations signed Moscow Declaration for supporting Multilateral Science Projects: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa signed Moscow Declaration for co-investment of resources for supporting multilateral Research and Development (R&D) Projects in mutually agreed areas. It was signed during the third meeting of the BRICS Ministers for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences.

 

2. Paul Ryan elected as 54th Speaker of US House of Representatives.

 

3. European Parliament gave status of whistle-blower to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden: A resolution in this regard was approved by the parliament by 285 votes to 281.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

AWARDS:

1. Raif Badawi wins EU’s Sakharov Prize 2015: Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi has been selected for European Union’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Human Rights for the year 2015.

DAILY GK UPDATES- 30TH OCTOBER 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES-  30TH OCTOBER 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

I. Sanjeev Mohanty appointed as CEO and MD of Jabong.

II. Defence Acquisition council cleared military projects worth over 12000 crore rupees: The proposals include the acquisition of two additional regiments of the indigenous Pinakamultiple-launch rocket systems to upgrade of 26 Ilyushin transport aircraft by Russia.

III. WCD Ministry launched initiative to spread awareness about Beti Bachao Beti PadhaoScheme: The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in partnership with CelltickMobile Media India Pvt. Ltd to generate awareness about BBBP Scheme to an estimated 100 million mobile users in India.

IIII. HCL Technologies acquired CRM services firm PowerObjects for 299 crore rupees:PowerObjects is a leading North American provider of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

V. Bombay HC asked NEERI to study River Godavari’s pollution during Kumbh Mela: The Bombay High Court asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to study the pollution of River Godavari caused by the ‘Shahi Snaan’ events during the Kumbh Mela that was held in Nashik.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

I. China abandons its decades old One Child Policy: China, the world’s most populated country has announced to abandon its decades-long one child policy and changed it to two-child policy.

II. John Magufuli elected as President of Tanzania: J P Magufuli of ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party has won the 2015 Tanzanian Presidential election. He became the 5th President of Tanzania after Independence. Dodoma is the capital of Tanzania.

III. China’s first Lunar rover Yutu sets record for longest stay on Moon: With working on the Moon for almost two years, it has surpassed previous record of Soviet Union’s 1970 launched rover Lunokhod 1, which had spent 11 months on the moon.

IIII. Global Tuberculosis Report 2015 released by WHO: The 2015 edition, which is the 20th Global report focuses on whether 2015 global TB targets set in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were achieved worldwide and at regional and country levels.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

FINANCE/BANKING:

I. RBI allows NRIs to subscribe to National Pension System: The RBI has allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to subscribe to the National Pension System (NPS) enabling them to access old age income security.

II. RBI allows Indian corporate to issue offshore rupee-denominated bonds outside India: The Reserve Bank of India has granted permission to the Indian corporate to issue offshore rupee-denominated bonds outside India. Such bonds will attract a withholding tax of 5% and gains arising in case of appreciation of rupee against the foreign currency.

 

SPORTS:

III. Amit Kumar won silver medal in men’s club throw F51 event of IPC Athletics World Championships: The championship was held in Doha. He sealed a berth for the Rio Paralympic Games.

 

AWARDS:

V. Raif Badawi wins EU’s Sakharov Prize 2015: Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi has been selected for European Union’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Human Rights for the year 2015.

VI. Activist Bindeshwar Pathak selected for New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award: Sociologist and founder of SulabhInternational, Bindeshwar Pathak was selected for the prestigious New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award for his contribution to sanitation and improving the quality of life for millions of manual scavengers.