DAILY GK UPDATES 27TH JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 27TH JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Chhattisgarh to invest Rs 60,000 crore on ‘Sampark Kranti’: Under the programme, the state would build roads, rail lines besides expansion of electrification and communication network in the areas that had not seen much development.  

 

2. Rajasthan signs MoU to join UDAY Scheme: It has become the third state to sign a MoU for joining the central government’s state electricity distribution utility revival scheme.

 

3. US-based Cognizant Technologies Solutions acquired KBACE Technologies.

 

4. First in Maharashtra: Nagpur Central Jail inmates get SBI ATM Cards: Around 140 inmates of the central prison here were given State Bank of India ATM Cards for use inside the premises, with plans to extend the service to all 800 prisoners of the facility.

 

5. TATA Trusts collaborates with MIT to improve learning at school: Tata Trusts collaborates with MIT and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to improve learning at secondary school level.

 

6. SC and ST Amendment Act, 2015 came into force: The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 came into force. The act was made to ensure more stringent provisions for prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

 

7. Union Government approved to set up solar energy panels over 10000 EWS houses in Tamil Nadu under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Urban).

 

8. Union Government and Chhattisgarh Government signed MoU on UDAY Scheme: Union Government and Chhattisgarh Government signed a MoU with Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd under the scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana for operational and financial turnaround of the CSPDCL.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India and Armenia amend double taxation avoidance convention: It will enable the two countries to exchange information related to financial and banking transactions under the pact and help in preventing tax evasion.

 

2. International Customs Day observed across the world on 26th January 2016.

 

3. Australia celebrated its National Day on 26thJanuary 2016.

 

4. Denmark parliament approved law on seizing valuables from Refugees: Danish Parliament, Folketing voted on a proposal to confiscate asylum seekers’ personal possessions in order to pay their upkeep.

 

5. Transparency International released Corruption Perceptions Index 2015: The index measured the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 168 countries and territories. Denmark stood first as it is the most corruption free country in the world while India was place 76th.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI shortlists five companies for Audit and Risk Monitoring Mechanism: The Reserve Bank plans to procure an Audit Management and Risk Monitoring System (AMRMS) for the central bank from five potential shortlisted solution providers, including PwC and Quadrant 4 Software Solutions.

 

SPORTS:

2. ICC released Test, ODI and T20 Rankings: India topped the list of Test Rankings while Australia topped the table of ODI Rankings ahead of India. T20 Ranking was topped by West Indies.

 

AWARDS:

3. Ashok Chakra awarded posthumously to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami.

 

4. Cottalango Leon selected for 2016 Technical Achievement Award of Academy of Motion Picture.

 

5. Chennupati Jagadish, Jay Chandra and SajeevKoshy conferred with Australia’s highest civilian award ‘Companion of Order of Australia’.

DAILY GK UPDATES 26TH JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 26TH JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India’s 67th Republic Day celebrated: President of France, Mr Francois Hollande was the Chief Guest of the 67th Republic Day parade. A 76-member French Army contingent also took part in the parade. This was the first time when soldiers from a different country took part in a republic day parade in India.  

 

2. India and France signed MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets during President Francois Hollande’s visit.

 

3. Manipal Hospitals became Karnataka’s first centre for MRCP (UK) PACES examination: Manipal Hospitals Bangalore becomes the first centre in Karnataka for conducting the MRCP practical assessment of examination skills (PACES) mock exam in collaboration with UK-based Royal College of Physicians Federation.

 

4. International Solar Alliance headquartered in India with United Nations as Strategic Partner: PM Modi along with French President Francois Hollandelaid the foundation stone of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquarters in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gwalpahari, Gurgaon.

 

5. President’s rule imposed in Arunachal Pradesh.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won the Presidential elections of Portugal: He is a centre-right Social Democrats candidate and a former Journalist who won the elections by securing 52% of the total votes.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

2. West Indies cricketer Shivnarine Chanderpaulretired from International Cricket.

 

3. FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2015 announced: The Netherlands’ Robert Van der Horst and Lidewij Weltenwon the men’s and women’s FIH Player of the Year awards respectively, for their performances in 2015. Goalkeeper of the Year (women)-Joyce Sombroek (The Netherlands), Goalkeeper of the Year (men)- David Harte.

 

 

 

 

 

AWARDS:

4. Actress Rekha honoured with 3rd National YashChopra Memorial Award.

 

5. Kerala dentist Sanjeev Koshy honoured with Order of Australia, the highest civilian honour of Australia.

 

OBITUARIES:

6. Marvin Minsky, the pioneer of Artificial Intelligence died at the age of 88.

 

7. Hollywood actor Abe Vigoda passed away at the age of 94.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAILY GK UPDATES 25TH JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 25TH JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Amit Shah re-elected as BJP President unopposed.  

 

2. India’s largest and tallest tricolour hoisted at Ranchi: India’s largest tricolour was hoisted atop the tallest pole at Pahari Mandir in Ranchi, by defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

 

3. TranServ launches India’s first social mobile wallet Udio: India’s digital payment start-up company TranServ has launched country’s first Social Mobile Wallet name Udio. The digital wallet seeks to address the gap between real and virtual modes of payment as it has more social experience.

 

4. Padma Vibhushan for Dhirubhai Ambani, Rajnikanth, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Actor Rajnikanth, media baron Ramoji Rao, former J&K Governor Jagmohan and Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar were awarded with Padma Vibhushan. Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal got Padma Bhushan while actors Ajay Devgn and Priyanka Chopra got Padma Shri.

 

5. 6th National Voter’s Day observed on 25th January 2016 with theme Inclusive and Qualitative Participation.

 

6. India and France inked 16 pacts including chopper venture: The MoUs covered a wide range of sectors like urban development, urban transport, water and waste treatment and solar energy.

 

7. Alice Vaidyan appointed as the new CMD of GIC Re.

 

8. Union Government launched Sahaj Scheme for online booking of LPG cylinders.

 

9. ONGC received environmental nod for 53000 crore rupees KG Basin Project.

 

10. Maharashtra’s first Solar Power operated Mini-Water Supply Plant commissioned in Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in Nagpur district.

 

11. 9th National Girl Child Day observed on 24thJanuary 2016.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won the Presidential elections of Portugal: He is a centre-right Social Democrats candidate and a former Journalist who won the elections by securing 52% of the total votes.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. PV Sindhu defeated Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour to win the Malaysia Master’s Gold title.

 

2. India won Blind T20 Asia Cup defeating Pakistan by 44 runs.

 

3. Japan’s Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu won ITTF World Junior Circuit in boys and girls categories respectively.

 

AWARDS:

4. J K Rowling to receive PEN Award for literary service.

 

OBITUARIES:

5. Malayalam Actress Kalpana passed away at the age of 51 in Hyderabad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAILY GK UPDATES 24TH JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 24TH JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India submitted first Biennial Update Report to UNFCCC: The report was submitted towards fulfilment of the reporting obligation under the convention. As per the provisions of the convention, countries need to periodically provide information in the form of their National Communication.  

 

2. Andhra Pradesh Government launched Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam Scheme for tribal people: The scheme seeks to reduce rampant infant mortality and child marriages among tribal people. It is designed to provide a onetime financial assistance of Rs 50,000 rupees to each tribal woman who gets married.

 

3. Delhi Airport suspends sale of entry tickets for visitors in view of the present security scenario.

 

4. Ambedkar, ‘Swachh Bharat’ among themes for 67th Republic Day tableaux: A giant statue of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar, rare natural abode of Asiatic lions of Gir, white tiger safari and initiatives like ‘SwachhBharat’ and ‘Digital India’ are among the themes this year for the Republic Day tableaux.

 

5. Modi flags off hi-tech Varanasi-Delhi train: PM Modi flagged off a new train, Mahamana Express, connecting the city and New Delhi through Lucknow in 14 hours. The train is named after Pandit MadanMohan Malviya, the founder of BHU.

 

6. India and Oman conduct bilateral naval exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’: India and Oman will conduct 10thedition of bilateral maritime exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ in the Arabian Sea.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. UNESCAP released World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016 report: The report highlights that the world economy stumbled in 2015 and only a modest improvement is projected for 2016/17. Global growth is expected at a mere 2.4% in 2015, making a downward revision by 0.4 percentage points from the UN forecasts presented in 2015.

 

2. Sri Lanka tops South Asia in human development: Sri Lanka has maintained its high ranking in human development. But the country’s performance in terms of average annual human development index (HDI) growth rate during 1990-2014 was lower than many other South Asian countries.

 

 

 

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. RBI asks banks to extend loans to women SHG: RBI has asked banks to provide loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at 7% interest rate to Women Self –Help Group (SHG) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) Aajeevika scheme during 2015-16.

 

OBITUARIES:

2. Eminent Tabla player Shankar Ghosh passed away at the age of 80.