DAILY GK UPDATES 8TH JANUARY 2015

DAILY GK UPDATES 8TH JANUARY 2015

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Rajan is The Banker’s central banker of the year: RBI Governor Raghuram G Rajan was named The Banker magazine’s Global and Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year 2015, for stabilising the Indian rupee, initiating key reforms to attract much needed foreign capital in the country and reigning in a runaway price appreciation. The Banker is a prestigious monthly magazine of the Financial Times Group.

 

2. Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry and MEA merged: In order to avoid duplication of work and to improve efficiency, the Government merged the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with the Ministry of External Affairs.

 

3. Indo-French military exercise Shakti-2016 started: India and France started their eight-day counter terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in Rajasthan. This is the third edition in the series of bilateral exercises under this banner and is being held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan’s Bikaner.

 

4. First Company of Ganga Task Force deployed: As a major initiative towards fast track implementation of Namami Gange Programme, the first company of Ganga Task force Battalion was deployed at Grahmukteshwar yesterday.

 

5. Sailesh appointed new Registrar General and Census Commissioner.

 

6. Tata Steel bags PM’s trophy: Tata Steel has been declared as the winner of Prime Minister’s Trophy for being the ‘Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant’ in the country for the performance year 2013-14 for the 8th time.

 

7. Amitabh Kant appointed as the new CEO of NITI Aayog.

 

8. Devendra Kumar Sikri appointed as Chairman of Competition Commission of India.

 

9. Indigenously built ASW Corvette INS Kadmattcommissioned in Vishakhapatnam: Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt was commissioned in the Indian Navy at naval dockyard in Vishakhapatnam by Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R K Dhowan.

 

10. Operation Green Hunt to hunt Maoists: Operation Green Hunt, an all-out offensive by India’s paramilitary forces and the state’s forces against the Naxalites came in news recently. The operation which is believed to start in November along five states in the ‘Red Corridor’ came in news after Maoists called a two-day bandh opposing it in Nuapada, Malkangiri and Kalanidhi districts of Odisha.

 

11. Union Government allowed traditional bull-taming sports Jallikatu in Tamil Nadu.

 

12. Quikr acquired online real estate portal Commonfloor.com: After the deal, Quikr will be valued at about 1.5 billion USD based on the share-swap ratio.

 

13. Azim Premji, who donated Rs 27, 514 crore for education is the ‘Most Generous Indian’ for the third year running followed by Nandan Nilekaniand Narayana Murthy in the second and third place, respectively as per the Hurun India Philanthropy List.

 

14. Union Ministry of Urban Development approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for Punjab and Uttarakhand for the year 2015-16.

 

15. Rajasthan inked deal with Cairn India to provide clean drinking water in Barmer.

 

16. Kerala Government decided to implement health care project Sampoorna Arogya Keralam.

 

17. Airtel appoints Rakesh Bharti Mittal as Non-Executive Director.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. California declared state of emergency in Los Angeles after methane gas leak: The leak happened at the Southern California Gas Company’s Aliso Canyon storage field in Porter Ranch of Los Angeles.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Miguel Tabuena won Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the month.

 

AWARDS:

2. GMR Group Chairman G.M Rao was honoured with ‘Bulandh Bharath Award’ for his exemplary contributions towards nation building. 

 

OBITUARIES:

3. Indian-origin South African freedom fighter Indrasena E Naidoo dies at the age of 79.