DAILY GK UPDATES 24TH AUGUST 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 24TH AUGUST 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. President Pranab Mukherjee launches AkashvaniMaitree channel: India state radio broadcaster's Akashvani Maitree Channel, a special Bengali channel targeted at the Bengali-speaking audience of India, Bangladesh and in other countries, was launched by President Pranab Mukherjee.

 

2. Union Cabinet clears Surrogacy Bill: The Union Cabinet Today cleared the draft Surrogacy Bill 2016, aimed at regulating commissioning of surrogacy in the country in a proper manner. The bill aims to safeguard rights of surrogate mothers and make parentage of such children legal.

 

3. Maharashtra to have own law for internal security: The newly drafted Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act (MPISA) has proposed setting up of Special Security Zones (SSZ) where movement of arms, explosives and inflow of unaccounted funds will be prohibited. Maharashtra is the first State in the country to draft its own internal security act.

 

4. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat Assembly Ratifies GST Bill: The Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh state Assembly passed the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, becoming the fifth, sixth and seventh state to pass the bill respectively.

 

5. India is 7th wealthiest country, China second: The New World Wealth, India is ranked 7th among the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of private wealth held by individuals. The New World Wealth is a research consultancy that tracks the global wealth sector. The Top 5 Counties are: 1. US 2. China3. Japan 4.  UK 5. Germany. 

6. Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of Maharashtra and AAI sign MoU on Regional Connectivity Scheme: The Maharashtra State government, Civil Aviation Ministry and Airports Authority of India signed a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 23-August-2016 at Mumbai. The MOU pave the way for collaborative process of these agencies together for successful launch of the Regional Connectivity Scheme.

 

7. India and Germany sign pact on vocational training: India and Germany today signed an agreement that aims to foster conditions that will help create and improve workplace-based vocational training in India's industrial clusters.

 

8. India’s Oscar entry for 2017 to be picked by Ketan Mehta: The Film Federation of India (FFI) has kickstarted the process to cherry pick the film, which will officially represent India at the 89th Academy Awards next year. And the deadline for submitting entries for the foreign film category Oscar is October 1. Ketan Mehta has been approached to head the 17-member jury which comprises technicians and artists within the film industry.

 

9. Delhi to get all new Aerospace Museum: Delhi will soon have a sprawling new Aerospace Museum close to the international airport focused mainly on Nation's rich aviation history. New Aerospace Museum is not only meant to preserve the glorious tradition of the IAF but also to create awareness in general public about India's rich Aerospace heritage.

 

10. P D Gupta appointed VC of Homi BhabhaNational Institute.

 

11. Volvo Auto India hires Nalin Jain as CFO.

 

12. Two Indian-American women named White House fellows: Astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi from California and physician Tina R Shah from Chicago are among the 16 White House Fellows appointed from across the nation for the year 2016-17.

 

 

13. Airtel and Vodafone unveil e-KYC solution to use Aadhar number for SIM activation: Bharti Airteland Vodafone have started rolling out Aadhaar based e-KYC solution following the notification by the Department of Telecom, Government of India. Telecom operator Vodafone will roll out e-KYC facility across 4,500 stores in India that will quickly activate SIMs of its customers with an Aadhaar number.

 

14. Odisha Cabinet approves Startup Policy 2016: Odisha Cabinet has approved the “Odisha StartupPolicy 2016” to promote entrepreneurship for start-up ventures with provision of government incentives. The policy will chart out a roadmap to place Odisha among the top three investment destinations in the country by 2020.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pfizer to acquire oncology specialist Medivationfor $ 14 bn: The US-headquartered pharma major Pfizer Inc has entered into an agreement to acquire Medivation Inc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising small molecules for oncology, for a total enterprise value of approximately $ 14 billion.

 

2. China’s unmanned submersible sets new national record: China's unmanned submersible has dived to a depth of 10,767 metres at the world's deepest ocean point, setting a new record for the country to enable it to explore ocean beds for minerals and other natural resources.

 

3. Toxic gas leak at Bangladesh fertilizer unit sickens 250; plugged: About 250 people, including children, have fallen sick and hundreds of residents have been evacuated from their homes after a toxic gas leak from a fertiliser unit in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong.

 

4. North Korea test fires new ballistic missile: North Korea today test fired a new ballistic missile. South Korea's military said, it was launched from a submarine in the Sea of Japan, off North Korea's eastern coast.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

OBITUARIES:

1. Mathrubhumi former editor K K ShreedharanNair passed away at the age of 86.