DAILY GK UPDATES 5TH JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 5TH JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 15 states have joined UDAY Scheme: Piyush Goyal: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar have agreed to join the central government’s electricity distribution utility (Discom) financial turnaround scheme to take the total number up to 15.

 

2. Wipro management changes, T K Kurienelevated as Vice Chairman, COO becomes CEO: T K Kurien was the CEO earlier. Abidali Neemachwalahas been appointed as the new CEO. He was the COO earlier.

 

3. Paytm acquires Shifu for $8 million to enrich customer experience: Shifu, a context-aware personal assistant application, mines the smartphone usage patterns of users and makes personalized and highly relevant recommendations to them.

 

4. LIC offers longer cover under ‘Jeevan Labh’: LIC is offering a ‘New Year gift’ to the public in the form of a limited-premium, non-hiked and with-profit endowment assurance plan ‘Jeevan Labh’. The highlight of the plan is that premium is payable for a limited period while risk is covered for the whole policy term.

 

5. PM Modi lays foundation for HAL’s new helicopter plant in Tumkur, Karnataka.

 

6. Jharkhand Government inaugurated land bank web portal jharbhoom.nic.in: Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das inaugurated the state’s land bank web portal, jharbhoom.nic.in, which will help investors know land related information.

 

7. LinkedIn names Akshay Kothari as India Country Manager.

 

8. Supreme Court directed Gujarat Government to make Gujarat State Cooperative Tribunal functional.

 

9. Toilets made mandatory to contest Panchayatpolls in Bihar: State Election Commissioner (SEC) Ashok Kumar Chauhan announced that toilets will be made mandatory requirement for eligibility to contest panchayat elections. This declaration means that no one can contest the Bihar Panchayat elections 2016 without having a toilet at their home.

 

10. Union Government to launch River Information System for Inland Waterways: The system is expected to improve navigation in Inland Waterways in the country as the government is set to expand the network across the country through the National Waterways Bill, 2015.

 

11. Sterlite Grid commissioned first power project under TBCB incentive regime: Sterlite Grid set a new benchmark by commissioning the Transmission Project to Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) ahead of the schedule under the Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) incentive regime.

 

12. PM Modi inaugurates Indian Science Congress in Mysuru: This is the 103rd edition of the ISC and the theme of this year is ‘Science and Technology for Indigenous development in India’. The Congress will continue till January 7.

 

13. Volvo Buses India merged with Volvo India Pvt Ltd.

 

14. IRB Infra bagged 10050 crore rupees project to build Zozila Pass Tunnel Project in Jammu & Kashmir.

 

15. BHEL commissioned 600 MW thermal unit at Kakatiya Thermal Power Project in Warangal.

 

16. Radha Krishna Mathur took charge as Chief Information Commissioner of India.

 

17. Industry body the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) appointed FreeCharge CEO Kunal Shah as Chairman.

 

18. Vishal Suri appointed as the new MD of KuoniIndia.

 

19. Department of Posts formed Kamlesh Chandra Panel on Gramin Dak Sevaks.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nokia completed acquisition of Alca-Lucent for 15.6 billion euro: Nokia Corporations announced that it has completed the regulatory formalities for acquiring the French telecom equipment company Alca-Lucent.

 

2. Mary Barra elected as the Chairperson of General Motors Board of Directors: She was earlier serving the company as its CEO. 

 

3. India-Nepal bus service resumed after 27 years: The service was suspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo-Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty. The service runs between Kanchanpur in Nepal, which is close to Banbasa border in Champavat district of Uttarakhand, and Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi.

 

4. IUPAC announced addition of four elements to complete the Seventh row of Periodic Table: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) announced discovery and assignment of elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118.

 

5. Filippo Grandi takes helm as UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

 

6. Sachin Tendulkar has been appointed as the brand ambassador for Danish Pharmaceutical Company Novo Nordisk for the disease awareness campaign ‘Changing Diabetes’ initiated by it in India.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on State Bank of Travancore, for violation of some of its instructions.

 

2. Andhra Bank launches Immediate Payment Service: It has announced its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) across branches to provide interbank electronic transfer service, capable of processing person to account remittances.

 

SPORTS:

3. ONGC won 26th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament by defeating Indian Railways.

 

4. Pranav Dhanawade became the first batsman to score 1000 plus runs in an innings in any form of cricket.

 

AWARDS:

5. Kate Atkinson won 2015 Costa Novel Prize for her book ‘A God in Ruins: 

 

OBITUARIES:

6. Ian Murdoch, best known for founding one of the World’s best known Linux distributions, passed away in San Francisco.

 

7. Former CJI S H Kapadia died at the age of 68 in Mumbai.

 

8. Former Wigan Athletic defender Steve Gohouripassed away at the age of 34 after he went missing on 12 December 2015.

 

BOOKS AND AUTHORS: 

9. The book titled ‘Jinnah often came to our house’ authored by Kiran Doshi released by Vice President Hamid Ansari.

DAILY GK UPDATES 4TH JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 4TH JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Arunima Sinha scaled Mount Aconcagua in Argentina: Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer who set a record by climbing the Mount Everest, conquered Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.  

 

2. India successfully test fired indigenously developed MBRL Pinaka II at Pokhran: Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) successfully test fired Pinaka II multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system from Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

 

3. Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for MoU on BRICS Network University: The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for signing of MoU among BRICS countries on BRICS Network University. The MoU will help in developing pro-active cooperation among the BRICS nations for the purpose of enhancement of scientific research, higher education and information exchange.

 

4. Terrorist attacked IAF Airbase at Pathankot: Several heavily armed terrorists belonging to Jaish-e-mohammad, an islamist militant group attacked Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force.

 

5. Union Government announced setting up of CCL Sports University in Jharkhand: The University will have a capacity of 1400 students and 15 sports academies. As 700 out of the total 1400 students will be selected from Jharkhand, the university will help the youth from the state to sharpen their skills under coaches of international standards. A MoU was signed between Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and the Jharkhand Government. 

 

6. Justice R M Lodha Committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court: The Committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court suggesting reforms in the Board of Cricket Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The panel has recommended separate governing bodies for IPL and BCCI, with limited autonomy for the IPL Governing Council. It has also recommended legalising betting.

 

7. President Pranab Mukherjee gives assent to five key legislations: The legislations are the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, the Schedule Castes and the Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Act and the Payment of Bonus Act, 2015.

 

8. A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake jolts North Eastern and Eastern parts of the country.

 

9. CM Akhilesh Yadav kick starts three day long UP Pravasi Divas at Agra.

 

10. R K S Bhadauria takes over as Deputy Chief of Air Staff.

 

11. Maharashtra Government inks MoU with Pawan Hans: In a bid to give impetus to tourism in state, Maharashtra government has signed a MoU with private helicopter company Pawan Hans.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeirannounced that his country has broken off diplomatic ties with Iran. The announcement was made amid a row over the Saudi execution of prominent Shia Muslim cleric.

 

2. World Braille Day observed on January 4: World Braille Day was observed across the World on January 4 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Louis Braille.  

 

3. Indian consulate in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif city attacked: All consulate personnel are safe.Explosions and gunfire were heard at the compound when the attackers tried to storm the consulate building.  

 

OTHER UPDATES:

OBITUARIES:

1. Veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan passed away at the age of 92 after prolonged illness.

 

2. Oscar winning Cinematographer VilmosZsigmond died at the age of 85 in California (USA): He won the Oscar award for Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the third kind’.

 

3. English cricketer Matthew Hobden passed away at the age of 22: He played for Sussex.

 

 

 

DAILY GK UPDATES 3RD JANUARY 2016

DAILY GK UPDATES 3RD JANUARY 2016

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Atul Sobti took charge as CMD of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.  

 

2. Government constitute Kamlesh Chandra Committee to study wage structure of Gramin DakSevaks: The Union Government has constituted a committee to examine the wage structure, service conditions of the Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in the Department of Posts (DoP).

 

3. Shekhar Saran took charge as the CMD of Ranchi based Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI).

 

4. Telangana becomes first state to accept e-motor insurance policies: Electronic motor insurance policies are legally accepted by the police and transport authorities in Telangana from today, making it the first state in the country to do so. The e-Vahan Bima, an electronic motor insurance policy issued in digital form with Quick Response (QR) code, has been formally launched here by the Minister of IT, K T Ramarao.

 

5. Government clears tax information exchange pact with Maldives and Slovenia: The agreement will stimulate effective exchange of information between the two countries which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.

 

6. Norway to help India manage construction waste: India will sign a MoU with Norway for training of human resource to handle construction and demolition waste, in tune with the Clean India Campaign launched by PM Narendra Modi. An MoU will be signed between SINTEF, Norway and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for cooperation in the development of human resource capacity-building and scientific research in the field of Recycling of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste in India.

 

7. CBSE launches ‘E-CBSE’ mobile app for e-learning material: The Central Board of Secondary Education has launched its latest mobile application ‘E-CBSE’ for providing e-learning material for students and teachers.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Copyright of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ expires: For the first time in 70 years, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi manifesto Mein Kampf is to be available to buy in Germany. The copyright has now expired and Munich’s Institute of Contemporary History is to publish a new edition. 

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. India won 2015 SAFF Cup football tournament for the 7th time defeating Afghanistan.