DAILY GK UPDATES 14TH JANUARY 2016
NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Sikkim becomes India’s first fully organic state: Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state by converting around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land into sustainable cultivation.
2. Pilot project on DBT for kerosene to start soon: In order to cover more households under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, the union minister of state for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhaninformed that soon kerosene customers would be able to get their subsidy directly into their bank accounts.
3. R Shivakumar appointed Chairman of AssochamKarnataka.
4. Sachin opens railway police safety drive: Master blaster and former captain of the Indian cricket team Sachin Tendulkar launched two safety and awareness initiatives by the Mumbai Railway Police. The two initiatives, SAMEEP (Safety Alert Messages Exclusively for Passengers) and B-SAFE, were launched at the RPF headquarters in Wadi Bunder.
5. Centre approves Rs 791 crore as Drought assistance for Telangana.
6. Government limits Foreign Travel by Bureaucrats to four a year.
7. Jharkhand to add drinking water crisis in local disasters list: The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting and will cover those districts where the rainfalls have been less than 75% of the normal or where the groundwater level has gone below by four metres or more.
8. Jharkhand to set up fast track courts for trial of witchcraft-related attacks.
9. Nitin Gadkari inaugurated 2nd liquid chemical berth of Mumbai Port Trust: With commissioning of this berth, the cargo handling capacity of the Port will increase by 2.5 MMT per annum.
10. Bhaskar Bhat becomes Tata SIA Airlines Chairman.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. WHO declares world’s worst ever Ebola outbreak over: The World Health Organisation announced that the Ebola epidemic that has ravaged west Africa for two years was over after Liberia, the last affected country , received all clear.
2. USA increased H-1B and L-1 visa petition fees.
3. India tops Asia in sending scientists, engineers to US: Report: India continued its trend of being the top country of birth from Asia for immigrant scientists and engineers in US, with 950,000 out of the continent’s total 2.96 million, according to a new report.
4. UN released dataset titled Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 Revision: The dataset analysed trends in migration flows across the world, even country as well as region wise, between 2000 and 2015.
FINANCE/BANKING:
1. SBI launches dedicated branch for start-ups in Bengaluru: State Bank of India launched its wealth management offering and inaugurated a dedicated branch for start-ups. While the wealth management service ‘Exclusif’ is targeted at the fast-growing affluent segment in the country. ‘SBI InCube’-the branch for start-ups-would offer advisory services to the budding entrepreneurs under one roof.
2. RBI allows banks to provide all services at off-site ATMs: It has allowed banks to offer the whole array of services even at off-site ATMs. Off-site ATMs are the ones that set up on a standalone basis and are not on the premises of a bank branch.
SPORTS:
3. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis create world record for most successive victories by winning their 29th women’s doubles match in a row en route to their entry into the women’ doubles final of the WTA Sydney International.
AWARDS:
4. Subhashini Vasanth honoured with NeerjaBhanot Award: She was awarded for her endeavour to help people in distress and for empowering widows of martyrs and their families across the country.
5. UNICEF presented David Beckham with Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award
OBITUARIES:
6. Actor Alan Rickman, known for his role as ‘Snape’ in Harry Potter series, died at the age of 69.
