DAILY GK UPDATES - 15TH NOVEMBER 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. India’s first Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit held: India’s first Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit began in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. The event has been organized by NITI Aayog in partnership with the government of US. The event is a part of 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit being held in India. The summit has been organized mainly with the motive to inspire, nurture and promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in tribal youth.

2. NCERT conducts largest ever survey-NAS: National Achievement Survey (NAS), the largest ever assessment survey on a national level was conducted by NCERT. NAS was conducted for the Classes 3, 5 and 8 in government and government-aided schools. The survey is to ascertain learning level of students. The inferences drawn from the analytical reports will be used to design classroom interventions.

3. Jharkhand celebrates 17th statehood day: Jharkhand is a state in eastern India carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand state accounts for 40% of the mineral resources of India. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, visited Jharkhand and paid tributes to freedom fighter Birsa Munda at his statue at Birsa Chowk, Ranchi.

4. International Lavi Fair begins in HP: Traditional International ‘Lavi fair’ was held from 11th -14th November 2017 in Rampur, Himachal Pradesh. Lavi Fair has been an important point of trade between India and Tibet for centuries. The fair is visited by tourist and traders from distant places. It provides a good opportunity for promotion and sale of woolens, dry fruits and other traditional crafts and products.

5. India’s first offshore desalination plant to be built: Scientists from NIOT will build India’s first offshore desalination plant about 40km from the Chennai coast. The capacity of the plant will be 10 million liters of water per day. The plant will operate on Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD), a low cost and environment-friendly technology to get potable water.

6. West Bengal gets GI Tag for ‘Rosogolla’: The Geographical Indications (GI) Registry announced that West Bengal has been awarded the GI status for ‘Rosogolla’. The Geographical Indications (GI) Registry has said that the ‘Rosogolla’ originated in West Bengal and not Odisha. West Bengal and Odisha have been fighting a legal battle over the origin of the sweet meat ‘Rosogolla’ since June 2015.

7. Vijay Dimri appointed as the President of 36th IGC: Scientist Vijay Prasad Dimri was appointed as the President of the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC). It is a global platform for the advancement of earth science, to be held in New Delhi in 2020.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Asgardia launched Asgardia-1 into space: The Space Kingdom of Asgardia(virtual nation) launched its first satellite ‘Asgardia-1’ into space from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Asgardia – so-called ‘virtual nation’ is the project of Russian scientist and billionaire Igor Ashurbeyli. The Asgardia-1 satellite, which is about the size of a loaf of bread, contains half a terabyte of data

2. Borut Pahor of Slovenia’s wins second term as Prez: Slovenia’s President Borut Pahor wins Second Term in Runoff Election. He received nearly 53 percent of votes.

3. Saudi Arabia recognizes Yoga as a Sport: The Saudi Arabian government has approved the practice of yoga as a sports activity. This news came from a social media post of Nouf Marwaai, founder of the Arab Yoga Foundation in Saudi Arabia.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. CRISIL, SIDBI tie up to launch CriSidEx: Rating firm Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) have signed a MoU to launch CriSidEx, a sentiment Index for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). This index will provide insights into employment, business environment, and foreign trade trends in the MSME sector.

SPORTS:

1. Sebastian Vettel wins Brazilian GP: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix, a Formula One championship race, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Valtteri Bottas started the race at the pole position. Vettel controlled the race after taking the lead from Valtteri Bottas. The Formula One world championship title had already been decided at the Mexican Grand Prix, two weeks earlier.

2. Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal retires from all forms of cricket: Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal announced his retirement from all forms of cricket two years after a remodeled bowling action that was deemed illegal twice by the autorities. Ajmal was once celebrated as the world’s number one bowler in one-day internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 cricket, and was almost as successful in Tests.

DAILY GK UPDATES 14TH NOVEMBER 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Children’s Day observed across India: Children’s Day is celebrated on the 14th of November in India as a tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru, who was born on November 14, 1889. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was fondly called Chacha Nehru or Chachaji, was known for his love for children. Prior to 1964, India celebrated Children’s Day on 20 November, which was observed as the Universal Children’s Day by the United Nations.

2. India to get its first ‘Air Dispensary’: Northeast is all set to get India’s first-ever “Air Dispensary” based in a helicopter. The Union Ministry of Development of Northeast has already contributed Rs. 25 crore funding for this initiative.

3. 37th India International Trade Fair begins in New Delhi: 37th India International Trade Fair (IITF) has begun at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The 14-day annual event has been organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). This year the theme of the fair is “Startup India Standup India”. Vietnam is the Partner Country, while Kyrgyzstan is the Focus Country.  Jharkhand is participating as a Partner State in the event.

4. Indian Railways to launch Project Saksham: Railways will launch the country’s largest time-bound “upskilling”exercise for government employees to upgrade the skill sets of its 13 lakh-strong workforce with a single drive spanning 9 months. Project Saksham will start in January 2018 and go on until September 2018.

5. Bharat Net, Phase 2 launched: Central Government launched the Phase 2 of Bharat Net project to connect 1.5 lakh gram panchayats with high-speed broadband by March 2019. Bharat Net Project, formerly known as National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) was launched by Central Government in October 2011 with an aim to deploy high-speed optical fiber cables across rural areas of India.

6. India Youth Development Index:Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore released the India Youth Development Index and Report. The objective of constructing YDI 2017 is to track the trends in Youth Development across the States. The Index enables recognizing the high and low performing states, identifies the weak domains and informs the priority areas of intervention for youth development.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. World Diabetes Day 2017: World Diabetes Day is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign. It is celebrated every year on 14th November. The theme of World Diabetes Day 2017 is Women and diabetes – our right to a healthy future.

2. Founding Ceremony of International Solar Alliance held in Bonn: A Curtain Raiser Event for the Founding Ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held in Bonn, Germany. The ISA is a treaty-based alliance of 121 prospective solar-rich Member Nations situated fully or partially between the Tropics & aims at the development of solar energy globally.

3. 10th South Asia Economic Summit begins in Kathmandu: The 10th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) has begun in Kathmandu, Nepal. The theme of the 3-day summit is “Deepening Economic Integration for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in South Asia”.

OTHER UPDATES

BANKING & FINANCE:

1. Asian Bankers Association summit to be held in Mumbai: For the first time, Mumbai is to host the 34th annual conference of the Asian Bankers Association on 16th and 17th November 2017. Summit will be hosted by State Bank. The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Asia’s turn to transform’.

SPORTS:

1. Pankaj Advani wins his 17th title at ISBF World Billiards Championships: Indian cueist Pankaj Advani has won his 17th world title at the IBSF World Billiards Championship 2017 in Doha, Qatar. Pankaj beat Mike Russell of England by 6-2 (0-155, 150-128, 92-151, 151-0, 151-6, 151-0, 150-58, 150-21) and won his 17th world title at the IBSF World Billiards Championship 2017.

2. Rafael Nadal receives ATP World No. 1 award: Tennis player Rafael Nadal was presented the ATP World Number 1 award on court, at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena, in London. Rafael Nadal replaced Andy Murray of Britain at Number 1 position on 21 August 2017.

DAILY GK UPDATES - 13th November 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. India’s first Military Literature Festival to be held: India’s first Military Literature Festival (MLF) will be held in Chandigarh, between December7 and 9, 2017. It is a tribute to the armed forces, whose contributions to the nation remain etched in history as iconic events.

2. Child Rights Week to be observed: The Ministry of Women and Child Development will celebrate the Child Rights Week (Hausla 2017) from 16th to 20th November 2017. The commemoration of the festival “Hausla 2017” will provide an occasion to showcase the talents of children and to provide them with a space to express their dreams and aspiration.

3. Odisha, Bengal to hold joint exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’: The governments of Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal will soon organize a joint security exercise named as ‘Sagar Kavach’. It is to further tighten the existing coastal security mechanism along the 630 km long coastline. Sagar Kavach security exercise is a realistic drill to check the efficacy of the security parameters and preparedness of various security forces.

4. Cabinet approval for restructuring National Rural Drinking Water Programme: Cabinet has accorded its approval for continuation and restructuring of National Rural Drinking Water Programme. The scheme was launched to ensure good quality service delivery to the rural population. The restructuring will make the programme flexible and will enable the Ministry towards to reach the goal of increasing coverage of sustainable Piped Water Supply.

5. Award of President’s Standard & Colours: Mr. Ramnath Kovind will give the prestigious President’s standard to 223 Squadron and 117 Helicopter Unit during a ceremonial parade scheduled to be held at Air Force Station Adampur on 16th November 17. The Commanding Officer of 223 Squadron, Group and 117 Helicopter Unit will receive the President’s Standard. This honour is an acknowledgement of the meritorious service rendered by the selected units.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. World Pneumonia Day observed:  On 12th November 2017, World Pneumonia Day was observed all over the world. It was first observed in 2009 when over 100 organisations joined to form the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. It helps to highlight the severity of pneumonia and encourages more organisations to look at ways of fighting the disease.

2. APEC summit held in Vietnam: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting was held on 10th and 11th November, 2017 in Da Nang, Vietnam. Theme of this meeting was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’. Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim countries attended this meeting. This was the first APEC meeting for several leaders.

3. Global Climate Risk Index released: India is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of facing extreme weather events, according to global climate risk index.

Haiti, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are at top five positions in the fresh list of nations facing climate risk. The ranking was released here by ‘Germanwatch’, an independent Berlin-based development and environmental organisation.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Cartoon Network’s first amusement park to come up in Surat: Turner International India and Rajgreen Group are making Amaazia – India’s first Cartoon Network-branded amusement park, in Surat. Cartoon Network’s popular characters will be part of the amusement park. Amaazia will be divided into four major sections – a theme park branded by Cartoon Network, a water park, a family recreational hub and a service apartment and retail shopping area.

SPORTS:

1. Bharat Khandare to be the first India-born fighter in UFC: Bharat Khandare is all set to be the first Indian-born Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). He was first approached by UFC three years back but the deal did not go through because of his prior commitments. Earlier this year Arjan Singh Bhullar became the first Indian to sign up in the UFC.

2. New Ombudsman of AIFF named: Supreme Court appointed former captain of the football team, Bhaskar Ganguly, as ombudsman of All India Football Federation. Ganguly had served as captain of the Indian team at the 1982 Asian Games.

DAILY GK UPDATES - 12TH November 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. Home Ministry sets up two new divisions: Union Home Ministry has formed 2 new divisions to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalisation & cyber crime. CTCR wing will focus on tracking & assessing online reach of global terrorist outfits & devising strategies to counter their propaganda. CIS division will monitor online crimes & threats including cyber fraud, hacking & suggest ways to minimise & fight them.

2. Varanasi is the most polluted city-Report: A report by the Central Pollution Control Board has found that the air quality of holy city Varanasi is most polluted among the 42 cities monitored recently. Varanasi’s Air Quality Index was at an alarming 491, followed by Gurugram at 480, and Delhi at 468. Stubble burning by farmers in Punjab & Haryana are speculated to have added to the factors causing pollution in northern belt of India.

3. First Nordic-Baltic youth film festival to begin at Delhi: The first Nordic-Baltic youth film festival will begin in Delhi on 13th November, showcasing a diverse mix of some of the most celebrated and Oscar nominated movies from the region. The festival will give the Indian audience an opportunity to connect with these countries and strengthen the cultural bond. The festival will open with Land of Mine from Denmark, an Oscar-nominated film.

4. Creation of National Testing Agency (NTA) approved: The Union Cabinet has approved the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions. Its creation will relieve CBSE which conducts exams like the NEET and AICTE of the burden of conducting entrance tests. The NTA will begin by conducting exams managed by the CBSE and gradually conduct other examinations too.

5. Second National Judicial Pay Commission approved: Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi approved the appointment of  2nd National Judicial pay commission for subordinate judiciary. Commission will decide on a salary hike for almost 21,000 judges of the subordinate judiciary level. Commission is to be headed by retired Justice of Supreme Court, J.P.Venkatrama Reddi. R. Basant, a former judge of Kerala high court is also a member of the commission.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. UNESCO confirms Audrey Azoulay as its new chief:UNESCO’s member States have voted to confirm nomination of former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay as the body’s new leader. Her nomination was confirmed in Oct by members of the agency’s board, making her the organization’s 2nd woman director-general.

OTHER UPDATES

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

1. Debjani to be the first woman President of NASSCOM: National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has named Debjani Ghosh as its President-Designate, who will succeed R Chandrashekhar after completion of his tenure in March next year. She has been the Managing Director of Intel South Asia and will be the first woman President of NASSCOM.

2. Twitter doubles length of display name: Twitter has more than doubled its count for users’ display names from 20 to 50 characters. It comes days after the social media giant ended the iconic 140-character tweet limit.

BANKING & FINANCE:

1. Federal Bank gets RBI nod to open offices in Kuwait and Singapore: Federal Bank has obtained RBI approval to open representative offices at Kuwait and Singapore. With the opening of these offices, the Bank will be able to widen its services to NRI diaspora and also enhance the international visibility of the Bank.

SPORTS:

1. MS Dhoni launches his first global cricket academy in Dubai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has inaugurated his first global cricket academy in the bustling metropolis of Dubai. The facility named the MS Dhoni Cricket Academy (MSDCA) will have coaches from India to train the wards.

Daily GK Updates - 11th November, 2017

Daily GK Updates - 11th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 'India Disaster Response Summit': The Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has inaugurated the 'India Disaster Response Summit' in New Delhi. The summit focused on how best to leverage social media platforms to 'prepare, respond and recover' during and after a disaster. The summit has been organized jointly by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) & Facebook.

2. NITI Aayog releases proposal to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Delhi: NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has released a proposal to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Delhi. The "quick pilot" project includes 55 locations with 135 charging stations. The proposal can be used to provide a structure for electric vehicle infrastructure rollout in the Gurgaon-Indira Gandhi International Airport-South Delhi-Noida corridor.  

3. Second official language of Telangana state - Urdu: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has declared Urdu as the state's second official language. According to CM Rao, every office in the state will have an Urdu speaking officer. Muslims form 12.7% of the state's total population.

4. Newly appointed DGP of Telangana State - M Mahender Reddy: M Mahender Reddy (Hyderabad Police Commissioner) has been appointed Director General of Police (DGP) of Telangana State. He succeeds Present DGP Anurag Sharma (who will superannuate today). M Mahender Reddy is a civil engineering graduate from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, Mr Reddy got selected for IPS while pursuing his M.Tech. in IIT of Delhi. In India, the Director General of Police (DGP) is a three-star rank and the highest-ranking police officer in Indian States and Union Territories (UT).

5. Indian Government  to provide 100 foreign students full scholarship to study Ayurveda: Indian govt will provide 100 non-Indian students a full scholarship for study Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (Ayush) in any of the public deemed universities across India. The initiative is to encourage and popularize the alternative system of medicine. Soon, the details of the application process and scholarship will be available with the Indian missions abroad. Minister for Ayush Sripad Naik is on a three-day visit to UAE to participate in the first-ever International Ayush Conference and Exhibition in Dubai. Ayurveda is a system of medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. Globalized and modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of complementary or alternative medicine.

6. Home Ministry sets up two new divisions for radicalization & cybercrime: The Union Home Ministry has formed two new divisions Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Radicalisation (CTCR) and the Cyber and Information Security (CIS) to exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalization & cyber-crime. The two divisions also encompass merger of some of the Ministry’s existing divisions. The CTCR wing is the basically modified version of the Home Ministry’s internal security-II division to focus on tracking & assessing the online reach of global terrorist outfits and devising strategies to counter their propaganda. The CIS division will monitor online crimes and threats (cyber fraud, hacking) and also suggest ways to minimise and fight them.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US & South Korea start joint naval exercises involving 3 US aircraft carriers: The United States and South Korea has started four-day joint naval exercises involving three US aircraft carriers in what military officials described as a clear warning to North Korea. Japan would also send its largest warship to join three U.S. aircraft carriers in exercises in waters near the Korean Peninsula.

2. UAE, Saudi & Kuwait have advised its citizens from traveling to Lebanon amidst rising regional tension between Riyadh & Tehran over Yemen and the Lebanon issue: Earlier, Lebanese prime minister Saad Al Hariri announced his sudden resignation while visiting the Saudi kingdom. Bahrain has already issued a similar advisory for its nationals.

OTHER UPDATES:

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. Earth observation satellite launched by Morocco: Morocco has successfully launched an earth observation satellite called “Mohammed VI-A” (1,110 kg) from French Guyana Space Centre. The ‘Mohammed VI-A satellite’ built for Morocco by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor and Airbus as co-prime. It will be used for mapping and land surveying activities along with regional development and agricultural monitoring. The satellite has been launched by European consortium Arianespace's Vega rocket.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. GST Council reduces tax on 178 items from 28 to 18%: After the Council's meeting in Guwahati, The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has reduced tax rate on products. Tax on 177 items have been reduced to 18% from 28% and only 50 items now remain in the highest tax slab of 28%. The Council has decided that food at all restaurants in the country, except those in starred hotels, will be taxed at 5% rather than 18%, without Input Tax Credit (ITC). The new rates will be effective from the 15th of this month.

2. IDFC Bank has entered into a “strategic alliance” with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik:This pre-paid card will now allow MobiKwik users to shop from Amazon or Flipkart where currently MobiKwik wallet use is not allowed. This Visa pre-paid card is the replica of the wallet and can be used anywhere. Within the MobiKwik App, a user will be able to generate a Visa pre-paid card. You can not only be able to pay where the MobiKwik wallet is accepted, but also all the locations where Visa cards are accepted.

Daily GK Updates - 10th November, 2017

Daily GK Updates - 10th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Bengaluru has been adjudged as the best city among 45 cities for the confidence of its businesses in their ability to go digital: Bengaluru outranks San Francisco. San Francisco is ranked, followed by other two Indian cities, Mumbai and New Delhi. The survey was conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit(EIU). EIU conducted this survey in partnership with telecommunications firm Telstra Corp. 

2. Bandhan Express: ‘Bandhan Express’ a passenger train between Kolkata and Bangladesh’s southwestern industrial city of Khulna was inaugurated on November 9, 2017. It is a fully air-conditioned passenger train and will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna. It is the second Indo-Bangla train service after the Maitree Express, which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata.

3. Delhi Government signed a twin city agreement with the Seoul (South Korea) Metropolitan Government: Its objective is to strengthen cooperation between two cities in the fields of the smart city, e-governance, climate change and transportation. The twin city agreement between Delhi and Seoul will come into effect after being approved by Union Government.

4. Odd-Even Scheme again in Delhi: The Delhi government announced that the odd-even scheme will be reintroduced in the national capital from November 13 to November 17. This comes after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had declared that the pollution has reached ‘Severe Plus’ level or emergency condition.

5. Three-day Organic World Congress: A 3-day Organic World Congress, 2017 is being organized at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida. It will see the participation of 1,400 representatives from 110 countries, and 2000 delegates from India. The OWC is organized once every 3 years in a different country. Last edition took place in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India again member of UNESCO’s Board: India has been re-elected as the member of the UNESCO’s executive board, its top decision-making body. The election was held at the 39th session of the General Conference of the UNESCO in Paris, France. In the General Conference, each country has one vote, irrespective of its size or the extent of its contribution to the budget.

2. EU Election Mission: The European Union Election Observation Mission was officially launched to monitor the general and provincial polls in Nepal which are scheduled for November 26 and December 7. Around 100 election observers from member countries of the EU have been deployed to oversee the polls in the Himalayan nation. The EU has allocated 3.5 million euro for the entire election observation process.

3. Prince of Wales, Charles Philip Arthur George arrived in New Delhi on a 2-day visit to India:  This visit is a part of their 10 day tour to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and India. This visit will be the 9th visit of the Prince of Wales to India. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations.

4. Nordic-Baltic youth film festival: The Nordic-Baltic embassies are set to host the first ever youth film festival of the European nations at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi from 13 – 18 November 2017. The film festival is organized by Nordic-Baltic embassies in collaboration with the India Habitat Centre. The Nordic-Baltic countries are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.

5. International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial meeting:International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial meeting was held in Paris, France. Energy security, clean energy technology and government-industry dialogue on investment and digitalization were the key focus areas for this meeting. Indian delegation to IEA Ministerial Meeting, Paris was led by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh.

6. Top tourist destination 2017 – Hong-Kong: Hong-Kong remains the world’s most visited city by international travellers in spite of strained relations with neighbouring China. In a report on the top 100 city destinations that highlights the growth in Asian tourism, market research firm Euromonitor International said 25.7 million arrivals are expected in Hong Kong in 2017. Other countries followed by Hong Kong are Bangkok and London.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. HS Prannoy defeated Kidambi Srikanth in the finale to claim the men’s singles title at the 82nd Senior National Championship:He achieved his career-best ranking of World No. 11 recently, saw off top seed Srikanth in a 49-minute clash to return the favour after his semi-final loss to his compatriot at the French Open Super Series last month. The tournament was held in Nagpur.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. A new species of wild banana named ‘Musa paramjitiana’ has been discovered in Andaman and Nicobar islands: The new species of wild banana has been named after Paramjit Singh, director of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). This discovery has been published in the Nordic Journal of Botany. Its conservation status has been declared as ‘Critically Endangered’.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. HDFC Bank has announced the launch of its SmartUp Zone in Kochi, an exclusive area inside the branch dedicated to start-ups:SmartUp Zones will be launched in over 65 branches in 30 cities across India, including tier 2 and 3 cities that are emerging as start-up hubs. The objective is to harness the potential of the startup and fintech eco-system using a multi-pronged approach.

2. IDFC Bank Partners with MobiKwik: IDFC Bank has entered into a “strategic alliance” with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik. One need not be a customer of IDFC Bank to use the co-branded pre-paid card. The novelty here is that a user need not go through the five-step process to generate a card.

3. American digital payments company PayPal launched domestic operations in India: At launch, Indian consumers will be able to make transactions at select online merchants. Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through the platform, getting access to PayPal’s more than 200 million customers around the world and in India through a single integration.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. Aadhaar Link with insurance policy mandatory:  IRDA has announced that linking of Aadhaar number to insurance policies is now a mandatory requirement under Prevention of Money-laundering Second Amendment Rules, 2017. This norm of linking Aadhaar number to insurance policies will apply to new customers as well as existing policyholders. Besides, it will apply not only to life insurance policies but also to general insurance policies.

2. NBD – the second largest bank of United Arab Emirates has started operations in India by opening a branch in Mumbai: The Mumbai branch is Emirates NBD’s fifth international branch outside of its UAE. Emirates NBD’s Mumbai branch will offer a range of services to corporate, institutional clients and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

3. SBI releases Soumya Kanti Ghosh authored report on oil price hike: The Economic Research Department of State Bank of India has released a report on oil price hike and how unlikely it is to impact the Current account deficit (CAD) and how inflation could stretch fiscal. The report is authored by Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser of SBI. The report depicts oil price hike and its impact on the Current account deficit (CAD) and inflation.

AWARDS / HONOURS:

1. Ravinder Singh Bhalla has become the first ever Sikh mayor of New Jersey’s Hoboken city: He is the first Sikh to hold elected office in New Jersey. Bhalla, who is better known as Ravi Bhalla, graduated from UC Berkley and did his masters degree from London School of Economics and received a law degree from Tulane University.

Daily GK Updates - 9th November, 2017

Daily GK Updates - 9th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Kerala launches ‘She Pad’ scheme: Kerala launched a new scheme for school students named ‘She Pad’ in Kerala. CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that the ‘She Pad’ scheme will benefit the girls of classes 6 to 12 in Kerala and will be implemented in 300 schools this year. Free sanitary napkins, storage spaces and environment-friendly incinerators at all government-aided schools in Kerala will be provided as part of the project.

2. Chennai in UNESCO’s Creative cities list: 64 cities from 44 countries have been designated as UNESCO Creative Cities by Director-General, Irina Bokova. Chennai is the third Indian city on the list of UNESCO Creative Cities list after Jaipur and Varanasi. Chennai has been for contribution in music.

3. Uttarakhand celebrates its 17th formation day: Uttarakhand state is celebrating its 17th formation day with much fanfare and gaiety today. On 9th November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India, being created from the Himalayan and adjoining northwestern districts of Uttar Pradesh.

4. Haryana signs MoU with Art of Living Foundation: Haryana signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vyakti Vikas Kendra, a training institute of the Art of Living Foundation. MoU is for helping jail inmates to maintain and improve their health and reduce physical and mental stress. Vyakti Vikas Kendra will regularly conduct yoga, meditation and other programmes for the welfare of prisoners in all the prisons of Haryana.

5. 2nd edition of India International Cherry Blossom festival begins in Shillong: The 2nd edition of four-day India International Cherry Blossom festival (World’s only Autumn Cherry Blossom Festival) has begun at the 5thGround, Polo Grounds, Shillong. The State Govt is focusing on promoting tourism potential of the State by organizing such festivals which will not only boost tourism but also protect and preserve the forest and wildlife biodiversity.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Goncourt Prize 2017 announced: The Goncourt Prize is the most prestigious award in the French-speaking world. L’ordre du jour is a 160-page book. Eric Vuillard’s novel L’ordre du jour (in English ‘Agenda’), story of how German industry and finance backed Adolf Hitler, won the top Goncourt Prize 2017 award.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS & ECONOMY: 

1. ICEX completes 1st diamond contract: Indian Commodity Exchange said that it has successfully completed first-ever diamond futures contracts settlement. Its total traded quantity in November expired for 5,382.08 carats valued at Rs 173.32 crore. ICEX had commenced operations on 28th August 2017 with the launch of three monthly diamond futures contracts – from November 2017, December 2017 and January 2018 expiry.

SPORTS: 

1. Mary Kom wins Asian Boxing Championships: Mary Kom, who will be turning 35 on November 25, won the gold medal in the Asian Boxing Championships in the Light Flyweight category. She defeated DPR Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi in the final bout 5-0 by unanimous decision. Indian boxer Sonia Lather, who made it to the final of the Featherweight category, won a silver medal.

2. Saina Nehwal becomes National Champion, beats PV Sindhu: World number 11 Saina Nehwal became the national champion for the third time, defeating world number 2 PV Sindhu in the women’s singles final of Senior National Badminton Championships, in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Nehwal, who had previously won senior nationals in 2006 and 2007, won with the scoreline of 21-17, 27-25.

3. Aussie Mitchell Starc makes history with two hat-tricks:Mitchell Starc became the 1st man to take 2 hat-tricks in the same first-class game. He became only the 18th player in first-class cricket history and the first in 39 years to achieve the feat.

4. Mascot released for AIBA (Boxing) Championship: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and BFI president Ajay Singh released the championship’s official logo and anthem. The championship will be held from November 19 to 26. The official mascot, named Guppy, is a female version of Assam’s one-horned rhino. The World Championship’s official anthem is ‘Make Some Noise’.

Daily GK Updates - 8th November, 2017

Daily GK Updates - 8th November, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India successfully conducted a test of its indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ at Chandipur, Odisha: Nirbhay missile carries warheads of up to 300 kg and capable of carrying 24 kinds of war weapons. Nirbhay is very maneuverable and can fly at tree-top level, making it difficult to detect on radar, and strikes targets of 1,000 km away carrying nuclear warheads. India successfully conducted a flight test of its indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’.

2. The 20th International Children’s Film Festival of India (ICFFI) has been started at Shilpa Kala Vedika in Hyderabad with “New India”- as the main theme this time would last from 8 to 14 November: 317 films from over hundred countries will be screened in about 40 theatres in Hyderabad and also at the district headquarters across the state. Children's Film Society, India (CFSI) and Telangana State Government are jointly organizing the biennial children’s event. They include - Sweeden film ‘SIV Sleeps Astray' Russian film Pitch', Netherlands film 'Sky', the film from Germany Nelly's Adventure, Canada film ‘Anthems: A Journey Around The World’, film from Egypt-Wintry Spring. Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) is a nodal organization of the Government of India that produces children's films and television programmes in various Indian languages. CFSI promotes films which provide healthy and wholesome entertainment for children.

3. Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani flagged off Digital Rath in New Delhi to create awareness among people for the cashless transaction: UPI transactions have increased from 3.8 million in April to 77 million in October this -year. The digital Rath will travel (20 thousand kilometer) from Delhi to Lucknow, then Kolkata, Puducherry, Mumbai, and Bhopal till 31st Dec 2017.

4. Prince of Wales Charles Philip Arthur George accompanied by Duchess of Cornwall  Camilla has arrived on a 2-day visit to India:This visit is a part of their ten days tour to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and India. This visit will be the 9th visit of the Prince of Wales to India. India-UK trade is at 12.19 billion dollars. India is the 3rd largest investor in the UK and the 2nd largest international job creator in the United Kingdom(UK).

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. NATO to boost Afghan mission by 3,000 troops: NATO will boost its training mission in Afghanistan by 3,000 troops, chief Jens Stoltenberg said today as Kabul reeled from the latest deadly attack on civilians. Around half the new troops will come from the United States, and the overall size of NATO's training and support mission in the unrest-hit country will increase from 13,000 to 16,000, he said.Speaking a day before NATO defence ministers meet in Brussels, Stoltenberg said the alliance would boost its presence "to help the Afghans break the stalemate, to send a clear message to Taliban to the insurgents that they will not win on the battleground".

2. Trump's China visit - US defends 'Indo-Pacific' concept: As US President Donald Trump began his China visit, a top American official on Wednesday defended Washington's use of the new phrase 'Indo-Pacific' as a "useful construct" and pressed Beijing to join the campaign to target ISIS and the Taliban.

3. 'Storm in a tea cup' - Catalonia is no repeat of euro crisis:  Even though Catalonia's bid for independence may be Spain's worst political crisis in decades, it has been no Grexit, Brexit or even Frexit for foreign investors. Overseas holders of Spanish stocks and bonds -- and indeed owners of euro zone assets in general -- have been quick to dismiss comparisons with a succession of rolling sovereign debt crises that hit the euro zone between 2010 and 2012. Even though Spain's wealthiest region has a bigger economy than Greece, Portugal and Finland, relatively unfazed Spanish and Catalonian assets to date shows markets are treating the crisis ovr Catalonia as a largely domestic issue with few if any systemic sovereign, banking or euro wide threats. On one level the scale of financial risk more than gross domestic output of the area is of a different order. Catalonia's debt level -- at around 77 billion euros -- is around quarter that of Greece. In addition, 52.5 billion euros of that— just over two-thirds — is owed to Spain, a further 8.175 billion euros to resident financial institutions, 6.018 billion euros to the rest of the world and 10.035 billion euros to others, according to the data from the Spanish central bank.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. India beat New Zealand by 6 runs to win T20 Cricket series: India beat New Zealand by six runs to win the three-match T20 Cricket series 2-1 at Thiruvananthapuram. The host India made 67 for 5 in 8 overs as the rain-affected match was reduced to an eight-overs-a side game. New Zealand could manage only 61 for 6 in the stipulated 8 overs. Jasprit Bumrah claimed two wickets while Manish Pandey was the highest scorer with 17 runs. 

2. Mitchell Starc makes history with two hat-tricks in one game: left-arm paceman bowler Mitchell Starc (Australia) has become the first man to take two hat-tricks in the same first-class game in Australia as he hit ominous form ahead of the Ashes Test series against England. The left-arm paceman became only the eighth player in first-class cricket history and the first in 39 years to achieve the feat as he spearheaded New South Wales to victory over Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield in Sydney. Starc finished with the match figures of seven for 97 in NSW's 171-run victory.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. India signs loan agreement with World Bank for 119 million dollars for OHEPEE project: India has signed a loan agreement of 119 million dollars with World Bank for the Odisha higher education programme for excellence and equity project. The objective of the project is to improve the quality of students' equitable access to selected institutions and enhance governance of the higher education system in Odisha. 

2. Apollo Munich Health Insurance wins ‘General Insurance Company of the Year’: Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company has been conferred with the 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards in the “General Insurance Company of the Year” category. Its joint venture between integrated healthcare provider, Apollo Hospitals Group, and the Munich Re Group.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Twitter says it is ending its 140-character limit & giving nearly everyone 280 characters: According to the Twitter, it is ending its iconic 140-character limit and giving nearly everyone 280 characters. The expanded limit will get more people tweeting more, helping its lackluster user growth. 9% of tweets written in English hit the 140-character limit. Users tweeting in Chinese, Japanese and Korean will still have the original limit as writing in those languages uses fewer characters. Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages. Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched in July of that year.

2. Paytm Introduces BHIM UPI for seamless money transfer: Digital payment platform ‘Paytm’ has introduced payments using “BHIM UPI” BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) UPI (Unified Payment Interface) on its platform. Now, users can create their own Paytm BHIM UPI ID on the app, which will be issued by Paytm Payments Bank. They will also not have to share their bank account details and IFSC code with anyone to receive money. As per the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) guidelines, users can send up to Rs. 1 lakh a day using BHIM UPI; while there's no receiving limit.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY:

1. Most ancient spiral galaxy discovered: Scientists have discovered the most ancient spiral galaxy in the universe that existed 11 billion years ago and could provide insights into the early cosmos. The galaxy, known as A1689B11, existed just 2.6 billion years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only one fifth of its present age. Researchers used a powerful technique that combines gravitational lensing with the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) to verify the vintage and spiral nature of the galaxy. Gravitational lenses are nature's largest telescopes, created by massive clusters composed of thousands of galaxies and dark matter.0 The cluster bends and magnifies the light of galaxies behind it in a manner similar to an ordinary lens, but on a much larger scale.

HONOURS/AWARDS:

1. Indian short film 'The School Bag' has won the Best Short Film Award at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM): The movie’s plot is based in Peshawar (Pakistan) and tells a story about the relationship between a mother and her seven-year-old son who wants a new school bag on his birthday, but fate has something else in store for him. The film is directed by Dheeraj Jindal.