Thursday, 27 April 2017

Daily GK Updates - 25th April, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 10 Rajaji Marg being readied as Mukherjee's retirement home: The bungalow, 10 Rajaji Marg is being readied as the retirement home of President ‘Pranab Mukherjee’ (July 2017). Earlier, the bungalow was occupied by former President APJ Abdul Kalam until his death in 2015. The 10 Rajaji Marg house is spread over an area of 11,776 sq. feet with the ground floor housing a library and an attached reading space.

2. Central University for Divyangs to be set up in Uttar Pradesh: According to the HRD Minister ‘Prakash Javadekar’, the Government will set up a Central university for Divyangs in Uttar Pradesh. Under the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan, HRD ministry has instructed to make ramps and install lifts to facilitate ‘Divyangas’ at all educational institutions. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has been instructed to make arrangement for special training of instructors providing education to Divyangs.

3. Ballabhgarh of Haryana renamed as Balramgarh: The Haryana chief minister 'Manohar Lal Khattar' has announced to change the name of Ballabhgarh to Balramgarh. Ballabhgarh is a town and a tehsil (sub-district) in Faridabad District of Haryana and is part of the National Capital Region (NCR).

4. BPL & DPL income revised in Haryana: The Haryana Government has revised the limit of annual income of families living Below Poverty Line (BPL) and those living below Double the Poverty Line (DPL) in both rural and urban areas of the state for various bank-assisted and National Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)-assisted schemes. The limit of annual income of BPL families has been raised to Rs 49,000 from Rs. 40,500 (living in rural) and Rs. 60,000 from Rs. 51,500 (living in urban areas). The limit of annual income for the families living below DPL would Rs 98,000 (rural areas) and Rs 1.2 lakh (urban areas).

5. IIITM-K develops app for coffee growers: Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) has launched an application named Kaapi Soil Health Management and Monitoring (Kshemam) app to provide soil nutrient information and fertiliser recommendation for coffee plantation owners. The app will help in proper identification of optimum levels of fertiliser use.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. First malaria vaccine to be tested in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi in 2018: The World Health Organization has announced that it is ready to test the first malaria vaccine in the real world setting in 2018. The aim of the testing will be to ascertain whether the vaccine will work under real world circumstances or not. Kenya, Ghana and Malawi have been chosen for taking part in the pilot project. The vaccine, RTS,S, also known as Mosquirix, was produced by Glaxo SmithKline in 1987 in a public-private partnership with the PATH Malaria Initiative and with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

2. World Malaria Day being observed today: The ‘World Malaria Day being observed every year across the world on 25th April to create awareness among the people about this vector-borne disease. This year WHO has made ‘ending malaria for good’ its theme for World Malaria Day 2017.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Manpreet Kaur bags Gold at Asian Grand Prix Meet in China: Indian shot putter ‘Manpreet Kaur’ (26-year) has clinched a gold in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet in Jinhua, China. Manpreet came up with the best throw of 18.86 metre and Bian Song (China) finished second with 17.96m. She also qualified for the IAAF World Championships to be held in August in London.

HONOURS & AWARDS:

2. 'K. Viswanath' wins Dadasaheb Phalke award 2016: Renowned filmmaker and actor ‘Kasinadhuni Viswanath’ (87-year) has won the 'Dadasaheb Phalke award' for the year 2016 for his outstanding contribution to the film industry. He will be the 48th recipient of the award. The award consists of a golden lotus, a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh and a shawl.

3. Moushumi Chatterjee gets BFJA lifetime achievement award: Veteran actress 'Moushumi Chatterjee' has received the lifetime achievement award at the 80th Bengal Film Journalists' Association (BFJA) awards. Bengali film actor Prosenjit Chatterjee has given the best actor award for his role in ‘Sankhachil’. Rituparna Sengupta was given the best actress crown for her role in ‘Rajkahini’.

4. Prafulla Samantara selected for Goldman Environmental Prize from Asia region: Environmental activist Prafulla Samantara has been selected for ‘Goldman Environmental Prize’ from Asia region for championing the cause of State’s Dongria Kondh tribals and safeguarding their land & culture. The prize also known as Green Nobel prize and Samantara is the sixth Indian to win the prize.

Daily GK Updates - 24th April, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Maharashtra govt signs MoU with India Railway to expand green cover: The Maharashtra government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railways to expand the green cover. Trees will be planted on the land adjacent to the railway tracks in the state. The state Forest department has planned to plant 4 crore trees across the state till 1st July 2017.

2. April 24: National Panchayati Raj Diwas: In India, April 24th is celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Diwas every year. This day marks the passing of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993. The passage of 73rd amendment is hailed as a defining moment in history as it permits states to take steps to organize village panchayats and provide them with necessary powers and authority necessary to facilitate them to function as units of self-government.

3. India becomes World No.2 LPG importer: India has become world’s second largest LPG importer, a position that was previously occupied by Japan. China remains as the world’s top importer.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 1st India-Indonesia Energy Forum held in Jakarta: The Union Minister ‘Piyush Goyal’ and Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister ‘Ignasius Jonan’ have participated in the first Indian-Indonesia Energy Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia. Major Indian companies in oil and gas sector, like ONCG Videsh Limited, Petronet LNG Limited, Gas are participating in this forum.

2. A new freight train connects Russia with China: A freight train connecting Russia with China arrived in Ganzhou an inland city in Jiangxi province, carrying goods from Moscow. The freight train travelled more than 7,000 km, before reaching Ganzhou in eastern China.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Bopanna and Cuevas lift men's doubles Monte Carlo Masters: India's Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas have lifted the men's doubles crown at the Monte Carlo Masters after 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez at the Monte Carlo Country Club. The Spanish professional tennis player Rafael Nadal (30-year) has won the Men's Singles title of Monte Carlo Masters Tennis tournament He defeated Albert Vinolas (Spain) 6-1, 6-3.

2. National Youth Athletics Meet: Haryana is Champion: Haryana emerged champion beating Kerala at the National Youth Athletics Meet. Kerala was at the top place for the last five years. Haryana emerged champions with 166.5 points. Kerala has finished as the runners-up.

HONOURS & AWARDS:

3. GNFC wins Golden Peacock Award: The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) has won the prestigious “Golden Peacock Award 2017” in the category of Innovative Product/Service for pioneering a cashless township transformation model. The GNFC has won from among 313 applicants for Golden Peacock Global Award for Innovative Product/Service.

4. Newton wins best film honor at Hong Kong International Film Festival:Bollywood film "Newton" has won the Jury Prize for best film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The festival started on 11th April, and will go on till 25th April. ‘Newton’ is Amit Masurkar's second film after ‘Sulemani Keeda’ in 2014.

5. Kailash Satyarthi honored with P C Chandra Puraskaar 2017: Nobel laureate (2014) Kailash Satyarthi has been awarded the ‘P C Chandra Puraskar 2017’ for his global crusade against child slavery and exploitative child labour in Kolkata. He was handed over a citation, a trophy and a cheque of Rs 10 lakh.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

6. Google to introduce 'Copyless Paste' feature: Google has introduced the first code for its new feature ‘Copyless Paste’ in its Chrome app running on Android OS. Copyless Paste feature will automatically copy the useful information and will suggest it for pasting in apps where it might be relevant.

Daily GK Updates - 23rd April, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. ISRO to increase frequency of launches to 12 per year: ISRO is planning to increase the frequency of launches to 12 per year from seven at present by building more satellites and lowering the cost of access to space. "Now, we are trying to go up to 8-9 PSLV per year, two GSLV-Mk II and one GSLV-Mk III. Total about 12 per year," ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar said.

2. General Insurance Company sets up base in GIFT City, Gujarat:General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) has become the first reinsurer to open an office at India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

3. Law ministry launches 3 legal aid services for poor: Aiming at extension of legal aid to marginalized, poor and vulnerable communities, the law ministry launched three initiatives-pro Bono legal services, a tele law service and ‘Nyaya Mitra’ scheme using technology for providing access to justice is in tandem with the Digital India initiative, the primary focus being transparency, good governance and digital delivery of services.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Captures Image of Earth, Moon From Rings of Saturn: NASA released a photo taken from the Cassini spacecraft that shows a tiny-looking Earth from the view of Saturn’s icy rings.The image was taken from the spacecraft on April 12, when Cassini was approximately 870 million miles from Earth.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Supreme Court quashes complaint against Dhoni: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed a criminal complaint against former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by an Andhra Pradesh resident following his depiction as Lord Vishnu by a business magazine. Quashing the criminal complaint, the bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said that the ingredients of the offense alleged in the criminal complaint amounting to hurting the religious feelings of the complainant are not made out.

BANKING, FINANCE & ECONOMY:

2. Reserve Bank of India signs MoU with the Bank of Guyana:The Reserve Bank of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with Bank of Guyana. The MoU was signed by Dr. Gobind N. Ganga – Governor of Bank of Guyana and Dr. Urjit R. Patel – Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

3. Fino Paytech to help Nabard digitize rural banks across 5 states:Payments technology company and soon-to-be-launched payments bank Fino Paytech to facilitate NABARD to help the rural bank digitization drive in the states of Haryana, MP, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Fino will provide over 5000 Aadhaar enabled micro ATMs and financial inclusion gateway services to district central cooperative (DCC) banks and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across these states.

Daily GK Updates - 22nd April, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Bank approves Rs 2,421 cr loan for inland waterways project:The World Bank has approved a loan of around Rs. 2,421 crores for the ambitious inland waterways project between Haldia (West Bengal) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). The approved loan amount is about 45% of the estimated project cost of Rs. 5,369 crore for capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1. The 11,390-kilometrewaterway project of the shipping ministry will enable commercial navigation of vessels with the capacity of 1,500-2,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT). NW-1 will have three multi-modal terminals, one each at Varanasi, Sahibganj (Jharkhand), and Haldia.

2. UP govt to set up 40 Yoga wellness centers in 40 districts: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up 40 Yoga wellness centers in 40 districts during current financial year. Twenty-three Ayurvedic hospitals 12 homeopathic and 7 Unani hospitals and colleges will be set up. The first herbal garden of the state will be developed at Lucknow to encourage the farmers for cultivation of herbal plants across the state.

3. Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh inaugurated 'India Steel 2017' in Mumbai: The Union Steel Minister ‘Chaudhary Birender Singh’ has inaugurated the three-day International Conference and Exhibition on Steel Industry 'India Steel 2017' (3rd edition) at Mumbai Exhibition center in Mumbai. The exhibition-cum-conference was organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) along with Union Ministry of Steel.

4. Government approves Guidelines on service charge: Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs has approved the ‘Guidelines on Fair Trade Practices Related to Charging of Service Charge from Consumers by Hotels and Restaurants’. As a part of the guidelines which has been issued in public interest to protect the rights of consumers, the government has said that Service charge on hotel and restaurant bills is “totally voluntary”, adding that mandatory levy of service charge amounts to unfair trade practice.

5. One crore assets geotagged under GeoMGNREGA initiative:MGNREGA has reached a major milestone by geotagging one crore assets created under it. The geotagged assets have been put in public domain. The scale of assets created under MGNREGA is massive and is estimated to be about 2.82 crore assets since the financial year 2006-07. On an average, it works out to a creation of 30 lakh assets annually.

6. Indian Navy test-fires land attack version of Brahmos supersonic cruise missile: Indian Navy has successfully tested the land attack version of supersonic cruise missile “Brahmos” from Indian Navy's ship Teg on a target on land. BrahMos Missile has been jointly developed by India and Russia and its anti-ship variant has already been inducted into the Navy.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. China to host BRICS Film Festival in June 2017: The BRICS Film Festival 2017 will be held in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province from 23 to 27 June,2017. Around 30 films from BRICS countries will be screened during the festival, including an anthology by five directors from the mentioned countries. The first BRICS Film Festival was held in New Delhi, India, in September 2016.

2. Sri Lanka to host the 14th Edition of United Nations International Day of Vesak 2017: The United Nations International Day of Vesak -2017 will be hosted by Sri Lanka from 12th to 14th May 2017. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate UN Vesak Day in Colombo on 12th May,2017.

3. Mongolia launches first satellite Mongol Sat-I: Mongolia has launched its first satellite Mongol Sat-I part of its efforts to make use of new technology to diversify its resource-dependent economy. The satellite was launched in partnership with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS).

4. Cuba and Morocco re-establish diplomatic ties after 37 years:Guided by the mutual will to develop friendly relations, Cuba and Morocco has signed an agreement to re-establish diplomatic ties after a time period of 37 years. The agreement to this effect was signed at the headquarters of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.

5. 'International Mother Earth Day' observed across the world: The International Mother Earth Day has been celebrated every year around the world on ‘22nd April’ to remind each of us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance. The theme for 2017 is "Environmental & Climate Literacy".

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. 13-year-old breaks Maradona football trick world record: Tommy Boyd, a 13-year-old British schoolboy, broke the Guinness world record for the least time taken to complete 'Maradona seven' football trick 10 times. Tommy completed the juggling trick in 29.78 seconds, five seconds lesser than the previous record by a freestyle footballer. The Maradona seven trick involves juggling the ball between the feet, knees, shoulders and head.

2. Golfers Aditi Ashok, SSP Chawrasia and Ali Sher win Golf Industry Association Awards 2017: Golfers Aditi Ashok, SSP Chawrasia and Ali Sher has won the second edition of the Golf Industry Association (GIA) Awards 2017. Recently, Aditi finished second in the Ladies European Tour (LET) order of merit in 2016. SSP Chawrasia has won the Men's Player of the Year (2016). Indian professional Golfer Ali Sher has won an Arjuna Award in 1991 and then went on to win the Indian Open again in 1993.