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’.