Daily GK Update - 21st May 2015

SBI partners with PayPal
i. The country's largest bank announced a partnership with digital payments firm, PayPal so that the Customers of State Bank of India (SBI) can now use their debit cards on PayPal for buying products from overseas websites.

ii. The partnership will also allow SBI's Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) customers to use PayPal's secure payment solutions.

iii. SBI has also announced a partnership with e-commerce firm, Amazon.com, in India.

India continues to lead in global confidence index
i. India continued to lead the global confidence index in anticipation of improvement in the economy through reforms and stimulus announced by the central government.
ii. India’s consumer confidence score rose to 130 followed by Indonesia (123) and Philippines (115).
iii. Eighty per cent urban Indian respondents indicated that the state of personal finances was good or excellent in the first quarter of 2015.
iv. The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, established in 2005, measures consumer confidence, major concerns, and spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents with Internet access in 60 countries.

Meghalaya, Tripura governors sworn-in
i. Senior BJP leader V Shanmuganathan was today sworn-in as the Governor of Meghalaya at the Raj Bhavan.
ii. Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court Uma Nath Singh administered the oath of office to Shanmuganathan at a solemn ceremony attended by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and most of his cabinet colleagues.

iii. Tathagata Roy on 20 May 2015 was sworn in as the 16th Governor of Tripura in Agartala.
Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court Mr. Jc. Deepak Gupta administered the oath of office to him as per the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution of India.
iv. He replaced Padmanabh Balkrishna Acharya, Governor of Nagaland, who had held the additional charge of Tripura.

SEBI sets new norms for mutual funds managing offshore assets
i. Markets regulator SEBI on Wednesday simplified norms for domestic mutual funds to manage offshore pooled assets, dropping its "20-25 rule" which requires a minimum of 20 investors and a cap of 25 percent on investment by an individual, for funds from low-risk foreign investors.
ii. In a notification saying the new regulations would be called the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 2015, SEBI said the restrictions would not apply "if the funds managed are of Category I foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and/or Category II foreign portfolio investors which are appropriately regulated broad based funds".

iii. SEBI has classified FPIs into three categories, with the first two being low-risk foreign institutions that include sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, banks, mutual funds, insurers, multilateral institutions and well-regulated foreign entities, including portfolio managers.

Infosys is first Indian company to join RE100 global renewable energy campaign
i. The Climate Group announced that Infosys, one of India's largest Information Technology corporations has become the first Indian company to join RE100, a global platform for major companies committed to 100% renewable power.
ii. As part of its commitment to RE100, Infosys aims to become carbon neutral by 2018.
iii. The company is already working to reduce its per capita electricity consumption by 50 per cent from its 2007-2008 levels and source all its electricity from renewable resources by 2018.

Daily GK Update - 10th May 2015

Shashi Kapoor has been conferred with prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2014 
i. The award was bestowed upon him by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley at a special function held in Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 
ii. He is the 46th film personality to receive this honour and third member of his illustrious family after father Prithviraj Kapoor (1972- Posthumously) and elder brother Raj Kapoor (1987). 

About Shashi Kapoor 

• Born as Balbir Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on March 18, 1938 in Kolkata, West Bengal. Started acting in films as a child in late 1940s. Since then he has appeared in 160 movies altogether, 12 being in English and the rest in Hindi. 
• His Bollywood debut as a lead actor was in the film Dharmputra (1961). His best known performances as child artist were in Aag (1948), Awaara (1951) and Sangram (1950). He is also best-known for his performances in Hindi films like ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’, ‘Deewar’ and ‘Kabhi Kabhie’. American and British films: The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970), Heat and Dust (1982), The Deceivers (1988), Side Streets (1998) etc. 
• Apart from acting in movies, he also had worked as a film director, assistant director and film producer. 

WHO declares Liberia Ebola-free

i. WHO has hailed Liberia’s Ebola eradication efforts as an enormous development in the long crisis and monumental achievement as the virus has killed more than 4,716 people in the country alone.

ii. Now, Liberia’s neighbous Guinea and Sierra Leone are only two countries fighting to stop Ebola outbreak since it began in December 2013. 

Criteria for declaring a nation Ebola-free 

• WHO can declare a country Ebola free, if no new cases are reported over two incubation periods of virus i.e. 21 days. 
• In case of Liberia, no new cases of Ebola were reported in past 42 days i.e. twice the number of days the virus requires to incubate. The last confirmed death in Liberia was reported on 27 March 2015. 
  

Haryana Government has decided to include Deaflympics in its Sports Policy

i. Haryana Government has decided to include Deaflympics in its Sports Policy in order to boost the morale of differently-abled sportspersons in the state. Decision in this regard was taken during a state cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. 

ii. With this inclusion, Deaflympian medalists now will be able to get cash rewards, jobs and other benefits from the state government. 

About Deaflympics 

• Deaflympics is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event, at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level. 
• The first event of was held in Paris in 1924. It is the first international sporting event for athletes with a disability. 
• Previously, it was known as World Games for the Deaf and International Games for the Deaf.
• Organised by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, (French- Committee International des Sports des Sourds) since first event.
• Deaflympics are held every 4 years and often considered as the longest multi-sports event, excluding the Olympic. 
• To qualify for the Deaflympics, athletes must have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibel (dB). In order to maintain equality and same level in participation among athletes, hearing aids, cochlear implants are not allowed during the games.

Navneet Rajan Wasan appointed as DG of Police Research & Development Bureau

i. The post of Director General (DG) of Bureau of Police Research and Development had been lying vacant since March 2015 following the retirement of Rajan Gupta.

 ii. Presently, Wasan is working as Special Director General in the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is a 1980-batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. 

Other Appointment- Indian Postal Service (IPoS) officer Sheuli Burman was appointed as the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in the Indian Telephone Industries (ITI), Bangalore. 

Book titled Unbelievable – Delhi to Islamabad written by Prof Bhim Singh released

i. Book titled Unbelievable – Delhi to Islamabad authored by senior Advocate Prof. Bhim Singh was released on 8 May 2015 by Vice President M Hamid Ansari in New Delhi.

ii. The book, a travelogue is an effort initiated by the lawyers of India and Pakistan to work jointly to ensure that Pakistani prisoners languishing in Indian jails are treated in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of India. Similarly, the same treatment should be mended for the Indian prisoners on Pakistan and they should be given fair trials.

Daily GK Update - 27th April 2015

1. Government to amend Child Labour Prohibition Act

i. The government plans to push through an amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition Act in the current session of Parliament, which will allow children below the age of 14 to work in select family enterprises if it doesn't hamper their education. 

ii. The bill will retain the proposal of a complete ban on child labour in any organisation, big or small.

iii. Children between 1
4 and 18 years will not be allowed to work in hazardous industries. According to the labour ministry official, this provision is in conformity with the ILO convention

iv. India has seen a sharp drop in the number of child labourers in the last decade, down to 4.3 million from 12.6 million.

2. Capgemini acquires iGATE for $4 billion

i. Capgemini and iGATE have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Capgemini will acquire iGATE for a cash consideration of $48 per share.

ii. the transaction will amount to $4 billion and is expected to be immediately accretive to Capgemini’s normalized Earnings Per Share (EPS)1.

iii. iGATE is US-listed IT services company headquartered in New Jersey.

iv. This transaction would lead to a group with an estimated combined revenue of €12.5 billion in 2015, an operating margin above 10 per cent and around 190,000 employees.

3. CJI refuses participation to choose NJAC 

i. Chief Justice of India H L Dattu has refused to participate in a three-member panel for selecting two eminent persons in the six-member National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). 

ii. The five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice J S Khehar, which is hearing the issue of constitutional validity of the new law on appointment of judges to higher judiciary, was told by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that Dattu has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would not participate in the meeting of the panel till the matter is decided by the apex court. 

iii. The three-member panel comprises Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition, who are authorised to select and appoint two eminent persons in the six-member NJAC for appointment of judges to higher judiciary. 

4. All MAT tax claims under DTAA to be settled in a month 

i. Central Board of Direct Taxes will settle all minimum alternate tax (MAT) matters of FIIs coming under the ambit of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements within a month of filing of claims. 

ii. The move is aimed at quickly resolving the controversial tax issue facing foreign portfolio investors. 

iii. The Income Tax Department has sent notices in 68 cases to FIIs for payment of dues totalling Rs 602.83 crore towards Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT). 

iv. Central Board of Direct Taxes said several FIIs, which have received income from transactions in securities, claim such income as exempt from tax under the DTAAs signed between India and their countries of residence. 

5. Bharatiya Mahila Bank Wins The Asian Banker Achievement Award 2015

i. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) has won The Asian Banker Achievement Award 2015.

ii. The award was presented to the BMB in the Technology Implementation category of Best Outsourcing Project (New Bank).

iii. Usha Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director of BMB received the award at a function held in Hongkong as a part of The Asian Banker Summit 2015.

iv. BMB is India’s first all-women public sector bank and was formally launched on November 19, 2013. It's objective is to focus on the banking needs of the women and promote economic empowerment.

6. DIPP notifies 49 per cent FDI in pension sector 

i. The government has raised the limit of foreign direct investment in pension sector to 49 per cent in line with the FDI cap in the insurance sector. 

ii. In pursuance of the enactment of Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority Act, iv. 2013, government has decided to permit FDI in the pension sector. 

iii. The FDI cap in the sector has been hiked to 49 per cent and that includes foreign investment in the forms of FPI, FII, QFI, FVCI, NRI and DR. 

iv. All investments in the pension sector, however, will have to abide by the pension sector regulator PFRDA.

7. BCCI to nominate Rohit Sharma for Arjuna award

i. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated Rohit Sharma for the Arjuna award for 2015. Rohit has had an excellent last year for India in international cricket.

ii. Since January 1, 2014, he has averaged 55.05 from 21 innings with 3 centuries and 5 fifties, with the epic 264 his highest score.

iii. The decision to nominate Rohit was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Kolkata.

Daily GK Update - 24th February 2015

1. Salaries in PSU Banks increased by 15%

i. Employee unions of public sector banks withdrew their strike call following an agreement with the management on 15 per cent wage hike. 

ii. The bank unions had threatened to go on 4-day nation-wide strike from February 25 demanding 19 per cent hike in wages. The wage hike was due from November 2012. 

iii. The bank employees will now also get holidays on two Saturdays in a month. The banks, however, will work full-day on remaining Saturdays instead of the current practice of half-day.

2. Land acquisition amendment bill introduced in LS

i. The government introduced the land acquisition ame
ndment bill in the Lok Sabha amid uproar by the Opposition.

ii. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 will replace an ordinance which had been promulgated by the NDA government on December 30 last year.

iii. Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha after the government introduced the Land Acquisition Bill.

3. Indian Army and State Bank of India inked MoU

i. The Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Defence Salary Package. 

ii. The MoU is tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. 

iii. The signing ceremony was chaired by the Adjutant General, Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma.

The revised MoU has incorporated a number of additional facilities and basic features of the MoU include the following

• Number of free/concessional services like free drafts, free cheque books, free funds transfers to any bank in India through RTGS / NEFT, free ATM cards and others
• The provision also includes the Nepal Express Remittance Scheme which enables instant fund transfers to Nepal for the benefit of the Nepali Domicile Gorkha Soldiers serving in the Indian Army.
• Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) was enhanced and was linked to the Savings account instead of the debit card.
• Exemption percentage of margin money for house and car loans was enhanced while the processing charges on the loans were waved off.

4. ONGC director Shashi Shankar suspended

i. The government has suspended Shashi Shankar,the director of the country's biggest oil producing company, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. 

ii. Shankar is the youngest director on the board of the nation’s most profitable oil company.

iii. He was appointed Director (Technical and Field Services) on February 1 last year.

5. Modi government accepts Finance Commission recommendations

i. The Modi government said on Tuesday that it has accepted the recommendation of Finance Commission to raise the share of states in central taxes to 42 per cent from current 32 per cent. 

ii. As per the increased devolution suggested in the report of the 14th Finance Commission, the states will get Rs 3.48 lakh crore in 2014-15 and Rs 5.26 lakh crore in 2015-16. 

iii. PM Modi said that while the Finance Commission was in favour of all state plans being met through the resources being devolved, the Centre will continue to support national priority projects like poverty elimination, MNREGA, education, health, rural development, agriculture and a few others. 

6. Rana Bhagwandas first Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan passes away

i. First Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Rana Bhagwandas passed away in Karachi, Pakistan. 

ii. He was the first Hindu and the second non-Muslim to head of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. 

iii. In 2005 for first time he was appointed as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for few days and again in 2006 during the absence of then CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry.

iv. During the Pakistan’s judicial crisis of 2007, he was again appointed as acting Chief Justice.

7. Chris Gayle hits first-ever World Cup double hundred

i. West Indies opener Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score a double century in a World Cup innings when he reached the landmark against Zimbabwe in a Pool B clash.

ii. It was also only the fifth double century in all ODI cricket and the first by a non-Indian, with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat.

iii. The West Indian coincidentally scored his double century exactly on the day when master blaster hammered first ever ODI double ton five years ago in 2010 against South Africa in Gwalior.

Records broken by Chris Gayle:

• First batsman to score a double hundred at World Cup.
• Fastest ODI double hundred off 138 balls. Virender Sehwag was the previous fastest off 140 balls.
• Fourth batsman to score ODI double hundred.
• Equals the record for most sixes an innings - Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers'

Daily GK Updates - 24th December 2014 For all Competitive Exams.

1. Bharat Ratna for Vajpayee, Madan Mohan Malaviya.

i. The President's Office on Wednesday announced the Bharat Ratna award to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

ii. The announcement was made on the eve of Mr. Vajpayee's 90th birthday and the 153rd birth anniversary of Pandit Malviya.

iii. Earlier, Mr. Advani had written a letter to the UPA Government to award the Bharat Ratna to the former Prime Minister.

iv. Mr. Vajpayee will be the seventh Prime Minister to receive the award, while Pandit Malviya will be the 12th person to be honoured posthumously.

v. In 2013, the award was conferred to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist C.N.R Rao.

2. Cabinet clears coal Ordinance.

i. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved re-promulgation of an Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allot mines directly to state and central PSUs.

ii. The government had to go in for re-promulgation of the Ordinance as the Rajya Sabha could not take up the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill.

iii. The re-promulgation of the Ordinance will enable the Coal Ministry to go ahead with its decision to give a total 101 mines, including 65 through auction, in the first phase.

iv. As many as 36 blocks will be directly allotted to state-owned companies. The government had increased the number of coal mines to be auctioned or allotted in the first tranche to 101, from 92.

v. Of the 101 blocks to be allotted and auctioned in the first lot, 63 mines would be given to the power sector, while the rest would be for sectors like steel and cement.

3. Govt approves Ordinance to hike FDI in insurance to 49%.

i. Government on Wednesday approved promulgation of an Ordinance to hike Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent.

ii. The Insurance Bill, which has been pending since 2008 in the Rajya Sabha, seeks to increase the composite foreign investment limit in insurance companies to 49 per cent from current level of 26 per cent.

iii. The proposed hike in foreign investment limit to 49 per cent in the insurance sector has potential to attract up to USD 7-8 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) from overseas investors, giving a major boost to the segment.

iv. The 49 per cent cap would include both FDI and foreign portfolio investments.

4. Deadline to exchange pre-2005 notes extended till June 30.

i. The deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations, including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, has been extended by another six months till June, 30, 2015. 

ii. The Reserve Bank of India has stated that the public can do so till June 30, 2015. Earlier in March 2014, it had set the last date for public to exchange these notes was January 1, 2015 

111. In notes issued post 2005, the year of printing is visible at the bottom on the reverse. 

iv. Post-2005 notes have added security features and help in curbing the menace of fake currency. 

5. Filmmaker Kailasam Balachander passed away

i. South Indian filmmaker Kailasam Balachander died on 23 December 2014 following a heart attack. He was 84.

ii. His  films like Bama Vijayam, Sindhubhairavi, Varumayin Niram Sivappu and Thanneer Thanneer are some of notable films in the history of Tamil cinema.

iii. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1987and is a recipient of the ANR National Award and Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema in 2010.

6. Snapdeal launched online Agri Store to aid farmers

i. E-retailing firm Snapdeal.com on 23 December 2014 launched the online Agri store offering agricultural products to the farmers. The store was launched on the occasion of National Farmer's Day.

ii. The Agri Store aims to offer wide variety of farm items from seeds to fertilisers, farming tools and irrigation tools. This online store is also accessible through mobile phones, making it convenient for farmers to shop.

A Hindi version of the store will also be launched soon to aid farmers in making an informed decision.

 for more click here....

G.K Update 23rd December 2014 For all Competitive Exams.

1. Gujarat to host Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

i. The 13th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), an event which celebrates the achievements of Indians living abroad, will be held in Gujarat from January 7-9.

ii. Gujarat has been chosen as the partner State as 2015 happens to be the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa. To reflect this, the event will showcase his work and achievements.

iii. On January 7, the youth segment of PBD will be inaugurated with the theme Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko mano.

iv. PBD will have a plenary in which presentations will be made on the flagship programmes of the government such as Namami Ganga, Swachh Bharat, Skill Development and Urban Development and NRIs and People of Indian origin (PIO) would be impressed upon to take part in them.

2. Pakistan, Russia sign $1.7 billion energy deal

i.For the first time, Pakistan and Russia have signed an energy deal worth $1.7 billion to lay a gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore, a move that may lead to further improvement in their ties.

ii.  the pipeline would be used to transport imported LNG from Karachi to Punjab province.

iii. The energy agreement was signed during the day-long visit of Sergei Shoigu last month, the first visit by a Russian Defence Minister to Pakistan in 45 years.

3. BJP won in Jharkhand with a clear mandate

i.  BJP is emerging as single largest party in Jharkhand as counting of votes for the 81-member assembly began at 24 centres across the state.

ii. Out of 81 seats for which trends were available, BJP was leading in 42 while JMM was ahead in 17 seats.

iii. The BJP and its ally AJSU headed by Sudesh Mahto were well on the road to forming a coalition government. 

iv. A record 66.47 per cent polling had been registered in the five-phase polling, which began on November 25.

4. Yes Bank gets $200 millionn from ADB for onlending to SHGs, farmers

i. Private sector lender Yes Bank on Tuesday said it has raised $200 million in an unsecured loan from Asian Development Bank for onlending to small farm households and rural womens’ self help groups (SHG).

ii. The money will be used for onlending in rupee equivalent amounts to finance working capital and investment requirements of the twin target groups.

iii. “ADB’s capital investment and technical assistance will provide sustainable finance to low income women and their families. 

iv. The project targets small farmers to allow them to benefit from agricultural value chains and enhance their productivity through better access to markets and investment finance.

v. Yes Bank said ADB will also provide a Capacity Development Technical Assistance grant up to $1 million, which will be used for capacity building and improving the financial literacy of women borrowers.

5. PDP ahead in J & K. 

i. PDP emerged as the largest party in the assmbly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

ii. BJP was closely behind with 25 seats in total while PDP got 28 seats.

iii. PDP is in the best position of making the government with the help of Indian National Congress, which fared well than expected with 12 seats.

iv. Omar Abdullah's National Conference, which is the current Ruling party came third with 15 seats in it's kitty.

6. Rajya Sabha refers two bills to Select Committees

i. The Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 were passed by Lok Sabha in the Winter session of Parliament.

ii. The Select Committee for Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014 consists of 13 members.

iii. The other bill sent to the Select Committee is the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014, which seeks to repeal 90 Amendment Acts which have become redundant.