Daily GK Update - 29th May 2015

P.K. Sinha appointed Cabinet Secretary

(i) The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of Pradeep Kumar Sinha, a 1977 batch IAS officer, as the next Cabinet Secretary, with effect from June 13. 

(ii) He succeeds Ajit Seth. Mr. Sinha is a UP cadre IAS officer and is presently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Power.

(iii) He had earlier worked as Secretary in the Ministry of Shipping, and has held several other important positions in the Union Government and the State of Uttar Pradesh.

(iv) The Prime Minister has also approved that Mr. Sinha may be appointed as OSD in the Cabinet Secretariat with effect from the date of assumption of charge, till June 12, 2015.

ExxonMobil mulls $600 m investments in Bengaluru

(i) In one of the largest foreign direct investments (FDIs) in country’s information technology sector, the U.S.-based oil and natural gas major ExxonMobil, is planning to set up a Business Support Centre. 

(ii) It is also likely to set up its first research and development centre in Asia in the city, according to sources in the government.

(iii) As part of the proposed investment plans, Bryan Milton, President of ExxonMobil Global Services Company met the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

(iv) According to sources, the investments would be in excess of $600 million and the centre will provide job opportunity to around 1,000 people.

(v)  “The land parcel may be a government land or a private property and if all goes as per plan this will be a genuine R&D investment and not just a support centre,” added the official.

Indian-American joint winners at US spelling bee for second year in a row

(i) The National Spelling Bee ended in a tie for a second straight year on Thursday night when two Indian-Americans, Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam, were named co-champions.

(ii) The bee hadn’t ended in a tie for 52 years until 2014. Now it’s happened for an unprecedented two years running. Ms. Vanya Shivashankar, 13, of Kansas, is the first sibling of a past champion to win. Her sister, Kavya, won in 2009.

(iii) Ms. Vanya Shivashankar’s final word was “scherenschnitte,” which means the art of cutting paper into decorative designs. 

(iv) After being informed he’d be the co-champion if he got the next word right,

Two PIOs among Forbes list of America’s richest self-made women

(i) Two Indian-origin women have made it to Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s 50 richest self-made women, sharing the honour with high-achievers such as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, media mogul Oprah Winfrey and singer Beyonce.

(ii) India-born Neerja Sethi, with a net worth of $1.1 billion, has been ranked 14th on the list of the most successful self-made women in the U.S. while London-born Jayshree Ullal comes in at the 30th spot with a $470 million net worth.

(iii) Ms. Sethi, 60 co-founded IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel with her husband, billionaire Bharat Desai, in 1980.

(iv) Ms. Ullal became president and CEO of Arista Networks, a company that has emerged as one of Silicon Valley’s most valuable networking firms.

Buhari sworn in as President of Nigeria

(i) Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of Nigeria on Friday at a ceremony in the capital attended by numerous African heads of state and foreign dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

(ii) Mr. Buhari, dressed in traditional Muslim attire, stood on the stage clutching a Koran in his right hand, as he pledged to uphold the Constitution and laws of Africa's most populous nation.

Mahindra World City in JV with Sumitomo

(i) Mahindra World City Developers Ltd (MWCDL), a subsidiary of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd of the Mahindra Group and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture to set up an industrial park in North Chennai (the NH5 corridor).

(ii) The joint venture company — Mahindra Industrial Park Chennai Ltd — will have 60 per cent equity participation from Mahindra World City and the balance 40 per cent from Sumitomo.

(iii) The industrial park is targeted at Japanese companies which would be interested to set up base in India under the Union Government’s Make-in-India initiative. 

(iv) Considering Sumitomo’s involvement in the venture, Japanese companies will find it easy to operate from here. Already over 500 Japanese companies are operating from industrial zones in Tamil Nadu.

Flipkart takes a dig at Snapdeal

(i) Escalating their business rivalry on Twitter, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal on Friday took pot shots at Snapdeal saying India should not be blamed for the latter’s failure to hire “great engineers.” 

(ii) This is the latest instance where a top executive of successful technology enterprise has taken to the social media to express opinion against a rival.

(iii) Sachin Bansal’s tweet comes against the backdrop of a report where Snapdeal co-founder Rohit Bansal was quoted as saying, “If you think about the landscape in India, not too many product companies got built here.” 

(iv) Sachin Bansal tweeted: “Don’t blame India for your failure to hire great engineers. They join for culture and challenge.” 

(v) He also tweeted the link to the report which had said that Snapdeal has decided to look abroad for programmers.

Nirni Cancer Foundation to set-up camps on ‘World No Tobacco Day’

(i) Nirni Cancer Foundation, Hyderabad will be organising No Tobacco awareness campaign and cancer screening camp in Kalaburagi, Bidar and Raichur districts to mark the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31.

(ii) Chairman of the foundation and oncologist S.S. Nirni addressing to the presspersons in Kalaburagi on Friday said that the theme of the 2015 campaign is ‘Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products’.

(iii) Dr. Nirni said round 6 million people, suffering from oral cancer, most of who acquire the disease of tobacco consumption would die worldwide every year. In India, one person dies every minute from oral cancer.

(iv) Dr. Nirni warned that the use of tobacco could also cause cancer affecting the intestine, kidneys and lungs. 

(v) He said people should come forward to give up the habit voluntarily.

(vi) The foundation has been organising awareness camps related to Breast Cancer and No Tobacco awareness camps in the last six years in education institutions and rural parts of the Hyderabad Karnataka region.

Nepal skips R-Day celebrations to mourn quake-dead

(i) Even as the government decided not to celebrate the seventh Republic Day celebrations, which falls on Friday this year, messages to mark the day poured in from home and abroad.

(ii) Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, in his message to the people on Friday, expressed deep condolences to all who sacrificed their lives in the movements so far to empower the people. 

(iii) He also lauded the sacrifice of the people who fought for restoration of democracy fighters.

(iv) Meanwhile, President Ram Baran Yadav suggested that political parties should not delay the writing of the new Constitution, despite the focus on relief and resettlement of those affected by recent earthquake.

Read more »

Daily GK Update - 28th May 2015

Modi and Hasina to open second border ‘haat’ in Tripura

(i) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina would jointly inaugurate the second border ‘haat’ (market) in Tripura through video conferencing when the former visits Dhaka next week. 

(ii) Officials of Tripura’s Sepahijala district and Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh announced that opening of the ‘haat’ would take place on June 6 or 7 after foreign ministries of both sides finalise modalities.  

(iii) District officials of Sepahijala and Brahmanbaria who constitute a Joint Border Haat Management Committee met at Kamalasagar on Wednesday afternoon, to discuss arrangements. 

(iv) The construction of a market shed and other infrastructure facilities at a cost of Rs. 2.5 crores is almost complete except few minor works, a senior official of Tripura Commerce and Industry Department.

Lanka to soon name new envoy to India

(i) Sri Lanka has recalled all non-career diplomats serving as heads of missions abroad who had held their posts before January except the High Commissioner to India with a new envoy to be named shortly.

(ii) The new High Commissioner to India has been identified, however the current envoy will remain in New Delhi until his successor has been approved by the parliamentary committee on high posts, foreign ministry spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said.

(iii) She said that all non-career heads of missions who had held the posts before January 8 have been recalled and except the High Commissioner to India, will have vacated their posts by the end of June.

(iv) This will be the first Sri Lankan High Commissioner to be appointed to India under President Maithripala Sirisena’s government.

25 Indian-Americans among 49 spelling bee semi-finalists

(i) As many as 25 Indian-Americans have made it to the list of 49 semi-finalists of the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, in yet another indication of their continued dominance in the prestigious annual contest.

(ii) These Indian-Americans would vie for top positions in the final of 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee scheduled for Friday (India time).

(iii) For several years now, Indian-Americans have put up formidable challenges to their competitors and won most of the prestigious spelling awards in the United States.

(iv) Gokul Venkatachalam, 14, from St Louis, Missouri, who finished third in 2014, is considered favourite this year.

Viswanathan Anand’s mother passes away

(i) Sushila Viswanathan, mother of five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand, passed away here on Wednesday. She was 79.

(ii) Hailing from a family of lawyers who played chess, her contribution towards Anand’s success was immense. 

(iii) She shaped Anand’s budding chess career, was perhaps his first sparring partner, accompanied him to various tournaments and nurtured him into a champion.

(iv) She had been his mentor and guide all his life, a very nice and gentle lady who always had a smile on her face.

State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 report released

(i) The annual UN hunger report  titled State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 was on 27 May 2015 released by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

(ii) As per the report, the number of hungry people in the world has dropped to 795 million. 

(iii) Today, 795 million people are undernourished globally, which is 216 million less than the number of hungry people in 1990–92. The decline is more pronounced in developing regions, despite population growth.

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar is Mysuru’s new ‘Maharaja’

(i) In a ceremony conjuring up images of the royal orient, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar was crowned as the new ‘Maharaja’ at the Amba Vilas Palace in Mysuru on Thursday.

(ii) The coronation was a private affair but symbolic of continuing the family tradition of the Wadiyars. It was devoid of anything consequent to the abolition of the institution of the maharajas and the Privy Purse after Independence.

(iii) The coronation was attended by a large number of well-wishers including members of the royal family, senior political leaders and the who’s who of Mysuru and Bengaluru. 

(iv) The presence of such large number of people was reflective of the contribution of the Wadiyars to the development of Mysuru and public affection.

Masaan’ to release in India on July 24

(i) After winning two honours at the Cannes Film Festival, director Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut film Masaan will be released across India on July 24.

(ii) The film, which stars Richa Chadha, Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi, bagged the acclaimed FIPRESCI and the Promising Future awards at the recently concluded festival.

(iii) “I am happier for India and my team than myself. A win in the official selection has been long overdue for India and we have a double win.

(iv) The film is jointly produced by Manish Mundra (Drishyam Films), Macassar Productions, Sikhya Entertainment and Phantom Films.

Trevor Bayliss appointed as head coach of England Cricket Team

(i) Trevor Bayliss was appointed as the head coach of England cricket team on 26 May 2015. With this appointment, 52-year-old Bayliss became the first Australian to coach England.

(ii) The New South Wales coach succeeded Peter Moores and will take up the new job in June 2015. Moores second spell ended in first week of May 2015 after he was sacked.

(iii) Bayliss has led Sri Lankan team from 2007 to 2011 and later in 2014 took temporary charge of Australia for their Twenty20 series in South Africa. 

Read more »

Daily GK Update 27th May 2015

India and Vietnam signed Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation 2015-2020

(i) India and Vietnam on 25 May 2015 signed a Joint Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation for the period 2015-2020 in New Delhi.

(ii) It was signed by the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the Vietnamese Minister for National Defence General Phung Quang Thanh.

(iii) The statement is an outcome of delegation level talks held in New Delhi to discuss cooperation on maritime security.

(iv) Besides the Joint statement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the Coast Guards of the two countries was also signed in the presence of the two Defence Ministers.

Director-Producer Marty Pasetta passed away

(i) Academy Awards telecast director Marty Pasetta passed away on 21 May 2015 following injuries sustained in a car accident in La Quinta, United States. 

(ii) He was 82. Pasetta is survived by his wife Elise, daughter Debbie, son Gregory and five grandchildren.

(iii) Pasetta was famously known as a veteran director of live TV extravaganzas including 17 Academy Awards shows. 

(iv) During four decades in television, Pasetta directed and produced specials for Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and oversaw tributes to Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Astaire and Alfred Hitchcock.

‘Four Indians among world’s 100 most powerful women’

(i) SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI bank head Chanda Kochhar, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and HT Media Chair Shobhana Bhartia are among the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to the Forbes’ annual list which is topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

(ii) Two women of Indian-origin PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi and Cisco Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior also make the list.

(iii) Forbes’s 12th annual list of the 100 most influential women feature extraordinary entrepreneurs, visionary CEOs, politicians, celebrity role models, billionaire activists and pioneer philanthropists who are “transforming the world” and have been “ranked by dollars, media presence and impact“.

(iv) The top 10 include US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton (2), philanthriopist Melinda Gates (3), Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (3), GM CEO Mary Barra (5), IMF Chief Christine Lagarde (6), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (7), Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (8), YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki (9) and US First Lady Michelle Obama (10).

Gujjar stir: HC summons Chief Secretary

(i) Pulling up the State government for giving a “free-hand” to Gujjar agitators, Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday directed the Chief Secretary and the police chief to appear before it on Thursday and also immediately restore traffic on Jaipur-Agra national highway.

(ii) “We would like to hear from the State Chief Secretary and Director General of Police what the administration did in the last few days to remove the rail and road blockade and why were the agitators given a free hand to take law into their own hands,” a single judge Bench said.

CS Santosh presented with 2014 FMSCI Motorsport Man of the Year Award

(i) India’s off-road racer CS Santosh on 25 May 2015 was presented with the Motorsport Man of the Year Award at the 2014 Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) Price Distribution Ceremony held in Bangaluru, Karnataka.

(ii) He received the Raymond Gautam Singhania Rolling Trophy along with 2 lakh rupees as cash prize from Gautam Singhania, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Raymond Group.

NRI scientist Latha Venkataraman created first single-molecule device

(i) NRI scientist Latha Venkataraman on 25 May 2015 created first single-molecule device.  The electronic device has a potential of real-world technological applications for nanoscale devices. 

(ii) The report was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

(iii) Under the direction of Venkataraman, researchers created a single-molecule diode which performs 50 times better than all prior designs.

(iv) A team of Columbia Engineering researchers has constructed a device where the active element is only a single molecule, has long been a tantalising dream in nanoscience.

Paytm to sell Chinese products

(i) Jack Ma-led online retail giant Alibaba’s marketplace AliExpress will start selling Chinese goods to Indian consumers from June through mobile wallet company Paytm.

(ii) In February, Alibaba, through Ant Financial Services, had acquired 25 per cent stake in One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm. 

(iii) With the launch of the service, Alibaba will get an entry into the booming Indian e-retail market.

(iv) AliExpress, launched in 2010, is the global marketplace of Alibaba and it lists Chinese businesses offering products to international online buyers.

(v) In the first phase, AliExpress, through Paytm, will bring fashion products, fashion accessories, general merchandise such as Chinese toys, bags, home decor and unstructured category, including electronic accessories to Indian consumers.

Read more »

Daily GK Update - 26 May 2015

CEAT Awards given away

(i) Ranji Trophy champion Karnataka’s captain, fast bowling spearhead and inspiration, Vinay Kumar, was named CEAT Domestic Cricketer of the Year for 2014-15 at a function here on Monday.

(ii) Receiving the prize from former India captain Nari Contractor, Vinay said: “Karnataka is dominant across different formats in first-class cricket because whenever there is a crisis situation, someone in the side puts his hand up to take responsibility for team performance.”

(iii) Test batsman Ajinkya Rahane was chosen Indian Cricketer of the Year, while Kapil Dev was chosen for the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

(iv) Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara was named the International Cricketer of the Year.

(v) The RPG Group chairman, Harsh Goenka, announced the launch of cricket gear and named Aussie pacer Brett Lee as the brand ambassador.

Greenpeace violated FCRA: Centre tells Delhi HC

(i) The Central Government on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that Greenpeace India violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by merging its foreign donations with domestic ones.

(ii) This was in response to a court notice that asked the government whether the global NGO could use its domestic bank accounts for its day-today operations and payment of salaries to its domestic staff.

(iii) The organisation had faced a host of other chargess for which it had approached the court.

(iv) The government had suspended Greenpeace India’s license for six months and barred it from receiving foreign funds. It had also issued a notice to them to show cause as to why it should not be shut down permanently.

Chinese millionaire's firm takes after Star Trek ship

(i) A sci-fi obsessed Chinese business tycoon has spend a whopping 100 million pounds to make his company headquarters look like the Star Trek spaceship.

(ii) Multi-millionaire Liu Dejian, the chairman of China’s most popular mobile internet provider, was granted a license to build the impressive replica in Fujian Province.

(iii) Liu, a huge fan of Star Trek, spent approximately 100 million pounds on the office building to pay homage to the American science fiction entertainment franchise.

(iv) Construction on the offices began in 2008, and the building was made ready last year, becoming the new headquarters of NetDragon Websoft company.

Union Government approved 21 FDI proposals worth 281 crore rupees

(i) Union Government on 25 May 2015 approved 21 proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth 280 crore rupees. 

(ii) These FDI proposals were based on recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

(iii) La Renon Healthcare’s proposal to invest 100 crore rupees in a brownfield project. 

(iv) Blue Dart Express’s proposal to acquire shares in Blue Dart Aviation Ltd and hike shareholding from 49 percent to 74 percent. 

ICICI Bank launched Voice Recognition Service for Biometric Authentication

(i) ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, on 25 May 2015 launched Voice Recognition Service (VRS), which authenticates customers based on their speech patterns. 

(ii) This service will allow customers to execute banking transactions through Bank’s call center in a quick, secure and convenient manner.

(iii) With this, ICICI became the first bank in India to offer this service and it will be available to over 33 million customers of its savings account and credit card.

Indian boxer won four Gold Medals at Doha International Boxing tournament 2015

(i) Indian boxer on 23 May 2015 won four Gold Medals, One Silver and two bronze medals at Doha International Boxing Tournament 2015. 

(ii) Commonwealth Games silver medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg), Manish Kaushik (60kg), and Manoj Kumar (64kg) won the gold medals.

(iii) The silver medal went to Gaurav Bidhuri (52kg), while Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Vikas Krishan (75kg) bagged bronze medals.

Read more »

Daily GK Update 25th May 2015

Nico Rosberg of Germany won Monaco Grand Prix of Formula One

Mercedes racing driver Nico Rosberg of Germany on 24 May 2015 won the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 World Championship title by winning the final race held in Monaco.

While Sebastian Vettel of Germany representing the Ferrari team stood at the second position, Rosberg’s  team mate Lewis Hamiltion of UK was at the third positon.

It is the tenth overall championship title for Rosberg and the second title in the 2015 season having won the Spanish Formula 1 World Championship on 10 May 2015.

Nobel Awardee mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. died

John Forbes Nash Jr., the Princeton University mathematician, died along with his wife in a car crash on 23 May 2015. He was 86. His taxi crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike in Monroe Township when the driver lost control.

Oscar-winning film, A Beautiful Mind was inspired by his life. 

Nash born on 13 June 1928 was an American mathematician who became famous for his game theory, differential geometry, and partial differential equations, which provided an insight into the factors that, govern chance and events inside complex systems in daily life.

Indian Film Masaan won FIPRESCI Award

Indian Movie Masaan on 23 May 2015 won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival. The film is directorial debut of Neeraj Ghaywan.

The movie is jointly produced by Manish Mundra, Macassar Productions, Arte France Cinema, Sikhya Entertainment & Phantom Films. It stars Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi along with Richa Chadda and Sanjay Mishra. 

The movie was showcased in the Un Certain Regard section at the movie gala, following which it received a five-minute standing ovation. The film is based in Varanasi and its characters are connected with the River Ganges. 

Huawei launched LiteOS, world’s most lightweight IoT operating system (OS)

China-based Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd on 20 May 2015 launched LiteOS operating sytem meant for Internet of Things (IoT) based devices.

Huawei, a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company, launched the technology at the Huawei Network Congress (HNC) 2015 held in Beijing, China.

‘Morality’ bank to reward good Samaritans in Chinese city

To encourage kind acts, a ‘morality’ bank has been opened in a north-eastern Chinese city through which people can exchange points earned by good deeds for free services like haircut and health checkup.

Citizens in Yanji City, Jilin Province, can accumulate credits with the bank, operated by Danying Community, through tasks such as collecting plastic bags off the streets (10 points), handing in lost wallets (50 points) and donating blood (200 points).

Top credit earning deeds include helping others in a dangerous situation (300-500 points) and donating hematopoietic stem cells (1,000 points), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Credits can be exchanged for rewards such as a free haircut (150 points), home cleaning (500 points) or a health check (1,200).

IOCL to build toilets on college premises in Kolar

The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has come forward to construct toilets for students studying in Government Pre-University College for Boys and Government Pre-University College for Girls in the town.

The work was part of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative (CSRI) of the company, senior manager of IOCL P. Ramkishor said.

Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) S.V. Padmanabh performed bhoomi puja for the construction work.

Rs. 3 lakh will be spent on each toilet, Mr. Ramkishor said.

Top 10 quotes from Modi Deendayal Dham rally

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a rally at Nagla Chandrabhan village in Mathura to commemmorate one year in government. This gathering was one in the series of 200 rallies planned by the Bharatiya Janata Party across the country.

1. If I talk of work done in 365 days, it will take me 365 hours to do so. I had said I will not take a vacation, I took decisions
2. There is a jungle of laws in India, this needs a change. 1300 laws will be scrapped in near future.
3. Don't want to politicise farmer suicides, want to find solutions to why our farmers are troubled after 60 years of independence.
4. I am not the Pradhan Mantri (Prime Minister) of this country. I am the Pradhan Santri (Chief Sentry).
5. Would there have been change if the govt. had not changed? When UPA was in power, weren't there burey din for the country.
6. In the last year, has there been any scam reported, any story about sons of politicians reported?
7. Ganga, Yamuna are like my mother, will clean these rivers and need people's help in that.
8. If elections had not happened in 2014, but now, how much would have the country sunk further in this one year.
9. I suggested to the party that we should give people the report of our 365 days in office in Deen Dayal Dham.
10. People can learn from Deendayal Dham how to develop villages, empower women, education of children.

Read more »

GK Update - 8th May 2015

Manjhi launches Hindustani Awam Morcha

(i) Expelled JD(U) leader and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday announced launching of a new party “Hindustani Awam Morcha” (HAM) which he said would contest alone all the 243 seats in coming Bihar polls.

(ii) Mr. Manjhi announced launching of the new party at a press conference in Patna.

(iii) He named former Bihar minister Shakuni Chaudhary as Bihar president of the HAM.

(iv) But, neither Mr. Manjhi nor 17 others rebel JD(U) MLAs name figure in the list of the new party for technical reasons.

(v) But, the process of merger and decision on new symbol and flag of the unified Janata party taking time, Mr. Manjhi and supporters on Friday decided to launch a new party with the name HAM with a new flag.

(vi) Mr. Manjhi said the new party would field candidate on all 243 seats in the coming Bihar election.

Conservatives win big in UK

(i) The Conservative Party swept to power Friday in Britain’s parliamentary elections, winning an unexpected majority that returns Prime Minister David Cameron to 10 Downing Street in a stronger position than before.

(ii) After meeting with Queen Elizabeth II on Friday afternoon, Cameron returned to his office to announce he would form a majority Conservative government.

(iii) Cameron promised to govern as the party of “one nation, one United Kingdom,” bringing the election to a much—quicker—than—expected conclusion. 

(iv) Polls ahead of Election Day had shown Conservatives locked in a tight race with the opposition Labour Party, raising the possibility of days or weeks of negotiations to form a government.

(v) Labour took a beating, mostly from energized Scottish nationalists who pulled off a landslide in Scotland.

Pranab's Moscow visit to boost India-Russia education ties

(i) President Pranab Mukherjee landed in Moscow on Thursday for a visit aimed at reaffirming old ties between Russian and Indian soldiers who fought together during the Second World War, but also at restoring education ties between the next generation of young Russians and Indians. 

(ii) At least eight MoUs will be signed between Indian institutes and Russian Universities on Friday, with a high- power delegation of higher education officials travelling with the President.

(iii) Among them are directors of IIT Delhi, Mumbai and Madras, the Indian Statistical Institute, the Institute of Engineers (India) as well as the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University.

(iv)  “The purpose is to recognise Russia’s strength in scientific and technological research, and to build a network students and professors who can conduct joint research together,” Secretary in the Department of Higher Education Satyanarayan Mohanty told The Hindu onboard the President’s special aircraft.

Jana is in full support of net neutrality

(i) Jana’s name means “people” in Sanskrit. The company wants to give a billion people in the emerging world access to free Internet.

(ii) The Jana story began in 2006, when I was working as a Fulbright Professor in Kenya. 

(iii) Blood supplies in rural areas were limited, so me and my students built an SMS system to enable local nurses to make their needs known to officials running the centralized blood banks.

(iv) It was a great success initially, but soon the number of SMS messages declined. We realized why. 

(v) Rural nurses couldn’t afford the mobile airtime. So we created software to allow the system to automatically replenish the nurses for the cost of the messages. 

(vi) A switch flipped: the nurses enthusiastically returned to sending updates.

Jet Airways launches express cargo service

(i) Jet Airways has launched FAST-TRACK, a premium express cargo service on its domestic network for customers needing urgent shipment of air cargo in a defined timeframe.

(ii) This new offering from Jet Airways Cargo will provide priority access to capacity, later bookings and guaranteed uplift with a money-back guarantee in case of non-delivery of service, the airline said.

(iii) FAST-TRACK has expedited tender time of 120 minutes, retrieval time of 90 minutes, premium boarding priority and round-the-clock real-time tracking. 

(iv) This facility will be rolled out on the airline’s international network soon.

Google’s first Asia start-up campus opens in Seoul

(i) Google’s first campus for start-ups and entrepreneurs in Asia has opened in Seoul.

(ii) Google on Friday cited South Korea’s flourishing start-up scene and pervasive smartphone use as the reasons for picking Seoul after opening similar sites in London and Tel Aviv.

(iii) Located in Gangnam, Campus Seoul rents out its 21,528 square foot space to start-ups.

(iv) It also plans to host events for tech start-ups and for female entrepreneurs with children.

(v) “Our goal with Campus Seoul is to create a space where entrepreneurs can thrive,” Mary Grove, Director of Global Entrepreneurship, said on Google’s official blog.

(vi)  “Where they can feel at home with the local community, yet have everything they need to build a global company.”

Read more »

GK Update - 5th May 2015

Modi to visit China from May 14

(i) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a three-nation official visit to China, Mongolia and

South Korea from May 14-19.

(ii) In China, Mr. Modi will visit Xian, Beijing and Shanghai from May 14-16.

(iii) He will hold bilateral meetings with the country’s leadership and participate in cultural and business events.

(iv) The Prime Minister will also attend an event organised by the Indian community in China.

In Mongolia, his engagement will be on May 17. This is the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Mongolia.

(v) He will then visit to Republic of Korea on May 18-19.

(vi) Mr. Modi will hold bilateral discussions with President Park Geun-hye and meet with important business leaders in Seoul, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Rajasthan Government signed deal with NHM, UNICEF & GAIN to counter malnourishment

(i) Rajasthan Government on 4 May 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Health Mission (NHM), UNICEF and GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition) in Jaipur to tackle the severe problem of malnourishment of the state.

(ii) Initially, the programme will be implemented in thirteen districts in which more than 10000 children have been identified as malnourished. To deal with malnourishment, a special management programme will be organised on the community basis. 

(iii) At present, Rajasthan has 40 malnourishment treatment centres, which are equipped with 10000 beds. It is also facilitated with 107 centres with six beds. 

Baleshwar Ram, former Union Minister passed away

(i) Former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader Baleshwar Ram on 3 May 2015 passed away due to kidney-related ailments. 

(ii) He was 87. He was the leader from Bihar.

(iii) He was the Member of Parliament (MP) of 7th Lok Sabha  from Rosera Lok Sabha Constituency.

Vedanta Limited launched new logo

(i) Minerals and mining giant Vedanta Limited on 4 May 2015 launched its new logo. The logo was co-created by internal stakeholders across geographies and group companies.

(ii) The new logo has some significant changes. The brand name has been changed with the use of two colours leaf green and a shade of Yale blue.

(iii) The colours represent the distinct virtues of Vedanta's professionalism, sustainability, ethics and integrity. 

(iv) The colour green symbolizes Vedanta's ethical credentials and the colour blue reflects Vedanta's un-waivered integrity and professionalism.

(v) A leaf, which represents symbol of life, has been included into the Vedanta globe, signifying commitment to the triple bottom line approach of People, Planet and Prosperity.

Veteran Journalist Amitabha Chowdhury passed away at 88

(i) Amitabha Chowdhury, veteran journalist, writer and renowned Tagore researcher passed away in Kolkata due to prolonged illness. He was 88.

(ii) He was associated with three leading Bengali dailies Anandabazar Patrika, Jugantar and Aajkal for more than three decades.

(iii) He authored around 40 books, which mostly explored various facets of Rabindranath Tagore.

CITD campus to come up at Ongole next year

(i) The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises is opening a new Central Institute of Tool Design (CITD) campus at Ongole for the next academic year. 

(ii) It will be the third sub-centre of the CITD in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

(iii) The other two sub-centres are situated in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Besides, decks have been cleared for upgrading the infrastructure at the CITD Vijayawada Sub-Centre at a cost of nearly Rs. 2 crore to help a larger number of ITI and engineering students in enhancing their skills. 

(iv) The new facilities at Vijayawada will be ready in about a month.

(v) The CITD Vijayawada Assistant Director S. Venkata Krishna told The Hindu that the certificates issued by the institution had global recognition as it was established by the Indian Government with the help of United Nations Development Program and International Labour Organization.

HDFC Bank increases service charge by as much as 50% on debit cards and IMPS 

(i) India's second largest private sector lender HDFC BankBSE -1.35 % has increased service charges by as much as 43-50% on select products like debit cards, immediate payment service (IMPS) — a real-time money transfer mechanism — as the bank aims to realign its fee structure on par with rivals. 

(ii) Customers will now have to pay Rs 750 for an HDFC Bank platinum debit card against the current annual fee of Rs 500, while a gold debit card will offer the same revised fee structure, excluding applicable taxes.

(iii) New charges will kick in from June 1 this year, but the lender will not charge high-networth individuals (HNIs) and corporate salary account customers holding savings accounts.

Read more »

GK Update - 4th May 2015

National Film Award for Best Children's film 'Kaakka Muttai' to co-producer Dhanush

(i) Accepting the diminishing trend of children’s movies in the entertainment industry, actor-producer Dhanush, whose co-production Tamil drama “Kaaka Muttai” grabbed the National Film Award, says he will focus on producing more children-based films. 

(ii) “I would focus on producing more children-based films. And this is just the beginning. I hope some good scripts come my way then I can do something about it,” Dhanush said.

(iii) Dhanush accepted the award for the film at the 62nd National Film Awards ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan here. Talking about the movie, he said: “I got really curious about the script when it came to me. The story about two boys and their urge to eat pizza captivated my interest”.

Surveymonkey CEO David Goldberg dies

(i) David Goldberg, a popular Silicon Valley executive and husband of Facebook second-in-command Sheryl Sandberg, has died suddenly at age 47, his company and family members said on Saturday.

(ii) Goldberg was CEO of online survey questionnaire provider SurveyMonkey. He died on Friday night, the company said in a statement on its website. Family members also reported the death, via posts on Facebook.

(iii) Sandberg launched an international conversation about the dearth of women in positions of power with her 2011 book “Lean In- Women, Work and the Will to Lead.”

Future Group's retail business to merge with Bharti Retail

(i) Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Retail Ltd.’s board has approved the consolidation and realignment of its retail operations with Bharti Retail Ltd., a statement by the company said on Monday.

(iu) “The board of directors of Future Retail Limited, the flagship company of Future Group, and the board of directors of Bharti Retail Limited at their respective meetings held today (Monday) have approved a partnership between the companies,” the statement by Future retail said.

(iii) The combined entity will have over 570 retail stores in 243 cities with operational retail space of over 18.5 million square feet.

Net Neutrality: Internet.org opens platform for developers

(i) Finding itself on the wrong side of Net Neutrality debate, Facebook on Monday made its Internet.org platform open to all content and application developers who meet “certain guidelines”.

However, Reliance Communications remains the only Indian telecom partner as of now on this platform, which has seen entities like Cleartrip and NDTV walking out.

(ii) “The platform will be open to all developers who meet certain guidelines, including content that can be browsed on both feature and smartphones and on limited bandwidth,” Internet.org Vice President Product Chris Daniels told PTI.

(iii) The move comes amid raging debate in the country on Net Neutrality, which stands for equal treatment to be accorded to all Internet traffic.

Mass resignations of AAP workers in Maharashtra

(i) In what is reminiscent of Stalinist witch-hunts of the Trotskyists on a smaller political scale, more than 370 dissenters within the Maharashtra unit of the Aam Aadmi Party who sided with expelled members Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, resigned on Monday citing pressure of excommunication by the Arwind Kejriwal ‘faction’ of the party.

(ii) Following a dramatic ad-hoc meeting of the dissenters on Monday afternoon at Pune’s S.M. Joshi hall, 375 members of the State unit submitted their resignations, splitting the AAP State unit wide open.

(iii) While lamenting the effect of party schism on the AAP’s progressive campaigns like the ‘Swaraj Abhiyan’, Mr. Bhapkar said he soon planned to kickstart the same in Maharashtra on behalf of the Swaraj Samwad. 

(iv) The ‘Swaraj Abhiyan’, a platform meant to address a broad complex of issues from farmer suicides to special economic zones (SEZs) in order to enhance their rural voter connect, was mooted following the AAP thumping victory in the Delhi election.

Read more »