Daily GK Update June Month Edition 14

Gro Harlem Brundtland awarded Tang Prize in sustainable development

i. Gro Harlem Brundtland was awarded with the first Tang Prize in sustainable development. The Tang Prize was given to her by the Tang Prize Foundation.
ii. She is a former Prime Minister of Norway and was awarded the prize for her innovation, leadership and implementation of sustainable development.  She is known as the Godmother of sustainable development.

Flipkart signs MoU to help MSMEs scale their business

i. Online marketplace Flipkart on Wednesday has signed a memorandum of understanding with Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) and National Center for Design and Product Development (NCDPD) to boost manufacturing and entrepreneurship in the country.
ii. As per the MoU, Flipkart will provide micro, small and medium entrepreneurs in infrastructural support in data analytics, marketing and customer acquisition to help them scale their business.
iii. This is one of its kinds that such a prominent three organisations have come together to create a platform to focus on the betterment of Indian manufacturers and artisans.


Dipika - Joshana win women's doubles title in Malaysia

i. India bagged its second title at the Tri-Nation squash doubles tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday when Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa emerged winners in the women's doubles final.
ii. Pallikal and Joshana rallied to beat New Zealand's Joelle King and Amanda Landers Murphy 8-11, 11-5, 11-1 at the National Squash Centre.
iii. Hosts Malaysia was the the other country to participate in the three-day event, seen as a warm-up to the next month's Commonwealth Games.  It was Pallikal's second title in as many days after she won the mixed doubles with Saurav Ghosal.


Treat foreign investment over 10% in listed firms as FDI: Mayaram panel

i. Seeking to simplify norms, a government panel has suggested that foreign investment of over 10 per cent in a listed company be treated as FDI and the one from NRIs on a non-repatriable basis be deemed as domestic investment.
ii. The panel on rationalising definitions of FDI and FII, headed by Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, said foreign investment in an unlisted company should be treated as FDI.
iii. It aims at removing ambiguities over clear demarcation between FDI and foreign institutional investment.
iv. If the stake is not raised to 10 per cent or above, then the investment can be treated as portfolio investment. Foreign direct investment is subject to sectoral caps.
v. FDI reflects a lasting interest and long-term relationship, while under portfolio investment, the relationship between the investor and the company remains largely anonymous, the report says.
vi. “The monitoring of the individual FPI limit of less than 10 per cent will be done as hitherto by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The compliance with the FPI aggregate limit is as of now being done by the RBI...and this will continue,” the report says.


BRT system will save 27,000 lives in India: World Bank

i. World Bank President Jim Young Kim has said India can save more than 27,000 lives and create over 128,000 jobs if it builds 1,000 kilometres of new bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes in the next 20 years.
ii. “If India built 1,000 kilometres of new, bus rapid transit lanes, over 20 years, that could save more than 27,000 lives by reducing air pollution and accidents and create more than 128,000 jobs,” Jim Young Kim said.
iii. Speaking at the release of a report “Climate-Smart Development”, according to which $3-4 billion is needed to develop 1,000 km of BRT corridors in about 20 cities across India within 6-12 years, Mr. Jim said India could also reduce “greenhouse gas emissions by about 42 million tons”.
iv. The analysis estimates that investment of $3-4 billion would be needed to develop 1,000 km of BRT corridors in about 20 cities across India within 6-12 years, the bank said.

Daily GK Update June Month Edition 13

Facebook releases messaging app Slingshot

i. Social media giant Facebook announced the release on Tuesday of its latest messaging app Slingshot.
ii. Slingshot lets users share selfies and other short-lived videos and pictures, but friends have to share something before they are able to see images from others, according to the announcement.
iii. Slingshot is an attempt to take users away from the popular messaging app Snapchat.

Rail passenger fare hiked by 14.2 per cent

i. Railway passenger fare was today increased by 14.2 per cent in all classes while freight charge was hiked by 6.5 per cent with effect from today.
ii. The decision of the Railways today restores an announcement of May 16, the day Lok Sabha election results came, when the same hike was effected but immediately put on hold.
iii. The Railways had then issued a notification effecting hike in passenger fare by 14.2 per cent across the board and freight charges by 6.

Govt constitutes Committee to inquire gas leakage in Bhilai Steel Plant

i. The Government has constituted an independent High Level Committee to inquire into the gas leakage incident in Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh last week.
ii. The Committee will be headed by K.K. Mehrotra, former CMD, Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants (India) Limited alongwith three other members.
iii. The Committee will submit its report to the Steel Ministry by 17th of next month. The incident reportedly happened following a leakage in a methane gas pipeline at a water pump house in the plant.

Nivea to set up first plant in India at Sanand

i. Global skin care giant Nivea today announced to set up its first ever manufacturing plant in India at Sanand near Gujarat.
ii. Apart from the manufacturing facility, Nivea India, an affiliate of Germany-based Beiersdorf AG, will also set up its R&D center at the Sanand-based factory, which will focus on innovations for Indian consumers as well as other markets, said Managing Director of Nivea India, Rakshit Hargave,


Import ban on milk items from China extended till June 2015

i. The government has again extended the ban on imports of milk and its products from China for one more year till June 2015.
ii. “Prohibition on import of milk and milk products (including chocolates and chocolate products and candies/ confectionery/ food preparations with milk or milk solids as an ingredient) from China is extended for one more year, i.e., till 23.6.2015 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
iii. The ban, which expired on June 23, is extended every year.
iv. India had first imposed the ban in September 2008 due to presence of melamine, used for making plastics and fertiliser.
v. India, however, does not import milk products from China, but as a preventive measure, it has imposed the ban.

Daily GK Update June Month Edition 12

General Budget to be presented on 10th July & Rail Budget on 8th

i. The Budget session of Parliament will begin from 7th of the next month. The session spread over five weeks will come to end on 14th of August.
ii. The decision was taken at a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi this morning.
iii. Official sources said in New Delhi that the General Budget will be presented on 10th and Rail Budget on 8th. The sources said, Economic Survey will be tabled on 9th of July.

Mobile money services to soon come within common man's reach

i. Mobile money services are set to become popular among the aam admi (common man) with NPCI signing agreements with seven telecom companies, A.P.Hota, Managing Director & CEO, NPCI.
ii. The seven telecom companies that have signed agreements with NPCI are Airtel, Idea, Tata Communications, Aircel, Uninor, Videocon and Quadrant.
iii. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has convinced these seven telecom companies to provide access to their unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) channel to all bank accounts, Hota said.
iv. NPCI is the umbrella organisation of all retail payment systems in India,


  Meenakshi Lekhi named NDMC chairperson

i. BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP Meenakshi Lekhi on Friday took over as the chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).
ii. An official notification regarding the appointment of the New Delhi MP as chairperson of NDMC was received from the Home Ministry late yesterday.
iii. Lekhi takes over from Jalaj Srivastava, a 1984-batch IAS officer who was appointed the NDMC chairperson in August last year.
iv. Lekhi will be the second MP to be part of the Council after amendments were made in the NDMC Act in 2011. Before Lekhi, the Congress MP from New Delhi, Ajay Maken, was its member.

UBI launches merchant payment service on mobile phones

i. United Bank of India (UBI) on Friday rolled out its merchant payment service on mobile phones using the IMPS (immediate payment service) merchant payment service offered by the National Payment Corporation of India.
ii. The service will now allow customers to have round-the-clock (24x7) merchant payment services including mobile recharge, utility payments and ticketing facilities, among others.
iii. The merchant payment service on mobile phones was inaugurated at the bank’s head office by Sanjay Arya, Executive Director of the bank.
iv. UBI has all the alternate banking delivery channels (ATMs, debit cards, Internet banking & mobile banking) and plans to route over 50 per cent of its total transactions through these modes, Arya was quoted according to the bank’s release.

President releases first Encyclopedia on Hinduism 

i. The basic tenet of Hinduism is happiness, health and enlightenment for everyone, and suffering, pain and agony for none, President Pranab Mukherjee said as he received the first copy of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism on Monday.
ii. Speaking at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President complimented Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the Parmarth Niketan Rishikesh, the founder-chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation (IHRF) for undertaking the effort to bring out the encyclopedia.
iii. Hindu philosophy identifies 'Dharma', 'Artha', 'Kama' and 'Moksh' as the foremost objectives of a human being, and striking a balance in human behaviour in working towards these objectives has been prescribed as a key aim of human existence, the President said according to a statement from Shamima Siddiqui, Deputy Press Secretary to the President.
iv. Quoting former President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Mukherjee said Hinduism is not just a faith, but a union of reason and intuition that cannot be defined, but is only to be experienced.

Daily GK Update June Month Edition 11

RBI directs banking bodies to cooperate with SIT on black money

i. The Reserve Bank of India has directed all banks and financial institutions to provide information and documents sought by the Special Investigation Team, SIT set up to unearth black money.
ii. RBI issued a notification to this effect yesterday. The SIT under the chairmanship of former Justice M B Shah was constituted by the Narendra Modi-led government on its first day in office.

Subhalakshmi Panse joins Federal Bank board

i. Subhalakshmi Panse, former CMD of Allahabad Bank, has joined the board of Federal Bank as an Independent Director.
ii. Panse had earlier served as Executive Director of Vijaya Bank for two-and-a-half years, overseeing all major portfolios of that bank.
iii. A post-graduate in Science, Panse has a Diploma in Business Management and Masters in Management Sciences from Pune University. She also holds an MBA from Drexel University, USA.

Note: Panse was a member of the RBI appointed committee on Corporate Governance and Chairman of the IBA committee on Cheque Truncation System - National Archive. At present, she is the Chairman of the Quality Review Board of the Indian Institute of Actuaries.


Bank of Maharashtra launches digital banking app

i. State-owned Bank of Maharashtra launched MahaSecure, a digital banking app, to enable secure access to Internet banking facilities for both retail and corporate customers of the bank.
ii. MahaSecure will protect Internet banking users from sophisticated online attacks, the bank said in a statement.
iii. Bank of Maharashtra’s initiative to launch the MahaSecure banking app is aimed at ensuring complete safety and trust in Internet banking for all users as there is no dependency on any hardware tokens or SMS. \
iv. The launch of MahaSecure also underlines the fact that the bank intends to offer greater customer convenience through alternative delivery channels such as Internet banking, while ensuring comprehensive security, it further said.

World Bank lowers India's GDP growth forecast to 5.5 per cent for 2014-15

i. The World Bank has lowered India's GDP growth forecast to 5.5 per cent for 2014-15, from the earlier forecast of 5.7 per cent.
ii. The World Bank report, however, said that India's growth would accelerate to 6.3 per cent in 2015-16, and 6.6 per cent in 2016-17.
iii. It attributed the acceleration in growth rate to rising global demand, the expected rebound in domestic investment and pick-up in manufacturing activities.
iv. The Report added that implementing the Goods and Services Tax regime, targeting subsidies better, and broadening the tax base will help create the fiscal space for supporting accelerated growth and poverty reduction.

Swiss Money: India moves up to 58th rank; UK remains on top 

i. India has moved up to 58th rank in terms of foreign money lying with Swiss banks, but it accounts for a meagre 0.15 per cent of an estimated USD 1.6 trillion total global wealth held in Switzerland's banking system.
ii. The UK has retained its top position with highest share of close to 20 per cent of global wealth in Swiss banking system, followed by the US, West Indies, Germany and Guernsey in the top-five in terms of exposure to banks in Switzerland.
iii. Amid much hue and cry over huge amounts of illicit wealth stashed by Indians in Swiss banks, the latest official data released by Switzerland's central banking authority SNB shows that Indian money in Swiss banks rose by 43 per cent during 2013 to close to Rs 14,000 crore (2.03 billion Swiss francs), pushing its global ranking up from 70th at the end of 2012.
iv. The rankings are based on the direct client exposure as also the funds held through 'fiduciaries' or wealth managers with a total of 283 banks in Switzerland.
v. India now ranks higher than Pakistan, whose position has slipped from 69th earlier to 74th now, as its total exposure to Swiss banks declined from 1.44 billion Swiss francs at the end of 2012 to 1.23 billion Swiss francs in 2013.

Daily GK Update June Month Edition 10

Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh wins Jnanpith

i. Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013.
ii. Singh is the 10th Hindi writer to receive the honour and joins the likes of Sumitra Nandan Pant, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar among others. He will be the recipient of the 49th Jnanpith award.

iii. Singh, 80, who has also written essays and stories, was born in Balia, UP, and Abhi bilkul abhi and Yahan se dekho are among his prominent works.
iv. The award includes Rs 11 lakh and a citation, a release from the Jnanpith award committee said

SEBI issues new norms for public issuance of debt securities

i. Market regulator SEBI has issued new norms for public issuance of debt securities under which such offers have to be of minimum Rs 100 crore, while issuers would need to make additional disclosures and attain atleast 75 per cent subscription.
ii. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said that the entities coming out with public issue of NCDs would have to provide granular disclosures in their offer document, with regards to the "object of the issue".
iii. Also, an entity has to make additional disclosures in the offer document about details of money utilised from the previous issues of the issuer as well as the group companies.
iv. The new norms would be applicable for the draft offer document for issuance of debt securities filed with the stock exchanges on or after July 16.


Rushdie wins Pen Pinter writing prize 

i. Indian-born Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie was on Friday named the winner of this year's prestigious Pen Pinter prize for his outstanding literary output and support for freedom of expression.
ii. The award was established in 2009 by writers' charity English Pen in memory of famous British playwright and Nobel laureate Harold Pinter.
iii. Maureen Freely, chair of the judging panel, said "This prize is English Pens way of thanking Salman Rushdie not just for his books and his many years of speaking out for freedom of expression, but also for his countless private acts of kindness.
iv. "The work of Pen, both in promoting the best of world literature and in opposing abuses of freedom, continues to be vitally important, and I'm proud to have been a part of that effort in England as well as the United States," he added.
v. The New York-based author will be presented with this prize at a ceremony at the British Library in London on October 7 and will deliver an address at the event. His prize will be shared with an "International Writer of Courage", selected by him in association with English Pen's Writers at Risk committee.
vi. Rushdie is best known for his acclaimed novel 'Midnight's Children', for which he won the Booker followed by the one-off Best of Booker in 2008, and the controversial 'The Satanic Verses' for which he went into hiding in 1989 after it sparked widespread protests by Muslims and a fatwa from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.
vii. The author was knighted in 2007 for services to literature.


FinMin mulls fixed 5-year term for PSB chief

i. The Union finance ministry is considering a proposal to provide a fixed tenure of five years to heads of public sector banks (PSBs). The aim is more operational stability and accountability.
ii. It is also considering changes in the appointment procedure of wholetime directors and revising the criteria for selection of non-official directors on PSB boards.
iii. We have proposed a fixed tenure of five years for chairmen & managing directors of PSBs,” said a ministry official. The department of financial services has discussed its proposals with minister Arun Jaitley, who will decide.
iv. The department has argued that a fixed tenure would give CMDs enough scope to strategise and take action, beside increasing their level of commitment and accountability.
v. The problem, though, is that heads of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in other sectors would also ask for a fixed tenure. The retirement age for all PSU executives is 60 years. So, generally, the term of a CMD varies between one year and five years.
Note: The P J Nayak committee on governance changes in PSBs had also recommended a minimum five-year tenure for CMDs and a minimum three-year tenure for EDs.

UN award for govt’s Mobile Seva initiative

i. An initiative conceptualised by Indian government’s Department of Electronics and Information Technology to enable delivery of public services electronically through the mobile platform has been awarded a United Nations public service award.
ii. Mobile Seva, a nationwide initiative conceptualised, funded and implemented by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), is among the second-place winners of the 2014 UN Public Service Awards, along with Bahrain, Brazil, Cameroon, Republic of Korea and Spain.
iii. The vision of Mobile Seva is to mainstream mobile governance in India as a new paradigm for e-delivery of public services through mobile devices. It leverages the massive penetration of mobile phones in India to substantially enhance access to electronic services, especially in the rural areas.
iv. The main objectives of the initiative are to be a one-stop solution for all mobile-based public service delivery needs through mobile-based channels, including SMS, voice/Integrated Voice Response System and mobile applications, a statement said.

Note: i. The first place winners are Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Morocco, Oman, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay.
ii. Winners from 14 countries will be honoured for their innovative projects in fighting poverty and promoting sustainable development at a ceremony on June 26 in Seoul.

Daily GK Update June Month Edition 9

Schumacher out of Coma

i. Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was transferred from a French hospital to a facility in Switzerland on Monday after emerging from a coma following his devastating ski accident in December.
ii. In a surprise announcement, the retired racing star's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said he had left hospital in the French Alpine city of Grenoble, where he had been treated since December when he slammed his head on a rock while skiing with his son and friends.
iii. The 45-year-old was transferred to a hospital in the Swiss city of Lausanne, hospital spokesman Darcy Christen later told AFP, where he will be undergoing further treatment.

Book titled Warrior State written by T V Paul released

i. The book titled Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World written by T V Paul was presented to the Vice President Hamid Ansari.
ii. The book published by Oxford University Press, New York was launched in January 2014.
iii. T V Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

India announces concessions for Bhutan 

i. Seeking to push further the relationship with Bhutan, India on Monday announced a number of measures and concessions including the exemption of Bhutan from any ban on export of milk powder, wheat, edible oil, pulses and non-basmati rice.
ii. The two sides also reaffirmed their commitment to their cooperative partnership and agreed to further promote trade and investment.
iii. In a joint statement issued at the end of Prime minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to that country, the two sides also noted that security was of mutual interest and "agreed not to allow each other's territory to be used for interests inimical to the other."
iv. The two sides recalled the free trade arrangement between them and the expanding bilateral trade and its importance in further cementing their friendship.
v. The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the completion of the Supreme Court building and the imminent commencement of the construction of the Kholongchhu Hydro-electric Project.

  India beat South Korea 3-0, finish ninth in hockey WC

i. Akashdeep Singh scored two goals as India posted a comfortable 3-0 win over Asian champions South Korea to finish a lowly ninth in the men's hockey World Cup at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague on Saturday.
ii. With this win in the ninth-10th place play-off match, India had managed to avenge upon their 3-4 loss to South Korea in the final of last year's Asia Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Tejinder Virdee honoured knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II
i. Indian origin physicist Tejinder Virdee was honoured knighthood Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. He was awarded for his work on the Higgs Boson theory.
ii. Tejinder Virdee was accorded a Knight Bachelor for his services to science in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. List was released to mark the Queen's official birthday.
iii. Professor Virdee is one of the creators of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Experiment. The CMS experiment is a part of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva.

About Tajinder Virdee
i. Sir Tejinder Singh Virdee is an experimental physicist and Professor of Physics at Imperial College London. He is best known for originating the concept of CMS.
ii. CMS is a world-wide collaboration which was started in 1991 and now has over 3000 participants from 38 countries.


Actor Telangana Shakuntala dead

i. Popular Tollywood character actress Telangana Shakuntala passed away on Saturday following a cardiac arrest at her home in Hyderabad.
ii. Popularly known as "Swarnakka" in Tamil filmdom as she portrayed a villainous role in that name in the Vikram-starrer "Dhool"
iii. Shakuntala acted in more than 70 films, including a few in Tamil, industry sources said.


Indo-French Air Exercise Garuda V concluded at Jodhpur
i. Indo-French Air Exercise, Garuda V concluded in Jodhpur Air Base. The exercise between the air forces of both countries started on 2 June 2014 saw various combat roles including Air to Air refueling.
ii. The Representatives of the two countries during the 2014 edition of the Garuda V exercise
• French Air Force was comprised of 4 Rafales and 1 C-135 French Refueller aircraft
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) fielded 4 Su-30MKI, 4 MiG 21 Bison, 4 MiG 27 (Upg) as well as an IL-78 tanker aircraft and an Airborne Warning and control system IL-76 (AWACS)

Daily GK update June Month Edition 8

Jayalalithaa launches ‘Amma Salt’

i. Rolling out yet another pro-poor measure, the Jayalalithaa Government today launched three varieties of low-cost salt, named after the Chief Minister herself.
ii. Jayalalithaa launched ‘Amma Salt’ at the Secretariat here, which follows up her government’s earlier initiatives like the subsidised ‘Amma’ Canteens and ‘Amma’ Mineral Water.
iii. She has launched three varieties — Double Fortified, Low Sodium and Refined Free Flow Iodised Salt — under the ‘Amma’ Salt banner.
iv. ‘Amma Salt’, an initiative of the Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation, will now be available in the open market at prices lesser than those of private producers.
v. The Government will sell the same varieties of ‘Amma Salt’ at Rs 21, Rs 14 and Rs 10, it added.

Canara Bank opened branch in New York
i. Canara Bank opened its seventh overseas branch in New York, USA. Other six overseas branches are in London, Leicester (UK), Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bahrain and Johannesburg. Its representative office is at Sharjah and a Joint Venture is in Moscow.
ii. Apart from this, in the current financial year, the bank has planned to open its branches and offices in Dubai, Germany, Brazil, Tanzania, Japan, Nigeria and Qatar.

World Cup FIFA 2014: Netherlands thrash Spain 5-1

i. Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben scored twice each as the Netherlands avenged their 2010 World Cup final defeat to Spain with a record 5-1 drubbing of the defending champions on Friday.
ii. Van Persie pounced in each half as the Dutch recovered from a controversial Xabi Alonso penalty to inflict a crushing defeat on the reigning kings of world and European football.
iii. Stefan De Vrij got the Netherlands' other goal as Spain slumped to the heaviest defeat ever inflicted at a World Cup on the reigning champions.
iv. It was Spain's worst defeat in more than half a century, coming 51 years after a 6-2 defeat to Scotland in 1963.
v. FIFA officials earlier defended Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura after he awarded Brazil a bitterly contested penalty in their opening game victory over Croatia.


Hockey: Australia beats The Netherlands 6-1 in World Cup title

i. Australia retained the men’s hockey World Cup title by outplaying Olympic silver medallists The Netherlands 6-1 in the final at the Kyocera Stadium here on Sunday.
ii. Chris Cirielo’s three penalty corner conversions was the feature of the contest that saw Australia retain the trophy they had won in New Delhi in 2010.
iii. The successive men’s World Cup title wins was a present the Australian team had promised to their coach Ric Charlesworth, who had won it as a player in 1986 and as a coach four years ago.
iv. Playing their fourth successive World Cup final, Australia made up for the disappointment of losing two successive summit showdown to Germany.
v. Before Australia clinched their second successive World Cup today, Germany were the only nation to have won two consecutive times.