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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

Daily GK Update - 2nd and 3rd May 2015

Paytm partners CCD, Domino's for offline payment

(i) Paytm's mobile wallet will soon be accepted at quick service restaurants (QSRs), including Domino's and Cafe Coffee Day, as the Alibaba-backed company forays into the offline retail space in the next two months.

(ii) At present, Paytm offers and recharge services for DTH and mobile phone services as well as mobile wallet services for online transactions on Uber, Bookmyshow, eBay and IRCTC.

(iii) A mobile wallet is a prepaid payment instrument, which allows customers to digitally store money in a secure virtual wallet and use it to pay bills and other services.

(iv) "We are now foraying into the offline space. We have partnered various QSRs covering 7,000-10,000 outlets in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad," Paytm Vice-President (Business) Amit Lakhotia told PTI.

Daily GK Update - 30th April and 1st May 2015

1. Non-subsidised LPG rate cut by Rs. 5; ATF to cost more

(i) Price of non-subsidised LPG was on Friday cut by Rs. 5 per cylinder even as jet fuel (ATF) rates were marginally raised in step with global trend.

(ii) The price of non-subsidised or market-priced domestic cooking gas (LPG) was cut by Rs. 5 to Rs. 616 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi, state-owned fuel retailers said.

(iii) The reduction comes on the back of two successive hikes – Rs. 5 on March 1 and Rs 11 on April 1. Households are entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rate of Rs. 417 in Delhi. 

(iv) Any requirement beyond this has to be bought at the market price, which is now Rs. 616 in Delhi.

(v) State-owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) revise jet fuel and non-subsidised LPG prices on the first of every month based on average imported cost and rupee-dollar exchange rate.