Daily GK Updates – 13th – 14th September 2015
1. Narsingh wins bronze at World Championship, books Olympic place for India
i. Narsingh Pancham Yadav on Sunday secured an Olympic quota place for India after bagging a bronze medal in the Men’s 74kg Freestyle category at the World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas.
ii. With his third-place finish, Narsingh became the lone Indian to win a medal at the prestigious tournament as well as book a berth for the 2016 Rio Games.
iii. This is the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championship.
iv. Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s absence from the mat for over an year now has made Narsingh a regular in the 74kg division.
2. AUSINDEX15, first Australia and India maritime exercise begins in Visakhapatnam
i. Inaugural bilateral maritime exercise between India and Australia AUSINDEX15, commenced off coast of Visakhapatnam.
ii. The inaugural biennial exercise began with briefings and practical demonstrations ashore between Royal Australian Navy and Indian Navy before moving to sea.
iii. Three Royal Australian Navy ships viz HMA Ships Sirius (fleet tanker), Arunta (Anzac class frigate) and Sheehan (Collins class submarine) and a Royal Australian Air Force P3C Orion survelliance aircraft have participated.
iv. They will train with Indian Navy Ships Ranvijayi (Guided missile destroyer), Shivalik (Stelton frigate) and Shakti (fleet tanker) along with P-8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
3. Indra Nooyi, 2nd powerful women in 2015 Fortune’s business list
i. Indra Nooyi, CEO of food and beverage giant PepsiCo is the sole Indian-origin executive in 2015 edition of Fortune’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.
ii. India-born Nooyi was placed at second position in this year’s list and has moved up by single position from her previous third position in year 2015.
iii. This edition of the list was topped by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. She heads United States largest auto-maker and it is her second year as head. The list also includes
4. Union Government extends e-Tourist Visa Scheme to 37 more countries
i. Union Government has announced to extend e-Tourist Visa Scheme to 37 more countries in order to attract maximum foreign tourists in the country.
ii. It was announced by Secretary of Union Tourism Ministry Vinod Zuthsi while addressing a function of Indian Association of Tour Operators in New Delhi.
iii. With this extension, the total 150 countries will come under the ambit of e-Tourist Visa Scheme from present 113 countries.
iv. By August 2015, more than 22,000 tourists have used this scheme to visit India, compared to 2700 tourists in August, 2014.
5. India, Pakistan agree to maintain peace along border after DG level talks
i. India and Pakistan have started a three-day Director General (DG)-level border dialogue in New Delhi.
ii. Director General (DG) Border Security Force (BSF) D K Pathak is leading 23 member Indian delegation and his counterpart Major General Umar Farooq Burki, DG of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) is leading a 16 members Pakistani delegation.
iii. Both the delegations also have representatives from respective Home and Foreign ministries along with officers from narcotics control and survey department.
6. 2015 Singapore General Elections: PAP returns to power
i. In recently concluded 2015 Singapore General Elections, People’s Action Party (PAP) led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has emerged victorious.
ii. PAP returned to power after scoring a landslide victory by winning an absolute majority of 83 seats in the 89 member Parliament.
iii. The opposition Workers’ Party won 6 seats. In this general election, PAP has secured 70 per cent of all valid votes up from 60.14 per cent in the 2011 general elections, when it had won 81 of the 87 constituency.
iv. With this victory, governing PAP has secured their 14th consecutive term in office since independence of city-state in 1965. 2015 Singapore General Elections was country’s first election after the death of its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
7. Indian bankers top Fortune’s most powerful women list
i. Bankers Chanda Kochhar and Arundhati Bhattacharya have been ranked as top two in a list of most powerful women in Asia-Pacific prepared by the global magazine Fortune.
ii. Kochhar, 53, who heads the country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank, has been ranked at the top, up from the second position last year, the magazine said on its website.
iii. It has credited Kochhar with reshaping banking in the country, and for building ICICI Bank into the “nation’s largest and most profitable private sector lender’’.
8. Rajasthan first state to submit State Annual Action Plan under AMRUT
i. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
ii. State Government has submitted the action plan for approval by the Union Urban Development Ministry for financial year 2015-16.
iii. The plan seeks to target two categories of AMRUT projects in the state viz. universal coverage in respect of water supply connections, sewerage connections and urban transport to all urban households.
iv. In this regard, state government has proposed projects under these two categories worth 1,087 crore rupees to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT cities in Rajasthan.
9. Prabhat Singh takes over as MD & CEO of Petronet LNG
i. Prabhat Kumar Singh today took over as the new Managing Director and CEO of Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s biggest liquefied natural gas importer.
ii. Singh, 58, was the Director of Marketing at state gas utility GAIL India Ltd before his appointment at Petronet.
iii. In a stock exchange filing, Petronet LNG said Singh was appointed as Managing Director & CEO of the company by the Board of Directors in its meeting held on July 30.
10. Hormusji N Cama elected as Chairman of Press Trust of India
i. Hormusji N Cama was unanimously elected as the new chairman of the Press Trust of India (PTI). He is the Managing Director of Bombay Smachar, which is the oldest continuously-published newspaper in India from 1855.
ii. A member of the Press Council, Cama succeeded Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL).
iii. Cama, currently the Chairman of the Readership Studies Council of India, has also served as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS).
iv. He is also on the Board of Council for Fair Business Practices and Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
11. DRDO scientist Dr G. Satheesh Reddy conferred with Silver Medal by Royal Aeronautical Society
i. Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, an eminent missile scientist of DRDO has been conferred with prestigious Silver Medal by London based Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS).
ii. He was bestowed with this medal in recognition of his pioneering contributions as one of the leading navigation and avionics experts and for promoting Aerospace and Aeronautics in India.
iii. Under his leadership, India has developed state-of-the-art advanced avionics systems and sensors for key national strategic programmes and other defence applications.
12. Tenth World Hindi Conference begins in Bhopal
i. The Tenth World Hindi Conference has begun in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with the theme of Hindi Jagat-Vistar and Sambhavnaye.
ii. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has been organised in Madhya Pradesh for the first time and being held in India after 32 years.
iii. It is joint event of Union Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the state Government of Madhya Pradesh.
iv. This edition of conference will host scholars from 39 countries who are going to discuss issues like Hindi in administration, foreign policy and law during the event.
13. Classical dancer Kalamandalam Sathyabhama passes away
i. Kalamandalam Sathyabhama, doyen of classical dance form Mohiniyattam passed away in Palakkad district of Kerala. She was 77.
ii. She was regarded as a matriarch of Mohiniyattam and was well-known for her experimental reforms in this classical dance form which helped to preserve and popularise the traditional art form.
14. Pennetta wins U.S. Open title, announces retirement
i. Flavia Pennetta topped off one of the most surprising U.S. Open women’s tournaments ever with a shock announcement – that she was retiring from tennis after completing her greatest victory.
ii. The stunning announcement came just after Pennetta beat fellow Italian and childhood friend Roberta Vinci 7-6(4) 6-2 to win her maiden Grand Slam singles title and become the first Italian winner ever at the U.S. Open.
15. Union Government approved the purchase of 10 Heron TP drones from Israel
i. The Union Government approved the purchase of 10 Heron TP drones from Israel. This 400 million US dollars proposal for buying armed missile-armed drones from Israel will enhance India’s cross-border military strike capability.
ii. These drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), which has a fleet of reconnaissance drones.
iii. IAF also has a fleet of Harpy UAVs from Israel, which are self-destructing systems primarily tasked with taking out enemy radar positions.
iv. The armed forces had earlier proposed for buying the same armed drones in 2012. But that proposal did not get political backing during the UPA-2 regime.
16. Djokovic beats Federer to win US Open; his 10th major title
i. Novak Djokovic clinched his third Grand Slam title of 2015 and 10th career major with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over sentimental favourite Roger Federer in the US Open final today.
ii. Shrugging off a three-hour rain delay and the overwhelming hostility of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, the 28-year-old world number one captured his second title in New York to add to his 2011 triumph.
iii. The defeat shattered 34-year-old Federer’s bid to become the oldest US Open champion in 45 years and left him marooned on 17 Grand Slam titles, the last of which came at Wimbledon in 2012.
iv. Djokovic added the US Open title to his Australian Open and Wimbledon victories this year.
17. Narsingh Pancham Yadav books an Olympic berth for 2016 Rio games
i. Indian Wrestler Narsingh Pancham Yadav has secured quota for India in the 2016 Olympic Games. He qualified for Olympic Games after winning a bronze medal in the Men’s 74 kg Freestyle category at the World Wrestling Championship held at Las Vegas, United States.
ii. In the semifinal bout, Narsingh lost the match to Unurbat Purevjav of Mongolia, thus settling to the bronze medal.
iii. With this third-place finish, Narsingh also became the lone Indian to win a medal at the prestigious tournament as well as book a berth for the 2016 Rio Games.
iv. This is also the the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an Olympic berth by winning medal at the World Championship.
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