Daily GK Updates – 15th & 16th March 2016
1. Myanmar elects Htin Kyaw as first civilian president in decades
i. Myanmar’s parliament has elected Htin Kyaw as the country’s next president, the first civilian leader after more 
than 50 years of military rule.
ii. Htin Kyaw is a close ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to victory in historic elections in November.
iii. He said his appointment was “Aung San Suu Kyi’s victory”. Ms Suu Kyi is barred from the post by the constitution, but has said she will lead the country anyway.
2. Yes Bank in pact with India-Brazil chamber for strategic cooperation
i. In the run-up to the next BRICS Summit to be held here this year, Yes Bank today inked a pact with the India Brazil Chamber of Commerce for cooperation in knowledge sharing, consultancy, skill and technology.
ii. Yes Bank has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with India Brazil Chamber of Commerce (IBCC) to enable significant cooperation in terms of knowledge partnerships, project consultancy, B2B opportunities, skill and technology initiatives”, the bank said in a statement.
iii. The core sectors covered in the MoU will be sports, media and entertainment with special focus on IT, infrastructure, broadcast driven business opportunities.
3. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna: 253 Indian villages lit up in just one week under the scheme
i. Came February 2016 and as many as 253 Indian villages were electrified in just one week under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY).
ii. 253 villages were electrified across the country during last week (February 8-14, 2016) under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna,” the power ministry said in a statement.
iii. Out of the 253 villages, 111 are in Odisha, 81 in Assam, 40 in Jharkhand, 13 in Rajasthan, 4 in Bihar, 3 in Madhya Pradesh and 1 in Uttar Pradesh, it said.
4. In global first,India Inc to formally adopt UN’s SDGs tomorrow
i. Top 50 domestic corporate leaders will be assembling here tomorrow under the aegis of the UN to formally adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the world body and discuss the way forward for implementation.
ii. The SDGs are the continuum of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were under implementation from January 2000 to December 2015. These 17 SDGs are being implemented from January 2016 to December 2020.
iii. The Mumbai meeting assumes significance as this is for the first time the UN is involving private and public sector corporates globally to drive its development agenda. This is the first such meeting being held globally.
5. Venezuela president extended economic emergency to protect citizens from economic warfare
i. Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on 14 March 2016 declared a two-month extension on emergency powers meant to help shore up the country’s crippled economy.
ii. The declaration will bestow more time on the government of President Nicolas Maduro to intervene in the market, boost productivity and redress a flagging financial sector.
iii. It will also allow the government to take more anti-crisis measures to reduce fiscal moratorium and to tap up funds from the 2015 budget to address short-term social needs.
6. India Post selects Deloitte as consultant for payments bank
i. India Post has selected Deloitte to advise it on setting up a payments bank and an agreement between the two will be signed on March 14.
ii. The Public Investment Board has already approved the Rs 800-crore proposal of India Post and in 15 days, it will go to the Cabinet for final approval.
iii. We have selected Deloitte as the consultant for payments bank. The agreement will be signed on March 14,” an official in the Department of Post (DoP) told PTI.
7. SAARC Programming Committee meet begins in Pokhara today
i. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will leave forNepal on Wednesday to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ministerial meet.
ii. The meeting is scheduled between March 14 – 17. Before the Ministerial meeting, a session of the Programming Committee of SAARC will be held in Pokhara.
iii. The standing committee of the SAARC, which is a Foreign Secretaries-level Forum, will be held on 16th of this month.
8. All England Championships: Lin Dan wins sixth title; Nozomi Okuhara first
i. Lin Dan earned his sixth All England badminton title when he routed Chinese teammate Tian Houwei 21-9, 21-10 in the final on Sunday.
ii. Meanwhile, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan marked her 21st birthday with her first All England title after beating two-time champion Wang Shixian of China 21-11, 16-21, 21-19 in their thrilling final.
iii. The men’s final lacked any tension, as Lin bolted to 4-0, enjoyed the same margin at the changeover, and pulled away.
9. Anil Wadhwa concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of San Marino
i. Shri Anil Wadhwa, Ambassador of India to Italy, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India
ii. The Republic of San Marino with residence in Rome.He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.
10. NBFC Altico Capital appoints Naina Lal Kidwai as independent non-executive director to its board
i. Non-banking financial company Altico Capital India has appointed former HSBC India chairperson Naina Lal Kidwai as an independent non-executive director.
ii. Ms Kidwai’s presence on the Board and her vast experience in financial markets landscape will significantly assist us in the growth of our business,
iii. further strengthen governance, enhance our brand and reputation, and optimise the value creation for all our stakeholders,” said Sanjay Grewal, chief executive officer of Altico Capital .
11. 7th Governing Board meeting of Indo-German Science and Technology Centre held in New Delhi
i. 7th meeting of the Governing Board of the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) was held on 15 March 2016 in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by the Union Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
ii. During the meeting, Dr. Vardhan highlighted the achievements and progress of IGSTC in accelerating the bilateral Science & Technology collaboration.
iii. India is investing approximately 14 million euro for the construction of an India focussed beam line and access to the synchrotron facility at PETRA-III in DESY at Hamburg, which will be ready for inauguration later in 2016.
12. March 15 is World Consumer Rights Day
i. Nagaland, in unison with the rest of the world, shall celebrate the World Consumer Rights Day on 15th March’2016.
ii. The World Consumer Rights Day is an occasion of solidarity among consumers for promotion of the rights of consumers and to ensure that consumers are protected from unscrupulous traders and their consumer grievances are redressed.
iii. The theme for the World Consumer Rights Day 2016 is – “Antibiotics off the menu”. It is a campaign to stop the sale of meat raised with the use of antibiotics important to human medicine.
13. Singareni 600 MW power unit synchronised in Telangana
i. The first of two 600 MW power generation units at the Singareni Thermal Power Plant (STPP) at Pegadapalli in Jaipur mandal of Adilabad District, was synchronised on Sunday with top officials including Singareni Collieries Chairman and Managing Director N. Sridhar participating in it.
ii. The power generation unit will be inaugurated by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao in April.
iii. Mr. Sridhar complimented all officials and workers who made the synchronisation possible as per the schedule. He said that it was their untiring effort that the event took place within the stipulated period.
14. ICICI Bank launched NFC-based mobile payment solution Touch & Pay
i. ICICI Bank on 15 March 2016 announced a new mobile payment solution Touch & Pay. This solution is based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and will enable the bank’s customers to make secure contactless payments at retail stores using smartphones.
ii. Customers can make payment by tapping smart phone at a NFC enabled merchant terminal and make the payment through account linked ICICI Bank Debit/Credit Card.
iii. To ensure security of the card details, for every payment done at a merchant store using this service, a one-use unique token is created by the Bank’s server and will be sent via encryption to the merchant,
15. MoU Signed Between M/O Tourism and Ecotourism Society of India for Responsible and Sustainable Tourism
i. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) to take its commitments to Responsible and Sustainable tourism to the next level.
ii. In accordance, Shri Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, M/o Tourism and Mr. Steve Borgia, Honorary President, Ecotourism Society of India signed the MOU in the presence of Shri Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.
iii. The Ministry of Tourism and the Ecotourism Society of India started the process a couple of years ago when they formulated & published the STCI (Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India) and carried it to the grass root level through series of advocacy workshops.
iv. The Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) was established in 2008 at the behest of the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) as a non-profit organization to promote environmentally responsible and sustainable practices in the tourism industry across the country.
16. Union Government and Jammu & Kashmir Government signed MoU on UDAY Scheme
i. Union Government and Jammu & Kashmir Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) on 15 March 2016 for operational and financial turnaround of the State’s Power Distribution Department.
ii. With this, J&K became the ninth state to sign MoU with the combined DISCOM debt around 1.94 lakh crore rupees. The main aim for signing the MoU is to restructure high interest rate of the total discom debt thereby improving financial condition of State Discom
iii. An overall net benefit of approximately 9800 crore rupees would accrue to the State by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of savings in interest cost, reduction in Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT & C)and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, coal reforms etc. during the period of turnaround.
17. Anita Brookner, art historian and Booker prize winner, dies age 87
i. The literary world was in mourning for Anita Brookner, the celebrated novelist and art historian, who has died.
ii. Brookner, the surprise winner of the Booker prize for fiction in 1984, was 87. She was highly regarded for her style and stories centring on the theme of middle-class loneliness, often featuring female protagonists.
iii. She had been rated a 6-1 outsider when her fourth novel, Hotel du Lac, was the unexpected winner of the Booker prize in 1984. Described by the judges as “a work of perfect artifice”,
iv. The tale of a heroine coming to terms with loveless solitude at a Swiss hotel eclipsed JG Ballard’s Empire of the Sun, which had been considered a runaway favourite.
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