1.

Isro chairperson K Radhakrishnan

retires
i. Spearheading Indian Space Research
Organisation
triumphantly
through
several milestones, its chairperson K
Radhakrishnan retired on Wednesday
carrying the crowning glory of the muchhailed India's mission to Mars.
ii. Indian space scientists bid a 'sombre'
farewell describing Radhakrishnan an
"iconic leader" as his exit left the space
agency at what ISRO on its Facebook
called "at its most glorified pedestal
ever."
iii. Radhakrishnan, a recipient of Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian
award, was recently chosen as one of
the top ten scientific personalities in
2014 by Nature Science Journal.
India's Mars Orbiter, currently orbiting
the red planet, tweeted it's farewell.

2. Planning Commission renamed "Neeti

Ayog"
i. India's Planning Commission will be
renamed "Neeti Ayog" as part of a plan
to restructure the institution that the
government believes has run its course.
ii. The
name,
r eplacing
"Yojana
(planning)" with "Neeti (policy)" will be
announced in an amended r esolution for
the new plan body today, sources said.
iii. The Planning Commission had
suggested to a group chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi that its
replacement body should be structured
to meet the need of changing economic
paradigm and comprise sectoral experts
and states' representative.
It was India's first Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru, a socialist who
admired Joseph Stalin's drive to
industrialize the Soviet Union, who in
1950 set up - and chaired - the Planning
Commission to map out a development
path for India's agrarian economy.
3. Tropical storm Jangmi struck
Philippines
i. Jangmi, a tropical storm made landfall
in northeastern Mindanao Island of
Philippines on 28 December 2014. The
storm that caused heavy rains and
triggered flash floods and landslides in
the country killed at least 30 people.
ii. Tropical storm Jangmi, known in the
Philippines as Seniang carried winds of

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Daily GK Updates 01st Jan 2015

65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour
destroying several bridges and highway
and lead to evacuation of thousands of
residents.
iii. Apart from Philippines, the storm has
affected several parts of other countries
like Malaysia and southern Thailand.
4. NASA's SMAP instrument to measure
Earth's soil

i. The U.S. space agency NASA's Moisture

Active Passive (SMAP) instrument is
ready to measure the amount of
moisture in Earth's soils wi th an
unparalleled precision and resolution.
ii. The instrument comprises of three
main parts namely radar, a radiometer
as well as the biggest rotating mesh
antenna ever used in space.
The new instrument is expected to be
launched on January 29.
5. A K Mittal appointed railway board
chairman

Ramon Magsaysay award for his

contribution to journalism.
iii. In October 2010, he published his
autobiography First Draft: Witness to
Making of Modern India.
His last work was Post Haste:
Quintessential India, a book that was
released in May 2014.
7. Govt splits CMD post in Public Sector
Banks
i. The government of India decided to
split the post of chairman and managing
director at public sector banks
(PSBs).The
finance
ministry
has
appointed chief executive officers (CEOs)
of four banks, while confirmed that nonexecutive chairman would be declared
shortly.
ii. The appointment of the CEOs would
be for a fixed tenure, in this case for
three years or when the candidate
retires, whichever is earlier.
iii. The four banks for which new MD &
CEOs wer e announced on Wednesday
were Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian
Overseas Bank, United Bank of India and
Vijaya Bank
8. Rajnath Singh launches women safety
mobile app 'Himmat'

i. Mittal, who was member (staff), has

succeeded Arunendra Kumar, whose
appointment as well as entire tenure
was mired in lot of controversies.
ii. Mittal's position as member (staff) has
been taken by Pradeep Kumar, who was
general manager, North-Central Railway
with additional charge as GM, Northern
Railway.
iii. Navin Tandon had been appointed as
new member (electrical), a post which
was lying vacant for last six months.
Tandon was GM, South Eastern Central
Railway. Gupta, member (engineering),
has been given additional responsibility
of member (mechanical), the post which
is likely to be filled within a week.
6. Noted journalist Boobli George
Verghese died
i. Eminent journalist Boobli George
Verghese died on 30 December 2014
following a brief illness. He was 87.

ii. He was an information adviser to

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966
to 1969. In 1975, Verghese was given the

i. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on

1st Jan 2015 launched India's first
integrated mobile application for women
safety called 'Himmat', in the presence
of Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi
and Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb
Jung.
ii. Who-so-ever will download this smart
phone-based application can alert the
police in the hour of need by either
shaking the phone or pressing the power
button twice," said Bassi.
iii. "It is directly linked to the Police
Control Room and they will get an
indication immediately. After that the
location can be traced and will be
updated every ten seconds," he added.
9. PM Narendra Modi greets nation on
New Year
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Thursday greeted the nation on New
Year, wishing that it brings immense
happiness, peace and prosperity to
everyone.

1. K.K. Paul to be Uttarakhand Governor

i. Krishan Kant Paul will be sworn in as
the sixth Governor of Uttarakhand on
January 8.
ii. A presidential communiqu said Mr.
Paul, Meghalaya Governor, would
continue to hold the office of the
Governor of Manipur.
iii. The current Uttarakhand Governor,
Aziz Qureshi, would be transferred to
Mizoram.
iv. Challenging the move of the Narendra
Modi government to seek resignations of
Governors appointed during the UPA
regime.

2. Uttarakhand governor Aziz Qureshi

transferred to Mizoram
i. Dr Aziz Qureshi was shunted out and
appointed Mizoram governor.
ii. A statement issued by the President's
office said that Qureshi had been given
charge of Mizoram for the remainder of
his term. He has almost three years of
tenure left.
iii. West Bengal governor K N Tripathi
meanwhile has been asked to take
additional charge of Meghalaya.
3. Pakistani fishing boat carrying
explosives sets itself on fire after being
chased by Indian Coast Guard
i. A suspicious fishing boat carrying
explosives from Pakistan was intercepted
by Indian Coast Guard in Arabian Sea
near Indo-Pak maritime boundary but it
sank after the crew on board set it on
fire. The incident came a month after
sixth anniversary of the Mumbai terror
attack.
ii. The boat carrying some four people
blew up some 365 kms off Porbander
coast after a hot chase.

1. ICICI Launches Digital Village Project in

Gujarat
i. Joining Digital India programme, top
lender ICICI Bank has launched its own
'digital village' project while adopting an
entire village in Gujarat to provide

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02nd January 2015

iii. As per the intelligence inputs received
on 31st December, a fishing boat from
Keti Bunder near Karachi was planning
some illicit transaction in Arabian Sea.
iv. Coast
Guard
Dornier
aircraft
undertook sea air coordinated search
and located the suspect fishing boat.

4. BHEL bags first key power project in

Telangana
i. BHEL will set up first Supercritical
Thermal Power Plant in newly formed
state of Telangana. The company has
bagged contract worth Rs. 3,810 crore.
ii. The order is for setting up the 1x800
MW Supercritical Thermal Power Plant on
EPC (Engineering, Procurement &
Construction) basis at Kothagudem in
Khammam District of Telangana.
iii. To this effect, an advance cheque of
Rs. 350 crore was handed over by the
Chief Minister of Telangana, K.
Chandrasekhar Rao to Chairman &
Managing Director.
iv. The project is targeted to be
commissioned in 36 months on fast track
basis with both BHEL and TSGENCO
setting up teams to expedite clearances
and execution of the project.
5. LIC International launches co-branded
credit card with UAE's First Gulf Bank

i. India's LIC International and Abu Dhabi based First Gulf Bank are planning to
introduce a unique co-branded credit
card in the United Arab Emirates to
address concerns of insurance policy
holders.
ii. It is first of its kind payment solution.
Daily GK Update - 3rd January 2015
services ranging from cashless banking to
digitised school teaching.

This is the first time that an insurance

firm has entered into a strategic alliance
with a bank in the gulf country.
iii. LIC International, established in
Bahrain in 1989 by LIC of India to
facilitate residents in the gulf region, has
over 350 million policyholders worldwide.
6. Government to prioritise drugs, states
to revive Jan Aushadhi Pharmacies
i. To infuse a fresh lease of life into the
struggling Jan Aushadhi chain of
pharmacy outlets, set up to make
affordable generic drugs available to
people.
ii. The government plans to focus on
select drugs and states, spruce up supply
chain and encourage doctors to use
generic names of drugs.
iii. Government is considering a proposal
to trim the list of drugs being distributed
through Jan Aushadhi outlets to 40-50
mass consumption ones from the 320
medicines enlisted to be part of stock at
present.
7. R Koteeswaran takes over as new
Indian Overseas Bank CMD

i. R Koteeswaran has taken over as the

Chairman and Managing Director of
public sector Indian Overseas Bank.
ii. Prior to this, Koteeswaran was serving
Bank of India as its Executive Director
Koteeswaran began his career in 1976 in
Bank of Baroda and later joined Bank of
India as its
Executive Director.
iii. He replaces M Narendra who has
superannuated

ii. Digital village has three themes -cashless, comprehensive and connected.
iii. Village,
named
Akodara,
in
Sabarkantha
district
of
Gujarat
incidentally happens to be the same
place wher e Modi started Gujarat's first

animal hostel in 2011 when he was the

Chief Minister of the state.
iv. One of the key points is providing
cashless banking services to every
villager.
v. The villagers are getting SMSs in
Gujarati for their transactions and other
digital services.
vi. the bank has set up e-health, e-milk
producer group, Wi -Fi connectivity and
schools with digital black boards in the
village, along with a host of other digital
facilities.
2. Gyan Sangam: Government on its way
to overhaul public sector banks

i. Government has embarked on a

mission to overhaul public sector banks,
beginning with a twoday, high-profile
retreat in Pune.
ii. The main objective is to search for
"out-of-the-box" ideas to reorient them
to support the country's bid to move back
to a high-growth trajectory.
iii. the government wants to draw up an
urgent reform road map that could
include the revamp of priority sector
lending, consolidation and effective use
of technology for lending besides greater
financial inclusion.
iv. The event is being held at the National
Institute of Bank Management on the
outskirts of Pune.
3. Bengal Global Business Summit
i. Projecting itself as an ideal investment
destination, the Government of W est
Bengal is organising Bengal Global
Business Summit Bengal Leads.
ii. The State is seeking investment in
sectors such as urban infrastructure and
housing, IT software and hardware, food

processing, horticulture and floriculture,

MSME and textiles.
iii.Other Sectors such as health care,
education and skills development,
manufacturing,
energy
and
infrastructure, hospitality and tourism
and business of entertainment and
financial services are given the nod of the
state as special sectors to look for.
4. Kumar Sangakkara fastest to 12,000
runs in Tests
i. Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan
Wicket Keeper batsman became the
fastest player to reach 12,000 Test runs.
ii. Sangakkara had enter ed the game
needing five runs to become the fifth
man to surpass 12,000 test runs.
iii. Sangakkara has accumulated his runs
in 224 innings, compared to India's Sachin
Tendulkar and Australia's Ricky Ponting,
who both needed 247 innings to surpass
the mark.
5. Intel invests $24.8 million to speed up
launch of Google Glass rival
i. Vuzix Corporation said that Intel Corp
invested $24.8 million i n the company to
speed up the launch of internetconnected eyewear.
ii. Rochester, New York-based Vuzix
develops computerized, internetconnected glasses and other video
eyewear aimed at consumers, businesses
and entertainment.
iii. Intel, which was slow to launch chips
for smartphones and tablets, is striving to
be at the forefront of future trends in
mobile computing and expand into new
markets.
6. RBI relaxed KYC rules for Non-Banking
Financial Companies

i. Know-Your-Customers (KYC) rules for

Non-Banking
Financial
Companies
(NBFCs) wer e relaxed by the Reserve
Bank
of
India
(RBI).
ii. The KYC rules were amended for
NBFCs due to practical difficulties and
constraints being faced by them in
getting KYC documents at frequent
intervals.
iii. As per RBI notification, the KYC
exercise will be required to be done in
three ways and they are

For high-risk individuals and

entities in at least every 2 years

For medium risk individuals and

entities - in at least every 8 years

For low risk individuals and

entities in at least every 10 years
7. India lost 66 wild tigers in 2014
i. Sixty-six wild tiger deaths were
reported in the country in 2014.Two tiger
deaths occurred on the last day of the
year.
ii. It was the only day in 2014 when two
wild tiger deaths were reported. One was
at Bandipur in Karnataka and the other at
Tadoba Andhari in Maharashtra.
iii. As per statistics provided by Tigernet,
the official database of the National Tiger
Conservation Authority, the highest
number of wild tiger deaths was reported
from the for ests of Tamil Nadu 15,
followed by Madhya Pradesh 14. Six of
the deaths in Tamil Nadu were from the
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
iv. The majority of wild tiger deaths was
caused by poaching, It is estimated that
about 50 tigers could have been killed in
this manner.

Daily GK Update - 4th and 5th January 2015

1. LED ther e be light: Modi launches
scheme to brighten Delhi
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Monday launched a scheme for LED bulb
distribution under domestic efficient
lighting programme (DELP) in Delhi.

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ii. Describing the LED bulb as a prakash

path (way to light), Mr. Modi said that it
is much mor e economical to conserve
power than to produce power.
iii. LED bulbs shall be distributed in a
phased manner from March 2015
onwards, an official statement said.

iv. The entire project of installing LED

bulbs for domestic and street lighting in
100 cities is targeted for completion by
March 2016.
v. In Delhi, LED bulbs will be provided to
all domestic consumers at an initial
payment of Rs 10 each and recovery of Rs
10 each for 12 months from their
electricity bill.

4. 18 Jharkhand villages identified under

'Green India Mission'
i. Eighteen villages have been identified
under union government sponsored
'Green India Mission' for undertaking
eco-friendly development programmes in
the areas falling under Seraikela forest
division in Seraikela-Kharswan district of
Jharkhand.

2. Laxman, SP Balasubrahmanyam new

Swachh Bharat ambassadors

i. The Centre on Monday nominated

cricketer V.V.S. Laxman, chess player
Koneru Humpy, playback singer S.P.
Balasubrahmanyam and several other
icons as brand ambassadors of Swachh
Bharat campaign.
ii. The nomination was formally made by
Union Urban Development Minister M.
Venkaiah Naidu at a function in
Hyderabad.
iii. The others nominated include MPs
K.Kavitha, Jayadev Galla, badminton icon
P.Gopichand, corporate personalities
B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, J.A.Chowdary,
Rameshwar Rao and Gopichand, G.S. Rao
from medical field, lyricist S. Ashok Teja,
Telugu actor Nitin and media personality
V. Radhakrishna.
3. Sports ministry recommends Saina
Nehwal's name for Padma Bhushan
i. The sports ministry today decided to
recommend ace shuttler Saina Nehwal
for the Padma Bhushan award.

ii. Ministry insisted that it did not receive

her nomination from the Badminton
Association of India (BAI) within the
stipulated deadline.
iii. On Saturday, a disappointed Saina had
stated that the Badminton Association of
India (BAI) had recommended her name
for the Padma Bhushan in August last
year but the sports ministry rejected her
application, citing norms.

4|P a g e

ii. The main objective of the mission was

to develop the ecological and economic
scenerio by choosing different
developmental schemes including rain
water harvesting and greenery among
others.
iii. The forest division has also developed
facilities for development of pissiculture
and poultry which have helped villagers
to earn livelihood.
iv. The Mission proposed a holistic view
of greening and focuses not on carbon
sequestration targets alone, but on
multiple ecosystem services, especially,
biodiversity, water and biomass.
5. Arvind Panagariya to be Vice-Chairman
of PM Narendra Modi's NITI Aayog
i. Eminent free-market economist Arvind
Panagariya has been appointed to run
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's
new policy commission, or NITI Aayog.

ii. Niti Aayog has been set up to

modernise economic strategy after
decades of Soviet-style central planning.
iii. the appointment of Panagariya, an
Indian-born economics professor at
Columbia University in New York, is likely
to be announced in the next 24 hours.
iv. Panagariya's market-friendly, progrowth economics has helped shape
Narendra Modi's outlook and is seen by
many as a Margaret Thatcher-like attack
on overbearing labour regulations and
state-run
companies.

NOTE - Narendra Modi will be the

Chairman of the Niti Ayog.
6. Government to implement new
Companies Act that includes setting up
IEPFA and NFRA
i. The corporate affairs ministry has
charted its road map for full
implementation of the new Companies
Act that envisages setting up Investor
Education and Protection Fund Authority
(IEPFA) and National Financial Reporting
Authority (NFRA) within six months.

ii. The government is already in final

stages of notifying rules for IEPFA and
NFRA, a quasi-judicial apex body for
accounting and auditing standards, also
with powers to probe and review audits
of companies.
iii. NFRA will be responsible for
monitoring, compliance review and
overseeing
quality
of
service,
enforcement and standard setting in
accounting and auditing.
iv. IEPFA, which will be set up under the
new Companies Act, will manage investor
education and protection fund. If the
amount deposited with companies is not
claimed for more than seven years, it will
go to IEPFA.
7. DDA plans smart city, flats for senior
citizens in 2015
i. A smart "world-class" city in Dwarka,
exclusive apartments for senior citizens, a
financial hub, electric buses for Delhi and
erecting the city's tallest building are
among DDA's major plans this year.
ii. The 'smart city' envisioned by DDA will
be a complete sub-city, which would be
located in an area of 20-24 hectares,
zoned out of Dwarka, Rohini and Narela,
and will be equipped with latest
technologies and waste-management
techniques.
iii. "The smart city will have a world-class
infrastructure, 24-hour power supply,
complete wi-fi connectivity, and will
employ green technology and latest
water conservation like rain-harvesting
and waste management techniques,
among other facilities.

Daily GK Update - 6th January 2015

1. World Cup 2015 squad announced:
Yuvraj out, Jadeja in
i. The Board of Control for Cricket in India
on Tuesday released its 15-member
squad for the World Cup 2015.
ii. The noticeable exclusion was that of
Yuvraj Singh who has been dropped from
the squad.
iii. The
players
are
as
follows:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Shikhar
Dhawan,
Rohit
Sharma,
Vi rat
Kohli,Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina,
Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja ,
Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma,
Mohammed Shami, Stuart Binny and
Umesh Yadav.
iv. India will start it's World Cup campaign
against Pakistan on 15th of February.

2. Five-day coal strike begins

i. Trade unions on Tuesday began a fiveday coal industry strike, terming it as the
biggest industrial action for any sector
since 1977.

ii. The unions have gone on strike to

protest against disinvestment and
restructuring of State-run Coal India and
to press for their other demands
including the roll-back of what they call
as process of denationalising of coal
sector.
iii. The strike can affect coal production of
up to 1.5 million tonnes a day and may
also hit supplies to power plants which
are already grappling with fuel shortages.
iv. All five major trade unions of the coal
PSU had boycotted a meeting called by
Coal Minister Piyush Goyal last week.

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3. ISRO gears up to launch IRNSS 1D

i. After completing an eventful year, ISRO
is gearing up for some satellite launches
this year, with the IRNSS 1D being the
first, which would put in place India's
own navigation system on par with the
Global Positioning System of the US.
ii. "The launch campaign for IRNSS 1D has
come, which starts on January 16. Within
two months, all components from other
ISRO labs have to reach Sriharikota. The
launch is likely after March 15.

iii. IRNSS 1D is the fourth in the series of

seven satellites, the national space
agency is planning to launch to put in
place the Indian Regional Navigation
Satellite System (IRNSS).
iv. While four satellites would be
sufficient to start operations of the
system, the remaining three satellites
would make it more accurate and
efficient.

4. P Krishnamurthy appointed as Private

Secretary of Union Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar
i. IAS officer P Krishnamurthy was on 5
January 2015 appointed as Priva te
Secretary of Union Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar.
ii. He is appointed for a five-year period
or on co-ter minus basis with the
minister's tenure.
iii. Krishnamurthy is a 1997 batch IAS
officer of Arunachal Pradesh-GoaMizoram Union territories (AGMU) cadre.
iv. He served as the Director of National
Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
from 2011 to 2014.
5. Union Cabinet approved to set up
India-based Neutrino Observatory in TN

i. Union Cabinet headed by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on 5 January
2015 approved to set up the India-based
Neutrino Observatory (INO) in Tamil
Nadu.
ii. The INO laboratory will host
experiments such as the neutrino-less
double beta decay and the search for
dark matter.

iii. The INO project will be set up near

Pottipuram village in the Bodi West Hills
of Theni district in Tamil Nadu. The
project is at an estimated cost of 1500
crore rupees.
iv. The project also includes InterInstitutional Centre for High Energy
Physics (IICHEP) and Iron Calorimeter
Detector (ICAL).
6. Former Minister of State for PWD Ram
Prasad Kamal died
i. Former Minister of State for Public
Works Department (PWD) Ram Prasad
Kamal passed away on 4 January 2015
after a brief illness in Allahabad. He was
84.

ii. Kamal was inducted into the BJP by

former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee in 1980 following which he was
elected for two consecutive ter ms as
member of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan
Parishad from 1992.
iii. Ram Prasad Kamal served as the
Minister of State for PWD for BJP
government from 1997-2004.

Daily GK Update - 7th January 2015

Maybe they will have better ideas than
us.
iii. The governments ambitious Digital
India project aims to connect all gram
panchayats by broadband Internet,
promote e-governance and transform
India into a connected knowledge
economy.

1. Railways' earnings up by over 12%

i. Railways has earned Rs 1,14,656.13
crore during April-December 2014,
registering an increase of 12.57 per cent.
ii. It had earned Rs 1,01,856.45 crore
during the same period in the previous
year.

i. The United Forum of Bank Employees

has deferred the all -India bank strike.
ii. the IBA had improved its offer of wage
revision by raising the monthly salaries of
banks employees and officers to 12.5 per
cent.
iii. The unions have refused to accept the
offer which they termed was too low.

i. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan on

6 January 2015 named as the Brand
Ambassador of Andhra Pradesh (AP)
health sector.
ii. His appointment was announced by
the AP Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas
in Hyderabad.
iii. Being the brand ambassador of AP
health sector, he will be participating in
various health-related campaigns of AP
government.
iv. Bachchan will not take any
remuneration for the services he would
be rendering to the state as its health
ambassador.

4. 500 Firms Approach Ministry to Make

PF Optional
i. As many as 500 companies have
approached the Ministry of Labour to
consider revamping of the laws governing
salary payment and granting employees a
choice in how they are paid their salary.
ii. The petition asks the government to
give employees the choice to decide on
three issues.

6. President signed Ordinance to amend

Citizenship Act, 1955
i. President Pranab Mukherjee signed the
Ordinance that amends Citizenship Act,
1955.
ii. The ordinance provides life-long Indian
visa facility to Person of Indian Origin
(PIO) and exempts them from appearing
before the local police station on every
visit.

4. IBA raises wage revision offer to 12.5%

iii. The total earnings from goods during
April-December, 2014 were Rs 77,161.55
crore as compared to Rs 68,776.35 crore
in the corresponding period in 2013,
showing an increase of 12.19 per cent,
according to the Railway Ministry data.
iv. The total number of passengers
booked during April - December 2014
were 6,256.16 million compared to
6,360.15 million during the same period
in 2013, showing a decrease of 1.64 per
cent.
2. NASA Closer Than Ever to Finding
Earth's 'Twin'
i. Two of the eight are the most Earth-like
of any known planets found so far
outside our solar system, astronomers
told the 225th meeting of the American
Astronomical
Society
in
Seattle,
Washington.

ii. The discovery doubles the number of

known planets that are close in size to
the Earth and believed to be in the socalled "Goldilocks zone" of the stars they
orbit.
iii. The promising discoveries are that of
the planets named as - Kepler 438b and
Kepler 442b.
3. Google, New ally for 'Digital India'
project
i. Vinton Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at
Google,
met
Minister
for
Communications
and
Information
Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad to
discuss the role technology giant can play
in supporting the governments vision for
a Digital India.
ii. Vinton Cerf said, "We have some ideas.
We want to share with them those ideas
to find out which of them make sense.

6|P a g e

5. Amitabh Bachchan named as the Brand

Ambassador of AP health sector

Firstly, whether to make their 12 per cent

employee contribution to Provident Fund
or opt out of it.
secondly whether to pay 12 per cent
employer contribution to the Employee
Pension Scheme or to an individual
account opened with the National
Pension Scheme.
And thirdly, whether to pay their ESI
contribution to the ESI corporation or
purchase insurance from any IRDA
regulated insurance company.
iii. Currently, in a cost to-company model
informal employees can take home their
entire salary while employees in the
organised sector "lose" a part of their
earnings to schemes like PF, Employees
State Insurance (ESI), Professional Tax,
Employees Pension Scheme, statutory
bonus and gratuity.

iii. It merges Overseas Citizen of India

(OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO),
thus making PIO eligible for life-long visa
and bringing them on equal footing with
OCI.
iv. It relaxes the requirement of 12
months in cases related to citizenship by
registration and naturalization. Instead it
allows for breaks up to 30 days if the
Union government is satisfied that special
circumstances exist, and has recorded
them in writing.
7. Nilesh Shah resigned as MD & CEO of
AXIS Capital Limited

i. Nilesh Shah resigned as Managing

Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD
&CEO) of Axis Capital Limited.
ii. Shah joined Axis Bank as President,
Strategic InitiativesCorporate Banking

1. 12 dead in shooting at French satirical

weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris

i. Twelve people, 10 journalists and two

policemen, have been killed, and 10
others wounded in the shooting massacre
at the Paris headquarters of satirical
newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
ii. Hollande confirmed the deaths, and
said that at least 40 were saved.
iii. The numbers of victims is likely to rise,
the French president added. Flags across
France have been lower ed in mourning
for victims of the attack.
iv. Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly) is a
controversial French satirical newspaper
that came under attack over the
publication of caricatures of Muslim
leaders and the Prophet Mohammed in
2011.
v. The attack in the newspaper offices is
the worst militant attack in recent
decades in France, which has a fivemillion-strong Muslim population.
2. PM inaugurates 13th Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas Sammelan
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally
inaugurated the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas
at
Mahatma
Mandir
in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
ii. The Prime Minister also inaugurated
the Dandi Kutir- a unique exhibition on
father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi
depicting various stages of his life and
work at Salt mount near Mahatma
Mandir.

iii. India will be building a monument in

Guyana dedicated to the arrival of Indian
indentured labourers in the country,

7|P a g e

in March 2011. He took over as MD &

CEO of Axis Capital in November 2013.
iii. Prior to joining Axis, he was the
Deputy-MD at the ICICI Prudential Asset
Management. At ICICI he quit after

Daily GK Update - 8th January 2015

Guyanese president Donald Ramotar is
the chief guest at the event.
iv.About Bhartiya Pravasi Divas - India has
been holding PBD for 12 years now to
coincide with the arrival of Mahatma
Gandhi back to India from South Africa in
order to acknowledge the contribution of
the Indian diaspora to the development
of the country.
v. This year marks the 100th anniversary
of the arrival of the young barrister
Gandhi, who eventually went on to lead
the country to independence.
3. PIO, OCI schemes merged,Coins and
stamps released at PBD.
i. The Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
schemes have been merged to ensure
one type of facilities and also grant
exemption from weekly police reporting.
ii. Mr. Modi said the visa-on-arrival
facility has been made availabl e to NRIs
in 43 countries. In addition, the facility of
Electronic Travel Authorization (e-Visa)
has also been introduced to save time.
iii. In order to spread knowledge about
India among young NRIs, Mr. Modi
proposed that an online quiz contest as
part of future PBDs.
iv. At the occasion, two stamps of Rs. 25
and Rs. 5 and two coins of Rs. 100 and Rs.
10 denominations were released in the
memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
4. ICCI Bank launched Contactless credit
and Debit cards
i. ICICI Bank on 7 January 2015 launched
contactless credit cards and debits cards
called Coral Contactless Credit Card and
Expressions
Wave
Debit
Card
respectively.
ii. These cards will enable customers to
make electronic payments by waving the
cards near a merchant terminal instead of
dipping or swiping the cards.

serving for seven years when assets more

than quadrupled.

iii. These cards are powered by

MasterCard
contactless
and
Visa
payWave technologies.
iv. The key advantage of these two cards
is speed and security.
The speed of transactions will add
momentum to high value payments and
the level of security is higher since the
card doesnt leave the customer during
the transaction process.
5. Atul Khare appointed as the UN UnderSecretary-General

i. Atul Khare was on 7 January 2015

appointed as the United Nations (UN)
Under-Secretary-General, Department of
Field Support (DFS). He will succeed
Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh.
ii. His appointed was announced by
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon. Khare is currently providing
charitable medical advice in India.
iii. Khare joined the Indian Foreign
Service in 1984 and has served Indian
diplomatic missions in France, Mauritius,
Senegal, Thailand and the United
Kingdom.
6. New Jersey to host international
conference on Hindi in April
i. The International Hindi Conference with
the theme of "Expanding World of Hindi:
Possibilities and Challenges," would be
held in New Jersey in April.

ii. To be attended by Hindi scholars from

various parts of the world, in particular
from the US and India between April 3-5,
participants of the International Hindi

Conference would discuss the current

status of the teaching and learning of
Hindi among other things.
iii. This conference will provide a forum
for community members and leaders,
language
experts,
policy
makers,
education administrators, advocates and
other stakeholders from different parts of
the US, Canada, South America and
Caribbean countries, such as, Trinidad
and Tobago along with experts from India
to get together and share their views and

research, examine a wide spectrum of

opportunities, make plans for the future.
7. Gujarat govt announces industrial
policy for 2015
i. The Gujarat government on Thursday
announced its new industrial policy for
2015 aimed at making the state a global
manufacturing hub, ahead of the Vibrant
Gujarat Summit set to begin from 11th
January.
ii. it would play a pivotal role in realising
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in

India' dream and make Gujarat a global

manufacturing hub, said an official
release issued in Ahmedabad.
iii. Key focus areas of this policy i nclude
infrastructure
development,
simplification of labour laws and
motivation of new innovations through
technology transfer.
iv. Industries like auto components,
engineering,
drugs,
cement
and
chemicals are flourish in Gujarat. Now,
we wish to boost value addition in these
existing resources.

Daily GK Update - 9th January 2015

1. Mahinda Rajapaksa concedes defeat to
opposition
candidate
Maithripala
Sirisena
i. Sri Lanka's long-time leader Mahinda
Rajapaksa has been defeated in the
presidential election.

ii. Official results showed Maithripala

Sirisena, a former ally of the incumbent,
had won 51.3% of the vote.
iii. Sirisena met the nex t Prime Minister
Ranil
Vickramaisnghe
at
the
Independenc e Square, Colombo to
discuss the future course of action.
iv. Less than two months ago, when the
president called snap elections, this
outcome was unimaginable. There was
no big opposition candidate in sight.
v. Then suddenly Mr Sirisena, then the
health minister, switched sides, propped
up by heavyweight politicians and later
supported by many minority groups.
2. SEBI proposes e-IPO norms(ElectronicInitial public offer)
i. Investors can bid for shares through
Internet and eventually on mobiles, while
already listed PSUs will be provided a
'fast-track' route for share sales to meet
the disinvestment targets.
ii. For already listed companies ,Sebi has
proposed a fast-track route for raising of
funds through FPOs (Follow-on Public
Offers) or Rights Offers (where funds can
be raised from existing shareholders).

8|P a g e

iii. The fast-track route of raising capital

has been proposed for companies having
public shareholding market valuation of
as low as Rs 250 crore, as against Rs
3,000 crore currently.
iv. Currently, applications for IPOs can be
uploaded on a real -time basis only
through ASBA (Application Supported by
Blocked Amount). Only self-certified
syndicate banks are authorised to
manage it.
v. With regard to fast-track issuances of
Follow on Public Offer (FPO) and rights
issue, Sebi proposed that route can be
extended to companies having an
average market capitalisation of between
Rs 250 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.
3. Qantas rated as Worlds Safest Airline
for 2015
i. AirlineRatings.com, safety and product
rating website, has announced its top ten
safest airlines and top ten safest low cost
airlines for 2015 from the 449 it
monitors.

ii. Top of the list again is Qantas which

has a fatality free record in the jet era.
iii. Making up the remainder of the top
ten in alphabetical order are: Air New
Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, British
Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA
Air, Finnair, Lufthansa and Singapore
Airlines.

iv. Over its 94-year history Qantas has

amassed an extraordinary record of firsts
in safety and operations and is now
accepted
as
the
worlds
most
experienced airline.
4. Google CEO Larry Page emerges as
'business person of the year' for 2014
i. Larry Page, Google's CEO has emerged
as the 'business person of the year' for
2014, edging past the likes of Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma and Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg, according to Fortune
magazine.

ii. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who led Fortune

list in 2012, failed to make in to the top
20 list.
iii. The list is based on various parameters
like financial results of the company
including 12-month and three year
growth in profits and revenues,
company's stock performance and total
shareholder returns over the same
periods.
5. KKR partners GIC to set up India real
estate lending company
i. KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co),
American multinational private equity
firm, had set up a non-banking financial
company in the country for lending to the
real estate sector, with an investment
from Singapore sovereign wealth fund
GIC.

ii. Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC,

which has shown interest in the realty
segment in the r ecent past, will also
invest in the newly formed company.
6. Governors rule imposed in Jammu and
Kashmir
i. Centre has imposed Governor's rule in
Jammu and Kashmir on 9 January 2015,
accepting the state's Governor N.N.
Vohra's recommendations.

ii. Mr. Vohra sent a report to the

President after Omar Abdullah asked him
to relieve him as caretaker Chief Minister.
iii. More than a fortnight after the results
of the Assembly elections have been out,
neither PDP which emerged as the single
largest party with 28 seats nor BJP with
25 could get the magic figure of 44 to
stake claim to for m a government in the

1. John Kerry Heads for India to Attend

the Vibrant Gujarat Summit

i. US Secretary of State John Kerry

headed for India to attend the Vibrant
Gujarat Summit during which he will
address investors to boost economic ties
and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi
to discuss a broad range of bilateral and
global issues, including climate change.
ii. "The Secretary would be emphasising
the importance and future potential of
our economic partnership with India,
State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki
told PTI.
2. Sindhushree Khullar appointed as the
Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog
i. Senior bureaucrat Sindhushree Khullar
appointed as the Chief Ex ecutive Officer
(CEO) of National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) Aayog with
effec t from 1 January 2015. She will serve
the position for one year.
ii. She is 1975-batch officer of the Indian
Administrative Services (IAS) Union
Territories cadre. In March 2013, she was

9|P a g e

87-member House. NC has 15 MLAs while

the Congress 12.

of Agricultural Research). The vaccine

was developed in three years.

7. Vaccine Raksha Blu for bluetongue

disease launched
i. To counter the deadly bluetongue
disease, Raksha Blu vaccine was launched
on 8 January 2015 by Gachibowli facility
of Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) in
Hyderabad, Telangana.
ii. The vaccine was launched with an aim
to minimise the economic loss of the
animal farming community that occurs
due to bluetongue disease.
iii. The vaccine has been developed to
protect the animals against five strains of
the bluetongue virus prevalent in the
country. Per dose of the vaccine will be
available for farmers at an expense of 5
rupees.
NOTE: The vaccine is the result of
collaborative efforts of IIL, TANUVAS
(Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and
Animal Sciences) and ICAR (Indian Council

8. Tatas Vistara starts flying

i. Marking Tatas re-entry into the Indian
aviation space after over six decades,
new airline Vistara on Friday flew its first
flight, and said its aim will be to do it
right without making a big splash.
ii. Tatas hold a majority 51 per cent stake
in Vistara a joint venture with
Singapore Airlines, which holds the
remaining 49 per cent.

Daily GK Update - 10th January 2015

appointed as Secretary of the Planning
Commission on contract basis for two
years.
iii. Noted Economist Arvind Panagariya
was appointed as the Vice Chairman of
the NITI Aayog. Economist Bibek Debroy
and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat
were appointed as full -time members of
NITI Aayog.
3. Rajiv Mehta appointed new DGP of
Meghalaya
i. Senior IPS officer Rajiv Mehta has been
appointed as the new Director General of
Police in Meghalaya.
ii. He is currently serving as the Director
General of Narcotics Control Bureau
(NCB) in Delhi.
iii. Mr. Mehta replaces P.J.P. Hanaman
who retired on December 31 and will
take charge from acting DGP S.K. Jain.
4. Sirisena's first overseas visit will be to
India
i. Sri Lanka's newly-elected President
Maithripala Sirisena will make his first
State visit overseas to India.

iii. The first Vistara flight flew from Delhi

to Mumbai today over six decades
after Tata Airlines was rechristened as Air
India, and eventually nationalised in
1950s.

ii. 'Mr. Modi invited our President to

come to India first. He proposes to go
next month," said Rajitha Senaratne,
senior politician and spokesman of Mr.
Sirisena.
5. UN to Host New Libya Peace Talks in
Geneva Nex t Week
i. The United Nations said that it would
host a new round of peace talks between
Libya's warring factions in Geneva nex t
week.
ii. The UN Support Mission in Libya
(UNSMIL) said in a statement that its
head "Bernardino Leon" had proposed a
freeze in military operations for a few
days "in order to create a conducive
environment for the dialogue".
6. Vice President Mohammad Hamid
Ansari presented Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman Awards 2015
i. Mohammad Hamid Ansari on 9 January
2015 presented the Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman Awards 2015 to sixteen

personalities. The awards were pr esented

during the occasion of Pravasi Bhartiya
Divas at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
ii. Apart from fifteen awardees, Senator
Liza Singh from Australia also received
the award as he could not accept the
award in 2014

NOTE: About the Pravasi Bharatiya

Samman Awards
a. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award
was constituted by the Union Ministry of

1. Vibrant Gujarat: PM Narendra Modi

promises to make India easiest place to
do business
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today
promised to make India the "easiest"
destination to do business with a stable
tax regime and a predictable,
transparent
and
fair
policy
environment.

ii. he said a single window clearance for

projects is being set up at both central
and state level.
iii. According to the Organisation for
Economic
Co-operation
and
Development (OECD), India would be
the only country among world's top
economies which would increase its
pace of growth this year.
iv. Recent initiatives towards a
favourable enviornment is FDI in construction has been liberalised,
100 per cent foreign investment has
been allowed in railways, the defence
sector has been opened for FDI up to 49
per cent and a similar level in the
insurance sector.
2. Investers Boom in Gujrat
i. Reliance will invest Rs.1,00,000 crore
in Gujarat across its businesses,

10 | P a g e

Overseas Indian Affairs to honour the

contributions of Non-Resident Indians in
their respective profession. The award is
given by the President of India.
b. Organized annually since 2003, the
award is presented to a Non-Resident
Indian (NRI), Person of Indian Origin or an
organization established and run by the
NRIs.
7. SpaceX Launches for NASA, Aims for
Rocket
Landing
at
Sea
i. A SpaceX rocket has blasted off with
supplies for the International Space
Station.
ii. The unmanned Falcon rocket soared
into a clear pre-dawn sky at Cape

Daily GK Update - 11th January 2015

including the Gujarat petrochemical
complex, in the next 18 months.

ii. As part of the investment

programme, RIL will partner with
thousands of small businesses and
Gujarati entrepreneurs to create
virtuous cycle of prosperity, Mr. Ambani
said.
iii. Kumarmangalam Birla said the
diversified Aditya Birla Group will invest
Rs. 20,000 crore over a period of time in
the state to ramp up capacities across
various existing facilities.
iv. On the anvil are brownfield
expansions at our cement plant in
Sevagram, the VSF plants in Vilayat and
Bharuch, and along with that, expansion
in metal plants (among others) here.
3. World Bank projects 6.4% economic
growth in India in 2015
i. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim
said that the Indian economy is likely to
grow at 6.4 per cent in 2015 and
accelerate further in the next year.

Canaveral,
Florid
iii. The primary mission for SpaceX is
delivering more than 5,000 pounds (2,300
kilograms) of food, experiments and
other items ordered up by NASA.

The Falcom 9 SpaceX stands ready to

launch on complex 40 at the Cape
Canaverat Air Force Station

ii. After slowing to sub-five per cent

growth in the pr evious two financial
years, the economy has started showing
signs of pick-up as it expanded by 5.7
per cent and 5.3 per cent in the second
and third quarter of 2015.
iii. Mr. Jim said, he was very
encouraged by the recent proposal of a
Constitution amendment bill for Goods
and Services Tax.
iv. GST will create one common market
and substantial saving for companies on
logistics, especially if the structure of
the GST is uniform.

4. Facebook is the leader of social media

i. The findings of a survey by a US-based
global think tank Pew Research Centre
that involved 1,597 internet users
revealed that 71 per cent of US adults
were hooked to Facebook in 2014.
ii. The figure up significantly from 63
percent in 2013, Forbes magazine
reported.
iii. For micro-blogging site Twitter, the
percentage of users logging in daily
decreased from 46 percent in 2013 to
36 percent last year.
5. SunEdison inks pact with Omnigrid
i. SunEdison and Omnigrid Micropower
Company (OMC), which is engaged in

building small-scale power plants with

renewable sources have entered into an
agreement to develop 5,000 rural
projects, representing 250 MW of
electricity, throughout India over the
next thr ee to five years.
ii. SunEdison and OMC have an offering
that can help telecommunication
organisations meet their regulatory
requirements and provide energy to
local communities.
iii. SunEdison is currently building 60
mini grids across India - this initiative
will further accelerate our efforts

1. NRIs can vote through postal ballots

i. Centre gave their nod to the proposal
prepared by a 12-member committee
led by Vinod Zutshi, Deputy Election
Commissioner, for Exploring Feasibility
of Alternative Options for Voting by
Overseas Electors.

towards the Prime Minister's Energy

Vision of making electricity available 24
hours a day, 365 days a year.
6. Federer notches 1,000th match win,
claims Brisbane title
i. Roger Federer notched his 1,000th
career victory and collected his 83rd
title with a seesawing 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4
win over third-seeded Milos Raonic of
Canada in the Brisbane International
final.

ii. The Centre told the Supreme Court

that the ECs recommendation to
extend voting rights to NRIs through
postal ballots have been accepted in
letter and spirit.
iii. Chief Justice H L Dattu and A K Sikri
asked the Centre to inform it about
further steps taken to implement the
suggestions.
iv. The poll panel had contended that
the move to allow NRIs to use proxy
voting on the lines of defence personnel
and e-ballot facility will require changes
in the law and a legislative framework.
2. Golden Globe Awards announced

i. the 72nd Golden Globe Awards

announced in Beverly Hills, California
ii. Coming of age tale "Boyhood" won
the coveted Golden Globe for best
drama on Sunday.
iii. while the quirky period caper "The
Grand BUDAPEST HOTEL " was the
surprise winner for best comedy or

11 | P a g e

Daily GK Update - 12th January 2015

musical, in a big upset to awards season
front-runner "Birdman."
List of award winners Best Motion Picture-Drama: Boyhood
Best Actor in a Motion Picture- Drama:
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of
Everything
Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama:
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical:
The Grand BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical: Amy Adams, Big
Eyes
Best Actor in a Motion Picture-Comedy
or Musical: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best Animated Film: How To Train Your
Dragon 2
Best Foreign Language Film: Leviathan
(Russia)
Best Supporting Actr ess in a Motion
Picture: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion
Picture: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Director-Motion Picture: Richard
Linklater, Boyhood
Best Screenplay: Birdman
Best Original Score - Motion Picture:
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of
Everything
Best Original Song - Motion Picture:
John Legend and Common, "Glory,"
Selma
3. Govt to sell stake in PSUs
i. FINANCE Minister Arun Jaitley today
said the divestment programme would
be pursued on priority and involve more
than one PSU during this period.
ii. There are r eports that the
government is looking to sell 10 per
cent stake in Coal India to raise Rs
24,000 crore.

ii. The 17-time major winner broke

Raonics serve in the third game and
again in the opening game of the
second set befor e Raonic broke back for
2-2 and then dominated the tiebreaker.
iii. Only retired greats Jimmy Connors
(1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) have won
more than 1,000 matches on the mens
tour.

iii. The government has realised Rs

1,715 crore from disinvestment
proceeds so far in the current fiscal
2014-15.
iv. Government have set a target of Rs
43,425 crore from sale of its shares in
listed companies.
4. Microsoft ties up with Idea for paid
apps, games
i. Handset maker Microsoft Devices has
partnered with Idea Cellular to help
subscribers of the telecom services firm
pay for apps as part of monthly bills.

ii. Idea users will be able to purchase

premium apps and games from the
Windows Store on Microsoft Lumia as
well
as
other
Windows-based
smartphones and pay for them through
integrated billing.
iii. The smartphone market in India is
poised to grow over 70 per cent this
fiscal and the app ecosystem is also
booming.
iv. The Windows Store, competes with
Google's Play Store and Apple's App
store besides other smaller platforms.
5. National Youth Day observed across
India on 12 January
i. The day is observed annually to mark
the birth anniversary of social reformer,
philosopher
and
thinker
Swami
Vivekananda.
ii. This is the 152nd birth anniversary of
Swami Vivekananda.

iii. The Union Government in 1984 had

declared that 12 January, the birthday
of Swami Vivekananda will be observed
as the National Youth Day.

iv. Swami Vivekananda's lectures and

writings are a source of inspiration for
youth and have motivated numerous
youth organisation.
v. His writings derive their inspiration
from Indian spiritual tradition and the
broad outlook of his Master Sri
Ramakrishna.
vi. All his teachings can be found in The
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda,
in nine volumes, published by Advaita
Ashrama, Kolkata.
vii. He is best known for his inspiring
speech at the Parliament of the World's
Religions in Chicago in 1893 in which he
introduced Hinduism, his words began
with words, Sisters and brothers of
America.
6. SDSC-SHAR director MYS Prasad
chosen for Vikram Sarabhai Memorial
Award 2015
i. The director of Satish Dhawan Space
Centr e (SDSC), Sriharikota Range (SHAR)
MYS Prasad was on 10 January 2015
selected for the Vikram Sarabhai
memorial award 2015.

1. AS Kiran Kumar appointed as new ISRO

chief
i. AS Kiran Kumar on Monday was
appointed as the new Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) chief.
ii. He was the director of Satellite
Application Centre and joined ISRO in
1975.He was also behind the success of
India's Mars Orbiter Mission which
entered the Martian orbit on September
24.

12 | P a g e

ii. The award will be presented to MYS

Prasad by the Indian Science Congress
Association (ISCA).
iii. Prasad was selected for his
outstanding contribution to Research
and Development in the field of space
science in his long career at the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
iv. The Vikram Sarabhai memorial award
was instituted by the Indian Science
Congress Association in 1997-98. The
award carries a GOLD Medal and is
given in every alternate years.
7. EC announces Delhi Assembly poll
dates; voting on Feb 7, counting on Feb
10
i. Voting for Delhi Assembly Elections
2015 would be held in a single phase on
February 7 with the counting of votes
scheduled for February 10,Delhi has 70
Assembly seats.
ii. The total electorate of Delhi is 1.3
crore and the total number of total
stations are 11763. Model Code of
Conduct has come into force from
today.

iii. Last time Arvind Kejriwal challenged

Modi - in the Lok Sabha polls - the
people of Varanasi had left him
humbled.
Daily GK Update - 13th January 2015
iii. Kumar has contributed to the design
and development of Electro-Optical
Imaging Sensors for Airborne, LEO and
GEO platform based imaging sensors
starting from Bhaskara TV payload to the
latest TMC adHySI payloads for
Chandrayaan-1 missions.
2. Raghuram Rajan named Governor of
the Year in Central Banking Awards 2015

iv. The Congress forms the third axis of

politics in Delhi but given the party's
weak perfor mance in successive
Assembly polls after the Lok Sabha poll
defeat, the battle is essentially between
the BJP and the AAP.
v. The EC appears to have taken care
while finalising the dates so as to ensure
that it does not come in the way of
school annual examinations, including
those conducted by the CBSE that
usually start early March.
vi. In 2013, the BJP had emerged as the
single largest party with 31 MLAs,
followed by AAP which got 28 MLAs.
8. Stan Wawrinka wins Chennai Open

i. Stan Wawrinka's notched a

comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory over
Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene to win
the Chennai Open.
ii. It was the second consecutive title
victory at Chennai and third overall for
the top-seeded player, who did not
drop a set in the tournament.
iii. It was the third time the two players
met at the Chennai Open with Bedene
winning their quarterfinal match in 2013
and Wawrinka prevailing at the same
stage last year.

i. Reserve Bank of India Governor

Raghuram Rajan has won "Governor of
the Year" in the Central Banking Awards
for 2015 on Monday.
ii. Jacques de Larosiere winning the
Lifetime Achievement Award after a
lengthy struggle for monetary order while
Claudio Borio, head of the monetary and
economic department at the Bank for
International Settlements, was handed
the inaugural award for Economics in
Central Banking, designed to r ecognise
significant contributions to the field.
iii. This is a recognition of the part the
Reserve Bank of India and its staff have
been playing in bringing macroeconomic
stability to the Indian economy.

3. Retail inflation up at 5% in Dec on

higher food prices
i. Retail inflation moved up marginally to
5 percent in December as prices of some
food items, including fruits and
vegetables, increased.
ii. In November, retail inflation based on
the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was a t
4.38 percent, the lowest level since
government started computing the new
series of data in January 2012.
iii. The consumer inflation rose to 5.32
percent in urban India and 4.71 percent
in rural area during December.
iv. RBI was planning to ease the interest
rates in the next revision riding on a
lower inflation rate.
v. RBI is scheduled to announce its sixth
bi-monthly monetary policy on 3rd
February.
4. Indias Mars Orbiter team wins US
award
i. Indias Mars Orbiter programme tea m
has won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award
in the science and engineering category
from the US based National Space Society
(NSS).
ii. This award will be presented to an ISRO
representative during the National Space
Societys 2015 International Space
Development Conference, the 34th ISDC,
to be held in Toronto, Canada.

iii. Note - Indias Mars Orbiter launched

on Nov 5, 2013 that went into Mars orbit
on Sep 24, 2014 achieved two significant
mission firsts in terms of an Indian
spacecraft that has gone into orbit
around Mars on the very first try and that

no other country has ever done this.

Secondly, the spacecraft is in an elliptical
orbit with a high apoapsis, and has a high
resolution CAMERA which is taking fulldisk colour imagery of Mars.
iv. The Mars Orbiter programme tea m
located in Bangalore is headed by
Mylswamy Annadurai.
5. Zomato acquires U.S. firm
i. Indian restaurant search services
provider Zomato acquired U.S.-based
rival Urbanspoon for about $50 million in
one of the biggest overseas deals by an
Indian startup.
ii. Company is said to be in talks to raise
about $100 million in fresh funding.
iii. The acquisition of Urbanspoon, which
marks Zomato's entry into the United
States, Canada and Australia, will result in
its presence in 22 countries, covering
more than one million restaurants.
iv. Founded in 2008, Zomato is currently
valued at around $660 million.

7. Australia launched Online Visa Pilot

Programme for Indian business and
tourism visitors
i. Australia launched Online Visa Pilot
Programme to make it easier for Indian
business and tourism visitors to apply
online visa for travelling Australia.
ii. It covers online lodgement of subclass
600 visas for Indian business and tourism
visitors. It will be rolled out through
selected travel agents across India.
iii. India has the potential to contribute
between 1.9 billion US dollars and 2.3
billion US dollars annually to tourism
industry by 2020.
8. Cristiano Ronaldo retains the Ballon
dOr
i. Portugals Cristiano Ronaldo won the
FIFA Ballon dOr for the second year in a
row and the third time in his career,
ahead of Argentinean Lionel Messi and
Manuel Neuer of Ger many.

6. Deepak Parekh appointed as Chairman

of BAE Systems India (Services) Private
Limited

i. Deepak Parekh appointed as a NonExecutive Director and Chairman of BAE

Systems India (Services) Private Limited
with effect from 1 January 2015.
ii. Parekh was appointed as a member of
the BAE Systemss Independent Advisory
Board for India association in 2010.
iii. Indian Government honoured Parekhs
performance with the Padma Bhushan in
2006.

ii. Joachim Lows feat in guiding Germany

to the 2014 FIFA World Cup earned him
the Coach-of-the-Year award.
iii. Colombian James Rodriguez won the
Puskas Award for the goal of the year.
iv. Contributing to Ronaldos win were
37.66% of the votes coming from 181 of
the national team coaches, 182 of the
national team captains, and 181 of the
media representatives who voted.
v. Messi was second with 15.76% and
Neuer,
third
with
15.72%.

Daily GK Update - 14th January 2015

1. H.S.Brahma to be the nex t chief
Election Commissioner of India.
i. Shri H.S. Brahma is all set to assume
charge as the new Chief Election
Commissioner of India.
ii. VS Sampath, Chief Election
Commissioner, demits office on 15th
January 2015, capping less than six
years of an eventful tenure.

13 | P a g e

iii. Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath, turns

65 tomorrow, the upper age limit under
the Constitution for holding the post.
iv. H.S.Brahma will be the 19th Chief
Election Commissioner of India, He was

the other election Commissioner along

with Ahmed Zaidi in the outgoing
Sampath regime.
v. H.S. Brahma, retired Indian
Administrative Service officer of Andhra
Pradesh State cadre (1975 Batch)
assumed
charge
as
Election
Commissioner of India on 25th August,
2010.

2. DRDO
removed

chief

Avinash

Chander

i. The Modi government removed

Avinash Chander, chief of top defence
research organisation DRDO, 15 months
before his contract was supposed to
end.
ii. Chander was also the scientific
advisor to the defenc e minister.
iii. Chander joined DRDO in 1972 after
completing graduation in Electrical
Engineering from Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Delhi. Chander is the
chief architect of Agni series of ballistic
missile systems.
iv. The action could have been taken
against the backdrop of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's comment that the 'laid
back' attitude in the DRDO will not be
tolerated.
3. PVR set to acquire movie exhibition
company SPI Cinemas

proposed the Cigarettes and Other

Tobacco Products (Prohibition of
Adver tisement and Regulation of Trade
and Commerce, Production, Supply and
Distribution) (Amendment) Bill 2015
(COTPA).
ii. The bill seeks to amend some
provisions of Cigarettes and Other
Tobacco Products (Prohibition of
Adver tisement and Regulation of Trade
and Commerce, Production, Supply and
Distribution) Act, 2003.
iii.
Provisions
of
the
COTPA
(Amendment) Bill 2015
The bill proposes to ban on-site
advertising of tobacco products and
shops selling cigarettes and other
tobacco products will no longer be able
to display the brand names.
It proposed scrapping of designated
smoking
areas
from HOTELS ,
restaurants and airports making an
exception only for international airports
to prevent exposure of non-smokers to
harmful emissions.
The penalty for smoking in restricted
areas has been raised from 200 to 1000
rupees.
5. Bharatiya Mahila Bank inks pact with
Lakme Salons to fund franchisees

i. The Ajay Bijli led PVR group is set to

acquire Chennai's premier movie
exhibition company SPI Cinemas,
popularly known as Sathyam Cinemas.
ii. This could end up to be the biggest
deal in India's multiplex sector. the deal
may close for a rather steep valuation of
approximately Rs 750-1,000 crore for
just
40
odd
screens,
located
predominantly in the Southern metro.
iii. last month Carnival Cinemas paid a
little over Rs 700 crore to buy out Anil
Ambani's Big Cinemas that has 242
screens across the country.

i. Bharatiya Mahila Bank today inked an

agreement with HUL arm Lakme Salons
to bring easy financing options to fuel
women entrepr eneurship.
ii. This partnership would help
encourage mor e women to become
Lakme Salon's business partners.
iii. Mahila Bank has opened the 40th
branch and will close the fiscal with 40
more.
iv. The loan book of the bank currently
stands at Rs 400 crore and has plans to
close the fiscal with Rs 800 crore and
deposit books to Rs 1,000 crore from
the present Rs 600 crore.

4. Union Ministry of Health proposed

COTPA (Amendment) Bill 2015
i. The Union Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare on 13 January 2015

6. Canara Bank bags 3 MSME awards

i. Canara Bank has bagged three awards
at the annual flagship event "MSME
Banking
Excellence
Awards-2014"

14 | P a g e

organised by Chamber of Indian Micro,

Small
and
Medium
Enterprises
(CIMSME).
ii. Canara Bank has been adjudged as
the "Best Bank Award-Winner" among
other awards.
iii. The awards were pr esented by Union
Minister for MSME Kalraj Mishra on the
occasion.
7. Infosys CEO dedicates $250 million to
innovate in India
i. Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka met Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and disclosed
that his company will spend USD 250
million (over Rs 1,500 crore) to fund
innovations in software and services in
India.
ii. Infosys will develop software for
managing the kumbh mela scheduled in
Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) in 2016.

iii. The chief of Indias second largest IT

services firm also discussed with Modi
ways in which the company can
participate in the Prime Ministers vision
of smart and digitally empowered India.
iv. Infosys formed USD 500 million
Innovation Fund. Of this, Rs. 1,500
crore, will be dedicated to just
innovation in India.
8. India will catch up with Chinas
growth rate in 2016-17: World Bank
i. The World Bank has said that India
would catch up with Chinas growth in
the year 2016-17.
ii. The World Bank in its report also
forecast a growth rate of seven per cent
each in the fiscal year 2016 and 2017 as
against Chinas 7 per cent and 6. 9 per
cent respectively.
iii. Regional growth is projected to rise
to 6.8 per cent by 2017, as reforms ease
supply constraints in India, political
tensions
subside
in
Pakistan,
remittances
remain
robust
in
Bangladesh and Nepal, and demand for
the regions exports firms.

1. PM Narendra Modi to launch 'Beti

Bachao' scheme
i. the Modi government's big bang
flagship scheme will be `Beti Bachao,
Beti Padhao' (BBBP), which will help
address the country's low child sex
ratio.
ii. The scheme will be launched by PM
Narendra Modi on January 22 and will
focus on a multi-sectoral approach to
tackling the problem of the vanishing
girl child.
iii. The Rs 100-crore scheme is expected
to be monitored by the Maneka Gandhi headed ministry of women and child
development (WCD) in coordination
with the ministries of health and HRD.

Daily GK Update - 15th January 2015

cut the reverse repo rate by 25 basis
points to 7.75%.
ii. The central bank kept the Cash
Reserve Ratio ( CRR) unchanged at 4.0 %.
iii. Reasons for the Repo Cut :

iv. The Objectives To prevent genderbiased sex selection

by stringent enforcement of laws,
especially by strengthening the
implementation of PreConception and
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Pro
hibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994
(PC&PNDT Act) with strict punishments
for violations.
BBBP will also ensure access and
availability of essential requirements
related to nutrition, healthcare,
education and protection and
elimination of discrimination against a
girl child which can lead to low selfesteem, lifelong deprivation and
exclusion from the mainstream.
Initiatives will be taken to encourage
girls to express their views and to be
heard, to help them participate actively
, effectively and equally at all levels of
social, economic, and political
leadership.
v. Targets of the Scheme A toilet in every girls' school in 100
vulnerable districts.
An innovation fund at state-level to
encourage best practices in improving
child sex ratio (CSR) and gender
inequities.
District-level awards to schools
strengthening girl child education.
2. RBI Changed Key Rates
i. In a move that brought huge cheer to
the markets, Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

15 | P a g e

Plunging Oil prices in the Global arena

and hence in India keeping the Inflation
levels in the check.
WPI increased at the rate of a mere
0.11% as against the expected increase
of 0.6%.
Retail inflation is at 5% as against an
expected 5.4%.
Fiscal deficit target is wel l in reach at
4.1%.
3. Pakistan to ban JuD and Haqqani
network
i. Pakistan plans to ban 10 terror
outfits, including 26/11 mastermind
Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)
and the dreaded Afghan-based Haqqani
Network, a move seen by experts as a
"paradigm shift" in the country's
security policy in the wake of Peshawar
school massacre.
ii. The move came a day after the US
declared the fugitive chief of the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Mullah
Fazlullah as a 'Specially Designated
Global Terrorist'.
iii. The UN security council designated
the JuD a front for the LeT after the
Mumbai attacks. Since then, the UN and
US have sanctioned several JuD leaders.
4. Naqvi gets 1-year jail term
i. Union Minister of State for
Parliamentary and Minority Affairs
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was sentenced to
a one-year jail term.

ii. Naqvi and 19 others were convicted

by a Rampur court for breaching
prohibitory orders in the run-up to the
2009 Lok Sabha election.

iii. Judicial magistrate Manish Kumar

pronounced Mr. Naqvi guilty under
Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 341
(wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful
confinement) of the Indian Penal Code,
Section 7 of the Criminal Law
Amendment Act and Section 144 of the
Cr.PC.
iv. In 2009, Section 144 was imposed in
Rampur when local BJP workers staged
a protest after the arrest of the BJP
district president. Over 200 people were
named in the charge sheet.
5. Centre to implement biometric
attendance system soon
i. The Centr e is set to implement
Aadhaar-based biometric system for
attendance
in
all
government
departments and state-owned entities
spread across Delhi.
ii. Department of electronics &
information technology (DeitY) has so
far implemented Aadhaar Enabled
Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS)
in 54 government locations in Delhi that
requires fingerprint-based attendance
for employees entering into the office
premise.
iii. We are rolling out biometrics
attendance system in 394 government
organizations and agencies within the
Delhi region while 300 of them have
actually
started
working
on
implementing it.
6. Army Day celebrated on 15 January

i. India on 15 January 2015 observed the

67th Ar my Day. The day is celebrated to
commemorate
the
day,
when
Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal)
K M Cariappa on 15 January 1949
became the first Indian Commander-inChief of the Indian Army post
Independenc e. He had succeeded
General Sir Francis Butcher, the last
British Commander-in-Chief of India.
ii. To mark the day, all three service
chiefs, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh
Suhag, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral
Robin K Dhowan and Air Chief Marshal

Arup Raha paid tributes at the Amar

Jawan Jyoti at India Gate by laying floral
wreath and remembering the martyred
soldiers.
7. Anupam Shrivastava appointed as
CMD of BSNL
i. Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet (ACC) approved appointment of
Anupam Shrivastava as CMD of Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited.

1. Haryana picks Ramdev as brand

ambassador
i. The Haryana government plans to
promote yoga and ayurveda in a big way,
and has appointed yoga guru Ramdev as
its brand ambassador.

ii. Haryana's minister of sports and

health Anil Vij said a herbal forest would
be developed over thousands of acres of
land in the state where plants of 25
thousand species of ayurvedic herbs
would be grown under the supervision of
the yoga guru and his close aide
Balkrishna.
iii. An ayush wing was being established
in all the hospitals of Haryana for which
550 doctors would have to do a r efresher
course under the supervision of the yoga
guru.
iv. Haryana would be developed into an
Ayurvedic University whereas a yogic
centre of international standards would
be built in Panchkula.
2. Censor Board chief Leela Samson
decides to quit

i. Citing "interference, coercion and

corruption of panel members and
officers" appointed in the Central Board
of Film Certification (CBFC) by the Union
Information & Broadcasting Ministry,
Bharatnatyam danseuse Leela Samson
has quit as Censor Board chief.

16 | P a g e

ii. BSNL's Director Enterprises A N Rai is

currently handling the additional charge
of CMD.
iii. As Zonal Director for North Zone he
is responsible for monitoring growth
and maintenance of Telecom Network
in 8 Circles.
8. Brett Lee retires from all forms of
cricket
i. Australian pace bowler Brett Lee on
Thursday announced he is to retire from

Daily GK Update - 16th January 2015

ii. She put in her papers on Thursday
amid reports that the Film Certification
Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) had cleared the
release of the film MSG The Messenger
of God featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the lead
role.
3. Siddhartha Chatterjee appointed as
CTO of Persistent Systems Ltd

all forms of cricket after a 20-year

career.
ii. The 38-year-old called time on his
international commitments in July 2012,
but continued to play Twenty20 in both
the Australian Big Bash League and the
Indian Premier League.
iii. Lee played 76 Tests for Australia,
taking 310 wickets, and 221 one-dayers
with 380 dismissals.

iii. Agrawal was awarded for his bravery

in utilising the Right to Information (RTI)
Act, 2005 for public good despite
innumerable challenges. Agrawal also
holds the Guinness record of filing
highest number of published letters to
the editors.

i. Siddhartha Chatterjee was appoi nted

as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of
Persistent Systems Ltd with effect will be
based at the United States branch of the
company.
ii. Chatterjee is a graduate in Electronics
and
Electrical
Communications
Engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur.
iii. Chatterjee has served as an Assistant
and Associate Professor of Computer
Science at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill from 1994 to 2001.
iv. He had also served as a post-doctoral
scientist at the Research Institute for
Advanced Computer Science (RIACS) at
Moffett Field, California from 1991 to
1994.

5. China Food and Drug Administration

approved new vaccine to treat
Poliomyelitis
i. Chinese drug regulator China Food and
Drug Administration (CFDA) approved a
new vaccine S-IPV to treat the
Poliomyelitis.
ii. The vaccine S-IPV is known as Ai Bi Wei
in China. It is manufactured by the
Institute of Medical Biology of the
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
located in Kunming, southwest China's
Yunnan province.
iii. The vaccine will be given to Chinese
children as part of routine disease
prevention and will help the global fight
against the polio virus. The World Health
Organization is also considering use of
this new vaccine in its global poli o
treatment program.

4. Noted RTI activist Subhash Chandra

Agrawal conferred with Giraffe Hero
award 2015
i. Renowned Indian RTI activist Subhash
Chandra Agrawal was conferred with the
Giraffe Hero award 2015 by a US-based
NGO The Giraffe Heroes Project. ii. The
award will be presented to him on 22
January 2015.

6. RBI issued final guidelines for banks to

act as Insurance brokers
i . Reserve Bank of India issued final
guidelines for banks to act as insurance
brokers. Earlier, the banks were allowed
to undertake insurance business as
agents of insurance companies on fee
basis with an aim to increase insurance
penetration in the country.

ii. The banks were allowed to look

forward for participation in insurance
business in accordance to Union
Governments notification in which it
allowed banks to do business of
insurance under Section 6(1)(o) of the
Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
7. Trade deficit of India declined to ten
month low in December 2014

1. LCA Tejas Ready for Crucial Handover

i. The first of the indigenously-built Light
Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is likely to
be handed over to the Indian Air Force.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is
expected to hand over the aircraft to
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup
Raha.

ii. This will start the process of induction

of fighters being built at home under a
project that was commenced in 1983
and has already cost the exchequer over
Rs.17,000 crores.
iii. 20 aircraft will be built by 2017-2018,
to make the first squadron of the
aircraft.
iv. The LCA programme was initiated in
1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s in
Indian Air force's combat fleet but has
missed several deadlines due to several
reasons.
2. Tamilmani likely to be interim DRDO
chief
i. K. Tamilmani, Chief Controller of
Aeronautics Cluster in the Defence
Research
and
Development
Organisation (DRDO), is likely to become
the interim head of the organisation.

ii. Dr. Tamilmani, the senior-most of the

seven cluster heads in the DRDO, is the
Director of the Centre for Military
Airworthiness and Certification
(CEMILAC), Bangalore.

17 | P a g e

i. Trade deficit of India declined to ten

month low of 9.43 billion US dollars in
December 2014. The data was released
by the Union Ministry of Commerce &
Industry.
ii. The trade deficit in December 2014
was narrowed by 44 percent from
November 2014 due to fall down of
global oil prices and fall of demand for
gold.
GK Update - 17th January 2015
iii. The government on Tuesday
terminated the 18-month contract of
Dr. Chander and asked him to step
down on January 31, ahead of his term
that would have ended in May 2016.
iv. A proposal to de-link the position of
Scientific Adviser to the Defence
Minister from the Director-General,
DRDO, was under consideration as part
of a major overhaul of the organisation.
3. Filmmaker Shaji N Karun quits Censor
Board
i. Another 12 members of the Board
followed Leela Samson suggestion of
quitting en masse and tender ed their
resignations.
ii. CBFC members including Ira Bhaskar,
M.K. Raina, Pankaj Sharma, T.G.
Thyagarajan, Shaji Karun, Anjum
Rajabali, Shubra Gupta, Nikhil Alva,
Rajeev Masand, Mamang Dai, K.C
Sekhar Babu and L.K. Prabhu tendered
their resignations on Saturday in a joint
email to I&B Minister of State
Rajyavardhan Rathore.
iii. The award-winning filmmaker Shaji N
Karun said the board members were not
happy about the approach of not just
the present NDA Government but also
about the approach of the previous
Congress-led UPA regime towards the
Board.
4. Beagle 2 spacecraft found intact on
surface of Mars after 11 years
i. Beagle 2 was launched in 2003
onboard the European Space Agencys
Mars Express spacecraft. It was
designed to land on the planets surface
on Christmas Day that year but
following ejection from Mars Express it
was never heard from again.

iii. Imports of India declined by 4.8

percent to 34.8 billion US dollars in
December 2014 as compared to 36.6
billion US dollars in December 2013.
iii. Exports of India fell by 3.8 percent to
25.4 billion US dollars and outbound
shipments were valued at 26.4 billion US
dollars
in
December
2014.

ii. UKs Beagle 2 successfully landed on

the surface of Mars in 2003 but failed to
fully deploy its solar panels. Without
these, it could not communicate with
Earth and scientists lost contact.
iii. The discovery images come from the
HiRISE camera on Nasas Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter.
iv. Beagle 2 cost around 50m. It was
comparatively cheap for a space
mission, with some industrial work
being performed on a cost-only basis.
5. S.K. Sinha - first non-Muslim to lead
the Bangladeshs top judiciary,
i. Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has
been appointed the 21st Chief Justice of
Bangladesh.
ii. Justice Sinha is the first Chief Justice
from the countrys ethnic minority
Hindu community.
iii. He was the senior-most judge of
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
who was made the next Chief Justice.
iv. Justice Sinha will serve just over
three years as the Chief Justice with his
retirement due in early 2018.
v. Born in 1951, Justice Sinha hails from
Tilokpur village of north-eastern
Moulvibazar district.
vi. A law graduate, he was enrolled as
an advocate of the district court, Sylhet
in 1974 and practised there for several
year.
6. Book on Sonia Gandhi titled The Red
Sari written by Javier Moro released in
India
i. The Red Sari, an unauthorized
biography of Congress Party President
Sonia Gandhi, was released by Roli

Books in India. The book has been

written by Spanish author Javier Moro.

ii. The book describes about how Sonia

Gandhis
courage, honesty,
and
dedication have made her a leader in
the eyes of one-sixth of humanity that is
from her idyllic childhood to her
passionate love affair, and from her
days as a docile daughter-in-law to her
current status of being the only Indian
politician to have refused Prime
Ministership.
iii. This book also examines the lives of
the famous Nehru-Gandhi family set
against the backdrop of the Bangladesh
War, the Emergency, Operation Blue
Star, and other events that have shaped
modern Indian history.
iv. Originally, the book was written in
Spanish language and was titled El Sari
Rojo. It was first published in 2008.

1. Mukherjee launches Pulse Polio

Immunization Programme
i. President Pranab Mukherjee launched
the Pulse Polio Immunization
Programme by administering polio
drops to children at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

ii. The National Immunization Day was

held on 18th Jannuary when children
under 5 years age were given polio
drops as part of the Government's drive
to sustain polio eradication from the
region.
iii. India has been implementing the
Pulse Polio Programme since 1995.
iv. In India, the last case of wild polio
was reported on January 13, 2011. The
South-East Asia region of WHO has been
certified on March 27, 2014 as "polio
free", meaning that transmission of wild
poliovirus has been interrupted in this

18 | P a g e

v. The English version of the book was

not allowed to release in India in 2010
because it was argued by the Congress
Party and Sonia Gandhi's lawyers that
the book is full of untruths, half-truths,
falsehoods, defamatory statements,
completely imaginary and invented
conversations
7. HAL Chairman R K Tyagi conferred
with JGBS-Top Rankers Excellence
Award

i. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

Chairman R.K. Tyagi was on 16 January
2015 conferred with the JGBS-Top
Rankers' Excellence Award for CEO of
the year 2014.
ii. Tyagi played a key role in 2014 being
a successful year for HAL through series
of initiatives. The year was dedicated for
Integrity, Customer Focus and Quality
(ICQ).
Daily GK Update-18th - 19th January 2015
block of 11 countries including India,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic
Peoples Republic of Korea, Indonesia,
Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Timor-Leste for the last
three years.
2. Manjul Bhargava to lead Prime
Minister Narendra Modis teach in India
programme
i. Fields medallist Manjul Bhargava will
be the face and facilitator of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's pet education
project to rope in eminent scholars and
scientists abroad to teach students at
IITs and central universities.

ii. Bhargava, who is the first person of

Indian origin to win the coveted
international prize for his work in
mathematics agreed to 'recruit'
scientists in the US and across the world
to participate in the Global Initiative of

iii. The award has been instituted by

Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) and
Top Rankers Management Consultants.
iv. HAL recently contributed to the
success of Mars Orbiter Mission and
GSLV Mk III launch in 2014.
8. Sania Mirza wins Sydney Open title
with Bethanie
i. India's Sania Mirza won her first title
of the season and 23rd of her career
when she and Bethanie Mattek-Sands
shocked top-seeded Americans Abigail
Spears and Raquel Kops -Jones in the
summit
clash
of
the
Sydney
International.
ii. The unseeded Indo-American
combine humbled the top seeds 6-3, 6-3
in just 69 minutes.
iii. Sania and Bethanie earned 470
ranking points each and split $39,000 as
prize money.

Academic network (GIAN), a shortterm

teaching programme under which
scholars abroad will be invited to teach
in India.
iii. GIAN is Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's brainchild. The project is
expected to figure once again on the
Indian agenda when Obama arrives
here.
3. Twitter ropes in Taranjeet Singh to
head business in India
i. Microblogging site Twitter has hired
Taranjeet Singh as business head for its
operations in India.
ii. Singh will responsible for increasing
commercial opportunities for Twitter
and work closely with brands and
agencies to maximise the value of realtime marketing for live public
conversations.
iii. Taranjeet has more than 19 years of
sales and business development
experience. He was previously sales
director of South Asia for BBC
Adver tising.

4. 24 Children, including 8 girls selected

for National Bravery Awards
i. Four of the awards have been given
posthumously. The children will receive
their awards from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on the 24th of January,
and will also participate in the Republic
Day parade.
ii. 16 year old Resham Fatma of Uttar
Pradesh, a victim of Acid attack, will be
conferred the Bharat Award for showing
exemplary courage while fighting off her
tormentor, whose marriage proposal
she had turned down.
iii. The prestigious Geeta Chopra Award
has been conferred on 13 year old
Gunjan Sharma of Assam who displayed
exemplary valor in saving her friends
from the clutches of the abductor.
iv. The Sanjay Chopra Award has been
given to 16 year old Master Devesh
Kumar of Uttar Pradesh who displayed
outstanding courage while confronting
two chain-snatchers.
5. PSU bank employees to hold 4-day
strike from Jan 21 on wage revision
issue
i. Public sector bank (PSB) employees
have decided to go on a 4-day strike
from January 21 to protest against the
"rigid and callous attitude" of Central
Government in resolving the long
pending wage revision issue.
ii. The decision is in response to the
strike call given by United Forum Of
Bank Unions, which has more than ten
lakh employees and officers of banking
Industry under its umbrella.
iii. The wage revision for bank
employees is due from November one,
2012
6. Indian-American Frank Islam receives
Martin Luther award
i. An eminent Indian-American
entrepr eneur and philanthropist Frank
Islam has been presented with the
prestigious Martin Luther King Jr.
Award.
ii. He is awarded in recognition of his
contribution to the legacy of the great

19 | P a g e

leader through his efforts in

international service and civil
engagement.

iii. The award, which carries the name of

Martin Luther King Jr., an apostle of
peace, is about building bridges
between humanity.
iv. The award was presented to Islam by
Harry Johnson, president of the
Memorial Foundation Inc. and one of
the honorary vice chairs of the event,
which was held at WILLARD
INTERCO NTINENTAL .
7. Telecom Commission clears Rs 3700cr base price for 2,100-MHz
i. The Telecom Commission (TC)
approved a base price of Rs 3,700 crore
for each MHz of 2,100-MHz spectrum to
be auctioned on February 25.
ii. The final reserve price is 36 per cent
higher than the Rs 2,720 crore
recommended by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
iii. The previous Telecom auction was
cancelled amid the speculation of bad
and crony practices in the bandwidth
allocation.
8. Kudankulam Nuclear Plant Restarts
Power Generation
i. Power generation at the Kudankulam
Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) has
restarted after the first unit's reactor
and turbine tripped on January 14, said
Power System Operation Corporation
Ltd. (POSCO).
ii. India's atomic power plant operator
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.
(NPCIL) is setting up two 1,000 MW
Russian reactors at Kudankulam in
Tirunelveli district, 650 km from
Chennai.
iii. Ever since the first unit at KNPP
started commercial generation
December 31, 2014 it has been
producing around 940 MW per day or
around 2.25 crore units per day.

9. AB de Villiers: South Africa batsman

smashes century record
i. South Africa batsman AB de Villiers hit
a century off 31 balls to record the
fastest ever one-day international ton.
ii. De Villiers, 30, set the new landmark
during an innings of 149 against the
West Indies in Johannesburg.

iii. He smashed nine fours and 16 sixes

in beating the previous ODI record of 36
balls by New Zealand all -rounder Corey
Anderson against West Indies last year.
iv.South Africa scored 439-2 as they
registered their highest ever ODI score,
beating the 438-9 in a win against
Australia in March 2006.
10. Sydney Open 2015 Winners
i. Czech Petra Kvitova beats compatriot
Karolina Pliskova to win the Women's
Sydney International.

Viktor Troicki
ii. The world No.4 and second seed
needed to win two tie-breakers to clinch
victory over her team mate in a big
hitting contest at the Ken Rosewell
Arena.
iii. While in the Men's section, Viktor
Troicki crushed fellow qualifier Mikhail
Kukushkin 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the
Sydney International.
iv. In the first ATP final in history
featuring two qualifiers, Troicki
dispatched Kukushkin in 64 minutes
after breaking the Kazakh twice in each
set.

1. Jaipur Literature Festival all set to

begin
i. The eighth edition of the ZEE Jaipur
Literature Festival is all set to open on
21st January 2015. The event, which is
now the worlds largest free literary
festival, will see a galaxy of literary and
musical stars come together for a
vibrant
celebration
of
creative
expression.

ii. To be inaugurated by the Chief

Minister Vasundhara Raje, the event is
seen as an agenda-setter on key issues
from the global economic crisis to the
rise of e-books, the current state of
politics in the Middle East to the
increasing importance of Indian
language publishing.
iii. This year the Festival will look at
gender equity in India in a series titled
`Women Uninterrupted', supported by
UN Women to mark the 20th
anniversary of the Beijing Conference
on Gender, leading up to the world
summit at the UN this September, as
well as `The Seven Deadly Sins' that
polarize society.
2. Hyderabad to host World Congress on
Information Technology in 2018
i. Hyderabad will host the World
Congress on Information Technology
(WCIT) in 2018. This will be the first
WCIT to be held in India and the theme
of the 2018 WCIT will be Future of
enterprises.
ii. As part of this, the Chief Minister of
Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao would
visit the US, the UK and other countries
to invite the bigwigs of the IT industry to
the 2018 event.
iii. WCIT 2016 is to be held in Brazil.
In 2014, the 19th WCIT was held in
Guadalajara in Mexico. The theme was
Building the Digital Age Together.
The first WCIT was held in 1978 and it is
held since then every two years.
3. Indias growth to reach 6.3 per cent in
2016: UN WESP r eport

20 | P a g e

Daily GK Update - 20th January 2015

i. According to the United Nations
World
Economic
Situation
and
Prospects (WESP) 2015 report, Indias
growth in terms of GDP is expected to
reach 5.9 per cent in 2015 and 6.3 per
cent in 2016.
ii. India's growth recovery is partly the
result of improved market sentiment
after the new government took office in
the second quarter of 2014 and had
announced plans to reform the
bureaucracy, labour laws and public
subsidies.
About United Nations World Economic
Situation and Prospects (WESP) report
This report is published at the beginning
of each year by the combined efforts of
UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs.
UN Conferenc e on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD).
5 UN regional commissions.
World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
4. Singapore's GIC to invest Rs 1,020
crore in Bandhan Financial Services
i. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC
is investing 10.2 billion rupees ($165.5
million) in India's Bandhan Financial
Services, which is setting up one of the
country's two newest banks
ii. The company will get a total equity
investment of 16 billion rupees,
including 5.8 billion rupees from existing
investor IFC

iii. IFC, part of the World Bank Group,

owns 10.8 percent of Bandhan and its
stake will increase after the latest
investment.
iv. Bandhan and IDFC were the only two
companies which won bank permits
from the c entral bank last year in what
was the first bank licensing process in a
decade.
5. Shubham, 13, Silicon Valleys
youngest entrepreneur, develops Braille
printer

In Silicon Valley, its never too early to

become an entr epreneur . Just ask 13year-old Shubham Banerjee.
i. The California eighth-grader has
launched a company to develop lowcost machines to print Braille. Tech
giant Intel Corp. recently invested in his
start-up, Braigo Labs.

ii. Mr. Shubham wants to develop a

desktop Braille printer that costs around
$350 and weighs just a few kilograms,
compared with current models that can
weigh mor e than nine kilograms.
iii. The machine could be used to print
Braille reading materials on paper, using
raised dots instead of ink, from a
personal computer or electronic device.
6. Twitter buys Indian mobile marketing
start-up ZipDial
i. Twitter Inc said it will buy Indian
mobile phone marketing start-up
ZipDial, reportedly for $30 million to
$40 million, as the U.S. microblogging
service looks to expand in the world's
second-biggest mobile market.
ii. Bengaluru-based ZipDial gives clients
phone numbers for use i n marketing
campaigns. The start-up's clients include
International Business Machines Corp,
Yum! Brands Inc's KFC and Procter &
Gamble Co 's Gillette.

This acquisition significantly increases

our investment in India, one of the
countries where we'r e seeing great
growth,' Twitter said
iii. The service capitalises on a local
tradition of communicating through socalled missed calls.
7. Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani appointed
as chairperson of CBFC

i. Union Government has reconstituted

Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC). In this regard, government has
appointed 1 chairperson and 9 board
members.
ii. Pahlaj Nihalani was appointed
chairperson. He will be office in for a
period of three years or until further
orders, whichever is earlier.
iii. 9 Members are: BJP leader Vani
Tripathi Tikoo, filmmakers Ashoke
Pandit and Chandra Prakash Dwivedi,
film writer Mihir Bhuta, Syed Abdul Bari,
Ramesh Patange, actor George Baker,
actor-filmmaker Jeevitha and actorplaywright S Ve Shekhar.
8. Former PM Manmohan Singh
adopted Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchyat
i. Former Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh adopted Pachim Bekeli Gaon
Panchyat under Sansad Adarsh Gram
Yojna (SAGY). Pachim Bekeli Gaon

1. Bibek Debroy joins as full time member

of NITI Aayog

i. Noted economist Bibek Debroy today

assumed charged as full time member of
the NITI Ayog (National Institution for
Transforming India). Government had
announced the appointment of Debroy
and DRDO chief V K Saraswat as full -time
members earlier this month.
ii. An economist by profession, he was
educated at the Presidency College
(Calcutta), the Delhi School of Economics
and the Trinity College (Cambridge).
iii. Debroy worked as a consultant in the
Department of Economic Affairs in
Finance Ministry.
iv. Debroy has also authored several
books, papers and popular articles, and
has been a Consulting Editor of some
financial newspapers in the country.
2. India set to overtake China next year:
IMF
i. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
projected that India will grow 6.5 per

21 | P a g e

Panchyat is located in Kamrup district of

Assam.
ii. Manmohan Singh represents Assam
in the Rajya Sabha.
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana aims to
cover 2500 villages by 2019. Under the
project, each Member of Parliament
(MP) will take up the responsibility of
providing infrastructure and devel oping
three villages by 2019.
iii. The objective of the project is to
create a holistic development of all
adopted villages by the MPs in all
aspects human, personal, social,
economic
and
environmental
development, including provision of
basic amenities, services, security and
good governance.
9. TCS ends RIL's 23-year run as most
profitable firm
After 23 years, India has a new numero
uno when it comes to net profit

Daily GK Update - 21st January 2015

cent in 2016, overtaking China which, it
projected, will slowdown to 6.3 per cent.
ii. In a separate forecast, the United
Nations World Economic Situation and
Prospects UN WESP report too pr edicted
a smart recovery for India during 2015.It
pegged its 2015 India growth forecast
lower than the IMFs at 5.9 per cent.

iii. At 6.3 per cent, the UNW ESP 2016

India growth forecast is, however, closer
to that of the IMF.
iv. The IMF said that global growth will
receive a boost from lower oil prices,
which reflect to an important extent
higher supply in many advanced and
emerging market economies.
3. Government to allocate 36 coal blocks
to PSUs

i. The government today kick-started the

process of allocating cancelled coal mines

i. Information technology major Tata

Consultancy Services (TCS) posted a net
profit of Rs 5,328 crore for the quarter
ended December, overtaking longstanding champion Reliance Industries
Ltd.
ii. In Indian business history it's the first
time that an IT company has topped the
profit charts.

iii. TCS has also become the world's

third largest employer of people in the
technology sector, with over 3 lakh
employees. And given the pace at which
it is growing, it could become the
second largest employer this year,
crossing Hewlett-Packard, and would be
fast closing in on leader IBM.

to state-owned firms, it will initially allot

36 blocks.
ii. Of these 36 coal blocks, one mine will
be given to the steel sector while the rest
will be given to the power sector.
iii. For schedule II (producing mines)
category 23 blocks will be put on offer
and the auction would be between
February 14 and February 22.
iv. With regard to Schedule III mines
(ready to produce mi nes) he said another
set of 23 mines will be auctioned
between February 25 and March 5.
4. EU decided to lift ban on import of
mangoes from India
i. European Union (EU) decided to lift a
seven-month-long ban on the import of
mangoes from India. The propos al to lift
the ban was voted unanimously by the
European Commissions standing
committee on plant health.
ii. The decision to lift the ban was made
after India, the worlds biggest producer
of Mangoes made significant
improvements in plant health controls
and certification system.
iii. European Union issued a temporary
ban on import of Indian mangoes on 1
May 2014 after fruit flies and other
quarantine pests were found in 207

consignments. The consignment infested

with fruit flies were found by authorities
in Brussels. The ban was supposed to be
effec tive till December 2015.
iv. EU accounts to almost 50% of the total
exports of fruits and vegetables from
India, UK is the top exporter.
5. India world's second-most trusted
nation: Survey
i. India has emerged as the second-most
trusted country in the world in terms of
faith reposed on its institutions even as
globally trust levels have fallen, says a
survey.
ii. Trust in institutions in India has
improved sharply in 2015 with the
country moving up three notches to the
second place among 27 nations.

1. Microsoft unveils Windows 10 and

HoloLens
i. Microsoft has taken the wraps off a
new version of Windows and a new
wearable 3D gadget it calls the HoloLens.
ii. The company showed the new
headset, which lets users view and
interact with three-dimensional images.

iii. Windows 10 will also come with a new

Web browser that will be closely
integrated with Cortana, the companys
voice-activated answer to Siri.
iv. Microsoft announced that Windows 10
will be released later this year as a free
upgrade for anyone owning a computer
or gadget thats currently running
Windows 8.1 or 7.
2. Pakistan bans JuD, Haqqani network
i. Pakistan has banned the Jamaat-ud
Dawa (JuD) and the Haqqani network
after the US insisted it do so.
ii. The Pakistani government took action
against the militant organisations without
making a distinction between the good
Taliban and the bad Taliban .

iii. The Haqqani Network, founded by

Jalaluddin Haqqani, has been blamed for

22 | P a g e

iii. While the number of "truster"

countries are at an all -time low of six in
2015 including UAE, India, China and
Netherlands, the number of "distruster"
countries has grown significantly to 13
including Japan, Russi a, Hong Kong, South
Africa and Italy.
iv. The list is topped by UAE with 84 per
cent trust. India (79 percent),Indonesia
(78 per cent), China (75 per cent),
Singapore (65 per cent) and Netherlands
(64 per cent) are the others that have
recorded highest levels of trust.
6. 2015 World Economic Forum Annual
Meeting
i. The 45th World Economic Forum kick
started in Davos,Switzerland today.
ii. Ahead of the start of its annual
meeting in Davos on Tuesday, the WEF
Daily GK Update - 22nd January 2015
some of the most heinous attacks on the
USled foreign forces in Afghanistan. It
was designated as a terrorist organisation
by the US in September 2012.
iv. the Ministry has also banned Harkatul-Jihad Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,
Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, Ummah
Tameer-i-Nau, Haji Khairullah Hajji Sattar
Money Exchange, Rahat Limited, Roshan
Money Exchange, Al Akhtar Trust, Al
Rashid Trust.
3. OPEC, oil companies clash at Davos
over price collapse
i. OPEC defended its decision not to
intervene to halt the oil price collapse,
shrugging off warnings by top energy
firms that the cartel's policy could lead to
a huge supply shortage as investments
dry up.

ii. Oil prices have collapsed to below $50

a barrel as a result of a large supply glut,
due mostly to a sharp rise in U.S. shale
production as well as weaker global
demand.
iii. The heads of world's largest oil firms
warned that the decline in investments in
future production could lead to a supply
shortage and a dramatic price increase.

published 14 measures of inclusive

growth as it responded to criticism that
the gathering of 2,500 business leaders,
academic and policymakers has become
an exercise in hand-wringing about the
gap between rich and poor.

iii. Christine Lagarde, the managing

director of the IMF, Pope Francis, Jim
Kim, the president of the World Bank
and Mark Carney, the governor of the
Bank of England, are among those who
have stressed the need to ensure that
the fruits of economic progress are
shared more equally. Carney will be
taking part in a panel in Davos this week
titled: A richer world but for whom.

4. Sunil Sood to succeed Marten Pieters

as Vodafone India CEO
i. Martin Pieters will be succeeded by
Sunil Sood, who is at present the chief
operating officer at the telecom giant.
ii. Marten Pieters, Vodafone India
Managing Director and Chief Executive
Officer, will be stepping down from his
post with effect from 1 April, 2015.

iii. Mr. Sood, is currently responsible for

day-to-day operations and P&L
management together with new business
development initiatives including the
launch and expansion of mobile
commerce activities.
iv. Mr. Sood, who had joined Vodafone
India's predecessor business, Hutch, in
2000, in his current role, is responsible
for day-to-day operations and P&L
management together with new business
development initiatives including the
launch and expansion of mobile
commerce activities.
5. Modi launched Beti Bachao-Beti
Padhao scheme in Haryana
i. The Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao scheme,
which seeks to address gender imbalance
and discrimination against the girl child,

was launched by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi at Panipat in Haryana.

ii. Mr. Modi begged the people with open

hands to save the lives of the girl child
and also administered them an oath to
fight female foeticide, celebrate the birth
of a girl and educate them.
iii. Mahendergarh and Jhajjar districts of
Haryana are badly effected with
imbalanced Sex ratios where there are
just about 775 girls for 1,000 boys, the
lowest in India.
6. Suzlon sells German unit for Rs. 7,200
crore

i. Wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy on

Thursday announced selling 100 per cent
stake in its German subsidiary Senvion SE
to U.S.-based Centerbridge Partners for
1 billion euro (about Rs. 7,200 crore) in
an all-cash deal.
ii. The proceeds will be utilised towards
debt reduction and business growth in
key markets like the US, India and other
emerging markets.
iii. Senvion SE will give Suzlon licence for
off-shore technology for the Indian
market.
7. Pakistan's Ex-Foreign Minister Khurshid
M Kasuri penned 'Neither a Hawk nor a
Dove'
i. The book is based upon the relations
between India and Pakistan.

ii. Kasuri in his book writes that the two

countries have no option but to go for a
just and peaceful solution to Jammu and
Kashmir and other contentious issues
between them.
iii. He further writes that he knew on the
basis of his experience that both the
countries have major fault lines and that
both are equally capable of destabilizing
the other.
iv. The book contains update till
November 2014 including the advent of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the
current policies of the new Indian
government.

Daily GK Update - 23rd January 2015

1. India observes 118th birth anniversary
of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
i. India today observed the 118th birth
anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra
Bose by paying glowing tribute to his
memory at functions held throughout the
country.
ii. PM Modi took to his official Twitter
account to express his gratitude to the
phenomenal freedom fighter.

Mr. Modi tweeted, His bravery, courage

& patriotic zeal inspire us. On his birth
anniversary, I bow to the proud son of
India, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
iii. It has been maintained that Bose died
in an air crash in Taiwan in 1945.
However, the Mukherjee Commission
had rejected the opinion that he had died
in a plane crash at Taihoku airport in
Taiwan on August 18, 1945.
2. RBI directs banks to display all loan
costs
i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made it
compulsory for banks to set out every
possible cost in respect of the loan in a
fact sheet at the processing stage.
ii. Banks will also have to publish the
'annual percentage rate' representing the
total cost of credit to an individual
borrower.

23 | P a g e

iii. Besides, they will have to display on

their website the interest rate range for
various contracted loans for the past
quarter for different categories of
advances.
iv. The fact sheet drafted by the central
bank requires lenders to spell out the
interest rate, the spread above the
benchmark rate, date of reset of floating
rates, mode of communication of interest
rate changes, all fees payable, refundable
fees, charges for conversion from floating
to fixed rate loan and penalty for delayed
payments.
v. The significance of this fact sheet is
that it will make it possible for borrowers
to compare loans from two lenders.
3. Supreme Court's decision on IPL Spot
fixing
i. The Supreme Court pronounced its
much-awaited verdict on N Srinivasan's
conflict of interest case, saying that BCCI
functions are amenable to judicial review.

ii. Supreme Court gave verdict that N

Srinivasan can't contest BCCI polls till he
gives up commercial interest in CSK.
iii. The Apex court said No BCCI
administrator can have commercial
interests.Srinivasan held miniscule share
in India Cements misleading since his
family directly or indirectly holds much
more.
iv. The court-appointed Justice Mukul
Mudgal Committee, also comprising
senior advocates L Nageswar Rao and
Nilay Dutta, had found Srinivasan's sonin-law Gurunath Meiyappan guilty of
indulging in betting during IPL 2013
despite being a CSK team official.
4. Saudi King Abdullah passes away
i. Saudi Arabias King Abdullah, the
powerful
U.S.
ally
who
joined
Washingtons fight against al -Qaeda, has
died, He was 90.

ii. He also sought to modernise the

ultraconservative Muslim kingdom with
incremental but significant reforms,
including
nudging
open
greater
opportunities for women
iii. Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz became
king and Prince Muqrin was declared
Crown Prince, another Royal Court
statement said.

5. Bomb blast at Ara civil court in Bihar

i. At least two persons, including a
woman, were killed and several others
injured in a bomb blast inside the
premises of the civil court at Ara in Bihar.
ii. Police officials said that a woman who
was killed in the blast was carrying the
crude bomb which suddenly went off
inside the court premises killing a
policeman and injuring several others.
6. South Korean president nominates
new prime minister
i. South Korean President Park Geun-hye
has nominated ruling party lawmaker Lee
Wan Koo to replace Prime Minister
Chung Hong-won .

ii. Chung offered to resign nearly 10

months befor e, over a ferry disaster that
killed more than 300 people in April last
year.
iii. Park decided to retain Chung in June
after two possible replacements for the
job abandoned their nominations
because of questions over past behavior.
7. Kerala to get first International
Institute of Music
i. Kerala Culture Minister K C Joseph on
22 January 2015 announced setting up of
the International Institute of Music in
Kerala. It will be the first international
institute in India that is dedicated to
music.

ii. A Trust headed by Sarod Maestro

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has been entrusted
with the responsibility to set up the
Institute.
iii. The government will provide only land
and all other infrastructure facilities will
be built by a trust managed by Khan's
family.
iv. Kerala Government also identified the
land for setting up the school in
Thiruvananthapuram
or
Kochi
or
Kozhikode.

Daily GK Update -24th January 2015

1. Hindu share dips below 80%, Muslim
share grows but slower
i. The share of Hindus in Indias
population has shown the sharpest dip in
a decade since Independence and has
dropped below 80 per cent.
ii. According to figures of the religion
census of 2011, yet to be officially
released, Hindus comprised 78.35 per
cent of the total population of 121.05
crore, compared with 80.45 per cent of
the total population in 2001.

iii. In absolute terms, however, the Hindu

population increased 14.5 per cent from
82.75 crore to 94.78 crore during the
period (2001-11).
iv. The 2011 religion census data also
shows that the share of Muslims in the
population has risen from 13.4 per cent
in 2001 to 14.2 per cent with some
border states showing a high increase.
v. The share of other religious groups like
Sikhs and Christians in the total
population remained steady at a little
over 2 per cent each, roughly in the same
range as in the 2001 census.
2. A tracker to curb sex determination
i. A simple set top box is helping prevent
sex deter mination and female foeticide.

24 | P a g e

Jabong.Com Rs.3.89 crore, Vector ecommerce Rs 2.23 crore and Robemall

Apparels Rs 36 lakh.

ii. The civil administration in Jind has now

made it mandatory for all ultrasound labs
in the district to install active tracking
devices with their machines so that the
details of the tests become available
online to the Chief Medical Officer.
iii. Jind does not figure in the list of the 12
districts of Haryana identified for
concerted action through the Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao campaign launched by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
iv. The district administration has
introduced the scheme of active tracking
of ultrasound machines to curb their
misuse for sex determination tests and to
improve the sex ratio.
3. Kerala government slaps Rs 54 crore
fine on 4 online traders including Flipkart,
Jabong
i. Kerala Commercial Taxes Department
has slapped a fine of Rs 53.63 crore on
four online trading companies including
Flipkart and Jabong for allegedly doing
illegal business in the state.
ii. The fine was imposed by the
intelligence wing of the Commercial
Taxes Department for the year 2012-13
and 2013-14
iii. E-commerce major Flipkart has been
asked to pay a fine of Rs 47.15 crore,

4. SBI inks 100 mn euro loan pact with

European bank
i. State Bank of India has signed a loan
agreement for 100 million euro (about Rs
700 crore) with European Investment
Bank for lending to private businesses in
the country.

ii. The loan will be utilised to support the

development of private sector, in
particular small and medium-sized
enterprises ( SMEs), social and economic
infrastructure as well as climate change
mitigation and adaptation in the country.
iii. Agreements related to the first
tranche of 55 million euro and the second
of 45 million euro were signed in June
and November 2014.
5. 9 Crore sign up for LPG cash-subsidy
scheme
i. More than 60 per cent of LPG
customers in the country have joined the
ambitious PAHAL scheme for receiving
cash subsidy so that they can buy cooking
gas (LPG) at market price.

ii. Over 9 crore consumers, out of a total

customer base of 15.33 crore, have
joined the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG
(DBTL) scheme and Rs 2,262 crore in cash
has been transfered to them.
iii. The DBTL Scheme for LPG consumers
(PAHAL) was launched on November 15,
2014 in 54 districts and in the rest of the
country on January 1, 2015. The Scheme
aims to transfer the subsidy on LPG
directly into the bank accounts of over 15
crore LPG consumers.
6. National Girl Child Day - 24th January

1. India celebrates 66th Republic Day;

Barack Obama witnesses military might
i. India today celebrates its 66th
Republic Day and showcased before the
chief guest US President Barack Obama
and the world its military might and
cultural diversity with a splendid display
of land and naval weaponry, fighter and
reconnaissance aircraft.
ii. Obama was the first ever US
President to attend the parade as Chief
Guest on the second day of his threeday visit.
iii. For the first time in the history of
Indias Republic Day, all -women
contingent from the three forces Army,
Air Force and Navy marched down in
the parade.

Army contingent was led by Capt Divya

Ajith.
Navy contingent was led by Lt
Commander Sandhya Chauhan.
Air Force contingent
was
led
by Squadron Leader Sneha.

2. The uncommon man: RK Laxman

(1921-2015)
Since childhood I do not remember
wanting to do anything else except
draw, R.K. Laxman says in his
autobiography, The Tunnel of Time.

25 | P a g e

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today

saluted
the
unparalleled
accomplishments of the girl child on
National Girl Child Day.
ii. "On National Girl Child Day, I salute the
unparalleled accomplishments of the girl
child. Their role in nation building is
paramount," PM Modi tweeted.
iii. Since 2008, the government has
celebrated the National Girl Child Day on
January 24 every year across India to
raise awareness and consciousness of the
society with regard to the girl child.
Daily GK Update - 25th - 27th January 2015
i. Eminent cartoonist, illustrator and
humorist Rasipuram Laxman passed
away in Pune. He was 94.
ii. He is best known for creation of
iconic character The Common Man, for
his daily cartoon strip, You Said It in The
Times of India(TOI). It was started in
1951. This character held a mirror to the
society and targeted politicians for more
than five decades.
iii. His creations also include the
sketches drawn for the television
adaptation of Malgudi Days.

iv. He is recipient of Padma Vibhushan

(2005) and Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Journalism, Literature and Creative
Communication Arts (1984).
3. Libby Lane, first female bishop of
England consecrated
i. Church of England has consecrated
Reverend Libby Lane as its first female
bishop in a ceremony held at York
Minster (a Gothic cathedral) in northern
England.
With this consecration, Church of
England ended its 500 year old male
dominated tradition and considered as a
historic move towards widening female
participation in the Church.
ii. In this regard General Synod- the lawmaking body of the Church of England
had given nod to this legislation in
November 2014 which was passed by
UK Parliament in October 2014.

7. RBI Relaxes Overseas Loan Recast Rules

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed
rules for companies and banks to
restructure and reschedule existing
overseas borrowings by permitting an
increase in the total cost of borrowing
offshore.
ii. Indian firms have found it difficult to
restructure existing borrowings after
facing a sharp slowdown in the economy.
iii. The banking regulator also allowed
changes in the drawdown and repayment
schedules of such overseas borrowings,
the Reserve Bank of India said.

4. Miss Colombia crowned Miss

Universe 2015 in Miami
i. Miss Colombia Paulina Vega, has been
crowned Miss Universe, beating out first
runner-up Miss USA Nia Sanchez and
contestants from more than 80 other
countries.

ii. With this, Vega became the second

beauty queen from Colombia to win the
title. Luz Marina Zuluaga was the first
Colombian to win the crown in 1956.
iii. The 22-year-old is the granddaughter
of a legendary tenor, Gastun Vega.
iv. Three of the last six Miss Universe
titles have gone to Venezuela, where
beauty pageants are big business.
5. Modi to hold first meeting of NITI
Aayog on February 6
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
spell out the functional roadmap of the
newly created NITI Aayog at its first
meeting being scheduled on February 6,
2015.
ii. The members of the Aayog would
have first hand experience of Mr.
Modis expectation from the new body
and also help them in finalising the plan
of action of the new body which was
formed on January 1.
iii. The ex-officio members of the Aayog
are Home Minister Rajnath Singh,

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway

Minister Suresh Prabhu and Agriculture
Minister Radha Mohan Singh.
iv. The Aayogs special invitees are Road
Transport and Highways Minister Nitin
Gadkari,
Social
Justice
and
Empower ment Minister Thawar Chand
Gehlot
and
Human
Resource
Development Minister Smriti Irani.
6. Major Mukund Varadarajan, Naik
Neeraj Kumar Singh posthumously
awarded with Ashok Chakra
i. Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik
Neeraj Kumar Singh were on 26 January
2015 posthumously awarded with the
highest peacetime military honour the
Ashok Chakra by President Pranab
Mukherjee.

ii. In April 2014, Major Mukund

Varadarajan had killed three terrorists
in an encounter in Shopian district of
Jammu and Kashmir. He was an officer
in the 44th Battalion of the Rashtriya
Rifles (22 Rajput) of the Indian Army.
However, he died after being severely
hurt in the operation.
iii. In August 2014, Naik Neeraj Singh
died after heavy fire from terrorists. He
was leading a search operation in
general area Gurdaji of Kupwara district.
He was serving in the 57th Battalion of
the Rashtriya Rifles.
About Ashok Chakra
Ashok Chakra is Indias highest
peacetime military decoration awarded
1. Kalyan Singh sworn in as Himachal
Pradesh Governor
i. Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh was
today sworn in as the Himachal Pradesh
Governor
ii. He was administered oath of office by
Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief
Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir
iii. Singh has been given an additional
charge of Himachal Pradesh after Urmila
Singh, who completed the full five year
term as HP Governor on January 24.
2. Hockey Olympian Jaswant Singh Rajput
passes away

26 | P a g e

for valor, courageous action or selfsacrifice away from the battlefield.

The decoration is awarded either to
military or civilian personnel and can be
awarded posthumously.
The Ashok Chakra medal is circular gold
gilt with the chakra (wheel) of Ashoka in
the center surrounded by a lotus wreath
and with an ornate edge.
7. Anti-austerity Syriza party
Greec es general elections

wins

on 26 January 2015. Legendary

Argentine represented his country in
2006 World Cup in Germany.
ii. He debuted for Argentinas national
team in 1996 against Colombia and
went on to r epresent Argentina 51
times and scored 17 goals.
iii. He also was the Captain of
Argentinas football team that won the
Gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games.
iv. He was named as South American
Player of the Year and Argentine Player
of the Year four times.
9. Obama wraps up three-day India visit,
departs for Saudi Arabia

i. In
Greec e, anti-austerity Syriza party has
won general election. In this election
Syriza party has won about half the
seats in Parliament.
ii. While the earlier ruling government
led by outgoing Prime Minister Antonis
Samaras of centre-right New Democracy
party has been placed second.
Something about Syriza party:
It was formed in 2004 as an umbrella
group. Syriza- an acronym means the
Radical Coalition of the Left.
It is led by Alexis Tsipras and first came
to prominence following the 2008 Greek
riots.
In this general election, Syriza Party has
promised to end Greeces painful
austerity measures and wants to
renegotiate its debt.
8. Argentine playmaker Juan Roman
Riquelme retired from Football
i. 36-year-old Argentine player Juan
Roman Riquelme retired from football
Daily GK Update 28th January 2015
i. Two-time gold medal winning hockey
Olympian Jaswant Singh Rajput passed
away on 28th January 2015 following a
prolonged illness
ii. The former India centre-half was part
of the gold medal winning teams in 1948
London and 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
iii. With the likes of Leslie Claudius,
Keshav Dutt and Meldric Daluz, Jaswant
had formed a lethal foursome and was
part of a golden era in Bengal hockey
with as many as seven players in the
Helsinki-bound side.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama do

a 'Namaste' before boarding Air Force
One
i. US President Barack Obama left India
for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday after a
three-day visit focused on improving
relations between the world's largest
democracies.
ii. The US president had been due to
visit the Taj Mahal while in India, but cut
short his visit to offer his condolences to
the royal family following the death of
King Abdullah and to pay his respects to
the new Saudi king.
iii. Obama addressed a gathering of
about 2,000 students at the Siri Fort
auditorium on the last day of his visit.
3. Arundhathi
Subramaniam won
Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for
Poetry

i. Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam won the

inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial
Prize for Poetry for her work When God is
a Traveller.
ii. The winner was announced at a prize
ceremony at the ZEE Jaipur Literature

Festival, attended by over 2,500 poetry

lovers.
iii. The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs.
2 lakh, was established earlier this year
by Suhel Seth in memory of the late
Khushwant Singh and is open to Indian
poets writing in English or Indian
language translation.

4. RBI signs an information sharing

agreement with Brazils Central Bank
i. This MoU was signed by Anthero de
Moraes Meirelles, Deputy Governor for
Supervision, BCB and S.S. Mundra,
Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
ii. This MoU was signed by Anthero de
Moraes Meirelles, Deputy Governor for
Supervision, BCB and S.S. Mundra,
Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
iii. In this regard, RBI in total has signed
23 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory
Co-operation and one Statement of Cooperation (SoC), with different Central
Banks of other countries and overseas
regulators/supervisors.
5. Gujarat Technological University
launches e-Raksha centre to fight
cybercrime
i. Gujarat Technological University (GTU)
has launched e-Raksha Research Centre
to curb rising menace of cybercrimes.
ii. This research Centre will provide
solution for issues related to cyber
security by encouraging research and
enhance capability in this field.
Key facts e-Raksha Research Centre
This centre is established by GTU in
collaboration with Cyber Peace
Foundation (CPF).
Its goal is to establish a peaceful and
harmonious cyber space through
research in this area.

It will also support Union governments

Make in India campaign by
manufacturing routers, switches,
firewalls, UTMs (Unified Threat
Management) and other network
appliances.
This centre will also train students in
areas of cyber security and enhance their
capability to provide solution for issues
related to it.

i. K Durga Prasad hte new appointed

Special Director General (DG) of the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is an
IPS officer of 1981 batch from Andhra
Pradesh cadre will be in office for next
three years or till further orders are
given.
ii. Earlier, Prasad served as the director of
the Special Protection Group (SPG). SP G
provides security to the Prime Minister,
former Prime Ministers and their family
members.

6. Ancient star with five Earth size planets

discovered
i. After analysing over four years of data
from NASAs Kepler spacecraft, a team of
astronomers has discovered a star that is
11.2 billion years old and has at least five
Earth-size planets.
ii. The findings show that Earth-size
planets have formed throughout most of
the universes 13.8-billion-year history,
leaving open the possibility for the
existence of ancient life in the galaxy.
Key findings

8. Bradman young cricketer of the year

award
i. Australian cricketer Sean Abbott has
won Bradman young cricketer of the year
award 2015.
ii. Sean Abbott is the bowler, who was
unwittingly at the centre of the tragic
death of Phillip Hughes . iii. In November
2014, he had delivered bouncer to
Hughes that hit him in head during a
Sheffield Shield match at the SCG against
South Australia.

This star is named as Kepler-444. It is 25

percent smaller than our Sun and is 117
light years from Earth.
It belongs to the first generation of stars
and considered as part of one of the
oldest systems in the galaxy.
This star has five known planets which
have sizes that fall between Mercury and
Venus.
These 5 planets are so close to their star
that they complete their orbits in fewer
than 10 days.
This discovery is going to help
astronomers learn more about the
history of our solar system- Milky Way.
7. K Durga Prasad appointed as the
Special DG of CRPF

Bradman young cricketer of the year

award: It was instituted in 1990. It is
bestowed annually by Cricket Australia to
best player under the age of 24. The
recipient is presented with a bat
personally signed by Sir Donald Bradman
(He had signed 100 bats in 1989 for this
award)

Daily GK Updates - 29th January 2015

1. Nation remembers Lala Lajpat Rai on
his 150th birth anniversary
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
saluted Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai, on
his birth anniversary. In his message, the
Prime Minister said that Punjab Kesari
Lala Lajpat Rai was a unique personality
who was ahead of his time.

27 | P a g e

ii. Journey of Lalaji Popularly known as Punjab Kesari, Lala

Lajpat Rai was born on 28 January 1865 in
Jagraon town of Ludhiana district.
The session of the Indian National
Congress at Allahabad in December 1888
marked the beginning of his political
career.

The year 1905 was important for the

emergence of a new leadership in the
Indian National Congress of Lal -Bal-Pal, as
they were popularly known. The partition
of Bengal in 1905 aroused their stout
nationalism.
Lalaji presided over the first session of
the All India Trade Union Congress in
1920.
Lalaji also went to Geneva to attend the
eighth International Labour Conference in
1926 as a representative of Indian labour
community.

His journal Arya Gazette concentrated

mainly on the subjects related to the Arya
Samaj.
For the sake of India's independenc e
movement, Lalaji led a procession to
demonstrate
against
the
Simon
Commission.
Lalaji was made the target of a brutal
lathi charge in which he was injured
badly.
A meeting was held the same evening at
which Lalaji, wounded and aching, spoke
with such vigour that his words, 'Every
blow aimed at me is a nail in the coffin of
British imperialism', became historic.
on 17 November 1928, Lalaji succumbing
to his injuries passed away.
2. BrahMos to be integrated with Sukhoi

i. HAL has completed integration of

BrahMos thermonuclear cruise missile
with Sukhoi-30MKI after over two years
of work, modifying the Russian-made
aircraft.
ii. HAL director S Subrahmanyan, who led
the project, said the first test flight of the
modified Su-30MKI with the BrahMos
missile will be conducted in March.
3. Governor nominates Anglo-Indian in
Jharkhand Assembly
i. Glen Joseph Galstaun was today
nominated as the representative of the
Anglo-Indian community in the Jharkhand
Assembly.

ii. Governor Syed Ahmed nominated

Galstaun to the House as there is a need
for a representative from the community.
iii. With his nomination, the strength of
the House has gone up to 82 from 81.
4. Centr e to dilute stake in CIL
i. The government is planning to dilute its
stake further in Maharatna public sector
Coal India Ltd (CIL) with the company
putting up on the stock exchanges a
notice for an offer for sale of up to 10 per
cent of the government stake in CIL.
ii. CIL had gone public in October 2010
with a 10 per cent dilution of the
government holding, the trade unions
had blocked a follow-on offer proposed
by the UPA-II government in late 2013.

iii. In this fresh move, the allocation shall

be on a price priority method at multiple
clearing prices in accordance with the
SEBI OFS circular.
iv. CIL had helped generate over Rs
23,000 crore through its initial public
offer and expectations are that a similar
amount would be garnered this time too.
CIL shares have averaged at Rs.383.
5. S Jaishankar takes charge as Foreign
Secretary

i. S Jaishankar took charge as Foreign

Secretary, replacing Sujatha Singh whose
tenure was abruptly curtailed.
ii. S Jaishankar is a 1977-batch IFS officer .

iii. He will have a two-year tenure as per

rules. The 60-year-old diplomat was
India's Ambassador to the US.
iv. The decision to appoint Jaishankar,
who played a key role during Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US
in September and US President Barack
Obama's just concluded visit here, was
taken by the Appointments Committee of
the Cabinet chaired by Modi
.
6. ICC ends Amirs ban

i. In a major breakthrough, the ICC has

allowed Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad
Amir to return to domestic cricket early
from his five-year ban for involvement in
spot-fixing.
ii. Amir (22) was jailed for six months and
banned for his part in a spot-fixing scam
during Pakistans tour of England in 2010.
iii. Amir, then 17, delivered pre-arranged
no balls at Lords in a plot that also led to
the banning of Mohammad Asif and then
captain Salman Butt.

Daily GK Update - 30th January 2015

1. 30th January observed as Martyrs' Day
i. The government today observed
Martyrs' Day on the 67th death
anniversary of the Father of Nation
Mahatma Gandhi and those who
sacrificed their lives in the struggle for
the country's freedom.
ii. The MHA has told all states and UTs to
see that speeches and talks connected
with the significance of the day,
particularly mentioning the role of
freedom fighters in the freedom of India
may be made.

28 | P a g e

iii. The day is remember ed in the living

memory of all the freedom fighters who
lost their lives for handing our the much
needed independence.
iv. Mahatma Gandhi was assasinated by
Nathuram Godse on this day.
2. IIT Bombay launches mass open online
courses
i. Prof Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT
Bombay, launched three Mass Open
Online Courses (MOOC) in computer
programming, thermodynamics, and
signals and systems from the institutes
IITBombayX platform developed in
collaboration with edX.

ii. edX is a not-for-profit initiative by MIT

and Harvard.

iii. About this course - The Introduction to

Computer Programming will be 16-week
course in two parts aimed at computer
programming students. The course on
Thermodynamics,
designed
for
mechanical engineering students, will last
12 weeks. Signals and Systems will be a
16-week course in two parts designed for
electrical engineering students. The

students will get an honour certificate of

achievement
certifying
successful
completion of the course after they have
qualified in the tests.
3. Send money 24x7 using only your
phone's address book

i. HDFC Bank, Indias second-largest

private bank, is set to introduce a new
app, Chillr, which will allow users to send
money to any contact in their phone
books, 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
ii. Chillr is a third-party app, which will be
available exclusively for the customers. It
will allow them to transfer money using a
contacts mobile number alone.
iii. Through the app, one can send Rs 15,000 a day. While the bank will not levy
any charges, users will have to pay a fee
for using the IMPS platform.
4. Charles Townes died
i. Townes shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in
physics with Russian physicists Aleksandr
M. Prokhorov and Nicolai G. Basov for the
invention of the Laser.

ii. On April 26, 1951, Townes scribbled a

theory on scrap paper that would lead to
the laser, the invention hes known for
and which transformed everyday life and
led to other scientific discoveries.
iii. The laser paved the way for other
scientific discoveries that revolutionize

1. Agni 5, successfully test-fired

i. India
successfully
test-fired
its
indigenously developed, intercontinental
surface-to-surface
nuclear
capable
ballistic missile Agni-5, which has a strike
range of over 5000 kms and can carry a
nuclear warhead of over one tonne, from
Wheelers Island off Odisha
ii. The three stage, solid propellant
missile was test-fired from a mobile
launcher from the launch complex-4 of

29 | P a g e

everything
from
medicine
to
manufacturing, including DVD players,
gun sights, printers, computer networks,
metal cutters, tattoo removal and vision
correction.
5. Jaipal Singh appointed PS to MoS
Home
i. Jaipal Singh, a Gujarat-cadre IFS officer,
has been appointed Private Secretary to
Minister of State for Home Affairs
Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary.
ii. Singh, a 1991-batch Indian Forest
Service officer is presently working as
Director in Department of Higher
Education.
iii. He has been appointed for a period of
upto September 26, 2018, which is
maximum period of seven years of stay
outside the cadre in a single stint, or on a
co-terminus basis with the minister's
tenure.
6. India overtakes China as worlds
leading gold consumer
i. India overtook China as the worlds
biggest gold consumer in 2014 as global
physical demand fell.
ii. Chinese gold demand slid by more than
a third last year to a four-year low of 866
tonnes.
iii. Indian jewellery demand rose 14
percent last year to a record 690 tonnes,
putting it back ahead of China as the
worlds
number
one
jewellery
manufacturer.
7. RK Mathur to hold additional charge of
DDR&D

Daily GK Update - 31st January 2015

the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about
8.06 hours.

iii. M V K Prasad is the director of the

project.
iv. About AGNI Series India has at present in its armoury of Agni
series, Agni-1 with 700 km range, Agni -2

i. Defenc e Secretary RK Mathur is given

additional charge of Department of
Defence Research and Development
(DDR&D).
ii. Mathur, a 1977-batch IAS officer of
Manipur Tripura cadre, will hold the
additional charge for a period of three
months.
iii. He will take over the additional charge
from incumbent Avinash Chander.
iv. Another IAS officer Reena Ray has
been appointed as Additional Secretary in
Department of School Education and
Literacy.
8. Shekhar Sen appointed as Chairman of
Sangeet Natak Akademi
i. Renowned music composer and actor
Shekhar Sen is appointed as the
Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi
(SNA).
ii. Shekhar Sen will succeed Leela Samson
who resigned from the position on 5
September 2014. The post was lying
vacant since October 2014.
Shekhar Sen:

He is famous for his mono act musical

plays Tulsi, Kabeer, Vivekananda, and
Soordas.
Shekhar Sen has received prestigious
awards including Padam Shri Award in
2015, Safdar Hashmi Puraskar in 2001 for
his contribution in field of theatre and V.
Shantaram Lalit Kala Puraskaar in 2008.

with 2000 km range, Agni -3 and Agni-4

with 2500 km to more than 3500 range.
After a few more trials, Agni-5 will be
inducted into the services.
2. Coal India stake sale fetches Rs. 22,600
crore

i. The Centr e raised Rs 22,557.63 crore

from the sale of its 10 per cent
shareholding in Coal India (CIL).
ii. Of the total proceeds raised, Rs
11,360.11 crore came from insurance
companies both private sector and
public sector including the Governmentowned Life Insurance Corporation.
iii. With divestment drive, the Centres
shareholding in CIL stands at 79.65 per
cent.
3. Base year change pushes 2013-14 GDP
growth to 6.9%
i. The Government, sharply revised
Indias 2013-14 GDP growth estimate to
6.9 per cent from 4 .7 per cent.
ii. The 2012-13 growth estimate was
revised to 5.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent.
iii. The estimates released also follow a
change in the base year for calculating
national accounts to 2011-12 from 200405 in addition to the routine annual
revision.
iv. The changes have reduced the gap
between the way India calculates GDP
and the methodology used by the
International Monetary Fund.
4. India tops Credit Suisse Emerging
Consumer Scorecard 2015
i. The formation of a strong government
at the c entre which triggered a major
revival in consumer sentiment in 2014
saw India rank first in the Credit Suisse
Emerging Consumer Scorecard 2015.

ii. The fifth annual Emerging Consumer

Survey by the Credit Suisse Research
Institute profiles consumer sentiment
and its drivers across the emerging world
providing insights regarding consumer

30 | P a g e

sentiment and future consumption

patterns.
iii. The survey showed India as having the
lowest consumption of beer, meat and
cigarettes, the lowest ownership of cars
and lowest access to the internet.
5. Uniformity, innovation coming to
credit data
i. In its bid to better the credit
information landscape, the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) has directed all credit
institutions to become members of credit
information companies (CICs).
ii. Currently, there are four such
companies in IndiaCredit Information
Bureau (India) Ltd (Cibil), Equifax Credit
Information Services Pvt. Ltd, Experian
Credit Information Co. of India Pvt. Ltd
and CRIF High Mark Credit Information
Services Pvt. Ltd.
iii. According to the RBIs report on
furnishing credit information, India is
ranked 28 in getting credit and the
coverage of CICs accounts for only 19.8%
of adult population, as against 100% in
several countries.

holding the additional charge of the ITBP

since the retirement of Subhas Goswami.
7. Serena Williams beats Maria
Sharapova to win Australian Open
i. Serena Williams won her 19th Grand
Slam title, continued her unbeaten run in
six Australian Open finals and extended
her decade-long domination of Maria
Sharapova with a commanding 6-3, 7-6
(5) win.

ii. She is now second only to Steffi Graf

(22) on the list of major winners in the
Open era.
iii. The 33-year-old Williams, the oldest
winner of the Australian womens title in
the Open era, won the first six points of
the second set and seemed on course for
another
lopsided
victory
before
Sharapova hit back in a gripping second
set.
8. Bravo quits Tests

6. Krishna Chaudhary appointed as the

Director General of ITBP

i. Krishna Chaudhary is appointed as the

Director General (DG) of the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP). He i s an IPS officer
of 1979-batch Bihar cadre and will be in
office till June 2017.
ii. At the time of appointment, he was
working as the Director General of the
Railway Protection Force.
iii. Chaudhary
succeeded
Subhas
Goswami who retired on 31 December
2014. CRPF DG Prakash Mishra was

i. West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo

has announced his retirement from Test
cricket.
ii. The 31-year-old has played 40 Tests
but had not suited up for the West Indies
since December 2010.
iii. Bravo said he had already informed
the W est Indies Cricket Board (WICB) of
his decision to retire from Tests but said
he had made clear his desire to continue
playing ODIs and Twenty20s.
iv. He bagged 86 wickets at an average of
nearly 40.