General Knowledge Update 95

1.    Lifter Rahul bags first gold for India at Youth Olympics

i. Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul bagged India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China on Thursday.
ii. In the 77 kg category, Rahul won the Silver by lifting 141 kgs in Snatch, and 175 kgs in Clean and Jerk to finish with a total of 316 kgs. This was also India's first medal in Weightlifting in Youth Olympics.
iii. India had won eight medals, 6 Silver and 2 Bronze, in the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010 in Singapore.


2.  South Africa thrash India by 141 runs in the 1st ODI

i. Hosts South Africa produced a clinical all-round performance as they crushed India by 141 runs runs in the first one day international in Johannesburg, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
ii. This is the second biggest margin of victory by the South Africans against India in the ODIs played between the two teams.
iii. After hammering the Indian bowlers into submission with a massive score of 358 for four, the five-pronged South African pace attack came out all guns blazing to bowl out the visitors for 217 in 41 overs. It was thorough professional performance by South Africa as Indians were outplayed in all departments.
iv. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni fought gamely scoring 65 off 71 balls (8x4, 1x6) as most of the top-order batsmen found it difficult to counter the pace of Dale Steyn (3/25 from 8 overs), bounce generated by Morne Morkel (1/29 from 8 overs) and the controlled swing bowling by Ryan McLaren (3/49 from 8 overs).
v. Dhoni was the ninth batsman to get dismissed as he dragged one onto his stumps off Steyn's bowling as world's premier speedster ended the match when Shami offered a tame return catch.


3.  Jayawardene becomes sixth-highest scorer in Test cricket

i. Veteran Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene has become the sixth-highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket with his unbeaten double-century on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
ii. Jayawardene's 203 and Kithuruwan Vithanage's maiden century (103) helped Sri Lanka declare their first innings at 6-730 on the third day, which was the highest score by any team against Bangladesh.
iii. Jayawardene has gone ahead of Allan Border (11,174 runs) and West Indies star Shivnarine Chanderpaul (11,219) to move behind record-holder Sachin Tendulkar, Australia's Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara on the all-time list.
iv. The report mentioned that the former captain, who has 11,236 runs in 142 matches, equalled teammate Kumar Sangakkara 's Sri Lankan record of 33 Test centuries, and his and Vithanage's heroics gave Sri Lanka a gigantic 498-run first-innings lead over the hosts.


4.  Aditya Mehta clinched the Snooker Gold Medal

i. India's number one snooker player, Aditya Mehta on 31 July 2013 clinched the gold medal in the World Games, beating China's Liang Wenbo, 3-0, in the final of the quadrennial event at Cali, Columbia.
ii. Mehta had earlier defeated Thailand`s Dechawat Poomjaeng 3-1 in the semifinal. Poomjaeng defeated another Indian and eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
iii. Poomjaeng won the bronze medal after securing a 3-2 win over Brazil`s Igor Figueiredo in his third-place play-off match.

General Knowledge Update 94

1.  India meet Netherlands in Hero Jr. World Cup Hockey beginning in Delhi today

i. India will open their Men's Hero Hockey Junior World Cup 2013 campaign against Netherlands starting in New Delhi today.
ii. Home team India will of course be one of tournament favorites at the Major Dhyan Chan National Hockey Stadium.
iii. The current group has an abundance of experience, with midfielders Kothajit Singh and team captain Manpreet Singh both being central figures on the India senior side.
iv. The team is now coached by former South African star Gregg Clark. For the sixteen teams, it is the culmination of a long journey, started two years ago with continental qualifications.


2.    Arun Gupta appointed as CMD of Shipping Corporation of India

i. Arun Kumar Gupta took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) by the Union Government on 28 January 2014. The post was vacant for over a year after the retirement of S Hajara.
ii. Before this elevation to the post, Arun Gupta was the director of offshore services at the Mumbai-headquartered shipping line. Since retirement of S Hajara in December 2012, the Shipping Corporation of India has been without a full time head and has reported a net loss of 114.31 crore rupees in last fiscal.
iii. BK Mandal, the director finance of SCI has been acting as a CMD since the retirement of Hajara.


3.    Siddaramaiah launches Ksheera Bhagya scheme

i. Over 65 lakh school children in 51,000 Government schools and 39 lakh children in anganwadi centres across the State will now receive 150 ml of milk three times a week under the Ksheera Bhagya scheme, which was launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Hoskote near here on Thursday.
ii. After launching the scheme by giving a glass of milk each to a group of students, he said the programme would help tackle malnutrition among children and at the same time benefit milk farmers in the State.
iii. Meanwhile, T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, said that milk powder would be supplied to schools until the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) works out logistics to provide safe and fresh milk.


4.    RBI projects 5.5 % GDP growth during current fiscal

i. The Reserve Bank has said the economy is likely to grow at 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal as it sees pick-up in manufacturing and investment.
ii.  As per the RBI’s annual report for the Financial Year 2013-14 released yesterday, there are signs of improvement in mining and manufacturing activity, expected pick-up in investments, improved external demand and stabilizing global commodity prices.
iii. The RBI also said that its surplus for the Financial Year 2014 fiscal declined 14.75 per cent to 52,679 crore rupees as its interest income from investments in foreign sovereign bonds declined during the year even as its investments increased.

General Knowledge Update 93

1.  India to host Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017

i. In a landmark development for Indian football, the country was awarded the right to host the 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup on Thursday by the world governing body of the game in its executive committee meeting in Brazil.
ii. India was chosen as the host country for the mega event by the FIFA executive committee in its meeting at Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.
iii. South Africa, Ireland and Uzbekistan were the other countries in the running for the right to host the tournament.
iv. By virtue of being the host country, India will take part in the 24-nation tournament for the first time in its history.
v. "India confirmed by the FIFA ExCo as host of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017," FIFA said in a tweet after the meeting.
vi. This will the biggest ever football tournament India will be hosting and the first FIFA event in the country's history. India has hosted Asian Football Confederation's Youth Championships (Under-20) in 2006 and then the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 but never has hosted any FIFA tournament.
vii. AIFF and FIFA have agreed to bear the entire expenditure of hosting the tournament. The amounts required are to be raised through sponsorships and other commercial agreements," it had said.


2.    Cricket: New Zealand win final ODI vs India by 87 runs

i. A listless Indian cricket team slumped to its worst ODI series defeat in New Zealand, going down 0-4, after the Black Caps hammered them by 87 runs in the inconsequential fifth and final one-dayer in Wellington on Friday.
ii. New Zealand's Ross Taylor made his second-straight century of 102 runs and Kane Williamson made 88 runs, scoring his fifth-consecutive half century.
iii. From Indian side, Varun Aaron who took 2 wickets giving 60 runs, was the most successful bowler while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami took one wicket each.
iv. With this, the hosts have bagged the 5-match ODI series. They had won the first two games, tied the third and also won the fourth to claim the series and also dethrone the Men in Blue from the Number One spot in the ODI rankings.



3.  India thrash Zimbabwe by 9 wickets

i. India continued their dominance over Zimbabwe as they thrashed the hosts by 9 wickets in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Thursday.
ii. Chasing a meagre target of 145, openers Rohit Sharma (64*) and Suresh Raina (65*) both slammed half-century each to secure another massive win for India.
iii. Earlier, India continued their dominance in the series as they dismissed Zimbabwe for a paltry total.
iv. With the series already in their pocket after having won the first three games quite comfortably, India made two changes in their playing eleven today, handing out debuts to Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohit in place of Shikhar Dhawan and R Vinay Kumar.


4.    Kumar Iyer appointed UKTI India head

i. The British government Thursday appointed Kumar Iyer, an Indian origin official, as director general for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in India.
ii. This is a new top level post and has been created to reflect the increasing importance of business ties between the two countries. As UKTI director general, India, Iyer will have overall responsibility for the bilateral commercial and trade relationship.
iii. Iyer will also be British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India. He will take up both positions, based in Mumbai, Aug 5.
iv. Iyer has an MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University where he was a Bank of England scholar and an undergraduate tutor in Microeconomics.
V. He was also a Kennedy Scholar and Teaching Fellow in International Capital Markets at Harvard University.
vi. Since 2008, Iyer has been a high-ranking official at the British Treasury and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.

General Knowledge Update 92

1.  SC for harsher punishment including life term for milk adulterators

i. The Supreme Court has favoured punishment of life imprisonment to people indulging in production and marketing of adulterated milk and has asked the state governments to make amendment in laws.
ii. A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and A K Sikri yesterday said punishment of six months jail term mentioned in Food Safety Act is grossly inadequate and asked states to amend the law as has been done by the Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha.
iii. The bench was hearing Public-Interest Litigations seeking its direction to state governments to stop practice of milk adulteration which is rampant in various states.


2.  OPECC freezes oil output ceiling

i. OPEC agreed on Wednesday to hold its crude production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day despite oversupply concerns and competition from cheaper shale oil.

ii. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps out about one third of the world's oil, failed again to decide on a new secretary-general amid group tensions, instead keeping Libya's Abdullah El-Badri as its administrative head for 2014.
iii. And Libya, where output of crude oil has fallen sharply on unrest in the country, will assume the cartel's rotating presidency for next year, OPEC added in a communique.
iv. OPEC said in its statement that "global economic uncertainty, with the fragility of the eurozone remaining a concern" was the biggest challenge facing world oil markets in 2014.
v. Ahead of the meeting, member nations led by the world's biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia insisted that there was no need to change the ceiling.


3.  Army’s Sikh Light Infantry wins best marching contingent award

i. Army's Sikh Light Infantry has been awarded the best marching contingent among the three Services at the Republic Day parade this year while the CRPF contingent bagged the honours in the paramilitary and auxiliary forces category.
ii. In the Services category, Territorial Army (Sikh LI) has been adjudged the best marching contingent in the Republic Day Parade 2014.
iii. In the category of Para-Military Forces and other auxiliary marching contingents, CRPF contingent has been adjudged the best contingent," a defence ministry release said.
iv. Out of the 18 tableaux, including five from union ministries and departments, the West Bengal tableaux, which depicted the famous Purulia Chhau dance, has bagged the top award.
v. "Tamil Nadu's tableaux on Pongal festival was adjudged the second best, while the third position has gone to the Assam tableaux based on the contribution of legendary folk singer, composer and writer Bhupen Hazarika to Assam's folk culture," the release said.
vi. In the competitive category of performances by school children, the dance presented by Navy Children School, New Delhi has been adjudged the best while a consolation prize was awarded to Govt Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Hastsal, New Delhi, for their beautiful portrayal of traditional folk dance of Chhattisgarh.


4.  Samsung is most trusted brand in India: Study

i. South Korean consumer electronics major Samsung is India’s most trusted brand followed by Sony of Japan and the homegrown salt-to-steel multinational Tata, says a study report released  on Thursday.
ii. The 'Brand Trust Report 2014' says: “Samsung has grown steadily in trust ranks over the last four years - fifth in 2011, fourth in 2012, second in 2013 and has reached India’s most trusted rank this year.
iii. Samsung’s strategy of focusing on the core intangibles of its brand is evident from its climb to leadership in BTR 2014,” said N. Chandramouli, chief executive officer, TRA (formerly known as Trust Research Advisory).

Note: Hewlett Packard emerged as the most trusted brand in technology, Hero in automobiles and LIC in financial services and insurance sector.

General Knowledge Update 91

1.  India 7th most economically confident country globally: Ipsos

i. India is the seventh most economically confident country in the world, says a study by global research firm Ipsos.
ii. According to the study 'Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World', India's economic confidence revived substantially due to healthy farm output, a sharp boost in exports and narrowing of current account deficit.
iii. The country's economic confidence jumped sharply by 11 points to 51 per cent in November from the previous month.
iv. The country's economic confidence jumped sharply by 11 points to 51 per cent in November from the previous month.
v. The online Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World survey was conducted in October 2013 among 18,083 people in 24 countries.



2.  Mumbai police chief quits, may plunge into politics

i. Mumbai Police Commissioner, Satyapal Singh, tendered his resignation to the State Home Department on Thursday and plans to explore a career in politics.
ii. Mr.Singh has sought Voluntary Retirement from service and wants to be relieved from his duties by the second week of February.
iii. According to sources Mr. Singh has received offers from two major political parties - BJP and AAP. The BJP is keen to field Mr. Singh for a Lok Sabha seat from Meerut.
iv. Now I would like to expand my area of operation and I would like to devote my time and energy for social harmony, national reconstruction and world peace," Mr. Singh added
v. Mr Singh becomes the first police chief to quit the force. The 1980 batch officer was due for retirement in 2015.


3.  Aditya Mehta clinched the Snooker Gold Medal

i. India's number one snooker player, Aditya Mehta on 31 July 2013 clinched the gold medal in the World Games, beating China's Liang Wenbo, 3-0, in the final of the quadrennial event at Cali, Columbia.
ii. Mehta had earlier defeated Thailand`s Dechawat Poomjaeng 3-1 in the semifinal. Poomjaeng defeated another Indian and eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
iii. Poomjaeng won the bronze medal after securing a 3-2 win over Brazil`s Igor Figueiredo in his third-place play-off match.

4.    Telangana draft Bill approved by Union Cabinet

i. The Union Cabinet on 5 December 2013 approved the 10 districts Telangana draft Bill.
ii. The 29th state of India, Telengana will consist of ten districts, whereas Andhra Pradesh will have 13 districts.
iii. Hyderabad will be the common capital for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for a period of 10 year.
iv. Both the states will have special status under Article 371-D of the Constitution for equitable opportunities for education and public employment.

General Knowledge Update 90

1.  SC for harsher punishment including life term for milk adulterators

i. The Supreme Court has favoured punishment of life imprisonment to people indulging in production and marketing of adulterated milk and has asked the state governments to make amendment in laws.
ii. A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and A K Sikri yesterday said punishment of six months jail term mentioned in Food Safety Act is grossly inadequate and asked states to amend the law as has been done by the Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha.
iii. The bench was hearing Public-Interest Litigations seeking its direction to state governments to stop practice of milk adulteration which is rampant in various states.


2.  Dhoni is 4th fastest batsman to score 8000 runs in ODIs

i. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today became the fourth fastest batsman to complete 8,000 runs in one-day cricket during the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand in Wellington.
ii. The 32-year-old reached the milestone in the 26th over of the match. It is a commendable achievement by the wicketkeeper-batsman who comes in lower down the order.
iii. The three men ahead of him in the list are illustrious compatriots Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly and the West Indian legend Brian Lara, all of whom batted in the top three. Dhoni has taken 214 innings to touch t he landmark.


3.  India thrash Zimbabwe by 9 wickets

i. India continued their dominance over Zimbabwe as they thrashed the hosts by 9 wickets in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Thursday.
ii. Chasing a meagre target of 145, openers Rohit Sharma (64*) and Suresh Raina (65*) both slammed half-century each to secure another massive win for India.
iii. Earlier, India continued their dominance in the series as they dismissed Zimbabwe for a paltry total.
iv. With the series already in their pocket after having won the first three games quite comfortably, India made two changes in their playing eleven today, handing out debuts to Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohit in place of Shikhar Dhawan and R Vinay Kumar.


4.    B'desh to set up exclusive Economic Zone for Japan

i. Bangladesh has decided to set up an Exclusive Economic Zone for Japan to attract investors and entrepreneurs. Ii. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told this to reporters last evening after a meeting with visiting Japanese Vice Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry.
iii. The first Bangladesh-Japan Public-Private Economic Dialogue aimed at deepening economic and commercial co-operation was held in Dhaka yesterday.
iv. Japan has been moving investment away from China after adoption of "China plus One" policy in 2008 to reduce over dependence on Beijing. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to Japan in May, 2014 had offered 40 industrial plots in the Export Processing Zones to Japan.
v. The Commerce Minister told reporters that the allocation of the Exclusive Economic Zone will be finalised during the forthcoming visit of the Japanese Premier to Bangladesh on 6th September.

General Knowledge Update 89

1.    Telangana draft Bill approved by Union Cabinet

i. The Union Cabinet on 5 December 2013 approved the 10 districts Telangana draft Bill.
ii. The 29th state of India, Telengana will consist of ten districts, whereas Andhra Pradesh will have 13 districts.
iii. Hyderabad will be the common capital for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for a period of 10 year.
iv. Both the states will have special status under Article 371-D of the Constitution for equitable opportunities for education and public employment.


2.    Cricket: New Zealand win final ODI vs India by 87 runs

i. A listless Indian cricket team slumped to its worst ODI series defeat in New Zealand, going down 0-4, after the Black Caps hammered them by 87 runs in the inconsequential fifth and final one-dayer in Wellington on Friday.
ii. New Zealand's Ross Taylor made his second-straight century of 102 runs and Kane Williamson made 88 runs, scoring his fifth-consecutive half century.
iii. From Indian side, Varun Aaron who took 2 wickets giving 60 runs, was the most successful bowler while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami took one wicket each.
iv. With this, the hosts have bagged the 5-match ODI series. They had won the first two games, tied the third and also won the fourth to claim the series and also dethrone the Men in Blue from the Number One spot in the ODI rankings.

3.    India lift SAFF U-16 football title

i. India beat Nepal 1-0 to lift the South Asian Football Federation Under-16 Championships title on Tuesday.
ii. India, represented by All India Football Federation's Regional Academy, surged ahead in the 18th minute with Lalrinzuala unleashing a powerful left-footed 35-yard strike to beat the Nepalese goalie in the final match at the Dasharath Stadium.
iii. The early goal, which stunned the partisan home crowd to silence, turned out to be the match-winner. India returned unbeaten in the biennial tournament.


4.    RBI projects 5.5 % GDP growth during current fiscal

i. The Reserve Bank has said the economy is likely to grow at 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal as it sees pick-up in manufacturing and investment.
ii.  As per the RBI’s annual report for the Financial Year 2013-14 released yesterday, there are signs of improvement in mining and manufacturing activity, expected pick-up in investments, improved external demand and stabilizing global commodity prices.
iii. The RBI also said that its surplus for the Financial Year 2014 fiscal declined 14.75 per cent to 52,679 crore rupees as its interest income from investments in foreign sovereign bonds declined during the year even as its investments increased.