Daily GK Update - 24th February 2015

Daily GK Update - 24th February 2015

1. Salaries in PSU Banks increased by 15%

i. Employee unions of public sector banks withdrew their strike call following an agreement with the management on 15 per cent wage hike. 

ii. The bank unions had threatened to go on 4-day nation-wide strike from February 25 demanding 19 per cent hike in wages. The wage hike was due from November 2012. 

iii. The bank employees will now also get holidays on two Saturdays in a month. The banks, however, will work full-day on remaining Saturdays instead of the current practice of half-day.

2. Land acquisition amendment bill introduced in LS

i. The government introduced the land acquisition amendment bill in the Lok Sabha amid uproar by the Opposition.

ii. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 will replace an ordinance which had been promulgated by the NDA government on December 30 last year.

iii. Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha after the government introduced the Land Acquisition Bill.

3. Indian Army and State Bank of India inked MoU

i. The Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Defence Salary Package. 

ii. The MoU is tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. 

iii. The signing ceremony was chaired by the Adjutant General, Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma.

The revised MoU has incorporated a number of additional facilities and basic features of the MoU include the following

• Number of free/concessional services like free drafts, free cheque books, free funds transfers to any bank in India through RTGS / NEFT, free ATM cards and others
• The provision also includes the Nepal Express Remittance Scheme which enables instant fund transfers to Nepal for the benefit of the Nepali Domicile Gorkha Soldiers serving in the Indian Army.
• Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) was enhanced and was linked to the Savings account instead of the debit card.
• Exemption percentage of margin money for house and car loans was enhanced while the processing charges on the loans were waved off.

4. ONGC director Shashi Shankar suspended

i. The government has suspended Shashi Shankar,the director of the country's biggest oil producing company, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. 

ii. Shankar is the youngest director on the board of the nation’s most profitable oil company.

iii. He was appointed Director (Technical and Field Services) on February 1 last year.

5. Modi government accepts Finance Commission recommendations

i. The Modi government said on Tuesday that it has accepted the recommendation of Finance Commission to raise the share of states in central taxes to 42 per cent from current 32 per cent. 

ii. As per the increased devolution suggested in the report of the 14th Finance Commission, the states will get Rs 3.48 lakh crore in 2014-15 and Rs 5.26 lakh crore in 2015-16. 

iii. PM Modi said that while the Finance Commission was in favour of all state plans being met through the resources being devolved, the Centre will continue to support national priority projects like poverty elimination, MNREGA, education, health, rural development, agriculture and a few others. 

6. Rana Bhagwandas first Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan passes away

i. First Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Rana Bhagwandas passed away in Karachi, Pakistan. 

ii. He was the first Hindu and the second non-Muslim to head of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. 

iii. In 2005 for first time he was appointed as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for few days and again in 2006 during the absence of then CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry.

iv. During the Pakistan’s judicial crisis of 2007, he was again appointed as acting Chief Justice.

7. Chris Gayle hits first-ever World Cup double hundred

i. West Indies opener Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score a double century in a World Cup innings when he reached the landmark against Zimbabwe in a Pool B clash.

ii. It was also only the fifth double century in all ODI cricket and the first by a non-Indian, with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat.

iii. The West Indian coincidentally scored his double century exactly on the day when master blaster hammered first ever ODI double ton five years ago in 2010 against South Africa in Gwalior.

Records broken by Chris Gayle:

• First batsman to score a double hundred at World Cup.
• Fastest ODI double hundred off 138 balls. Virender Sehwag was the previous fastest off 140 balls.
• Fourth batsman to score ODI double hundred.
• Equals the record for most sixes an innings - Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers'

Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2015/02/daily-gk-update-24th-february-2015.html#ixzz3SicjdrWO

'American Horror Story' actor Woolf dies after accident

Woolf died on Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, publicist Zack Teperman said.

Ben Woolf, an actor on the TV series “American Horror Story,” has died after being injured in a street accident, a spokesman said. He was 34.

Woolf died on Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, publicist Zack Teperman said. Woolf’s family was at his side.

The 4-foot-4 (1.32-meter) actor was hospitalized in critical condition after he was hit by the side mirror of a passing vehicle on an LA-area street.

The motorist, who stopped at the scene on Thursday night, wasn’t cited or arrested.

Woolf was a cast member on the FX show in its first season, in 2011, when he played a character called the Infantata. In the latest installment, “American Horror Story- Freak Show,” he appeared as Meep.

“He was a tremendous professional and an incredibly kind person, beloved by the ‘American Horror Story’ family,” FX and the show’s producers said in a statement.

Members of Woolf’s family said in a statement that they were overwhelmed by the love and support they’ve received for him.

Teperman, his publicist, called Woolf “one-of-a-kind,” a caring and hard-working man.

Keywords: American Horror Story, Ben Woolf, death

TIMES OF INDIA DAILY NEWS LETTER FEBRUARY 23 2015

Daily Newsletter | Monday, February 23, 2015
TOP HEADLINES MORE » Land ordinance: Anna Hazare vows to fight Modi govt's 'anti-farmer' bill Anna Hazare termed the land acquisition bill as 'anti-farmer'. The move is bound to spell trouble for the Modi govt which is keen on pushing the ordinance. Rahul Gandhi on sabbatical ahead of Budget Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has desired to reflect upon "recent events" and the future course of the party. SC asks Srini why he attended BCCI meeting Supreme Court has slammed BCCI's president-in-exile N Srnivasan for presiding over the board's Working Committee meeting on February 8.
CITIES MORE » Two charged for links with terror outfit in Delhi Two Manipuri residents have been convicted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by a Delhi court for being members of a banned terror outfit. ‘Exact change’ counters at Delhi's 20 metro stations The next time you want to get a ticket fast, carry exact change. The Delhi Metro has set up “exact change” counters across 20 busiest stations to curtail queuing or waiting time for passengers. Four decades of cartoons under one roof It was a couple of months after the Sino-Indian war in 1962 that S Swaminathan landed in New Delhi. A cartoon on the foreign policy of the Central government that appeared on the front page of a leading newspaper captured his imagination. He soon began to study the genre closely. After joining IIT, Delhi as a lecturer in 1963, he began collecting cartoons and went on doing so until he left the institution in 2000.
TECH MORE » Lenovo A6000 review We review the Lenovo A6000, India's cheapest 4G-capable smartphone, at this time. Micromax dials Alibaba, SoftBank for stake sale With its IPO plans on the back burner, India's largest homegrown handset vendor Micromax is exploring several strategic options. 7 hot smartphones under Rs 10,000 Shopping for a budget smartphone? Not sure which one to go for? The wide range available across e-commerce websites adding to rthe confusion? Here's help.
SPORTS MORE » Flexibility is Ajinkya Rahane's key strength: MS Dhoni Indian captain MS Dhoni feels that Ajinkya Rahane has improved by leaps and bounds in recent times and is ready to don any hat for the team's cause. SC asks Srinivasan why he attended BCCI meeting Supreme Court has slammed BCCI's president-in-exile N Srnivasan for presiding over the board's Working Committee meeting on February 8. Don't remember Proteas being outplayed like this: Ganguly Sourav Ganguly said the Proteas have not been outplayed like this in a "long long time" and Dhoni's side can gain a lot of courage from such a display.
BUSINESS MORE » Sensex closes below 29,000-level on profit-booking Stock markets fell for the second straight session today with the benchmark BSE sensex slipping below the 29,000-mark by falling over 256 points as investors turned cautious ahead of the Budget and booked profits. 'Clean energy share will be at 15% of basket in 7 years' Stressing the need to boost clean energy generation, President Pranab Mukherjee today said that the share of renewable power generation will be enhanced to 15 per cent of the total energy mix in the next seven years. JSPL, DLF shares fall on exit from Nifty from March 27 Shares of realty major DLF and Jindal Steel & Power today witnessed selling pressure after the announcement that both the firms will be dropped from the National Stock Exchange's benchmark index Nifty from March 27.
ENTERTAINMENT MORE » 'I'm fully aware that I'm a lucky, lucky man' Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman, a black comedy drama about an ageing film star who is trying to reclaim his career, family and life, managed to fetch an Oscar in the Best Picture category. IN PICS: Neil hosts Oscars in just an underwear Neil Patrick Harris made for an interesting host of the Awards night and held everyone's attention till the end. Read on to know some of the interesting highlights of the ceremony.

Daily GK Updates - 21st February 2015 1. PDP, BJP finalise deal on J&K government formation i. BJP and PDP agreed on forming the government in Jammu and Kashmir, both the parties confirmed that the two have finalized the deal. ii. Sources said the status quo is likely to continue on Article 370 and there will be no re-looking on the controverial Armed Forces Special Powers Act as of now. iii. PDP will have chief minister's post for full term and BJP deputy chief minister's post which is expected to be given to state BJP leader Nirmal Singh. iv. PDP, has 28 MLAs and BJP has 25 MLAs after results for the state Assembly were declared on December 23. 2. Tributes paid to senior CPI leader Govind Pansare i. Tributes poured in for veteran Communist leader Govind Pansare who succumbed to bullet injuries. ii. All the leaders from around the country condemned this cowardly act and shown condolences to the social worker. 3. In a first, women join Sarang team i. For the first time, two women are part of the Sarang team of the Indian Air Force, a show-stopping helicopter-formation team that is performing at the Aero India show. ii. In a major policy shift in 2010, the IAF allowed women pilots to fly twin-engine medium to heavy-lift helicopters. iii. Deepika Misra is the Squadron Leader and Sandeep Singh an engineering officer, is the Flight Lieutenant. 4. State Bank of India to finance small tea growers in NE i. State Bank of India(SBI) will provide finance totaling Rs 100 crore benefiting 3,000 small tea growers in the North East. ii. Finance will be provided to tea growers who have proper basic documents of their existing garden as per Tea Board of India norms. iii. The benefit is not only for Assam, but also for new tea garden growing states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya which will also be covered under a similar scheme . 5. Tapan Misra appointed as Chief of ISRO’s Space Application Centre i. Eminent scientist Tapan Misra has been appointed the Chief of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad Gujarat. ii. He will succeed A S Kiran Kumar, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in January 2015. iii. He was awarded Hari Om Ashram Prerit Vikram Sarabhai research Award (2004), ISRO Merit award (2008), Sir JC Bose National Talent Search (JBNSTS) Scholarship (1981). iv. He has 2 granted patents, 6 pending patents, 5 copyrights and many research papers to his credit. 6. India signs loan agreement with ADB to boost power generation capacity in Assam i. India has signed loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 50 Million dollars to boost power generation capacity in Assam. ii. The loan agreement was signed for the second Assam power sector investment programme. iii. This programme aims to build up the capacity of power generation and distribution systems in state to meet the growing energy demand. iv. This programme is expected to be completed by 31 December 2018. Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2015/02/daily-gk-updates-21st-february-2015.html#ixzz3SRf5QSlI

1. PDP, BJP finalise deal on J&K government formation

i. BJP and PDP agreed on forming the government in Jammu and Kashmir, both the parties confirmed that the two have finalized the deal.

ii. Sources said the status quo is likely to continue on Article 370 and there will be no re-looking on the controverial Armed Forces Special Powers Act as of now.

iii. PDP will have chief minister's post for full term and BJP deputy chief minister's post which is expected to be given to state BJP leader Nirmal Singh.

iv. PDP, has 28 MLAs and BJP has 25 MLAs after results for the state Assembly were declared on December 23.  

2. Tributes paid to senior CPI leader Govind Pansare 

i. Tributes poured in for veteran Communist leader Govind Pansare who succumbed to bullet injuries.

ii. All the leaders from around the country condemned this cowardly act and shown condolences to the social worker.

3. In a first, women join Sarang team

i. For the first time, two women are part of the Sarang team of the Indian Air Force, a show-stopping helicopter-formation team that is performing at the Aero India show.

ii. In a major policy shift in 2010, the IAF allowed women pilots to fly twin-engine medium to heavy-lift helicopters.

iii. Deepika Misra is the Squadron Leader and Sandeep Singh an engineering officer, is the Flight Lieutenant.

4. State Bank of India to finance small tea growers in NE

i. State Bank of India(SBI) will provide finance totaling Rs 100 crore benefiting 3,000 small tea growers in the North East.

ii. Finance will be provided to tea growers who have proper basic documents of their existing garden as per Tea Board of India norms.

iii. The benefit is not only for Assam, but also for new tea garden growing states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya which will also be covered under a similar scheme .

5. Tapan Misra appointed as Chief of ISRO’s Space Application Centre

i. Eminent scientist Tapan Misra has been appointed the Chief of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad Gujarat.

ii. He will succeed A S Kiran Kumar, who was appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in January 2015.

iii. He was awarded Hari Om Ashram Prerit Vikram Sarabhai research Award (2004), ISRO Merit award (2008), Sir JC Bose National Talent Search (JBNSTS) Scholarship (1981).

iv. He has 2 granted patents, 6 pending patents, 5 copyrights and many research papers to his credit.

6. India signs loan agreement with ADB to boost power generation capacity in Assam

i. India has signed loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 50 Million dollars to boost power generation capacity in Assam.

ii.  The loan agreement was signed for the second Assam power sector investment programme.

iii. This programme aims to build up the capacity of power generation and distribution systems in state to meet the growing energy demand.

iv. This programme is expected to be completed by 31 December 2018.

Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2015/02/daily-gk-updates-21st-february-2015.html#ixzz3SRf5QSlI

Daily GK Update - 20th February 2015

1. PM Modi launches Soil Health Card scheme targeting 14 crore farmers

i.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a Soil Health Card scheme, under which the Centre plans to target over 14 crore farmers in the next three years to check the excess use of fertilisers.

ii. The card, to be issued after testing soil, would help farmers save up to Rs 50,000 in 3 acres of land.

iii. Niti Aayog and the states have been asked to constitute high-powered expert committees on agriculture to boost farm growth.

2. Rs 50k-cr naval project gets Cabinet nod

i. The Cabinet Committee on Security on Tuesday sanctioned the country's biggest naval project, the construction of seven stealth frigates for Rs 45,381 crore. 

ii. Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai , will build four of these, while Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata (GRSE),.

iii. This project, dubbed Project 17A, follows on from the earlier Project 17, in which MDL built three 5,600-tonne frigates: INS Shivalik, Satpura and Sahyadri.

iv. The Project 17A frigates, while superficially similar to those build under Project 17, will pack significantly more punch with more advanced weaponry. The new vessels will be fitted with BrahMos cruise missile for land attack, and the new Indo-Israeli Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) that can shoot down incoming anti-ship missiles.

3. Telangana woos aerospace majors to invest in SEZ near Hyderabad

i. A day after Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu made a strong pitch for investment from aerospace and defence majors at Aero India.

ii. The Hyderabad Aerospace SEZ is the first exclusive park for aerospace companies in the country. 

iii. Under the new policy all mega projects (with investment of Rs 200 crore) will get clearance in 15 days. 

4. Shanghvi, The richest Indian

i. 59-year old Gujarat born Shanghvi, by virtue of his over 63% holding in three group companies — Sun Pharma, Sun Pharma Advanced Research and Ranbaxy Labs — is worth about Rs 1.46 lakh crore ($23.42 billion at an exchange rate of 62.34 to the dollar). 

ii. In comparison Mukesh Ambani holds only 45% holdings in his two companies – RIL and Reliance industries Infrastructure which is worth only Rs 1.32 lakh crore ($21.2 billion).

iii. If the 23% stake in the wind energy major Suzlon – that Shanghvi and his family is in the process of acquiring – is added then his wealth would almost come close to Rs 1.48 lakh crore ($23.7 billion). 

iv. if the global indexes are to be noted then according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index Mukesh Ambani is still the richest Indian (33rd globally) with a net worth of $21.9 billion and Shanghvi stands at the second position (39th globally) with a net worth of $19.7 billion.

5. Manjhi quits ahead of floor test, Nitish to aworn in as CM

i. Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned ahead of a trust vote in the State Assembly. 

ii. Hours ahead of the trust vote, Manjhi submitted his resignation to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

iii. Nitish Kumar appologized to the people of Bihar on his previous decision to leave the post of the choef minister of Bihar.

iv. Nitish Kumar will sworn in as the CM of Bihar on 22nd February in Patna.

6. RIL appoints ex-IAS officer from Gujarat to board

i. Former top IAS officer from Gujarat, Maheshwar Sahu has been appointed as an independent director on the board of Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

ii. With this appointment, he joins RIL as one of the eight independent directors on its 14-member board.

iii. Sahu is popularly known as the man behind the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brainchild event- Vibrant Gujarat summit.

Daily GK Updates - 17th February 2015

1. AAP to launch 'Jai Kisan Abhiyan' in Haryana
i. senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday declared that a “Jai Kisan Abhiyan” would be launched across the State from February 21.
ii. The AAP national spokesperson said the four things which have impacted the farmers of Haryana are shortage of urea, their not getting the promised minimum support price for their produce, changes brought about in the Land Acquisition Bill through an ordinance and the Haryana Government’s lowering of the acquisition rates through a notification issued on November 4.

2. Government exempts oilseeds, raw cotton, 36 other products from CTT

i. The government has added 38 more products to the list of commodities exempt from commodity transaction tax (CTT).
ii. Twenty three commodities like oilseeds, raw cotton, spices, etc, were exempt from CTT, introduced in July 2013.
iii. The government has exempted 38 more commodities from the levy. Many of these, onion, seedlac, ginger, gram dal, gram husk, masur, methi, safflower, rice, paddy, sesamum, moth, small millets, etc.

3. Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan: Government builds 7.1 lakh toilets in January
i. Construction of toilets under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream project, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, has gained momentum with 7.1 lakh individual household toilets being built in January.
ii. According to data, a total of 31.83 lakh toilets have been built between April 2014 and January 2015, which is 25.4% of the target for 2014-15.



iii. The programme entails an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years to construct 12 crore toilets in India.
iv. In the 12th Five-Year Plan, an outlay of Rs 37,159 crore was set aside for rural sanitation under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, launched by the previous UPA government.

4. NTPC to invest USD 10 bn for building renewable projects
i. Country’s largest power producer NTPC will invest close to USD 10 billion for executing green energy projects in the next five years as part of government’s plans to provide thrust to clean electricity generation.
ii. The public sector company has committed to set up renewable power projects of 10,000 MW capacity in the country over the next five years.
iii.  NTPC signed a term loan agreement of Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 2,000 crore with state-run SBI and Bank of Baroda, respectively, for partially funding its capital expenditure.

5. Spectrum auction: Eight telcos apply, SSTL opts out
i. Reliance Jio announced its participation in the auction together with four other operators, whose licences are up for renewal are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications.



ii. Crisil estimates that operators will shell out over Rs 90,000 crore to win spectrum, pointing out that nearly half the Rs 1,20,000 crore of annual revenues is at stake for the large operators.
iii. Although the earnest money deposited by the company was not known, it appears Reliance will bid for all bands of spectrum — 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz, focusing more on the 800 MHz band.

6. Union Government imposes Anti-dumping duty on graphite electrodes imports
i. Union Ministry of Finance has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of graphite electrodes used in steel plants for five years. The imposed duty ranges between $278.19 and $922.03 per tonne.
ii. The decision was taken following the recommendations of the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping Duty (DGAD).
Anti-Dumping Duty

It is duty imposed by government on imported products which have prices less than their normal values or domestic price.
Usually countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports.
Anti-Dumping Duty is imposed under the multilateral WTO regime and vary from product to product and from country to country.
In India, anti-dumping duty is recommended by the Union Ministry of Commerce, while the Union Finance Ministry imposes it.
7. Indian-origin scientist Professor Srikanth Jagabathula received CAREER Award
i. Indian-origin scientist Professor Srikanth Jagabathula received Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) given by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States (US).
ii. He received the award for developing data-driven modelling and learning techniques to improve the accuracy of operational decision making.
iii. As part of this prestigious award, he will receive a total of 500000 US dollar over the next five years to further his research in developing data-driven modelling and learning techniques with the goal of improving the accuracy of operational decision making.


Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2015/02/daily-gk-updates-17th-february-2015.html#ixzz3SG0znXJU

Daily GK Updates - 19th February 2015

1. Hindalco bags Gare Palma coal mine

i. Aditya Birla group firm Hindalco Industries has won the Gare Palma IV/5 mine in Chhattisgarh by outbidding companies like BALCO, Sesa Sterlite, Ambuja Cements, which were also vying for the same block.

ii. Gare Palma IV/5 mine was won by Hindaco Industries at Rs 3,502 per tonne.

iii. States, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, are set to get over Rs 50,000 crore from the coal blocks sold in the ongoing auction.

iv. The government is auctioning the coal blocks after the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 204 mines in September last year. It has put 19 mines on block in the first tranche.

2. Nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile test-fired

i. India on Thursday successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable, surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile for a shortened range of 250 km as against its full range of 350 km from Chandipur in Balasore district, Odisha.

ii. The indigenously-developed missile was launched by personnel of Strategic Forces Command (SFC) from a road mobile launcher at around 9.15 am. 

iii. Carrying a dummy payload weighing 500 kg, the missile met all the mission objectives. The entire mission was carried out by SFC personnel as part of regular training.

iv. Prithvi-II is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and has been inducted into the SFC in 2003.

3. Kalyani Group announces joint venture with Rafael Defence System

i. The Kalyani Group has announced a joint venture with Rafael Advanced Defence System of Israel. This joint venture company will be based in India.

ii. The initiative is in line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy and will enable the development and production of high-end technology in the country, said the company.

iii. The joint venture will be a 51:49 partnership, with Kalyani Group holding 51 per cent stake as per the new FDI norms. Recently, the government had raised the FDI cap in defence to 49 per cent.

iv. The Kalyani Group claimed the joint venture will be among the first such ventures under the new FDI limits.

4. Rashad Hussain appointed as US Special Envoy and Coordinator

i. Indian-American Rashad  Hussain has been appointed as the Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Counter-terrorism Communications. 

ii. According to the state department of US, the appointment will expand the global engagement and partnerships of the US in order to counter violent extremism.

iii. Hussain is currently the US special envoy to Organization for Islamic Countries (OIC).

iv. In January 2009, Hussain was appointed as the Deputy Associate Counsel to US President Barack Obama, whose role was to focus on national security, new media and science and technology issues.

v. In January 2013, he received the Distinguished Honor Award for outstanding service to the agencies of the US Government which has marked national or international significance.

5. Bharti Airtel Ltd tied-up with UNICEF to provide education content in 17 African countries

i. Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited on 18 February 2015 tied-up with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to provide health, education and youth-focused content to its customers in 17 African countries.

ii. In this regard, Bharti Airtel limited and UNICEF signed a partnership agreement. Their partnership is aimed at improving African population’s access to health and education-related information from various innovative projects supported by UNICEF.

iii. The partnership extends across 17 countries in Africa including Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

6. Bihar announces 35% reservation for women in non-gazetted govt jobs

i. Bihar government has announced 35% reservation for women in non-gazetted government jobs in group C and D grade.

ii. This decision was taken at state cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.

The cabinet meeting also took following decisions

Hiked Member of Legislative Assembly  Development Fund (MLADF) from the present Rs. 2 crore in a year to Rs. 3 crore from the next financial year.

Proposal to pay 13 months salary in place of 12 months to policemen upto inspector rank.

Hiked the daily wage of home guards to Rs. 400 from Rs. 300 at present.

Enhance the payment of agricultural advisors to Rs. 7,000 per month from Rs. 6,000 per month at present.

Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2015/02/daily-gk-updates-19th-january-2015.html#ixzz3SFzz5iej