Daily GK : 01 January 2017

1. Mori village in Andhra gets Smart Digital village tag:

• Mori village under Sakhinetipalli mandal in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh placed on India’s digital map by transforming completely into a Smart Digital Village. 
• Mori has bagged the Swachh Village award recently at the national level.

2. Madhya Pradesh plans to develop 1,100 ‘climate-smart’ villages:

• Madhya Pradesh has been planning to develop 1,100 ‘climate-smart’ villages in a period of next 6 years to prepare farmers to manage the climate change risks timely and ensure good productivity.
• According to the plan, 100 villages in each of the 11 agro-climatic zones of the state would be taken up under the National Agriculture Development Programme (NADP) and Indian National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture with a cost about Rs 150 crore every year.

3. PM Narendra Modi's Speech On Demonetisation On New Year's Eve: Highlights

1. Two new housing schemes for urban poor.

2. Under PM Awas Yojana, interest relief of 4 per cent for home loan up to 9 lakhs, 3 per cent for up to 12 lakhs will be given.

3. Under PM Awas Yojana, to give poor and middle class homes, two new schemes have been introduced.

4. In 3 months, 3 crore Kisan Credit Cards will be transformed to RuPay credit cards for farmers.

5. 3 per cent interest waiver on loan up to Rs 2 lakh for construction of houses in rural India under PM Awas Yojana.

6. Government to bear 60 days interest on farm loans taken from District Cooperative Central Bank and primary society.

7. Credit guarantee for small traders to be raised to Rs 2 crore.

Kisan Credit Cards to be changed to Rupay cards for ease of use.

8. Rs 6000 assistance will be provided to pregnant women; the assistance money will be transferred to their account.

4. S P Singh takes over as new Chief Secretary of Telangana:

• Senior IAS officer S P Singh has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Telangana govt.
• Singh is currently serving as Special Chief Secretary in Panchayati Raj department.
• He takes over the charge of office from K Pradeep Chandra, who retired from service on Saturday.

5. Olympic heroes and entertainers recognised in New Year Honours 2017:

• Andy Murray, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill are among theOlympic stars recognised in a New Year Honours list. 
• Rio 2016 men's tennis champion Murray and double gold-winning athlete Farah receive knighthoods, while heptathleteEnnis-Hill becomes a dame. 
• A host of Paralympians also receive honours, including 11-times gold medallist dressage rider Lee Pearson who receives a knighthood.

6. British-Indian Shankar Balasubramanian receives Knighthood in New Year's Honours List: 

• An Indian-origin British professor of chemistry, Shankar Balasubramanian, received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the field of science and medicine.
• Sir Shankar Balasubramanian  is an Indian-born British chemist and Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry the University of Cambridge.

7. SBI cuts lending rate by 0.9 per cent:

• The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Sunday slashed its benchmark lending rate by 0.9% across various maturities.
• Following this cut, home, auto, personal and other loans will become cheaper.
• The new rates are effective from January 1, 2017.

8. Justice Mian Saqib Nisar appointed as Chief Justice of Pak:

• Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has taken oath as the 25th Chief Justice of Pakistan. 
• The oath was administered by the country's President Mamnoon Hussain at the President House. 
• The event was attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other dignitaries. Justice Nisar has replaced Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali who retired after serving as Chief Justice for 15 months.

9. Somdev Devvarman retires from professional tennis:

• Somdev Devvarman announced his retirement from professional tennis on his official Twitter page on Sunday.
• He last played against Sebastian Fanselow at USA F10 Futures, two years ago. 
• The 31-year-old’s career was hampered by a recurring shoulder injury in 2012.
• Somdev led the Indian charge in the Davis Cup singles since his debut in 2008, and has played 14 rubbers.

10. 7 Year Old Kush Bhagat Creates History at Asia Youth Chess Championship:

• Mumbai’s  Kush Bhagat made history on December 29 after winning three gold medals in the 1st Western Asia Youth Chess Championship held in Al Ain Chess Club, UAE. 
• The second standard student of the NSS Hill Spring International achieved the feat in all the three categories, rapid, blitz and standard, and became the only Indian in the world to bag all the crowns in the competition. 

Daily GK 29th - 30th Dec 2016

National Affairs

1. PM Modi launches "BHIM App" for digital transaction

• Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched an Aadhaar-based mobile payment application "BHIM" (Bharat Interface for Money)" at the Digi Dhan Mela event in Talkatora stadium in New Delhi.
• After downloading the BHIM app from the Play store, the user has to register his/her bank account and set up a UPI Pin for it.
• The user’s mobile number will become the payment address.
• The user can send or receive money from friends, family and customers through a mobile number (payment address).
• This can be done using MMID and IFSC.
• The user can also collect money by sending a request and reverse payments if required.

Note:

• Earlier, the Mela was organised at Dehradun, Panaji, Gurugram and Ludhiana.
• As many as 100 such fairs will be organised throughout the country till 14th of April next year.
• The main purpose of the Mela is to boost digital modes of payments.

2. Railway Minister lays the foundation of Nadikudi-Srikalahasti project in AP

• The Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has laid the foundation via video conference from Delhi, for “Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway project”.
• He also flagged off the Double-Decker train between Visakhapatnam-Tirupathi besides launching hi-speed wi-fi facility in Guntur RS and ETTC new hostel building in Vijayawada.

3. 1.5 crore LPG connections issued to BPL households

• The union Government has achieved its target of providing 1.5 crores free cooking gas (LPG) connections to poor households in less than 8 months under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
• The scheme is being implemented now across 35 states and Union Territories (UT).
• Earlier, PM Modi had launched PMUJ on 1st May from Balia (Uttar Pradesh) and aims to provide 5 crore free LPG connections to BPL families in three years.

4. Indian Railways announce 10% rebate in vacant train berths

• Indian Railways has announced 10% rebate for the vacant berths after finalisation of the reservation charts and the discount will be based on the basic fare of the last ticket sold in the train.
• It will be effective from 1st of January, 2017 on an experimental basis for six months.
• Now, a passenger can avail the rebate in basic fare (except reservation and super fast charge ) for availing the vacant berths in all reserved categories including AC and Sleeper class (SL) after the finalisation of the chart.

5. Ranveer Singh becomes new ambassador of Thumps Up

• Coca-Cola India has signed Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh as the brand ambassador for its Thums Up brand.
• The company launched new campaign starring Ranveer Singh in its 'Toofani' series.

Note:

• Thums Up is a brand of cola in India and logo is a red "thumbs up".
• It was introduced in the year 1977 to offset the withdrawal of the Coca-Cola Company from India.
• The brand was later bought by Coca-Cola who re-launched it in order to compete against Pepsi.

6. Manish Sisodia releases Delhi Statistical Hand book

• The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi  Manish Sisodia has released the Delhi Statistical Hand Book -2016 containing data relating to various socio-economic parameters in 23 broad chapters.
• The per capita income of Delhi has been recorded Rs. 2,80,142 and in national level is found to be  Rs. 93,293 during 2015-16.
• The Total number of new vehicles registered in Delhi increased from 5.34 lakhs ( 2014-15) to 8.77 lakhs (2015-16).
• There are 1131 health institutions with 48,131 beds in Delhi as on 31st December 2015.
• The total number of schools in Delhi were 5796 in 2015-16.
• Around 44.31 lakh children were enrolled at different levels during 2015-16 in these schools as compared to 44.13 lakhs during 2014-15.
• Under Ladli scheme 1.74 lakhs girls got financial benefits during 2015-16.

 Obituaries

7. Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher passes away

• American actress, writer, producer  Carrie Fisher (60-year) known for playing Princess Leia in the 'Star Wars' film series passed away in Los Angeles (USA).
• Fisher and her mother are the subjects of the 2016 documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.Itpremiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

National & International Appointment

8. S.P.Vaid appointed as  new J&K police chief

• The Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed Dr. Shesh Pal Vaid (1986-batch IPS officer) as new Director General of Police (DGP) of the state.
• He will succeed K Rajendra Kumar who was appointed in May 2014  and extended term of service ends on 31st December 2016.
• Presently, Mr. Vaid is working as Special DGP (Law and Order).

Banking & Finance

9. BoB Signs MoU with HFL to provide dairy loans to farmers

• Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Heritage Foods Ltd (HFL) to provide dairy loans to farmers through the lender’s branches across the country.
• This will increase former productivity and earnings BoB exhibited Highest Ever Loss by a PSB.
• Heritage Foods is in the business of procurement, processing and sale of milk and milk products.

10. Lakshmi Vilas Bank launches QIP to raise Rs 600 crore

• "Lakshmi Vilas Bank" has launched Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) to raise over Rs 599.88 crore by issuing 4.25 crore shares in domestic or international markets.
• In a meeting, the Committee of Directors for Capital Raising of the bank has approved the floor price for the QIP issue at Rs 141.15 per equity share.

Note: 

• Lakshmi Vilas Bank offers a wide range of services such as Deposits, loan, MSME, Online Services, NRI services, Wealth Management Services and Personal banking services etc.

11. RBI extends loan repayment window to 90 days

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked lenders to provide borrowers to 90 days (existing 60 days) for repayment of housing, car, farm and other loans worth up to 1 crore rupees.
• The dispensation will apply to dues payable between 1st November and 31st December.
• Now, borrowers together get 90 days from getting the account classified under non-performing asset (NPA) category.
• Last month, the RBI had provided additional 60 days for repayment of loans worth up to Rs 1 crore.

Sports

12. Ana Ivanovic announces retirement from Tennis

• Former world No1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic (29-year) from Serbia has retired from tennis.
• Ivanovic had held the top spot for 12 weeks in 2008, she also claimed her sole Grand Slam by winning the French Open.
• She was also the runner-up at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open.

Daily Gk : 31st Dec 2016

International Affairs

1. World’s highest bridge opens to traffic in China

• The world's highest bridge has opened in south-west China.
• The Beipanjiang Bridge is raised 564 metres (1,854 feet) above the Beipan River in mountainous south-west China.
• It connecting two provinces in the mountainous south-west and reducing travel times by as much as three-quarters.

2. Romania's president appoints Sorin Grindeanu as PM

• Romania's president Klaus Iohannis has appointed Sorin Grindeanu (43-years) as the country's new prime minister.
• He was proposed for the position by a government coalition comprising election winners Social Democrat Party (PSD) and junior partner Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE)
• Earlier, he served as minister of telecommunications and information society in Victor Ponta's cabinet.

3. India & Singapore sign 3rd protocol for amending DTAA

• India and Singapore have signed the 3rd protocol for amending Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) in New Delhi.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the revisiting of this treaty is important as it will help in government's efforts to eliminate black money.
• Earlier, India had amended the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius and Cyprus.

4. China announces ban on ivory trade by end of 2017

• China's State Council has announced a ban on all ivory trade and processing activities by the end of 2017.
• The move follows a resolution at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in South Africa in October.
• China has the biggest ivory market in the world and estimates suggest 70% of the world's trade ends up there.
• The commercial processing and sale of ivory will stop by 31 Marc, and all registered traders will then be phased out by the end of the year.

National Affairs

5. J&K CM launches several e-learning modules

• Today, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Mehbooba Mufti has launched several e-learning modules developed by the State Education Department in collaboration with several agencies and organisations at the winter capital city of Jammu.
• A School Management Information System having a complete database of schools including staff strength, student-teacher ratio and other components.
• A Unified Data Information System for Education (U-DISE) which details the enrolments and pupil-teacher ratios from school-to-school.
• The GIS mapping of schools and launched an online portal--Vocational Monitoring Details’ for monitoring the implementation of various vocational courses in the State. 

6. Govt extends deadline for ensuring rabi crops till Jan 10

• The union Government has extended the cut-off date for insuring 2016-17 rabi crops till 10th January next year to provide relief to farmers hit by demonetization.
• The deadline to take insurance policy for both loanee and non-loanee farmers from banks for "Rabi crops" under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) expires today.
• The decision has been taken keeping in view the difficulties faced by the farmers in obtaining crop insurance due to demonetization of old currency notes.
• The State governments have been asked to take appropriate action regarding extension of cut-off date and inform all stakeholders.
• Around 167.47 lakh farmers had taken crop insurance in the rabi season of 2015-16.
• The government hopes that more farmers will enrol under the new PMFBY launched early this year with better features.

Banking & Finance

7. Cash withdrawal limit from ATMs increased to Rs 4,500 per day

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the daily limit of  Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawal to Rs. 4500 from current Rs. 2500 from 1st January,2017.
• In a major relief for the common man,
• There has been no change in the weekly withdrawal limit (Rs 24,000) including from ATM for individuals and Rs 50,000 in the case of small traders.
• The RBI had also permitted White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) to source cash from retail outlets.

8. RBI extends period of enhanced Prepaid Payment Instruments limit

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the period of enhanced Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) limit of Rs 20,000 as part of efforts to promote digital payments to meet the transactional needs of the public through digital means.
• It has been also decided to extend the measures till the completion of the review of the PPI guidelines.
• The merchants can transfer funds from such PPIs to their own linked bank accounts up to Rs 50,000 per month, without any limit per transaction.
• Now, 47 non-bank entities and 45 banks are operating payment systems for PPI.

Sports

9. Narinder Batra resign's as IOA associate VP

• Narinder Batra has resigned as the associate vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
• Earlier, he has protested against the IOA for not taking back its decision to appoint Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as honorary life presidents.
• Recently, he has become the International Hockey Federation (FIH) president.

10. Kush Bhagat wins 3 gold medals in chess championship in UAE 

• Kush Bhagat (7-year) has won all three gold medals in three categories (Rapid, Blitz and Standard) on offer in the 1st Western Asia Youth Chess Championships at Al Ain Chess Club in UAE (United Arab Emirates).
• Bhagat is the second standard student of the NSS Hill Spring International School, Mumbai.
• He achieved the feat of being the only Indian to bag all the crowns in the competition.
• Kush overcame the challenges from 158 participants of 20 countries across the world.