The General Knowledge section forms an important component of many competitive exams, including IBPS, SBI, SSC, UPSC entrance examinations. We, therefore, present this Daily Update in order to take care of your current affairs preparation needs. All the Best!
1. Pooja Thakur
became first woman officer to lead the Guard
of Honour at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan
i. Wing Commander Pooja Thakur became the first
woman to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour which was inspected by the U.S.
President Barack Obama at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on Sunday.
ii. Wing Commander Thakur belongs to the
administrative branch of the Indian Air Force and is currently posted at
‘Disha’, the publicity cell under the Directorate of Personnel Officers at the
Air Force Headquarters.
iii. She hails from Rajasthan and is active in para-jumping
and adventure sports.
iv. President Obama received a 21 gun salute at
the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and then met the President Pranab
Mukherjee. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers were also
present.
2. Edgar Lungu sworn in as New President of
Zambia
i. Edgar Lungu
was sworn in as the new President of Zambia and became the countroy’s sixth
President.
ii. The 58-year-old former defense minister from
the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) was declared the winner yesterday in the election to replace the late Michael Sata, who died in office in October.
iii. He takes over the remainder of Sata’s term
until a general election scheduled for September 2016.
3. RBI lifts ban on carrying 1,000 & 500
bank notes to and from Nepal
i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted a
ban on carrying Indian bank notes of Rs 1,000 and 500 denominations to and from
Nepal.
ii. RBI issued a circular easing the
restriction on export and import of bank notes of 1,000 and 500 denominations
for Nepal and Bhutan. RBI had imposed this restriction since May, 2000.
iii. The Indian central bank, however, has put a
limit on carrying such notes at Rs 25,000 per person.
iv. Nepalese Government officials
say that the lifting of this ban will provide a great relief to Nepali workers as well as
to Indian tourists travelling to Nepal.
4. US will help India for building smart cities
i. India has signed three Memorandums of
Understanding, MoUs, with the United States for building smart cities in
Visakhapatnam, Allahabad, and Ajmer.
ii. These memorandums were signed in the
presence of Union Urban Development Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu and United
States Trade Development Agency (USTDA), Director, Leocadia I. Zak. Addressing
the gathering, Mr Naidu said that the people of both countries are looking forward
to work for the betterment of the world.
5. 5th National Voters’ Day being celebrated
today
i. The Fifth National Voters’ Day was
celebrated across the country on the 25th of January. The Election Commission organized a function
in New Delhi which was presided over by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
ii. The objective of the programme is also to
increase enrollment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones.
iii. Addressing the gathering, the Chief Election
Commissioner HS Brahma said that political parties have more responsibility
than the Election Commission to improve the quality of governance in the
country.
6. Renowned Marathi writer M D Hatkananglekar
passes away
i. Renowned Marathi literary critic, writer and
translator, M D Hatkananglekar died on the morning of 25th January. He was 89.
ii. He was admitted to the hospital about a
fortnight ago due to old-age related health problems.
iii. Mr Hatkanaglekar was the president of Akhil
Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan. He was associated with a number of literary
institutions in Maharashtra.
7. TRAI issues
draft rules for full mobile number portability
i. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) has issued draft regulations to facilitate full mobile number
portability, which is set to start from May 3.
ii. The full or nationwide mobile number
portability (MNP) will allow consumers to change the service provider in any
part of the country while retaining their existing number.
iii. At present, mobile number portability allows
consumers to change their service provider within a telecom circle, which, in
most cases, is limited to a State.
8. Padma Awards
announced, Advani, Bachchan, Dilip Kumar get Padma Vibhushan
i. L K Advani, Amitabh Bachchan, thespian Dilip
Kumar and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal were chosen for this year’s
Padma Vibhushan award.
ii. Pamda Vibhushan is the second highest civilian honour, as the
government gave a saffron touch honouring eminent people of various fields in
this year’s list of Padma awardees.
iii. Eminent lawyer K.K. Venugopal, D. Veerendra
Heggade of the famous Dharmasthala Jain temple in Karnataka, eminent nuclear
scientist M.R. Srinivasan and the Aga Khan were also chosen for Padma
Vibhushan.
iv. Former CEC N. Gopalaswami, Microsoft chief
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda were selected for Padma Bhushan in the list of
104 people whose names were released on the eve of Republic day.
v. This list comprises nine Padma Vibhushan, 20
Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri awardees. 17 of them were women and an equal
number were in the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and four posthumous
awardees.
9. Saina retains
Syed Modi crown
i. Saina Nehwal defeated reigning World
Champion Carolina Marin of Spain to retain the Syed Modi International Badminton
Championships in Lucknow on Sunday.
ii. The World No.3 defending champion, Saina,
outplayed the Spanish with 19-21, 25-23,
21-16 in three sets and clinched the Grand Prix Gold crown at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor
Stadium.
iii. With the victory, Saina completed a
hat-trick of wins against the second seeded Carolina in as many meetings
between them. This is also Saina’s first title of 2015.
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