Daily GK Update : 15th February, 2016

Feb 16, 2016

First day of Make in India week : 3 MoU worth Rs. 21000 crore signed

Three MoUs between Maharashtra government bodies and various companies for total investment worth Rs. 21,000 crore have been signed.
First MoU: TwinStar Display Technologies has inked MoU with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
Second MoU: Raymond Industries and MIDC have inked MoU as part of ‘Farm to Fabric’ initiative.
Third MoU: Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, Jain Irrigation Pvt Ltd and Department of Agriculture and Marketing of Maharashtra have inked MoU for setting up a juice manufacturing facility.

BAFTA awards : 69^th British Academy Film awards.

69th British Academy Film Awards held on 14 February 2016 in London.
It has taken place in Central London at the Royal Opera House.
The Revenant’ scooped the best film, best actor and best director awards at the 69th edition of the biggest film awards outside the U.S.
Other award of BAFTA’s are :
- Outstanding British Film: Brooklyn.
- Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant).
- Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant).
- Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room).
- Most awards: The Revenant (5 wins).
- Most nominations: Bridge of Spies and Carol (9 nominations each).

Biraja Prasad, Indian Ambassador to Tajikistan passes away.

He was the youngest Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer to be appointed as India’s Ambassador to any country.

Actress Vidya Balan conferred with Pride of Kerala Award.

He has been awarded with Pride of Kerala Award by the World Malaya lee Council and Kairali TV.
National Award-winning actress Vidya Balan, who hails from Kerala, is 38 year old.
National award winner had made her debut in Bollywood in 2005 in Parineeta.

Andhra Pradesh State Govt signed agreement with USTDA

MoU was signed by Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration) Karikal Velavan and Country Manager of USTDA Heather K Lanigan in the presence of Chief Minister and Director of USTDA Leocadila I Zak.
US Trade and Development Agency has signed MoU with the Department Of Municipal administration of Andhra Pradesh on funding for drawing up the master plan for Visakhapatnam Smart City and a consortium of three US companies, comprising AECOM, KPMG and IBM.

Kirthiga Reddy, MD of Facebook India stepped down.

She would be moving to Facebook’s headquarters in the US in the next 6 to 12 months. Facebook started looking for her successor in India.
Facebook has shut down ‘ Free Basics’ in India, days after telecom regulator TRAI barred operators from charging discriminatory rates for internet access based on content.
Free Basics was offered in India in partnership with Reliance Communications and was earlier known as Internet.org.

Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi appointed as new director of IIMR.

He has been appointed as Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Rajendranagar.
Prior to this appointment, he was working as the Principal Scientist at Seed Science and Technology of the IIMR.

Indian and Israeli companies tie up for cooperation in defence

The seminar will be organised jointly by SIBAT, the Israeli defence ministry, the International Defence Cooperation Directorate and Ficci will take place on 21-25 February 2016.
It will mainly focus on increasing collaborations and JVs between the MSME ministries on both sides.

New ICAI President : Devaraja Reddy

He belongs to Hyderabad and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) with more than 28 years of professional standing.
He was the Vice-President of ICAI for the council year 2015-16.
Nilesh S Vikamsey is the new Vice President of the CA Institute for the term 2016-17.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced new measures for march 2016.

RBI will inject adequate additional liquidity using a combination of appropriate instruments while continuing with its normal liquidity adjustment facility operations.
This will be done with a view to addressing the expected tightening of liquidity conditions next month on account of advance tax payments by corporate and in order to provide flexibility to the banking system in its liquidity management towards March-end 2016.

R D mathur get promotion to the rank of Air Marshal.

Air vice Marshal Rajiv Dayal Mathur, promoted to the rank of Air Marshal on 15 Feb 16.
Prior to this, He had been Assistant Chief of Air Staff in charge of the Indian Air Force’s Air Warfare Strategy Cell besides its space, cyber, Air Traffic Services and Media & Public Relations Directorates.

Tata Steel clinched TIME’s best in class for manufacturing award.

American publishing company, Time Inc has announced the winners of the inaugural TIME India awards, honouring leaders for manufacturing excellence in India.
McKinsey & Company is the knowledge partner for the awards.
The awards encompassed three categories:Best in class manufacturing,manufacturing innovator of the year andYoung maker of the year.
The finalists were announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

14 crore Soil Health cards to be distributed by Indian Govt by march 2017

The steps have been taken by the government to achieve the target.
The foundation stone of Agriculture Technology Application Research Institute was laid Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.The new institute will help the farmers.
The institute will work as the nodal agency of all Krishi Vigyan Kendras for three states.

Albert Pahimi Padacke appointed by Chad as new PM

President Idriss Deby has appointed MP Albert Pahimi Padacke as new PM of the Central African country Chad.
His appointment came after the resignation of his predecessor, just two months ahead of presidential elections.

“DIAL Cargo” mobile application launched by Delhi International Airport Ltd.

DIAL has launched a mobile application ‘DIAL Cargo’ for cargo operations to reduce paperwork and track movement of shipments on real time basis.
DIAL runs the international airport in the national capital.
The mobile application would aid in electronic clearance of cargo through the customs Department.

U-19 WC : WI beat India to win its maiden title.

West Indies won the Under-19 World Cup for the first time in their history after beating India by five wickets in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
It was the 11th edition of the U-19 Cricket World Cup, and the second to be held in Bangladesh, after the 2004 event.

Mirza-Hingis win St. Petersburg title.

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis clinched the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
With the win, the Indo-Swiss pair bagged their 13th women’s double titles.