Daily GK Updates: 23, 24, 25 & 26th Oct 2014

1.    Manohar Lal Khattar takes over as new Haryana CM;

i.Senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar has been sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Haryana today. 

ii. Khattar and his ministerial colleagues were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki at a ceremony at Panchkula which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, party veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

iii. Several Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, the Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, LJP chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan also attended the ceremony. 
iv. Those sworn-in as Cabinet Ministers were: Ram Bilas Sharma, Capt Abhimanyu, O P Dhankar, Anil Vij, Rao Narbir Singh and Kavita Jain. 

v. This is the first time that the state has got a BJP chief minister. He will be the fifth non-Jat Chief Minister of Haryana. 
vi. Khattar, 60, who won the Assembly polls from Karnal, in his maiden electoral appearance, administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki at around 1120 hrs at the ceremony held at HUDA Ground in Panchkula near Chandigarh.

2.    India world’s 4th largest steel maker at 62.41 MT in Jan-Sept

i. With 62.41 million tonnes output, India remains the world’s fourth largest steel producer in the first nine months of the current year, preceded by China, Japan and the US.

ii. World Steel Association (WSA) data showed India’s steel production grew by 1.8 per cent, the second highest among the top four steel producing nations, during the January-September period from 61.27 MT in the same period last year.

iii. India has been the world’s fourth largest steel maker for the last four years. The order is likely to remain unchanged in current year too, an industry expert said.

iv. During the first nine months, China produced 618 MT steel which is a little more than half of world’s total production at 1,231 MT.

v. China logged 2.3 per cent growth during the period. But its steel production remained static in September, as per data revealed by WSA, at 67.5 MT when compared with the same month last year.

vi. Japan remained the remote second with 83.1 MT production during the nine-month period clocking just 0.8 per cent growth over 82.4 MT production in the same period last year.

vii. The US stood at the third spot with 66.33 MT production compared to 65.3 MT output during the January—September period of the last year.

3.    SBI launches mPassBook facility on its smartphone application

i. The nation's largest lender State Bank of IndiaBSE 0.26 % (SBI) launched a facility called 'mPassBook' today, on its 'State Bank Anywhere' mobile application, for its retail banking users.

ii. Launching the facility, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, said that 'mPassBook' is an electronic application of a physical passbook for savings bank and current accounts.

iii. The facility is currently available on Android phones but would soon be available on iOS and Blackberry phones too.

4.    PM  announces Rs.745 crore for Kashmir's damaged homes, hospitals

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced Rs.745 crore relief for rebuilding damaged homes and hospitals in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir.

ii. Speaking to media persons at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, Modi said the Union government would do everything possible to help rebuild the lives and livelihood of people who suffered in last month's floods in the state, an IANS report stated.

iii. Modi said the loss memo of Rs.44,000 crore submitted to the Centre by the state government was being considered, and announced an immediate relief of Rs.570 crore for rebuilding of damaged homes and Rs.175 crore for similarly affected hospitals in the state.

5.    China launches AIIB to rival World Bank

i. Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launch of a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank on Friday as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders.

ii. China's $ 50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, both multilateral lenders that count Washington and its allies as their biggest financial backers.

iii. China, which is keen to extend its influence in the region, has limited voting power over these existing banks despite being the world's second-largest economy.

iv. The AIIB, launched in Beijing at a ceremony attended by Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei and delegates from 21 countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia, aims to give project loans to developing nations. China is set to be its largest shareholder with a stake of up to 50 percent.

v. Indonesia was not present and neither were South Korea and Australia, according to a pool report.

vi. Japan, China's main rival in Asia and which dominates the $ 164 billion Asian Development Bank along with the United States, was also not present, but it was not expected to be.

6.    EU doubles assistance to combat Ebola to 1 bn euros 

i. The European Union has nearly doubled its assistance to combat the raging Ebola virus in West Africa to 1 billion euros. 

ii. The heads of state and government of the 28-nation bloc agreed upon the move at their two-day summit concluded in Brussels on Friday. 
iii. "EU member nations pledged at the meting to increase their financial assistance to continue to provide emergency assistance for the population affected by the Ebola epidemic and to support a "sustained, coordinated and increased" effort to curb the spread of the deadly virus," a joint statement said. 
iv. Before providing 1 billion euros (USD 1.26 billion), EU leaders had pledged nearly 600 million euros to pay for medical staff and facilities in the worst affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where some 4,900 people have died of the disease. 

7.    Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship

i.Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship on 24 October 2014.

ii. In the title clash played at Leeds, United Kingdom, Advani outplayed Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist, 6-2.

iii. Advani, who trailed 1-2, won five frames on the trot to regain the title, he had last won in 2012. This was Advani’s 11th World title and third of the year in different formats of the game. 

Three titles won by Advani in 2014 are

 i. IBSF World 6-Red Snooker title
ii. World Team Billiards title 
iii. World Billiards Championship (point format)

8.    Services sector FDI dips 9% to $1.08 bn in April-Aug

i. Foreign direct investment in the services sector dipped by 9 per cent to USD 1.08 billion during the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal.

ii. The services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received FDI worth USD 1.19 billion during the first five months of the previous fiscal, 2013-14, according to the data by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

iii. The services sector contributes over 60 per cent to India’s GDP. In 2013-14, foreign investment in the sector fell to USD 2.2 billion from USD 4.83 billion in 2012-13.

iv. Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around USD 1 trillion over five years (2012-17) to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

9.    New Chief of staff for Southern Naval Command

i. Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain today assumed office as Chief of Staff of Southern Naval Command here.

ii. He has taken over the charge from Rear Admiral M S Pawar, who is appointed as the Flag Officer, Maharashtra and Gujarat area (FOMAG), a Naval press release said.

iii. Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain has served as the first Flag Officer Commanding, Karnataka Naval area, Karwar. During this tenure, he was instrumental in setting up of base support facilities for INS Vikramaditya at the Naval Base Karwar.

10.  SS Rajendran, veteran Tamil actor, passes away

i. Tamil cinema's yesteryears' actor SS Rajendran, who was battling for life at a private hospital in Chennai, breathed his last today. He was 85.

ii. "He was admitted to Meenakshi Hospital yesterday (Thursday) in critical condition.

11.  Stamp on Sri lankan Buddhist monk Dharmapala released 

i. A commemorative postage stamp on Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Anagarika Dharmapala, who is credited to have revived Buddhism in India in the 19th century, was released in New Delhi on Saturday by President Pranab Mukherjee.

ii. Law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Sudharshan Seneviratne, Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh were among those present on the occasion. 
iii. "Dharmapala, was one of the founding contributors of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism and was also a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India," Mukherjee said. 

iv. In 1891, Dharmapala went on a pilgrimage to the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, where Lord Buddha had attained enlightenment. He decided to work towards restoring it's glory. 

12.  Noted freedom fighter Jagdish Sharan Pande died

i. Noted freedom fighter Jagdish Sharan Pande died after prolonged illness on 23 October 2014 in Almora, Uttarakhand. He was 95. 

ii. Pande had worked for Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Fauj. While working for Netaji's Azad Hind Force had even been jailed for two years in Burma in 1943-44

13.  Ashwika Kapur won 2014 Panda Award for her film on a Kakapo parrot

i. Ashwika Kapur on 24 October 2014 became the first Indian woman to win prestigious Wildscreen Panda Award. She won the coveted wildlife photography award in best newcomer category for her film, Sirocco - how a dud became a stud. 
ii. Panda award also known as Green Oscar of the natural history and wildlife film industry was announced at the annual Wildscreen Film Festival held at Bristol, UK.

About the film Sirocco - how a dud became a stud
Ashwika’s film is a tale of a Kakapo parrot named Sirocco, which is perhaps the only bird in the world to have bagged a government job. Sirocco, a male bird was appointed as the official Spokesbird for Conservation in New Zealand who helped in conservation advocacy on social media.

14.  Sahil Doshi won 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge

i. Sahil Doshi, an Indian-American student on 22 October 2014 won the 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

ii. He was awarded for his innovative design of an eco-friendly battery that could help lower harmful greenhouse gases.

iii. His prototype named PolluCell is capable of converting Carbon Dioxide into electricity, ingeniously helping to reduce our carbon footprint while offering power for household uses and developing nations.

iv. The 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge prize also included 25000 US dollar and a student adventure trip to a destination such as Costa Rica.

15.  Sania-Cara pair clinches WTA Finals doubles title

i. Indian ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black ended the season and their partnership on a remarkable high by clinching the WTA finals women's doubles title with a comprehensive triumph in the summit clash in Singapore on Sunday.

ii. Sania and Cara, making their debut at the season finale, prevailed 6-1 6-0 over Su-Wei Hseih of Chinese Taipei and Shuai Peng of China in a clash that lasted just about an hour. 

iii. The Indo-Zimbabwean combination, which would be breaking up after this, broke the East Asians thrice in the opening set itself and were decisively better with their first serve. 

16.  Dhoni buys Ranchi franchise of Hockey India League

i. India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sahara Adventure Sports Limited are co—owners of new Ranchi—franchise of Hockey Indian League (HIL), Ranchi Rays, which was unveiled on Saturday.

ii. Ranchi Rhinos, who were the inaugural champions of HIL, was scrapped following distrust between owners (Patel—PS Group and Uniexcel Group) and Hockey India (HI)