DAILY GK UPDATE - 26th March ----------------------------------------------------- https://facebook/examwinner ----------------------------------------------------- 1. J & K first to declare all Election booths as No smoking Zones i. Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday became the first state in the country to declare all election booths in the coming Lok Sabha polls as no smoking zones. ii. It will now be mandatory for all election booths to display the No Smoking Area warning. Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir Umang Narula issued a circular, directing that all election booths in the state shall be No Smoking Zones. iii. An official spokesman said instructions in this regard have been issued to all returning officers and district election officers of the State by the Chief Electoral Officer. 2. Workdays for tribals under MNREGA raised from 100 to 150 i. In a bid to woo tribals ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the government on Friday raised the workdays under its flagship rural employment guarantee programme MNREGA from 100 to 150 for tribals, a move that will benefit 14 lakh families. ii. The Union Cabinet decision will come into effect from April this year. iii. Those tribals who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 will be eligible for additional 50 days of wage employment under the rural job scheme. iv. The beneficiaries would be those who have completed 100 workdays in that particular financial v. They will be given a job card of a different colour to distinguish from the regular MNREGA workers. Around 14 lakh individual and community titles have been distributed under FRA 2006. Of these around 8 lakh individual titles have been given in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. vi. The government believes it as an important initiative since a lot of land levelling, plantation and other activities are required to be undertaken on these lands to make them more productive. 3. RBI raises cap on investment in inflation-indexed NSS i. The Reserve Bank of India has decided to increase the maximum limit for investment in Inflation Indexed National Saving Securities - Cumulative (IINSS-C) from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per annum for eligible individual investors and from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh per annum for institutions such as HUFs, Charitable Trusts, Education Endowments and similar institutions which are not pro-profit in nature. ii. The subscription will close on March 31. The other terms and conditions remain unchanged, a press release from the central bank said. 4. Kotak Mahindra launches accounts integrated with Facebook, Twitter i. Kotak Mahindra Bank today launched its online social account integrated with Facebook and Twitter. ii. Targeted at the tech-savvy and young population, the Kotak Jifi account is a zero minimum balance current account with an initial payment of Rs 5,000, offering zero rate of interest, the bank told presspersons at a press conference. iii. The mid-sized private sector lender has tied up with online retailers such as eBay, Make my trip, and Jabong, which have seen traction with an increasing number of consumers purchasing on the Internet. iv. “About 98 per cent of our transactions take place outside the branch, with about 50 per cent in ATMs. The rest are on the Internet and mobile,” said KVS Manian, President, Consumer Banking at the bank. v. Balances of over Rs 25,000 in the Jifi account will be automatically moved into fixed deposits. vi. Account holders can earn transaction and social points on referring friends and online transactions. “The points are transferable to another account by using as a gift,” Manian said. vii. Jifi customers will have access to all conventional bank offerings pan-India including branch and ATM network, a Platinum debit card, Internet and phone banking access. 5. Aircel offers free Facebook access to its customers i. Telecom service provider Aircel has launched a service - Facebook for All – that provides free access to the social media platform for its customers. ii. Under the service, Aircel enables its customers to network and be socially active on Facebook in nine different languages. Customers can have free access to Facebook Application, Facebook Messenger and Mobile version on their existing or new connections. iii. “Aircel has positioned itself as a data leader by constantly innovating products and services aimed at redefining user experience, especially the youth. iv. Under the offer, Aircel will provide free 50 MB per month data on Facebook for a period of 60 days after activation. Existing customers will get free 50 MB data for 30 days and post 50 MB usage, the subscribers will have the option of using Facebook on their phones at Rs 0.02 per 10 KB. v. The customers also have the option of benefiting from the special tariff packs for Facebook which will be as low as Rs 0.50 per day. vi. The service is available in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra. The operator will launch the service in the rest of the circles shortly. 6. Arjun Kapoor Named National Ambassador for Earth Hour 2014 i. Young actor Arjun Kapoor has been named the national ambassador of the Earth Hour to be observed March 29. He is glad that he can influence young minds and bring about positive change. ii. Being a youth icon and influencing people is always good. But this (the Earth Hour) is something important because I can create an impression on peoples minds and that can bring a change in our country, the 28-year-old said here Tuesday at an event for Earth Hour. 7. Britannia MD Bali to step down i. After nine years at the helm, Vinita Bali will step down as Managing Director of Britannia Industries with effect from March 31. She will be succeeded by Varun Berry, in line with the succession plan put in place by the company last year. ii. Following the board meeting on Tuesday, Britannia said Bali will retire to pursue a variety of roles in the corporate and development sectors. Bali will continue to serve on the boards of the other Wadia Group companies. 8. Big B conferred Global Icon of the Year award i. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan was conferred Indias Global Icon of the Year award at the NRI of the Year awards in Mumbai. ii. The 71-year-old, who has been ruling the film industry for over four decades now, dedicated the award to the younger generation of actors in the film industry. iii. I want to thank Times Now (news channel) and ICICI Bank for honouring me with this (NRI) award, Big B told reporters Monday here at the awards red carpet. iv. The awards, presented by Times Now in association with ICICI Bank, were given to the achievers who have made their mark internationally. v. Currently, the megastar is busy promoting his next Bhootnath Returns, slated to release April 11. vi. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the sequel to 2008 film Bhootnath, also features Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor in cameos. 9. G.K. Chadha passes away i. Noted economist and academician G.K. Chadha passed away on Saturday, a statement said; He was 73. ii. The first president of the SAARC-established South Asian University, Chadha was associated with the university since its inception in 2008, said a university statement. iii. Born in 1940, Chadha was also the former vice chancellor and professor emeritus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. iv. Chadha had also served as member of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister and chaired the UGC Pay Review Committee (Sixth Pay Commission) for university and college teachers. 10. Vandana Foundation launched AQUATM in Mumbai i. A non-profit group Vandana Foundation launched AQUATM in Mumbai. ii. The AQUATM is a water vending machine from which water can be purchased. This water wending machine will release 1 liter water at a price of 1 rupee. iii. The best part of the machine is that it can be operated through prepaid card. iv. The foundation in its statement said that the AQUATM will release up to 1000 litres per day. v. The water ATM has been planned by Vandana Foundation and another non-profit group Aquakraft. First ATM has been set up at Mankhurd, the place where water contamination problems are in existence. Vandana Foundation Vandana Foundation was instituted in 2010 as a non-profit Company under section 25 of Companies Act in Mumbai. It generally works to provide sustainable livelihood support to the people at the bottom of the pyramid both urban and rural region. 11. ICC T-20 Cricket: Windies crush hosts Bangladesh at Dhaka i. The West Indies defeated hosts Bangladesh by 73 runs in a Group-II match of the ICC World Twenty-20 at Dhaka last night. ii. Put in to bat, the Windies posted a formidable 171 for 7, courtesy a brilliant 97-run opening wicket stand between Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle. iii. Smith scored 72 off just 43 balls, while Gayle made 48. Chasing 172 for victory, the hosts were bundled out for 98 in 19.1 overs. Smith was adjudged man of the match. iv. With the victory, the West Indies are now second in Group-II behind India. Pakistan is third, Australia fourth, and Bangladesh at the fifth spot.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 12:16:51 +0000
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