Current Affairs 03rd October 2018: Daily GK Update

Dear Aspirants,

The General Awareness Section of Banking Exams covers numerous sections in it like Banking Awareness, Static GK, and Current Affairs. But the most important thing that you might have noticed is that both the Banking Awareness and Static Awareness questions asked in the General Awareness Section are based on Current Affairs only. The questions on Static and Banking Awareness are related to the countries, events or anything that has been in news for a while. Here is the Daily GK Update to get you acquainted with the top events that made the headlines today!!

Current Affairs 03rd October 2018: Daily GK Update

National News

1. PM Inaugurates 1st Assembly of International Solar Alliance

i. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the first Assembly of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi.

ii. The same event also marked the inauguration of the second IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting, and the 2nd Global RE-Invest (Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo). The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, was present on the occasion.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for RRB Clerk Mains Exam 2018-

The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on the first day of the COP-21 summit at Paris in 2015.

2. Odisha Government Launches Own Food Security Scheme

i. Odisha government launched the State’s own food security scheme to cover the poor people. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the scheme via video conferencing at the State Secretariat in Bhubaneswar.

ii. As per the provisions of the scheme, 25 lakh poor people left out from the benefits of the National Food Security Act, will get rice of 5 kg per month for one rupee. The government will spend Rs 442 crore per year for implementation of the scheme.

3. India And ADB Sign $240 Million Loan For Safe Drinking Water Service For West Bengal

i. The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed $240 million loan for providing safe and sustainable drinking water to about 1.65 million people in three districts of the state of West Bengal affected by arsenic, fluoride, and salinity.

ii. The signatories to the West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project were Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance; and Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-

The Asian Development Bank is a regional development Bank established in 1966.
Headquarters of ADB is in Manila, Philippines.
Takehiko Nakao is Present President of the Asian Development Bank.

4. Haryana’s MDU Declared Cleanest Government University By HRD Ministry

i. Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the “Swachh Campus rankings” under various categories. The rankings were decided on the basis of a survey under the ‘Swachhta Hi Sewa’ campaign. “Swachh Campus rankings” under various categories are listed below:

ii. Cleanest 'Government Universities':

1. Maharashi Dayanand University, Haryana.

2. Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, Punjab.

3. Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi.

iii. Cleanest Residential Campuses of 'Private Universities':

1. Symbiosis International University, Pune.

2. OP Jindal Global University in Sonipat.

3. KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research in Belagavi.

iv. Cleanest Technical Institutions':

1. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore.

2. IIT Guwahati.

3. Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University in Bhubhaneshwar.

Appointments

5. Justice Ranjan Gogoi Sworn-in As 46th Chief Justice of India

i. Justice Ranjan Gogoi has sworn-in as new Chief Justice of India. President Ram Nath Kovind administered him the oath of office at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

ii. He is succeeding Justice Dipak Misra who retired as Chief Justice of India recently. Justice Gogoi is the 46th Chief Justice of India. He will have a tenure of a little over 13 months and will retire on November 17, 2019.

6. Barham Salih Elected As The New President of Iraq

i. Iraq's Parliament has elected a veteran Kurdish Politician Barham Salih as the country's new President. He has named Shiite Adel Abdul Mahdi as Prime Minister of the country. The move will pave the way to form a new government, nearly five months after national elections.

ii. Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Salih won 220 votes out of the 273 lawmakers. He was among 20 candidates for the post, including one from the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI Clerk Mains Exam 2018-

Iraq Capital- Baghdad, Currency- Iraqi dinar

Banking/Business News

7. SBI Reduces ATM Withdrawal Limit

i. State Bank of India has slashed the daily withdrawal limit on its classic debit card from Rs 40,000 to Rs 20,000. There is no change in the daily withdrawal limits on other cards. The new limit will be effective from October 31st 2018.

ii. The bank has been receiving many complaints regarding cloning and the decision is taken to reduce the withdrawal limit on these cards to check fraudulent transactions.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI Clerk Mains Exam 2018-

SBI Chairman- Rajnish Kumar, Headquarters- Mumbai.

8. SIDBI Launched National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign 'Udyam Abhilasha'

i. On the occasion of Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), had launched a National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign, Udyam Abhilasha in 115 Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States and reaching to around 15,000 youth.

ii. SIDBI will join to contribute to “the transformation mission” unleashed for these districts.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-

Mohammad Mustafa is the present CMD of SIDBI.
SIDBI Headquarters in Lucknow.
SIDBI was set up on 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament.

9. Paytm Tops UPI Payments With Over 33% Market Share

i. Alibaba and SoftBank-backed Paytm registered over 137 million UPI transactions in September, becoming the leading contributor to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments with over 33% of the overall market share.

ii. One97 Communications Limited, that owns the brand Paytm, is enabling BHIM UPI for offline payments and over five million offline merchants, out of its 9.5 million merchant-base, now accept Paytm UPI.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI Clerk Mains Exam 2018-

Paytm founder- Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Awards

10 Nobel Prize 2018: Nobel Prize in Chemistry Goes To Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith and Gregory P. Winter

i. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 with one half to Frances H. Arnold (USA)"for the directed evolution of enzymes" and the other half jointly to George P. Smith (USA) and Sir Gregory P. Winter (UK) "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies".

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-

Joachim Frank, Richard Henderson, and Jacques Dubochet were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017 “for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution”.

11. PM Modi And French President Received UNEP Champions Of The Earth Award

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured with United Nations' highest environmental award- UNEP Champions of the Earth, along with French President Emmanuel Macron in New Delhi.

ii. The award was presented by UN SecrSecretary-Generalonio Guterres. The award was announced on the sidelines of 73rd UN General Assembly in New York. P

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-

The UNEP Champions of the Earth award is awarded to outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment.

Sports News

12. Manu Bhaker Named India’s Flag-Bearer At Youth Olympic Games

i. Teenage shooting star Manu Bhaker was named as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Youth Olympic Games to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 6-18.
ii. Goa Olympic Association Secretary Gurudutta D Bhakta will be the Chef-de-Mission of the contingent. announced that the 16-year-old Bhaker will lead the Indian team in the opening ceremony.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018-

Capital: Buenos Aires, Currency: Argentine peso.
Narinder Batra is the President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

13. ICC Releases Latest Version Of Duckworth-Lewis-Stern System

i. The International Cricket Council released the updated version of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) System along with the new ICC Code of Conduct and ICC Playing Conditions. These came into effect from 30 September, when the first ODI between South Africa and Zimbabwe was played in Kimberley.
ii. This is the third version but the second update of the DLS System since its introduction into international cricket in 2014 and has been carried out following a detailed ball-by-ball analysis of scoring patterns, including in the Powerplays, in all limited overs internationals played during the previous four years.

Find The Complete Changes in ICC Code of Conduct Here

14. Australia's Mile Jedinak and Russia’s Igor Akinfeev Retires From International Football

i. Australian midfielder Mile Jedinak announced his retirement from international football, bringing the curtain down on a 79-cap career which included leading the Socceroos at two World Cups.

ii. Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has also retired from international soccer after leading the national side as captain to this year’s World Cup quarter-finals on home soil. The 32-year-old earned 112 caps for his country since his debut in 2004 as an 18-year-old, according to the Russian Football Union.