Daily GK Update - 30th Oct 2014
1. Malala won 2014 World’s Children prize
I. Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize on 29 October 2014 after a global vote involving millions of children.
II. She received the prize at a ceremony in Mariestad near Stockholm.
III. She received 50000 US dollar as award.
2. SunEdison signed MoU with Rajasthan Government to set up 5000MW solar projects.
I. SunEdison Inc. on 28 October 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan Government to establish 5000 MW capacity of solar power in Rajasthan in next five years.
II. The MoU comes at an opportune time following the Rajasthan's Government new Solar Policy which aspires to create 25 GW of solar capacity in the state in the next few years.
III. SunEdison intends to establish 5 GW of capacity in the form of multiple mega solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, with the expected capacity of each mega solar project at 500 megawatts (MW).
3. WhatsApp founders own nearly $9b in Facebook stock.
I. WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton received 116 million shares of Facebook stock currently worth nearly $9 billion when they sold their unprofitable messaging service to the social networking leader earlier this month.
II. The breakdown of the big winners in Facebook Inc.’s $22 billion acquisition emerged Wednesday in a regulatory filing.
III. Koum, a Ukraine immigrant who was once living on welfare, reaped the biggest jackpot with 76.4 million Facebook shares now worth $5.8 billion. That makes him Facebook’s fourth largest stockholder behind company CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two mutual funds, Fidelity Management and Vanguard.
4. Prez Mukherjee to award best performers among CPSEs on Nov 5
I. President Pranab Mukherjee will present the prestigious SCOPE Meritorious Awards to central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) on November 5.
II. The Winners of Gold Trophy of the SCOPE Meritorious Awards in specialized fields (2012-13) are SAIL, BPCL, IOCL, HAL, BEL, PFC and NSKFDC," SCOPE said.
III. CPSEs, which would be awarded, have been selected for performing well in various fields like corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, environment and sustainable development, human resource development, technology development & innovation, best managed bank, financial institution or insurance company and best managed PSE.
5. Austerity drive: No first class air travel for bureaucrats
I. Unveiling an austerity drive to trim fiscal deficit, the government has banned first class air travel for bureaucrats, meetings in five-star hotels and purchase of cars while freezing new appointments.
II. The measures that are aimed at cutting non-plan spending by 10 per cent includes a ban on filling of vacant posts to reduce fiscal deficit to a 7-year low of 4.1 per cent of GDP.
III.The previous UPA government had also clamped similar measures in 2012 and 2013 to cut down on fiscal deficit. Creation of new positions as well as car purchases are mostly banned and video conferencing should be used wherever possible.
IV. The deficit which had touched a high of 5.7 per cent in 2011-12, was brought down to 4.8 per cent in 2012-13 and further to 4.5 per cent in 2013-14 by way of austerity measures.
6. Black money: I-T probe to be completed by March 2015
I. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday submitted to the court in a sealed envelope, a list of 627 names of persons with foreign accounts along with a status report regarding the investigation conducted against them.
II. Mr. Rohatgi said India also has to sign the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act with the U.S. government by December 31, 2014. The law would enable the U.S. government to supply data on Indians in the U.S. and vice versa.
III. “If India fails to keep the confidentiality clause, the U.S. will back out of such a treaty. Without the treaty, the U.S. will slap a 30 per cent withholding tax on all remittances from the U.S, including exports,” he said.
IV. Mr. Rohatgi said more than half the people in the list of 627 were Indian nationals while the rest were NRIs. He said most of them had accounts with the HSBC Bank, Geneva.
1. Malala won 2014 World’s Children prize
I. Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize on 29 October 2014 after a global vote involving millions of children.
II. She received the prize at a ceremony in Mariestad near Stockholm.
III. She received 50000 US dollar as award.
2. SunEdison signed MoU with Rajasthan Government to set up 5000MW solar projects.
I. SunEdison Inc. on 28 October 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan Government to establish 5000 MW capacity of solar power in Rajasthan in next five years.
II. The MoU comes at an opportune time following the Rajasthan's Government new Solar Policy which aspires to create 25 GW of solar capacity in the state in the next few years.
III. SunEdison intends to establish 5 GW of capacity in the form of multiple mega solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, with the expected capacity of each mega solar project at 500 megawatts (MW).
3. WhatsApp founders own nearly $9b in Facebook stock.
I. WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton received 116 million shares of Facebook stock currently worth nearly $9 billion when they sold their unprofitable messaging service to the social networking leader earlier this month.
II. The breakdown of the big winners in Facebook Inc.’s $22 billion acquisition emerged Wednesday in a regulatory filing.
III. Koum, a Ukraine immigrant who was once living on welfare, reaped the biggest jackpot with 76.4 million Facebook shares now worth $5.8 billion. That makes him Facebook’s fourth largest stockholder behind company CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two mutual funds, Fidelity Management and Vanguard.
4. Prez Mukherjee to award best performers among CPSEs on Nov 5
I. President Pranab Mukherjee will present the prestigious SCOPE Meritorious Awards to central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) on November 5.
II. The Winners of Gold Trophy of the SCOPE Meritorious Awards in specialized fields (2012-13) are SAIL, BPCL, IOCL, HAL, BEL, PFC and NSKFDC," SCOPE said.
III. CPSEs, which would be awarded, have been selected for performing well in various fields like corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, environment and sustainable development, human resource development, technology development & innovation, best managed bank, financial institution or insurance company and best managed PSE.
5. Austerity drive: No first class air travel for bureaucrats
I. Unveiling an austerity drive to trim fiscal deficit, the government has banned first class air travel for bureaucrats, meetings in five-star hotels and purchase of cars while freezing new appointments.
II. The measures that are aimed at cutting non-plan spending by 10 per cent includes a ban on filling of vacant posts to reduce fiscal deficit to a 7-year low of 4.1 per cent of GDP.
III.The previous UPA government had also clamped similar measures in 2012 and 2013 to cut down on fiscal deficit. Creation of new positions as well as car purchases are mostly banned and video conferencing should be used wherever possible.
IV. The deficit which had touched a high of 5.7 per cent in 2011-12, was brought down to 4.8 per cent in 2012-13 and further to 4.5 per cent in 2013-14 by way of austerity measures.
6. Black money: I-T probe to be completed by March 2015
I. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday submitted to the court in a sealed envelope, a list of 627 names of persons with foreign accounts along with a status report regarding the investigation conducted against them.
II. Mr. Rohatgi said India also has to sign the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act with the U.S. government by December 31, 2014. The law would enable the U.S. government to supply data on Indians in the U.S. and vice versa.
III. “If India fails to keep the confidentiality clause, the U.S. will back out of such a treaty. Without the treaty, the U.S. will slap a 30 per cent withholding tax on all remittances from the U.S, including exports,” he said.
IV. Mr. Rohatgi said more than half the people in the list of 627 were Indian nationals while the rest were NRIs. He said most of them had accounts with the HSBC Bank, Geneva.
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