DAILY GK BULLETS | JAN 13 & 14 | S.W.A.G

1. World record by Sania-Martina as they win 29th match on trot

• They now surpassed the pair of Puerto Rican Gigi Fernandez and Belarus’ Natasha Zvereva, who won 28 matches on the trot.
• India’s Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis on Thursday broke a 22-year-old world record by winning their 29th women’s doubles match in a row en route to their entry into the women’s doubles final of the WTA Sydney International, in Sydney.

2. Sikkim becomes India’s first organic state

• Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state by implementing organic practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land.
• “We have achieved fully-organic status in the end of December. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally announce this at a sustainable agriculture conference in Gangtok on January 18,” Sikkim Organic Mission’s executive director Anbalagan told PTI.

3. After 25 years, Saudi Embassy officially reopens in Baghdad

• Saudi Arabia has reopened its embassy in Baghdad after a closure that lasted 25 years and the kingdom’s ambassador submitted his credentials at the Foreign Ministry.
• The kingdom closed the embassy in 1990, after Saddam Hussein ordered an invasion of Saudi ally Kuwait.

4. Kerala First to achieve 100% primary Education

• Kerala’s Education Minister PK Abdu Rabb announced that the state has become the first ever Indian state to achieve 100% primary education.
• The Minister attributed the success to the primary education equivalency drive under state’s literacy mission ’ATHULYAM’.

5. PM Modi to lead galaxy of top global, Indian CEOs at ET Global Business Summit 2016

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest, and star attraction, at the Airtel-ET Global Business Summit (GBS) on January 29-30. PM Modi will inaugurate the summit on the evening of January 29.
• The first edition of ET GBS, held last January, was defined by the PM asking business leaders to dream of a $20-trillion Indian economy.

6. Amitabh Bachchan made honorary life member of Mohammedan Sporting

• Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was bestowed honorary life membership of Kolkata’s soccer outfit Mohammedan Sporting.
• Sporting president Sultan Ahmed handed over the club’s life membership to Bachchan.
• Bachchan was also invited to be the chief guest of the club’s 125th anniversary gala event to be held later in 2016

7. WHO declares Liberia Ebola free 

• The World Health Organisation (WHO)  announced on 14 Jan 2016 that the Ebola epidemic that has ravaged west Africa for two years was over after Liberia, the last affected country, received the all-clear. 
• WHO stressed though that “the job is not over,” warning “more flare-ups are expected.” 
• One of the most feared diseases in the world, Ebola killed more than 11,000 people across west Africa after it surfaced in southern Guinea in December 2013.

8. ICICI Bank unveils two new home loan initiatives 

• ICICI Bank on 14 Jan 2016 has launched two new initiatives — a fully online home loan approval in 8 working hours, and a mobile app for part disbursement of home loans for under construction projects — to commemorate the milestone of crossing Rs. 1 lakh crore in mortgage loans. 
• Under Express Home Loans, the bank will give online approval for home loans within eight working hours. 
• With this offering customers can now make their applications, upload KYC and income documents, and receive the final home loan approval anywhere at their convenience. 
• This service is available for all salaried customers as well as non-ICICI Bank customers. 
• The second initiative helps individuals taking home loans for under construction projects to get subsequent disbursements (after the first disbursement) through the Bank’s ‘iLoans’ mobile application in a completely paperless way from the convenience of their home or office.

9. SBI enters into wealth management space 

• State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank  on 14 Jan 2016 became the first public sector lender to launch wealth management service, a space dominated by private and foreign players, to cater to fast-growing affluent segment of the country
• The bank also inaugurated a dedicated branch for start-ups which will provide advisory services to the budding entrepreneurs. The wealth management offering — ‘SBI Exclusif’ and the start-up branch — ‘SBI InCube’ were rolled out in Bengaluru. 
• ‘SBI Exclusif’ will offer many firsts in wealth banking like the first ‘e-Wealth Center’ that can deliver quality relationship management services remotely for extended hours. 
• Through the ‘SBI InCube’, the bank will be helping, guiding and counselling the new entrepreneurs in starting a new company or business enterprise, which so far was not available in the banking industry.

10. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Maldives 

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Maldives on cooperation in the field of Health. 
• The MoU was signed in January, 2014 for facilitating greater cooperation between both the nations and to develop human resources in healthcare. 
• Enhanced cooperation in the field of health will also foster great friendship and relations between the two South Asian countries.

11. Govt inaugurates Second Liquid Chemical Berth 

• Union Government has inaugurated Second Liquid Chemical Berth of Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) at Pir Pau, Mumbai. 
• The facility was inaugurated by Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari. The berth is a modern state- of -art facility built at an expense of 127 crore rupees. It is equipped with Quick Release Mooring Hooks ( QRMHs) and also with 4 mooring dolphin. 
• It is designed to handle 55000 DWT (deadweight tonnes) vessels carrying liquid bulk chemicals and POL (Petroleum, Oil, & Lubricants) products.

12. Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana 

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 January 2016 approved the New Crop Insurance Scheme,‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ to boost the agricultural sector. 
• The theme of the Scheme is One Nation – One Scheme. 
• The new crop insurance scheme, to be implemented from the kharif season this year, will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified NAIS which have some inherent drawbacks. 
• Farmers will pay a uniform premium of only 2 percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.

13. Lenovo unveils first smartphone under Google’s Tango 

• Lenovo Group Ltd. has unveiled a new smartphone that can see and maps out its surroundings with help from the US-based company’s 3D technology named Project Tango. 
• The Chinese company will become the first to sell devices employing Alphabet subsidiary Google’s Tango technology, which superimposes information and digital images onto displays of the real world. 
• Google’s Project Tango is a technology platform that uses advanced computer vision, depth sensing, and motion tracking to create on-screen 3D experiences, allowing users to explore their physical environment via their device.

14. David Beckham receives UNICEF Humanitarian Award 

• Former England Soccer captain David Beckham was honoured with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award at the sixth edition of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Ball in Beverly Hills, California. 
• Beckham, who has been a goodwill ambassador for the Unicef for last 10 years. 
• Former Manchester United and Real Madrid winger received the award for his work in helping children through his Seven Foundation.

15. Subhashini Vasanth wins the Neerja Bhanot Award 

• Bengaluru-based activist Subhashini Vasanth on 13 January 2016 was honoured with Neerja Bhanot Award. 
• She was presented the award for her endeavour to help people in distress and for empowering widows of martyrs and their families across the country. 
• The Neerja Bhanot Award is an award of recognition conferred once a year by the The Neerja Bhanot Pan Am Trust in India. 

16. Monte Irvin, Hall of Fame outfielder, passed away

• Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, an outfielder who starred for the New York Giants in the 1950s, died on 11 January 2016 in Houston, Texas, the USA. He was 96.
• Irvin was the oldest living former Negro Leagues player. He lived in a retirement community in Houston prior to his death.

17. 'Severus Snape' Alan Rickman passes away

• Veteran British actor Alan Rickman, who played the role of Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films among many others, has died aged 69, his agent said on Thursday.
• Rickman was well known for his film portrayals of villainous characters including the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and was also a leading stage actor. British media said he had been suffering from cancer.

18. Brian Bedford passed away 

• Acclaimed stage actor Brian Bedford passed away due to cancer on 13 January 2016 in Santa Barbara, California, the USA. 
• He was 80. Bedford, who won a Tony Award on his first of seven nominations, appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare.

19. Lt Gen JFR Jacob, war hero passes away

•  Jacob-Farj-Rafael “JFR” Jacob (Retired Lieutenant General), a key architect in India’s victory in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War passed away in New Delhi.  
• He was 92. Jacob (then a Major General) is best known for his role in India’s victory in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 and the liberation of Bangladesh.

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