21st August 2015 Current Affair Updates | Daily GK Download
1. Wang Jianlin, Chairman of China's property and
entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group, has overtaken Hong Kong's Li
Ka-shing to become the richest Chinese in the world, according to the
new Hurun Rich List. Wang's wealth increased more than 50 percent year
on year to 260 billion yuan (40.6 billion U.S. dollars) as of early
June. Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, 87, was the second richest with a
fortune of 200 billion yuan and Jack Ma, founder and chairman of
Internet giant Alibaba, was named third richest with wealth of 165
billion yuan.
2. The Reserve Bank of India granted its in-principle
approval to setting up Payments Banks to 11 entities. These are Aditya
Birla Nuvo, Airtel M Commerce Services, Cholamandalam Distribution
Services, Department of Posts, Fino PayTech, National Securities
Depository Ltd (NSDL), Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Vodafone
m-pesa, Dilip Shanghvi and Vijay S. Sharma. The two individuals to get
RBI’s approval – Dilip Shanghvi and Vijay S. Sharma, are associated with
Sun Pharma and Paytm respectively. Payments banks will be the entities
which will be mainly involved in remittance services and will be allowed
to accept deposits up to Rs. 1 lakh but cannot lend. They can also
issue debit cards and offer internet banking but will be not allowed to
issue credit cards.
3. Manasvi Noel of Mississauga city has been crowned
Miss India-Canada 2015 at the 25th edition of the annual beauty pageant
organised in Toronto, Canada. The Dubai-born Noel won the esteemed title
among the final top contenders of this event. In the event, bollywood
actress Preity Zinta was also presented with the Special Achievement
Award for her contribution to Indian and international cinema.
21st August 2015 Current Affair Updates | Daily GK Download |
4. Taj Mahal has made it to the top five of a
prestigious new list of the world's best tourist attractions. Travel
Guide Book Lonely Planet's ‘Ultimate Travelist’ list ranks the Taj Mahal
built in Agra by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as the fifth most attractive
travel hotspot in the world and describes it as a "magnificent Mughal
masterpiece". The Temples of Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage site in
northern Cambodia, tops the list. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia
comes in at number two, the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru at number
three, and the Great Wall of China at four.
5. In a move set to further strengthen education ties
with India, Australian government appointed former cricketer Adam
Gilchrist as nation's inaugural ambassador to India on education. The
announcement was made by the Minister for Education and Training
Christopher Pyne prior to attending the Annual Ministerial Dialogue and
third Australia-India Education Council meeting in New Delhi.
6. Pakistan and Russia signed a landmark defence deal
that includes the sale of four Mi-35 'Hind-E' attack helicopters to
Pakistan. The agreement was signed by top defence officials from
Pakistan and Russia in Rawalpindi. Pakistan will use these helicopters
in its anti-terrorist campaign.
7. United National Party (UNP) led United National
Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) coalition with 106 seats emerged as
the winner in the 2015 Parliamentary elections of Sri Lanka. But it
failed to secure absolute majority in the Parliament of 225 members. UNP
led by incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe emerged the winner
with his alliance taking 45 percent of the vote cast, or about 51 lakh
votes. The main opposition party the United People’s Freedom Alliance
(UPFA) that is an alliance led by Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to secure
95 seats with 42 percent of votes.
8. Bangladesh-born British citizen (novelist) Zia
Haider Rahman won Britain's oldest literary award the James Tait Black
award 2015 for his debut novel ‘In the Light of What We Know’. He
received this prize during the 2015 Edinburgh international book
festival.
9. Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the
UN ambassador of the 'HeForShe' campaign for gender equality. The
'HeForShe' campaign has been initiated by UN Women. Its goal is to
engage men as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality
and women's rights, by encouraging them to take action against
inequalities faced by women and girls.
10. Raffi Freedman-Gurspan is the first openly
transgender White House staff member, appointed by President Barack
Obama. She was a former policy adviser at the National Center for
Transgender Equality and will serve as an outreach and recruitment
director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. This is
one of several steps the Obama administration has taken to show support
for the LGBT community.