15 October 2015 Current Affair Updates |Daily GK Download

1. Jamaican writer Marlon James has been conferred with the prestigious Man Booker Prize for 2015 for his novel ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’. It is the first Booker Prize to be won by a Jamaican.

2. India ranks third among global startup ecosystems with more than 4,200 new-age companies, according to IT industry body Nasscom. According to Nasscom President R. Chandrashekhar India has been given third position just after the US and the UK.

3. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been honoured with 'Finance Minister of the Year, Asia' Award by London-based publication Emerging Markets. The magazine has recognised Jaitley's efforts for India’s relative economic success over the last 18 months.

4. IAS officer Alkesh Sharma was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC).

5. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Palestine where he gave $5 million to the Palestinian government as a budgetary support after talks with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Both countries have also announced five projects worth $17.79 million aimed at capacity building in the Palestinian territories. The projects include a $12 million techno park, a $4.5 million Palestine Institute for Diplomacy and a $1 million India-Palestine Centre for Excellence in Gaza.

6. Iran's parliament approved a historic nuclear deal with world powers and paves the way for its formal implementation. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, heavily cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its centrifuges for at least 15 years. Iran also agreed not to build any new uranium-enriching plants.

7. Spain's leading Football club Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) has been presented with the Golden Boot award for the 2014-15 season for scoring highest goals in Europe's last domestic season. The Portuguese forward netted 48 goals in 35 La Liga matches last season.

8. Rajasthan Government has taken lead in promoting affordable housing by signing four MoUs firming up an investment of Rs. 5,400 cr. These four MoUs were a part of 27 MoUs signed entailing an investment of Rs.12,478 cr in housing and urban development projects. Tata Housing Development Company Ltd has committed to invest Rs. 2,000 cr in affordable and mixed use township in Rajasthan.

9. China operationalised all six of the station's units which were incorporated into the power grid units of the Zam Hydropower Station, the largest dam in Tibet, built on river Brahmaputra, raising concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies. The Zam Hydropower Station has been built at a cost of $1.5 billion (approximately Rs. 9764 crores).

10. Indian community groups in the UK have launched a 'Modi Express' bus for a month-long tour around iconic landmarks to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to the country next month. The bus made its first stop at Ealing Road, Wembley also known as 'Little India'.

11. Telecom service provider Telenor India, earlier known as Uninor, appointed Sharad Malhotra as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He succeeds Vivek Sood.