Daily GK Updates: 28th September 2016

World Rabies Day: 28th September

i. World Rabies Day has observed on 28 September 2016. 

ii. The theme for the World Rabies Day - Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate.

iii. The day is annually celebrated to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating the disease.

India jumps 16 places in global competitiveness ranking

i. India has climbed 16 places to the 39th rank on the Global Competitiveness Index released by the World Economic Forum.

ii. Switzerland has topped the list for the 8th straight time.

Typhoon Megi Hits Taiwan

i. The powerful typhoon Megi has recently hit island-nation Taiwan with winds up to 230 km/hr that causing heavy rains and triggering damaging winds. 

ii. It is equivalent to Category 4 tropical cyclone.

Cabinet approves MoU with Singapore for industrial property cooperation

i. The Union Cabinet has given its formal nod for cooperation between India and Singapore on industrial property rights intended to boost innovation, creativity and technological advancement in both countries.

ii. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for industrial property cooperation between the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, approved by the Cabinet.

Project Saksham: 5 things to know about new indirect tax network of CBEC

i. Project Saksham, a new indirect tax network of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ii. The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 2256 crore, which will be incurred over a period of 7 years.

Special trees in Delhi to get 'natural heritage' tag

i. The 16 trees located in Aravali and NCR to be notified as “protected” natural heritage, on the lines of recognising special monuments in Delhi, announced by Delhi Cabinet Minister Kapil Mishra.

ii. Some of the trees in the list are  banyan, ailanthus, mango, arjuna, and ashok. 

British woman, 26, becomes one of world’s youngest airline captains

i. A British woman has become one of the world’s youngest commercial airline captains at the age of 26.

ii. She flies Airbus A319 and A320 planes to around 100 destinations, such as Reykjavik, Tel Aviv and Marrakesh.

Microsoft Signed Adobe For Azure Cloud Computing Services

i. Tech giants Microsoft and Adobe has announced a major partnership to promote the use of each other's cloud-computing tools among their mutual customers.

Jim Yong Kim re-appointed as World Bank President

i. Jim Yong Kim has been re-appointed for a second five-year term as World Bank president, beginning July 1, next year

ii. The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs.

Obama nominates ambassador to Cuba

i. The United States President Barack Obama has appointed its first Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis to Cuba in 55 years. 

ii. The new ambassador DeLaurentis had been working at the new US embassy in Havana, which opened since 2014.

IPS officer OP Singh taking over as the new Director General of CISF

i. OP Singh A 1983-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre O P Singh took over as the new Director General of CISF.

ii. Prior to this serving as the Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

Telangana ties up with ISRO for bandwidth to telecast coaching programmes

i. The Telangana Government has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to get bandwidth to telecast Mana TV programmes.

ii. To start with, the TV channel will air coaching programmes for students appearing for various competitive examinations to get government jobs.

Uttam Singh to be honoured with 'Lata Mangeshkar Award'

i. Famous music director and violinist Uttam Singh on 27 September 2016 was named for the 2016 Lata Mangeshkar Award for Lifetime Achievement of the Maharashtra Government.

ii. The award carries a citation, a trophy and 500000 rupees in cash.

Shimon Peres, former Israeli president, dies aged 93

i. The former Israel's defining political figures and a Nobel peace prize laureate, Shimon Peres has died at the age of 93. 

ii. He had served twice as a prime minister and once as a president.