DAILY GK UPDATE: 27TH AUGUST 2012

1. Eid-al-Azha is being celebrated across the country today with religious fervour and gaiety. 

Eid-al-Azha is being celebrated across the country today with religious fervour and gaiety.  It is a festival of 'Offering' or 'Qurbani' and is observed by Muslims on the tenth day of the last month of the Islamic calender 'Zil-hijja'.

The President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister greeted the people on the occasion.

2. President Mr Pranab Mukherjee has accepted the resignations of seven ministers ahead of tomorrow’s Cabinet reshuffle

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Mahadev Singh Khandela, Minister of State for Rural Development Agatha Sangma, Minister of State for Water Resources and Minority Affairs Vincent Pala are among those who have resigned.

3. Centre and 16 states and Union Territories sign an agreement to connect every Gram Panchyat with a broad band connectionCentre and 16 States and Union Territories have signed an agreement to connect every Gram Panchayat with a broad band connection.

The agreement was signed by the Department of Telecom and the Special Purpose Vehicle 'Bharat Broadband Network Limited' in the presence of the Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Kapil Sibal in New Delhi. 

The entire cost of about 20 thousand crore rupees for the project will be funded by the Centre.  He said it will cover around 1,40,000 Gram Panchayats across the country. The project will be implemented in 16 States and Union Territories including Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jhharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.
NOTE:- The National Optical Fibre Network aims at connecting all the 2 lakh 50 thousand Gram Panchayants in the country with high speed optical fibre network by December 2013.

4. Delhi and Moscow signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen cooperation in eleven key areas

Delhi and the Russian capital Moscow have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, (MOU) to strengthen cooperation in eleven key areas including culture, healthcare, education, transport management, trade and housing. It will facilitate cooperation between Delhi  and Moscow for the next 3years.

5. India and Spain agree to work jointly towards shaping a new global agenda for inclusive growth. India and Spain agreed to preserve the gains of globalisation and jointly work towards shaping a new global agenda for inclusive growth. President Pranab Mukherjee said this at a banquet hosted by him to honour the 

India and Spain signed five pacts in various sectors including agreements to curb black money and prevent tax evasion and also for greater cooperation in Defence matters. The two countries also agreed to amend the existing protocol on avoidance of double taxation. Agreements were also signed for technical cooperation between the Railways of both countries, Road transport sector and for the joint production of films. The pacts were signed following delegation level talks between the visiting King of Spain Juan Carlos 1 and the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.

6. Zee News sends Rs 150 crore defamation notice to Jindal

Zee News it has sent a Rs 150 crore defamation notice to Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal, who too had filed a 200 crore rupees case against the media house claiming the TV channel had tried to extort money from his company.
7. India Ace Shuttler and World no. 3 Saina Nehwal

India Ace Shuttler and World no. 3 Saina Nehwal entered the Women's Singles Semifinals of the French Open Super Series Badminton tournament in Paris.

8. Odisha pips Gujarat in foreign investment raceGujarat has proved to be the most attractive investment destination for domestic private companies. However, as regards foreign investments, Odisha has beaten it to the top spot, while the western state does not even stand amongst the top three states of the country.

9. Shivraj Singh Chouhan layid foundation stone for Sherpur engine factoryChief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid the foundation stone for railway engine manufacturing plant at Sherpur in Sehore district..

10. Metro’s Nobel Memorial Wall honours Indian laureates

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) along with the Embassy of Sweden inaugurated Nobel Memorial Wall at Rajiv Chowk Metro station on Saturday. A similar wall will also be seen at the Noida City Centre Metro station. The memorial wall 13 Indian firms among Newsweek's global green; Wipro ranked second.

11. Thirteen Indian companies figure among Newsweek's annual rankings of the world's greenest companies

Thirteen Indian companies figure among Newsweek's annual rankings of the world's greenest companies, with information technology giants Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services taking the second and 11th spots.

12. Sun Pharma's promoters to be Telenor's new Indian JV partner

Norwegian firm Telenor has finally found a new partner for its telecom operations in India. Three independent sources said, one of the family members of the Sun Pharma promoter group is picking up a 26% stake in a new joint venture.