GK Updates - 1 August | Banking Quiz

Narendra Modi to visit Kathmandu on August 3
I.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kathmandu on August 3, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Friday.
II.This is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 17 years. The last was by former PM I.K Gujral in June 1997.
III.Modi will be the first foreign leader to address the Constituent Assembly-cum-Parliament of Nepal. He will also meet the business leaders during his visit.

Facebook introduces free internet in Zambia
I.Facebook launched an app on Thursday that will give users in Zambia free access to its social network as well as other critical internet sites, in a boost to its plan to to extend web access to the 4.25 billion people who lack it.
II.“The Internet.org app will be available first to Airtel subscribers in Zambia and we’ll continue to improve the experience and roll it out to other parts of the world,” Facebook product manager Guy Rosen said in a blog posting.
III.He said that the app would offer free access to 13 websites, including AccuWeather; Google Search; Go Zambia Jobs; Wikipedia; WRAPP, a women’s rights app; and of course, Facebook.
IV.Airtel would cover the cost of the free access in the hope that customers would upgrade their plans to allow them even more internet access, Rosen said.

Judge rejects Microsoft’s defense of overseas data
I.A judge yesterday rejected a bid by Microsoft to derail a warrant demanding that email data from servers in Ireland be turned over to US prosecutors.
II.Microsoft vowed to battle on in the case, which is being closely watched by Internet firms eager to assure users around the world that their private information is not being freely shared with US authorities.
III.“The only issue that was certain this morning was that the District Court’s decision would not represent the final step in this process,” Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said in an email reply to an AFP inquiry after the ruling by US District Judge Loretta Preska.
IV.“We will appeal promptly and continue to advocate that people’s email deserves strong privacy protection in the US and around the world.”
V.Microsoft argued in court that the warrant, which would require the tech giant to turn over customer emails stored in a data centre in Dublin, should be nullified because it would give the US government excessive power to pry over private information.
VI.A two-hour hearing ended with Preska denying Microsoft’s request to have the sub-poena quashed, according to a spokesperson for the US attorney in New York.

Jethabhai Patel elected new chairman of GCMMF
I.The board of directors of India’s largest milk federation, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), today unanimously elected Jethabhai Patel, a cooperative leader from North Gujarat as the new Chairman. GCMMF sells milk products under the ‘Amul’ brand.
II.Patel’s election as GCMMF Chairman comes after a long-drawn legal battle between the former Chairman, Vipul Chaudhary, and the rest of the board members, who had forcibly ousted Chaudhary by passing a no-confidence motion against him.
III.All the 17 board members, including Chaudhary himself, were present for the election held on Friday at Anand and unanimously elected Patel to the top post in the Rs 18,000-crore milk federation.

Karnataka Govt launches ‘e-Spandana’
I.The Karnataka Government has launched ‘e-Spandana’ in Bagalkot district.
II.‘e-Spandana’ is an initiative to provide one-to-one interaction between gram panchyats and district headquarters. The iniative was launched at Kundaragi, a remote village in Bilgi taluk of Bagalkot district.
III.The interaction is through use of video conferencing and the State Government has initatied this as part of its ‘Government at the doorstep of rural masses’.
IV.The Karnataka Minister for Information Technology, S R Patil, along with the Bagalkot Deputy Commissioner, P A Megannanavar, and other senior officials at the district headquarters listened to remotely located people through video conferencing.

Assocham award for Kirloskar
Kirloskar Brothers Limited’s all-women plant in Coimbatore has bagged the Assocham Innovation Excellence Award. The Gold award, for advancement in Science and Technology, was received by Divisional Head of the plant R V Rajkuumar. He said the company had bagged the Platinum Award last year in the social and business development category for women empowerment. Around 70 women are employed in the Coimbatore facility.

IRCTC launches packages to Kerala, Goa
I.Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will launch a domestic tour package to Goa and Kerala from Bangalore.
II.According to T R Boaz, Chief Regional Manager, IRCTC, “The Corporation is planning to organise group departure with 20 tourists on August 28 to Kerala and Goa.”
III.The package tour to Kerala costs ₹13,898 and to Goa ₹12,515 per person on twin sharing basis, said the IRCTC press release.
IV.More details can be had from: IRCTC Tourism Information and Facilitation Centre, Bangalore: 080-22960014/13 or Mysore: 0821-2426001.

Gujarat tops in e-transactions: Report
I.Gujarat tops the charts in e-transactions across the nation with a 26 per cent share, as per a government report.
II.“Report of Central government’s web portal E-TAAL (E - Transactions Aggregation and Analysis Layer) states that Gujarat tops with over 81.76 crore e—transactions from January 2013 to July 2014, which is 26 per cent of the total e-transactions across the nation,” said RS Sharma, Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology Department at the Centre, here yesterday.
III.“Mobile governance has become a very powerful medium in a range of fields. About 60 to 70 per cent of citizens possess mobiles in our country. And it’s a matter of concern to focus upon how to creatively make use of the power of mobile technologies,” Sharma further said.
IV.He was speaking at a seminar on mobile governance (m-governance) organised by the state government’s Department of Science and Technology here in the run-up to the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2015.
V.On the occasion, Gujarat’s Science and Technology Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama claimed that the state has made a mark in IT by implementing various projects such as e-Dhara, e-Gram and e-Kisan portal.
VI.“Gujarat has truly put a whole lot of endeavour to achieve the dream of ‘Tomorrow India’ by means of Information Technology and talent,” Chudasama said.

DD Misra to be ONGC's Director (HR)
I.Public sector oil exploration and production company, ONGC, said on Friday that Desh Deepak Misra will be the company’s new Director (Human Resources).
II.Misra, 56, will be in charge of employee relations for over 33,000 employees of ONGC from August 1.
III.Misra, a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Lucknow, had joined ONGC in January 1985 starting from the Baroda office of the company.
IV.As Director (Human Resources), Misra’s prime agenda will be to professionally steer over 33,000 geoscientists, engineers and managers of the company.

D N Rao assumes charge as RINL Director (Operations)
I.D Nageswara Rao assumed charge as new Director (Operations) of RINL-Visakhapatnam steel plant on Friday following the superannuation of Umesh Chandra.
II.He has been elevated from Executive Director (Works) to Director (Operations), according to RINL press release.
III.Chairman and Managing Director, P Madhusudan, congratulated D N Rao on his elevation.
IV.He said Rao had taken charge as Director (Operations) at a crucial juncture as the company was stabilising its production after the expansion project.
V.D N Rao graduated in mechanical engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal, during 1979 and started his career as a management trainee at Rourkela steel plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd in 1980.

CWG 2014: Vikas Gowda wins India's first athletics medal in Glasgow
i. Vikas Gowda gave India its first athletics gold medal of the 20th Commonwealth Games by winning the men's discuss throw event on Friday.
ii. The 31-year-old US-based Indian pocketed the gold with an effort of 63.64m, way below his personal best effort of 66.28m, under incessant rain at the Hampden Park.
iii. The silver went to Apostolos Parellis of Cyprus who threw the discuss to 63.32m, while the bronze was bagged by Jason Morgan of Jamaica with an effort of 62.34m.
iv. Gowda, who won a silver in the 2010 Delhi Games, registered his best effort in his third attempt, which proved to be enough for him to ran away with the yellow meta

Mondelez appoints Chandramouli Venkatesan as MD of India operations
I.Confectionery major Mondelez has appointed Chandramouli Venkatesan as Managing Director of its Indian operations. Venkatesan was earlier the Regional Category Team Head of chocolates division. He will take the role of Managing Director of Mondelez India from January 1, 2015, the company said in a statement yesterday.
II.He joined Cadbury India in 2005 as Strategy Director and has held several senior leadership roles in Human Resources and Strategy across India and Asia. He was Category Director for India chocolates and biscuits division before he moved to his last role.
III.Following this the company has appointed its Indian President Manu Anand, as President, Regional Category Team, chocolates division and will oversee the chocolate business across the region.
IV.The appointment comes in after Mondelez announced its new business operating model yesterday.
V.As part of its new global strategy, the confectionery major has announced a new business model based on a regional, category-led approach. The owner of Kraft and Cadbury products will now focus on the key categories of chocolates; gum, candy and powdered beverages; biscuits; and cheese and grocery region wise.
VI.The new model will commence from January 1, 2015.
VII.While countries in North America and Europe have already transitioned to this new model, Asia Pacific is inching towards the reform.

K V Chowdary is CBDT new chairman
I.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has a new Chairman in senior IRS officer K V Chowdary.
II.Chowdary, who will have a tenure of three months, assumed charge at the North Block here on Friday.
III.He has replaced R K Tewari who superannuated on Thursday after being at the helm of CBDT for five months.

One Life is Not Enough written by Natwar Singh released
i. One Life is Not Enough: An Autobiography written by Kunwar Natwar Singh was published on 1 August 2014. The book is an autobiography of the former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress Party leader Natwar Singh.
ii. This autobiography has been in news and debate since past few days because it reveals much information about Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress Party. The book has been published by Rupa.
iii. In the autobiography, Natwar Singh has shared his experiences on several events in the political corridors of Delhi. He has also described his early years as a diplomat, his proximity to former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but more pertinently, say sources, to events post-Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.

CWG: Pinki Rani bags first medal in Boxing
i. Pinki Rani in the 48 to 51 kg category bagged a bronze. She lost in the semi final to Michaela Walsh from Northern Ireland making her eligible for a bronze medal.
ii. This is the first medal from boxing. 4 other Indian pugilists will also be seen in semi final action tonight. The pugilists are Vijender Singh in 75 kg, Devendro Laishram in 49 kg, Manpreet Jangra in 69 kg, Laishram Devi in the 57 to 60 kg.
iii. In Badminton, 5 Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, P. Kashyap, Srikanth K., RMV Gurusaidutt and PC Thulasi will play for semi-final berths today. The duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will also play in the quarterfinals of Women's Doubles.

Sardar Singh suspended after second offence
i. In a huge jolt to Indian men hockey team’s chances in the Commonwealth Games, captain Sardar Singh has been suspended for the semi-final match against New Zealand on Saturday following his second dangerous offence of the tournament.
ii. Sardar, who has already been reprimanded for dangerous play against an Australian player, received a yellow card in Thursday’s pool A match against South Africa — which India won 5-2 — and the jury originally slapped him a two-match suspension as it was his second offence of the tournament.
iii. After an appeal by the Indian team management, the appeal jury reduced the suspension to one match.

Indo-Russia pact planned for new BrahMos missile version
i. Supersonic cruise missile manufacturer BrahMos Aerospace on Friday said it is hopeful that a pact to develop a sleeker and faster 'mini' version of the missile will be signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India in December this year.
ii. The new BrahMos CEO said he was expecting that the missile would be inducted into the services by 2017 and "there would be a huge market for the new missile in India, Russia and friendly foreign countries".
iii. The Su-30MKI is undergoing modification so as to carry the strike weapon in its belly in partnership with the HAL. The Indo-Russian joint venture firm was set up in 1998.

Lucknow-New Delhi double-decker train soon
i. A double-decker train will run between the state capital and New Delhi from September this year after trial runs are held in August, an official said Friday.
ii. The railways safety commissioner has given his green signal for the running of the train. The Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) has also already given a safety and speed certificate for the train, an official said.

CWG 2014: Indian wrestler Babita Kumari wins gold in 55kg freestyle
i. Indian wrestler Babita Kumari put on a stunning show to win the gold medal beating Canada's Brittanee Laverdure in the final of the women's 55kg freestyle category in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at the SECC Hall on Thursday.
ii. The 24-year-old Babita, who had bagged silver in 2010 Commonwealth Games, won 9-2 against the 32-year-old Brittanee, who ended up injuring her finger during the bout.
iii. It was the fourth gold medal for India in wrestling.