GK Updates - 15 Jan | Banking Quiz

SBT gets new MD

Jeevandas Narayan has taken over as Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore.

Beginning his career as a probationary officer in State Bank of India, Narayan held several key assignments in the bank.

He also had an overseas assignment in Kuwait and with SBI Capital Markets in India. His latest assignment was Chief General Manager, Patna Circle of SBI, which covers the States of Bihar and Jharkhand.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CCI clear Rliance Power's 4,000 MW project in Jharkhand

The Cabinet Committee on Investment has cleared Reliance Power’s 4000 MW ultra mega power project at Tilaiya in Jharkand, advising Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to take necessary steps to treat it at par with Central Government undertaking project for the purpose of rules for compensatory afforestation.

Under the clearance given by CCI headed by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, Reliance Power may not have to provide non-forest land to compensate for the loss of forest land acquired for the proposed plant. The plant will now be on a par with the other public sector projects and therefore would be exempted from providing compensatory afforestation for the loss of forest land. At present, only central government or public sector undertakings have exemption from the obligation to provide non-forest land.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEBI, RIL asked to clarify impact of new consent norms

A file picture of Logo of SEBI. Photo: Shashi Ashiwal.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal on Wednesday sought clarifications from market watchdog SEBI and Reliance Industries on how new consent settlement norms would affect the ongoing case between the regulator and the company.

The tribunal, which had concluded its hearings on two petitions from RIL on January 6 and reserved its order for an unspecified date, set February 24 for the next hearing.

Since SEBI notified the new consent norms on January 9, after issuing the draft consent norms in May 2012, SAT on Wednesday sought clarifications from the regulator and RIL on the effects of the guidelines on the ongoing case involving the two.

“Before we pronounce the order, we would like to know whether the RIL appeal will hold since new SEBI regulations are retrospective in nature,” SAT presiding officer J P Devdhar said, giving time until February 24 to reply.

SAT has been hearing a seven-year-old case of alleged insider trading arising from the merger of Reliance Petroleum (RPL) with RIL back in 2007.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Army celebrates 66th Indian Army Day today

The 66th Army Day is being observed on 15 January 2014. The day is celebrated in recognition of the appointment of General K M Cariappa as the first Commander-in-Chief of independent India. He succeeded British Army General Roy Butcher on this day in 1948.

Preparing for the celebrations, Lt Gen Ashok Singh, general officer commanding-in-chief, Southern Command, said in his message: "...On the auspicious occasion I extend my heartiest congratulation to all ranks of the Southern Command, our honoured veterans, Veer Naries, civilians and their family members."

Stating that the Army Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm the army's pledge to defend the nation, he said: "We, the soldiers of the Southern Command rededicate ourselves to carry out our duties towards achieving our goal of safeguarding the borders of this great nation and serve the citizens of India."

An official note from the Southern Command said that the future holds more challenges and that the command is optimistic that each and every member will put in his and her best to keep the Indian flag flying higher than ever.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

World Bank projects India’s growth at over 6% in 2014-15

The World Bank has projected India’s economy will grow over 6 per cent in 2014-15 and 7.1 per cent by 2016-17 as global demand recovers and domestic investment increases.

In China, growth is estimated to stay flat in 2014 at 7.7 per cent, slowing to 7.5 per cent for the next two years, reflecting deleveraging and less reliance on policy-induced investment.

Global GDP growth may firm up to 3.2 per cent this year from 2.4 per cent in 2013, stabilising at 3.4 per cent and 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively, the World Bank said in its Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report released today.

According to the report, the global economy is projected to strengthen this year, with growth picking up in developing countries and high-income economies appearing to be finally turning the corner five years after the global financial crisis.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RBI fixes rupee reference rate at 61.5885 against USD

In a press release issued by RBI, the exchange rates for the pound and yen against the rupee were quoted at 101.0914 and 58.99 per 100 yen, based on reference rates for the dollar and cross-currency quotes at noon.

The reference rate is based on the noon rates of select banks and the SDR-Rupee rate would be based on this rate, the release added.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rajeev Kher appointed new Commerce Secretary

Senior IAS officer Rajeev Kher has been appointed Secretary in Department of Commerce.

Kher, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is presently Special Secretary, Department of Commerce under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

He will take over from S R Rao, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, after his retirement on January 31, a press release issued today by Ministry of Personnel said.

Sudarsanam Srinivasan, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed Member (Finance), Atomic Energy, Space and Earth Commissions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RBI to make Sinha an advisor for 3 months after retirement as deputy governor

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to appointed Anand Sinha, deputy governor, an advisor to the central bank for a period of three months after he retires on the coming Saturday.

This is the first time an RBI deputy governor would have an advisory role after retirement, though there are instances of executive directors (EDs, the rank lower to this) having one.

The move is aimed at keeping Sinha's guidance in completing the licensing process for new banks. The department ofbanking operations and development's job was to draft the final norms and do the initial screening of the applications; it is part of Sinha's portfolio as DG.

The government has also begun the process of finding a successor to Sinha, having interviewed eight of the EDs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anees Salim bags The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013

Kerala-based writer Anees Salim won The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013 for his second novel, Vanity Bagh for consistent writing and humour and imagination.

“The book is a very comic account of a young man from a minority group from a place called Vanity Bagh, also called Little Pakistan.

It is about physical cities, both real and imagined,” said writer Timeri N. Murari, one of the jury members.

Novelist Jim Crace made the announcement on Monday evening at the valedictory session of The Hindu Lit for Life. “There is a lot of humour in the book that runs through it. It is philosophical and liberating,” Mr. Murari added.

Mr. Salim was represented by his publisher Pranav Kumar of Picador, who also read out his acceptance speech at the event.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sourav Ganguly to be conferred Doctor of Letters by Bengal varsity

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly would be conferred with an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree by the prestigious Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Shibpur, for his great contribution to Indian cricket.

Sourav Ganguly has made great contribution to Indian cricket. His captaincy was brilliant. He has contributed to take Indian cricket to great heights in the arena of world cricket and for that we have decided to honour him with the D.Litt," BESU Vice-chancellor Ajoy Roy said in Kolkata on Tuesday.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marathi poet Namdeo Dhasal passes away

Renowned Marathi poet and activist Namdeo Dhasal passed away in Mumbai today after a prolonged illness.

He was 64. Dhasal who was battling with colorectal cancer, died at the Bombay Hospital.

Dhasal was one of the founders of the militant Dalit Panther movement. He was also a pioneer of the Dalit literature movement.

The Padma Shri awardee has had a medical history of myasthenia gravis which is one of the lesser known auto-immune disorders.

Dhasal, also a rights activist, received the Nehru award for his book 'Golpitha'. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akadami award for his contribution to literature.

Dhasal's selected poems were translated into English under the title "Namdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld", Poems 1972-2006.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former SC judge seeks Rs 5 cr damages from media in sexual assault case

Former Supreme Court judge and National Green Tribunal Chairperson Swatanter Kumar on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking to restrain the media from reporting the alleged sexual assault case of his former woman law intern.

Justice Kumar has also sought a whopping Rs five crore as damages from two English news channels and a leading English daily for defaming him in the case.

A battery of senior lawyers, including Maninder Singh and N K Kaul, mentioned the civil suit before Justice G S Sistani at 10.30 am and sought an urgent hearing of the petition.

Justice Sistani, who is in-charge judge of civil suits filed in the high court, ordered hearing of the petition on Wednesday itself.

According to the intern, the alleged harassment took place in May 2012 when he was a sitting judge of the apex court.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akhilesh Das Gupta set to be re-elected BAI president

Akhilesh Das Gupta is set to be re-elected president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) as he remained the only candidate for the coveted post at the end of the filing of the nominations.

General secretary Vijai Sinha would also be re-elected unopposed when the BAI’s annual general meeting takes place here on January 25 during the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Tournament.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saina, Sindhu advance in Malaysia Open

Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu got off to winning starts in their season, notching up straight-game victories in their respective opening round women’s singles matches in the USD 500,000 Malaysia Super Series Premier here Wednesday.

While eighth seeded Saina took just 36 minutes to get the better of Indonesia’s Hera Desi 21—10, 21—16 in their first ever meeting, Sindhu fought hard before prevailing 21—17, 21—18 over her old foe Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia in a 43-minute contest.

Saina next faces Yao Xue of China, while world number 11 Sindhu takes on sixth seed Yeon Ju Bae of Korea in the second round at the Putra Stadium here.