GK Updates - 23 Jan | Banking Quiz

1.Nation celebrates 117th birth anniversary of Netaji
i. Nation celebrates the 117th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose today.
ii. On the occasion the main programme was held in Darjeeling, West Bengal where Chief Minister Ms Mamta Banerjee and other distinguished persons paid rich tributes to Netaji.
iii. Ms Banerjee recalled Netaji's contribution to the freedom movement of the country. She said that the deals of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are still relevant in the present day to keep the country united.
iv. Various programmes are being organized in Odisha to mark the birth anniversary of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. On the occasion, his birth place at Cuttack has witnessed a beeline of visitors since the morning.

2.Rakesh Khurana, appointed dean of Harvard College
i. Indian-origin academician Rakesh Khurana has been appointed dean of the prestigious Harvard College and will take over his new role in July.
ii. Mr Khurana is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard Business School (HBS), professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and co-master of Cabot House at Harvard.
iii. Mr Khurana succeeds Evelynn Hammonds, professor of African and African American Studies, who stepped down last June after completing her five-year term. He will assume the role on July 1.
iv. Mr Khurana earned his bachelors from Cornell University and began graduate studies at Harvard in 1993, earning his Ph.D. in 1998.

3.ADB’s $400-m credit for IIFCL
i. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $400 million first tranche line of credit to India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) to help accelerate infrastructure growth through increased private sector investment.
ii. State-owned IIFCL will have two years to utilise this limit and the line of credit would be used to advance direct loans as well as take-out bank loans.
iii. The first loan is part of the ADB-approved $700-million accelerating infrastructure investment facility in India multi-tranche financing facility designed for IIFCL.
iv. The loan agreement for the first tranche was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry, and Narahari Rao, Officer-in-charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission. Sanjeev Ghai, Chief General Manager, IIFCL, signed the project agreement.
First tranche
This first tranche comes with a tenure of 19 and a half years at competitive cost, which is a small mark-up over Libor.

4.10 crore jobs to be created in manufacturing sector: Sharma
i. India is looking to create as many as 100 million skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector by raising its share of GDP to 25 per cent from 16 per cent, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.
ii . The Commerce and Industry Minister is in Davos for the World Economic Forum annual meet.
iii. India aims to raise manufacturing (sector’s) share of GDP from 16 per cent to 25 per cent and create 100 million skilled jobs. This is a must do,” Mr. Sharma said while addressing an WEF session on manufacturing.
iv. Mr. Sharma, who will meet around 80 business leaders from India and abroad at an investment round-table here, on Wednesday met top executives of global firms, including Diageo, Heineken and Shell, and pitched the India growth story.

5.Ansari launches book 'Resurgent India: Glimpses of Rajiv Gandhi Vision of India'(Re-issue)
i. 'Resurgent India: Glimpses of Rajiv Gandhi's Vision of India' was launched by Vice President Hamid Ansari in Delhi.
ii. Speaking about the book, 'Resurgent India's author and former Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T Acharya said on Wednesday: "Rajiv Gandhi is perhaps one of the most misunderstood prime ministers in Indian history.
iii. It is important to understand the heart and mind of one of the nation's most influential leaders to understand his ambitious policies in their entirety."
iv. The main theme of 'Resurgent India' is an objective evaluation of Rajiv Gandhi's contributions to the nation.

6.Saina slips to ninth in world badminton rankings
i. A second round loss at the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier last week saw India’s Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal drop a place to No.9 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday.
ii. The Olympic bronze medallist, however, has a good chance to climb up once again if she progresses to the semifinals or final of the ongoing India Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow.
iii. World Championship bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu, however, maintained her No.11 ranking and is also expected to rise up the ladder when next week’s rankings are released.

7.Australian Open: Federer to face Nadal after beating Murray
i. Roger Federer has reached an 11th straight semi-final at the Australian Open through a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 defeat of Andy Murray which took more than three hours.
ii. The Swiss will take on Rafael Nadal, who dealt with hand blisters in beating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

8.Sudhir Mahato, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand died
i. Sudhir Mahato (58), the former Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand died on 22 January 2014 following a heart attack at Ghatsila in Singhbhum district.
ii. He is a leader of the JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha). Now he is survived by his wife and four daughters.
iii. He won the assembly elections for the first time in 1990 from Ichchagarh and retained it in 2005, the year he became the Deputy Chief Minister. In 2009, he last the seat in the polls.
Sudhir Mahato
• He has been a member of Legislative Assembly of Bihar Assembly and Jharkhand Assembly from 1995 and 2005
• In 2005 he served as the Deputy Chief Minister Jharkhand and also as Industry Minister Jharkhand
• He was the President cum Chairman of Jharkhand Cricket Academy –

9.Garuda Vasudha Advanced Light Helicopter of Geological Survey of India launched
i. Minister of Mines, Dinsha Patel launched the Advanced Light Helicopter named Garuda Vasudha of Geological Survey of India from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bangalore on 23 January 2014.
ii. The Garuda Vasudha a Dhruv category built by HAL dedicated to the nation.
iii. The Ministry also laid the foundation stone of a Centre of Excellence Laboratory building of GSI at Bangalore, worth of 42 crore.
iv. Garuda Vasudha is used for extensive surveys by the GSI for locating hidden mineral health.
v. Remote Sensing and Aerial Survey Wing of Geological Survey of India will be using both the aerial and heliborne survey together to locate mineral resources which will fulfill the rising demands.

10.Sania-Tecau sail into semis of Australian Open
i. India's Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau stormed into the semifinals of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open with straight sets victory over Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Julia Georges, in Melbourne on Thursday.
ii. Sixth seed Sania and Tecau hardly broke a sweat to prevail over the unseeded Aisam-Julia combination 6-3 6-4 in their quarterfinal clash that lasted just 63 minutes.

11.Haridwar to host 12th National Inter-District Athletics meet
i. The 12th edition of the three-day National Inter-District Athletics meet will be held from April 25 this year at Haridwar.
ii. The year marked both the 11th and 12th editions of the meet because the 11th edition was to be held in October last year, but was postponed to this month.
iii. Satisfied with the performance of the athletes in the recently concluded 11th edition at Ranchi, the AFI's Executive Director, AK Kesri, told reporters that the Haridwar edition would also attract participation of many districts.

12.Real Madrid retain title of world's richest soccer club
i. Spain's Real Madrid retained the title of the world's richest soccer club in the past year thanks to sponsorship and TV deals robust enough to endure a season without a major trophy, a study showed on Thursday.
ii. Real's revenue of 519 million euros ($704 million) put the club ahead of domestic rivals Barcelona in fiscal 2012/2013, with European champions Bayern Munich edging into third ahead of Manchester United, in the annual Football Money League compiled by accountants Deloitte.
iii. Revenue for the top 20 teams rose by 8 percent to 5.4 billion euros, Deloitte said, underlining the appeal of soccer to broadcasters and sponsors targeting mass consumer markets.
iv. Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most consistently successful teams in Europe, fielding top players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi respectively.

13.Li Na storms into Australian Open final
i. China's Li Na advanced to her second successive Australian Open final with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard on Thursday.
ii. Li has now reached three finals at Melbourne Park in the last four years, having lost to Victoria Azarenka last year and Kim Clijsters in 2011. She also lost to Clijsters in the fourth round in 2012.

14.Wawrinka reaches first Slam final at Australian Open
i. Stanislas Wawrinka reaching his first Grand Slam final with a 6—3, 7—6 (1), 6—7 (3), 7—6 (4) win over Tomas Berdych in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday.
ii. Wawrinka will meet the winner of Friday’s semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the 33rd installment of their rivalry and the first at a Grand Slam since Nadal beat Federer in the Australian Open semifinals in 2012.
iii. Whoever he plays, Wawrinka will be the underdog. He has never won against Nadal in 12 meetings and has beaten Federer once in 14 matches.