GK Updates - 3 Jan | Banking Quiz

Ganguly resigns as NUJS faculty

Even as he maintained on Friday that he has “not decided on his resignation” from the post of chairperson of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), Justice (retd.) Asok Kumar Ganguly resigned as a guest faculty member of the National University of Judicial Sciences (NUJS) here.

The development comes a day after the Union Cabinet gave its nod for a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court for his removal. “Some of the faculty members, not all, have expressed their opinion that my association with the university is against the spirit of NUJS…. I have written a letter to the Vice Chancellor stating that I wish to relinquish all association with the university,” the retired Supreme Court judge told The Hindu.

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Manoj Vaish appointed as MCX MD & CEO

Multi Commodity Exchange, promoted by the troubled Financial Technologies (India) Ltd, has appointed former BSE head Manoj Vaish as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for three years.

The appointment, which was approved by the board on Thursday, is subject to the approval of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) and such other approvals as may be necessary, MCX said in a statement.

Vaish takes over the responsibility from Shreekant Javalgekar, who stepped down as the MD and CEO last October after an investigation into the Rs 5,600-crore scam at group company National Spot Exchange Ltd.

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Corporation Bank launches campaign for agri credit delivery

Corporation Bank has launched a year-long campaign for the delivery of agriculture credit and financial inclusion initiatives at all its branches.

A statement by the bank said here that the campaign has been launched in tune with the ‘International Year of Family Farming’, declared by the United Nations for 2014.

The focus of Corporation Bank will be to assist farming families, especially having small and marginal holdings; the weaker sections, minority communities, and self-help groups and joint liability groups, it said.

Lending to agriculture and allied activities to farming families and assessing their needs comprehensively will be pursued during the camps at the bank’s branches.

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Indian Overseas Bank launches IOB-Connect card

Targetting young individuals, public sector Indian Overseas Bank on Friday launched ‘Connect Card’, a new ATM-cum-Debit card in association with VISA that can be used for e—commerce across five lakh merchant outlets.

Though all IOB customers have been provided ATM-cum-Debit card, Connect Card is targeted at the younger generation aged between 10 and 28 years, the city-based bank said in a statement.

IOB Connect cards can be used at over five lakh outlets as well as for online shopping. Encouraging e—payments, the bank offers five per cent cash back offer till the end of this financial year, it said.

Besides, the bank also launched Channel Financing for its corporate, institutional and SME credit customers.

“IOB Channel Financing is a facility for financing supply chain partners. All activities under Channel Financing are digitally signed and electronically exchanged for speedy disposal and effective management,” it added.

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MPs vote Thatcher best UK PM in survey

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was particular about her looks as her appointments diary for 1984 shows that she visited a hairdresser 120 times.

Thatcher, who was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and died in 2013 at the age of 87, was as well known for her immaculately coiffed hair, sharp suits and trademark handbags as she was for her politics.

Previously unseen documents have shown just how far Thatcher went to maintain her iconic image.

An analysis of her appointments diary, released by the National Archives under the 30-year rule today, shows she had her hair styled 120 times in 1984, an average of once every three days.

The diary was maintained by a member of her staff while she was in office, The Telegraph reported. It details meetings with Ministers and heads of state as well as her visits to Rome, Moscow and Brussels, media interviews, cabinet briefings and photo calls.

The diary also gives a fascinating insight into Thatcher’s day-to-day life, including six visits to the dentist, and the occasional “swim” and “quiet” evenings with husband Denis.

Her hair appointments are simply written as “hair” and usually took place at 8.30 am or 9am. They more than likely involved styling using Carmen heated rollers. The brand, popular in the 1980s, was Thatcher’s favourite. Five of the sessions were on consecutive days in June when the coiffured Prime Minister hosted world leaders at an economic summit in London.

The diary also confirms her reputation as a workaholic who found it difficult to relax.

Thatcher has been voted the most successful post-war British Prime Minister by lawmakers in a survey in which Winston Churchill came a distant fourth. The survey was carried out by Politics and International Relations students at Royal Holloway, University of London.

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New GM for Central Railway

Sunil Kumar Sood has been appointed General Manager, Central Railway with effect from December 31, 2013. He was earlier Chief Mechanical Engineer, Southern Railway, Chennai. Sood had also served as Divisional Railway Manager, Jodhpur Division, North Western Railway, Chief Workshop Manager, Jamalpur, Eastern Railway, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Moradabad Division, Northern Railway, earlier.

He also worked for eight years each at the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala and the South-Eastern Railway after joining Indian Railways in 1978.

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Tata Sons appoints S Venkateswaran as Chief Tata sustainability Group

Tata Sons today announced appointment of Shankar Venkateswaran as Chief — Tata Sustainability Group with the responsibility of driving group level initiatives in the sustainability space, and guiding Tata Sons and the group companies on sustainability and CSR initiatives.

Venkateswaran will report directly to Mukund Rajan, Member — Group Executive Council, Brand Custodian and Chief Ethics Officer, Tata Sons, a company statement said.

Before joining Tata Sons, Shankar was with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India as Director — Sustainability. A mechanical engineer from IIT Madras and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, he has over 31 years of experience of working in the corporate & development sectors.

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Serena meets Azarenka in Brisbane international finals

Serena Williams extended her winning streak against Maria Sharapova to 14 matches with a 6-2, 7-6 (7) semifinal victory Friday to earn a shot at back-to-back Brisbane International titles.

The defending champion will play second-seeded Victoria Azarenka in Saturday’s final, and will be favoured to retain the title that kicked off her stunning 2013 season that included 78 wins from 82 matches and 11 titles.

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Tennis:Yuki Bhambri in QFs of Chennai Open

3 Jan 2014In the ATP Tour Chennai Open Tennis championships, Yuki Bhrambri has kept India's hopes alive by advancing to the quarter finals.Davis Cupper Bhambri got lucky when the third seeded Italian Fabio Fagnini retired after losing the first set 2-6 and drawing level 5-5 in the second.

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India beat Sri Lanka to play U-19 Asia Cup final

DUBAI: India qualified to play against Pakistan in the final of the Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Asia Cup when they defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets in the second semi-finals played here at the ICC Academy on Thursday.
India captain Vijay Zol won the toss and sent Sri Lanka into bat.Sri Lanka made 223 runs for eight wickets in the allotted 50 overs with the help of two half-centuries scored by opener Hashan Dumindu (60) and captain Kusal Mendis (52).In reply, India achieved the target losing seven wickets with five balls to spare after wicketkeeper-batsman Ankush Baine top-scored with 54. he was later declared Man-of-the-Match.Pakistan Under-19 had already qualified for the final defeating Afghanistan Under-19 by two wickets at Sharjah.Now the final will be played between Pakistan and India on Saturday (January 2) at Sharjah.