GK Updates - 14 April | Banking Quiz

Ambedkar Jayanti Today: 123rd birth anniversary of B.R Ambedkar

1.Today is the 123rd birth anniversary of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, observed as Ambedkar Jayanti every year in India. On this day homage is paid to Babasaheb’s statue at the Parliament by the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries.

2.Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891 to the Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai in a poor Mahar family in Mhow, Central Provinces, British India (Madhya Pradesh). He died on December, 6 in 1956 at the age of 65.

Global trade to rise by 4.7 % in 2014: WTO

1.Global trade is expected to increase by 4.7 per cent in 2014, better than the average of 2.2 per cent in the past two years, on the back of projected improvements in the developed economies, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said.

2.The world trade growth is projected to accelerate to 5.3 per cent in 2015. “For the last two years trade growth has been sluggish. Looking ahead, if GDP forecasts hold true, we expect a broad-based but modest upturn in 2014, and further consolidation of this growth in 2015,” said WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo.

3.It’s clear that trade is going to improve as the world economy improves. But I know that just waiting for an automatic increase in trade will not be enough for WTO members,” Mr. Azevedo said in a statement.

4.Although the 2014 forecast of 4.7 per cent is more than double the 2.1 per cent increase of last year, it remains below the 20-year average of 5.3 per cent. For the past two years, growth has averaged only 2.2 per cent.

5.The sluggish pace of trade growth in 2013 was due to a combination of flat import demand in developed economies (0.2 per cent) and moderate import growth in developing economies (4.4 per cent).

HDFC Bank sets Guinness record in blood collection

1.The blood donation camp organised by HDFC Bank on December 6, 2013 involving 61,902 participants has found a place in Guinness Book of Records as the largest such drive on a single day.

2.The largest blood donation (multiple venues) involved 61,902 participants and was achieved by HDFC Bank, with 1,115 blood donation camps held across 709 locations in the country on December 6, 2013,” the official citation from the Guinness Records said, adding this is the only such recognition by it for any corporate in this regard.

3.This is the second recognition for the country comes to blood donation camps as the Shiv Sena had earlier got a mention Guinness Book of Records in 2010.

4.When contacted, a bank official said, “At HDFC Bank, we believe that to make a meaningful contribution to the society we cannot offer short-term relief but must strive to find viable long-term solutions. This philosophy of long-term sustainable solutions drives all our CSR initiatives.”

Book entitled The Accidental Prime Minister released

1.The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh authored by Dr. Sanjaya Baru

2.A memoir entitled the 'The Accidental Prime Minister: the making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh' authored by Sanjaya Baru was released on 11 April 2014. The book has highlighted the difference between the good governance and bad governance by comparing UPA regime under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and NDA regime under Atal Viharee Vajpayee.

3.The memoir has also highlighted the fact that how the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) suffered from the duality of control and responsibility that affected the overall policy decision making.

4.The writer in the book had also claimed that the key appointments to the cabinet and the PMO were also decided by Sonia Gandhi. According to him, he wrote the book with a motive to let people know the success and failure of Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of India.

India, China hold sixth Strategic Dialogue to review ties

1.Top diplomats of India and China today held the sixth round of Strategic Dialogue here, reviewing the status of bilateral relations and exploring new initiatives to deepen the emerging ties.

2.Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh co-chaired the talks with her Chinese counterpart Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.

3.Ahead of the talks, officials said the two sides will review the entire range of bilateral relations, including plans for leadership-level visits in the second half of this Year of India-China Friendly Exchanges.

4.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said earlier that the two sides will have in-depth exchanges on bilateral relations, high level exchanges, practical cooperation, international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Domestic commercial vehicle sales drop 20.2% in FY’14: ICRA

1.Sales of domestic commercial vehicles declined 20.2 per cent in 2013-14 due to the economic slowdown and weak consumer sentiment, ICRA said in a survey.

2.Almost 6.33 lakh vehicles, including light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, were sold during FY’14.

3.The domestic commercial vehicle industry is currently going through one of its longest down cycles in recent periods. Having witnessed a decline of 2 per cent in FY’13, the industry volumes have contracted by a sharp 20.2 per cent in 2013-14

Wilson Kipsang wins London Marathon in record time, Mo Farah finishes eighth

1.World record-holder Wilson Kipsang won the men's London Marathon in a course-record two hours, four minutes and 29 seconds on Monday (AEST) as Britain's Mo Farah found life tough on his debut over the distance.

2.Kipsang smashed the previous London record of 2:04:40 set by fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai in 2011.

3.It was a second London victory for Kipsang, the 2012 champion, who outpaced compatriot Stanley Biwatt in the finishing straight.

4.Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, last year's winner was third, and countryman Ayele Abshero was fourth.

5.Kenya celebrated a race double as Edna Kiplagat, runner-up for the past two years in London, won the women's event.

Santoso shocks Lee to win OUE Singapore Open

1.Indonesia’s Simon Santoso pulled off an upset victory over world No 1 Lee Chong Wei to clinch the US$300,000 OUE Singapore Open badminton championships today (Apr 13).

2.Santoso, who has beaten the Malaysian star, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, just once in 10 previous meetings, won 21-15, 21-10 to claim the US$22,500 men’s singles winner’s cheque at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Gaurav Gill won Vinz Whangarei Car Rally

1.India’s Gaurav Gill and Australian based co-driver Glenn Macneall clean swept today’s six special stages concluding the 2014 VINZ International Rally of Whangarei – snatching victory from overnight leader and team mate Jan Kopecký.

2.The opening round of the 2014 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) saw competitors head south for today’s six remaining special stages – to roads more familiar to Gill. Starting behind Kopecký for the day of double run stages, Gill was in a closely fought battle for stage honours, until the 32-year-old found advantage on the 27.43km Springfield test. Pulling out a time 25 seconds faster than his rival was all Gill needed to put his MRF Tyres team mate behind him for the run to the finish. Defending the gain second time round, Gill added a further 1.1 seconds to win by a competitive 11.9 seconds after 220.87km of competition.

3.Gaurav Gill was ecstatic to win his first ever rally in Whangarei after missing out in the last couple of years. He commented, “We’ve come close to winning here before but every year we’ve had some issue either technical or mechanical. This time it was the best way to win – to come from the back, especially being down by 23 seconds – it was a massive amount of time to make up in this situation. The most important thing is it was a level playing field for Kopecký and I. He is the European champion and I’m the defending champion so he is good benchmark for me. Plus we had new stages this rally and I had to push really hard – that’s what makes the win so much more exciting for me and the team.”

4.The first time the 32-year-old has been to New Zealand, it was also his first time in the car and using the Indian manufactured tyres.

Delhi High Court gets first woman Chief Justice

1.President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Ms. Justice G. Rohini, senior-most Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court the first woman Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Justice Rohini will be the 10th woman judge in the Delhi High Court.

2.Justice Rohini (58), who hails from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, will have four-year tenure as Chief Justice with the possibility of being elevated to the Supreme Court. She enrolled as an advocate in December 1980.

3.She was the Chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Bar Council.

4.She had the unique opportunity of participating actively in Legal Journalism. Initially she was the Reporter of Andhra Pradesh Law Journals of which Sri Koka Raghava Rao is the founder Chief Editor. In 1985 she became the Executive Editor of the Journals.

5.She actively practised mostly in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and also in the Administrative Tribunals and Civil Courts. She has appeared in various types of writ petitions, civil, criminal, labour and service matters.

Dipika Pallikal loses Texas Open final

1.Indian squash ace Dipika Pallikal faced defeat at the hands of Egyptian teenager Nour El Sherbini in the title clash of the Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open on Monday.

2.Striving for her first major title, world No 12 Dipika faced a 7-11, 11-5, 7-11 defeat against the qualifier in just 48 minutes.

3.The 22-year-old Dipika Pallikal had beat eighth-ranked Madeline Perry in the semi-final but failed to get past the 13th-ranked Egyptian.