GK Updates - 16 April | Banking Quiz

‘Ship of Theseus’ named best film at National film awards

1.Anand Gandhi’s debut film Ship of Theseus was on Wednesday named the best feature film while Milkha Singh’s biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was declared the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment at the 61st National Film Awards.

2.The best actor award was shared by Shahid actor Rajkumar Rao and Suraj Venjaramoodu for Malayalam film Perariyathavar while Hansal Mehta was named the best director for Shahid, again a biopic on slain lawyer-activist Shahid Azmi.

3.Geetanjali Thapa was named the best actress for Hindi film Liar’s Dice Saurabh Shukla was declared the best supporting actor for court-room drama Jolly LLB which was also named the best Hindi film.

4.The best supporting actress award is shared by Amruta Subhas and Aida El-Kashef for Astu (Marathi) and Ship of Theseus (English-Hindi).

Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram Appointed as new Finance Secretary

Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram has been designated as new Finance Secretary. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved a proposal to designate Arvind Mayaram as the new Finance Secretary on 15 April 2014.

Vice Admiral Robin K Dhowan likely to take over as next Navy Chief

1.Vice Admiral Robin K Dhowan is most likely to be the next chief of the Indian Navy with reports on Wednesday suggesting that the Defence Ministry has recommended his name to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the coveted post.

2.The post of Navy chief has been lying vacant for nearly two months since DK Joshi suddenly quit in the wake of a series of mishaps that hit the naval forces recently.

3.Vice Admiral Dhowan, who has been the acting Navy chief since Joshi's exit, was in contention for the top job along with Western Navy Commander Shekhar Sinha and Eastern Commander Anil Chopra.

4.Vice Admiral Sinha is the senior-most among the three but he has been edged out of the race, apparently because majority of the 14 mishaps, including two major submarine accidents, took place under his command during the last 10 months.

PC Parakh authored book Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths released

Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths: authored by PC Parekh
1.A memoir entitled "Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths" authored by former Coal Secretary PC Parakh was released on 14 April 2014 in New Delhi. In the book the author has claimed that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was running a government in which he had little political authority.

2.The writer has said that the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh was unable to prevent his junior ministers from blocking a move towards a transparent system during the bidding for the coal blocks. He also said that the coal scam would have been avoided if the Prime Minister pushed for certain reforms like e-marketing and open auction of coal blocks.

Basel Committee issued Final standards to curb exposures of banks to customers

1.The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on 15 April 2014 issued Final standards for measuring and controlling large exposures of banks to customers. These standards will take effect from 1 January 2019.

2.The committee consisted of banking supervisors from nearly 30 countries. The committee framed a new rule limiting how much business a bank can undertake with a single customer.

Indian judokas strike gold at South Asian Championships

1.Indian judokas dominated and notched up an impressive haul of 10 gold, a silver and a bronze medal at the seventh South Asia Judo Championships held in Kathmandu.

2.A 12-member Indian team participated in the Championships held from April 10 to 13.

3.All South Asian Countries in Judo Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the official Championship of South Asia Judo Federation," the Judo Federation of India said in a statement.

4.In the previous South Asia Judo Championships held in Pakistan, India won 10 Gold and a silver medal.

The medallists:

Men: Navjot Chana - 60Kg - Gold Irom Sanju Singh -66Kg - Gold Navdeep Chana -73Kg - Gold Vikender Singh -81Kg - Gold Avtar Singh - 90Kg - Gold Khaidem Yaima Singh-100Kg - Silver

Women: Angom Anita Chanu - 52Kg - Gold Suchika Tariyal - 57Kg - Gold Garima Chaudhary - 63Kg - Gold Huidrom Sunibala Devi -70Kg - Gold Ch Jina Devi-78Kg - Gold Rajni Bala - 48Kg - Bronze.

ECI launched Election Visitors Programme 2014

1.Election Commission of India (ECI) on 15 April 2014 launched the Election VIsitors Programme (EVP) 2014. The EVP 2014 was launched as a part of South-South Cooperation initiative of the ECI in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

2.On the day of launch, seven senior officials from Namibia began their participation in the EVP 2014 and left for the Karnataka State where the elections are scheduled to be held on 17 April 2014.

WTO figures bring cheer to Indian export sector

1.With the World Trade Organisation projecting world trade to grow by 4.7 per cent in 2014 and a slightly faster growth at 5.3 per cent in 2015, which is a 20-year average growth rate, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations has noted that this augurs well for India's exports.

2.While world trade grew by 7.35 per cent on an average between 2005 and 2013, India’s exports grew by 15.66 per cent on an average in the same period, according to the FIEO. However, since India recorded only a modest growth of about 4 per cent in 2013-14, it is necessary for the trade to look at a 15 per cent increase in exports, taking it to $360 billion in 2014-15, said the FIEO chief.

3.In the case of world trade, the growth per cent of 2014 is more than double of what was achieved in 2013 (2.2 per cent). In 2013, trade growth rate was slow due to a combination of flat import demand in developed economies and moderate import growth in developing economies. On the export side, both developed and developing economies only managed to record a small, positive increase.

4.The trade forecast for 2014 has been upgraded to 4.7 per cent from 4.5 per cent. In 2013, Asia recorded the fastest GDP growth at 4.2 per cent, which was almost equal to growth in the previous two years.

SBI launches new scheme for fashion boutique owners

1.The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a financing scheme for women fashion boutique owners.

2.Labelled ‘boutique financing’, the scheme is designed to offer working capital expenses as well as term loan for boutique owners.

3.Chief General Manager of SBI (Bengal Circle) Sunil Srivastava said the bank has identified the growth potential of the segment.

4.He said the bank would give loans at a concessional interest rate and the maximum loan to be made available would be Rs 50 lakh for a period of seven years.

‘Nirbhaya squads’ for women’s safety

The South Central Railways has set up ‘nirbhaya squads’ in the zone as part of its efforts to step up security of women passengers. These squads, comprising lady RPF constables and ticket examiners, will be conducting checks to ensure that male passengers do not get into ladies coaches. “The four nirbhaya squads have apprehended over 3,400 offenders and realised about ₹10 lakh as fines in the last three months,” PK Srivastava, General Manager, said, while addressing the 59th Railway Week Celebrations.