GK Updates - 17 April | Banking Quiz

Microsoft wins most attractive employer award

Microsoft emerged as the winner for the fourth year. Sony India was the runner-up. The Randstad Award 2014 event was at New Delhi. Special recognition awards were won by Larsen & Toubro in the infrastructure sector, State Bank of India (SBI) in the banking sector, Taj Group of Hotels in the hospitality sector and Tata Power in the energy sector.

Admiral RK Dhowan takes over as Navy chief

1.Admiral Robin K Dhowan, who has commanded frontline warships like INS Delhi, today took over as the Chief of Naval Staff, a post which was lying vacant for nearly two months since DK Joshi quit suddenly in the wake of a series of accidents.
2.Admiral Dhowan (59), who has been the acting Navy chief since Joshi’s exit, has been appointed the Chief of Navy Staff superseding Western Naval Commander Shekhar Sinha.
3.He will have a tenure of 25 months, retiring in May 2016.

SBI launched Tab banking to facilitate opening of Saving Accounts

State Bank of India on 15 April 2014 launched digital banking facilities for the convenience of SBI customers.

ING Vyasa launches m-banking application

1.ING Vyasa on Wednesday officially announced the launch of its mobile banking application, which is believes will help drive higher user engagement.
2.Besides features such as checking balance, funds transfer and bill payments, the application offers ability to scan and store cheques issued, lets users buy and send gift vouchers from various brands and ATM branch locater.
3.Customer will require a single channel to access all digital platforms, including mobile and internet banking.
4.The app has been developed in partnership with technology giant IMB, using latter’s Worklight Platform.

EC launches Voter Educational Channel

1.The Election Commission has launched its own internet-based media arm called ‘Voter Education Channel’.
2.Numerous video clips featuring iconic personalities urging citizens to vote have been uploaded on the channel and can be viewed on social media platform YouTube.
3.While the first clip showcases a recorded speech of Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath asking voters to exercise their voting right, a number of other video links have sportpersons like M S Dhoni, Saina Nehwal and MC Mary Kom urging the young and the old to go for the most important right of an Indian citizen — that of the vote.
4.Sampath’s speech on the portal that was uploaded 22 hours back has so far recorded 794 hits while the media platform boasts total hits of over 10,400.

RBI implements Bhaskar panel recommendations

1.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA) and the Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India (FEDAI) to act as administrators of the Indian rupee interest rate and foreign exchange benchmarks.
2.To overcome the possible conflicts of interest in the benchmark setting process arising out of the current governance structure of the FIMMDA and FEDAI, an independent body, either separately or jointly, may be formed by FIMMDA and FEDAI for administration of the benchmarks,” said RBI.
3.In the case of benchmarks based on polled submissions, FIMMDA and FEDAI may select the benchmark submitters on the basis of their standing, market share in the benchmark/instrument linked to the benchmark and representative character. And, may put in place a code of conduct specifying various provisions, including hierarchy of data inputs for submissions as recommended by an earlier committee, said RBI. This committee on financial benchmarks was chaired by P Vijaya Bhaskar, executive director of RBI, and the central bank accepted the recommendations.

RBI raises $3.3 billion in biggest-ever bond auction

1.The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday fully sold the 200 billion rupees ($3.31 billion) worth of bonds on offer at its biggest auction ever, sparking strong gains in debt markets.
2.Government bonds jumped on Thursday, recovering from two sessions of falls, after the RBI fully sold the Rs 20,000 crore ($3.31 billion) worth of debt on offer, accomplishing the country's biggest-ever auction.
3.The cut-offs for the auction were also better than expected, indicating healthy demand. Concerns about how India would accomplish the debt sale had hit bonds this week, while holidays on Monday and Friday left only three trading sessions.

Giant torch unveiled in US in honour of Indian spiritual guru

1.A giant torch, which is a replica of the Olympic torch, was unveiled here in honour of Indian spiritual leader Chinmoy Kumar Ghose.
2.The giant 25-foot tall torch, considered the world’s largest, was unveiled by Ashrita Furman, 59, who holds numerous Guinness Book World records.
3.The torch was unveiled to honour the 50 years of Ghose — renowned as Sri Chinmoy — coming to New York from India in April 1964.
4.The huge torch is 11 times larger than the Olympic torch used in the 1998 Winter Olympic games to carry the flame from Athens to Nagano in Japan and weighs 1200 kg.
5.Furman, who constructed the aluminum and steel torch over three weeks, credited the teachings of Ghose for his inspiration. Through the torch, Furman could make a new Guinness record.

Comic book icon Archie to die in July's final issue

1.Archie the famous comic book character that has ruled the market of comics for past 73 years is set to die in this summer issue of July 2014.
2.Archie Comics in the second week of April 2014 announced that in the July installment of Life with Archie will heroically sacrifice his life while saving the life of a friend. Life with Archie is a comic book series that tells the story of grown-up renditions of Archie and his Riverdale gang.
3.The final moments of Archie will be detailed in Life with Archie number 36, while the issue number 37 will jump forward a year and focus on his friends namely Betty, Jughead, Veronica and Reggie.
4.For the first time Archie appeared in comics in 1941 and since then it became the colorful icon of wholesomeness.

Google bought Drone maker Titan Aerospace to deliver internet across the globe

1.Google on 14 April 2014 bought Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude solar-powered drones. It has acquired the drone making company to bring internet access to the remotest parts of the world and also to solve problems related to it.
2.None of the two companies has disclosed the financial term of acquisition.
3.As per the internet giant, Google the atmospheric satellites could be used in disaster relief and assessing environmental damage and voice and data communications.

Cherrapunji regained the World record for highest rainfall in 48 hours

1.A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) panel has concluded that Cherrapunji in India now holds the world record for two-day (48-hour) rainfall, with 2 493 millimeters (98.15 inches) recorded on 15–16 June 1995.
2.This rainfall total exceeds the previous world 48-hour rainfall record of 2 467mm (97.1”) associated with the passage of a tropical cyclone over the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion (France) in April 1958. La Réunion, which is frequently hit by tropic cyclones and receives large amounts of rainfall over its mountains, continues to hold the record for the most rainfall over periods of 12-hours and 24-hours (in 1966), as well as 72-hours and 96-hours (in 2007).
3.The new 48-hour record is particularly noteworthy as it reaffirms Cherrapunji (also known as Sohra) as one of the wettest places on Earth. It complements Cherrapunji’s long-held record rainfall for a 12-month (one-year) period, with 6 470 mm (86 feet 10 inches) of rain from August 1860 to July 1861. It also supplants a two-day rainfall record associated with a tropical cyclone. In contrast to other short-term rainfall records, Cherrapunji’s extensive rains are the result of summer monsoon depressions interacting with its mountainous topography. Cherrapunji is situated on a plateau in the state of Meghalaya at an average elevation of 1 484 metres (4 869 ft), facing the plains of Bangladesh.
4.The investigation was conducted at the request, and with the support, of the India Meteorological Department, and was based on post-event data analysis. The investigating committee was composed of climate experts from Argentina, Columbia, France, Germany, India, Morocco, Spain and the United States.

‘Earth Day’ walk on April 22

1.State Bank of Travancore (SBT) will observe ‘Earth Day’ on April 22 by organising a walk from Kowdiar Square to Museum Junction in the city at 6.30 am. Managing Director Jeevandas Narayan will lead the walk, a bank spokesman said.
2.Prominent personalities such as Shashi Tharoor, Union Minister for State for Human Resources; VS Sivakumar, Kerala Minister for Health and Devasom; City Mayor K Chandrika; top bureaucrats; and film personalities will take part.

Mahindra to launch electric scooter in US

1.Mahindra & Mahindra, home-grown utility vehicle and tractor maker, will launch the Genze electric scooter in the US by the middle of this year. This is the first two-wheeler launch in that country by the company.
2.A Mahindra outfit based at Palo Alto, California, had showcased the scooter at the Santa Monica Altcar Expo in September last year, to test the response. It is a single-seater and powered by a lithium-ion battery, with a seven-inch weatherproof touch screen as its instrument panel.
3.The company has been selling a range of tractors in the US market for several years. Though M&M has not disclosed pricing details of the Genze, local US reports state it could be priced at about $3,000 (Rs 1.8 lakh). The two-wheeler, to be built at Ann Arbor, Michigan, is expected to have a top speed of nearly 50 km an hour.

Durga Raghunath elevated as Network18 Digital CEO

1.Network18 Digital, the digital content arm of Network18, has elevated Durga Raghunath to CEO.
2.She was earlier the CEO of Firstpost.com, the leading news and opinion portal from the group. Lakshmi Narasimhan, previous CEO for the group’s digital content business, is now moving onto a corporate role, the company said in a statement.
3.Network18 Digital has also recently launched Firstbiz.com — A standalone business news and views Web site from Firstpost and News18.com — a pioneering state and local news portal. Cumulatively, Network18 Digital reaches over 25 million unique visitors on an average every month, according to comScore.

Tata AIA Life appoints Vishal Kumar Bandlish as CFO

1.Tata AIA Life Insurance Company has announced the appointment of Vishal Kumar Bandlish as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
2.Based at the company’s headquarters at Mumbai, Bandlish will report to the Chief Executive Officer of the company. As the CFO, he will be responsible for the company’s financial operations and will lead a team of professionally qualified individuals.
3.Bandlish joined Tata AIA Life in 2004 and has previously held senior financial positions in the company. He has been instrumental in establishing strong accounting and reporting controls in his role as Finance Comptroller. He has been a key contributor in implementation of ERP solutions and in getting the Finance function ISO 9001-2008 certified.

Kolkata Knight Riders score 163/5 vs Mumbai Indians in IPL opener

Opting to bat, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 163/5 against Mumbai Indians in the opening match of seventh Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Wednesday.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: 163/5 in 20 overs (Jacques Kallis 72, Manish Pandey 64; Lasith Malinga 4/23).