GK Updates - 28 April | Banking Quiz

Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana scheme launched in UAE

i.A leading Indian financial and health care service player has tied up with the UAE Exchange to offer Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana Scheme in the Gulf country.

ii.The announcement was made in Abu Dhabi yesterday in the presence of Indian Ambassador to the UAE, T P Seetharam, and other senior officials from the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

iii.UAE Exchange will be a facilitator for the implementation of the MGPSY scheme offered by the India's Ministry of Overseas .

India’s FDI inflows up 12% in February

i.Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India grew for the second consecutive month in February this year to USD 2.01 billion, up 12.29 per cent.

ii.In February 2013, the FDI was at USD 1.79 billion according to the data by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

iii.However, for the April-February period of last fiscal, FDI inflows dipped 0.6 per cent to USD 20.76 billion, from USD 20.89 billion during the first 11 months of 2012-13.

FII inflows hit $10 billion for 2014

i.Amid hopes of a stable and reform oriented government after general elections, net investments by foreign institutional investors into India so far this year has reached $10 billion level, while their cumulative total inflows into the country is nearing $200 billion mark.

ii.According to the latest data compiled by capital markets regulator SEBI, the net investments by FIIs into Indian equity markets since the beginning of 2014 have crossed $ 5 billion (over Rs. 30,000 crore), while the same for debt markets also stands near $5 billion (about Rs. 29,000 crore) — taking the total to close to Rs. 60,000 crore.

FinMin directs banks to deal firmly with fraud, wilful default

i.As part of the strategy to contain bad debts, the Finance Ministry has directed all public sector banks to accord top priority to cases of fraud and wilful default and take legal action against those responsible.

ii.“Cases of fraud have been detected in many banks. There is no difference in fraud and wilful default as both are intentional in nature,” Financial Services Secretary Gurdial Singh Sandhu told PTI.

iii.“So banks have been asked to declare such cases as wilful default and appropriate legal action should be initiated by banks,” he said.

Chidambaram hopes CAD will come down to $32 billion

i.Asserting that the economy is going to become stronger due to efforts of the present UPA government, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday said the Current Account Deficit (CAD) has been brought down significantly to $32 billion and fiscal deficit contained within the target in 2013-14.

ii.Mr. Chidambaram, however, said there has been shortfall in overall tax collection in the last fiscal.“We are completely satisfied that we will achieve the fiscal deficit target as projected in the interim budget (4.6 per cent of GDP during 2013-14).

iii.“The news on Current Account Deficit is of course extremely good. The CAD for the year that ended will be only $32 billion as against the previous year’s $88 billion,” he said in a media briefing at Congress party office in New Delhi.

RCom, Tata Teleservices, Aircel tie up for 3G services

i.Telecom operator Reliance Communications on Monday announced a tripartite agreement with Tata Teleservices and Aircel to provide 3G roaming services across their respective customer bases using their network across the country.

ii.RCom and Aircel have permits for 3G services in 13 out of 22 service areas while Tata Teleservices has permit in 9 circles.

iii.“We are delighted to be the first operator to offer 3G national roaming to our customers in partnership with other telecom firms having state-of-the-art 3G networks.

Liverpool's Suarez named English PFA player of the year

i.Controversial Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was named the English Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) player of the year on Sunday.

ii.The 27-year-old Uruguayan, who will lead his country at the World Cup in Brazil in June, has scored 30 goals and contributed 12 assists this season as Liverpool head the Premier League table with two matches remaining.

Indian women's hockey team goes down 2-4 to Korea

i.Indian women's hockey team went down fighting against Korea 2-4 in their opening match of the Champions Challenge 1.

ii.The Indian team opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Vandana Katariya's field goal. The Koreans, however, struck back immediately and scored the equaliser in the 14th minute through the stick of Mihyun Park.

Now, machine that makes drinking water from thin air

i.An Israeli company has developed a new and inexpensive technology that produces drinking water from thin air, an advance that can address the problem of water scarcity in developing countries such as India.

ii.Using the technology, a litre of water can be produced for a mere 1.5 rupees, as compared to 15 rupees for a litre of bottled water, the company claims.

iii.The Atmospheric Water-Generation Units created by Water-Gen use a " GENius" heat exchanger to chill air and condense .

Adhiban won silver at Asian Continental Chess Championship

i.Grand Master Adhiban won silver medal at the Asian Continental Chess Championship held in Sharjah on 26 April 2014. With this silver he got an entry in the World Chess Cup 2015 that will be held at Baku, Azerbaijan.

ii.Adhiban ended up with 6.5 points whereas Yu Yangyi of China won the gold medal ending with 7 points. Ni Hua of China won bronze medal with 6.5 points. Rustam Kasimdzhanov stood at the fourth place (6 points) and Weng Yan of China at the fifth place (6.5 points).