GK Updates - 1 May | Banking Quiz

Bank officers' body to mark May 1 as 'Demands Day' - International Labour Day Today

i.The All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), a national body of banking sector officers, has decided to mark May 1, which is internationally observed as Labour Day, as Demands Day this year.

ii.Specific to the body’s demand is the implementation of regulated working hours and five-day-a-week working schedule for the Indian banking industry.

iii.In a statement, the AIBOC said,”The five-day working week will not have any impact on the customer service or any inconvenience to the general public in the midst of technology advancement and enhanced digital delivery of banking services.”

iv.The body added that the RBI as well as many of the central/state government offices also work only for five days a week.

The ex-Australian judge appointed as arbitrator by SC

The Supreme Court of India on 29 April 2014 appointed former judge of the High Court of Australia, Michael Hudson McHugh as the third arbitrator to resolve the dispute between the Central government and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on KG basin.

Dilip Shanghvi among Asia's richest self-made billionaires

i.Dilip Shanghvi, founder and managing director of Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries, has been named in the list of Asia's top 10 wealthiest self-made billionaires, topped by Hong Kong business tycoon Li Ka-Shing, according to Wealth-X.

ii.Shanghvi, ranked seventh, is the only Indian on the list with a net worth of $13.5 billion, while Li Ka-Shing topped the chart with a fortune of $29.4 billion, ultra high net worth intelligence and prospecting firm Wealth-X said. Shanghvi founded Sun Pharmaceu-ticals in 1983 with five psychiatry products and a marketing team of only two persons. Over the years, the company grew manifold and made many acquisitions, the latest being the $4 billion Ranbaxy deal.

MCX CEO Manoj Vaish quits

i.Manoj Vaish, Managing Director & CEO of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), has quit citing health reasons.He had taken up the position on February 1.

ii.In a communication to the stock exchanges, MCX said Vaish had submitted his resignation from the services of the exchange, subject to the approval of the board, on health grounds.

For the first time London got its Web Domain name .London

i.London on 29 April 2014 got its domain name .london for the first time. Officially, .london will come into effect from the summer 2014.

ii.Domain name of London will join the club of Germany and Austria as .berlin in Germany and .wien in Austria.

iii.Since January 2014, a little-known organization that regulates global Internet names has been issuing new city-specific domain names. Roughly 60 cities have received approval for their own domains so far.

British Actor Bob Hoskins Dies at 71

i.British actor Bob Hoskins, best known for roles where he alternated gruffness and tenderness in “The Long Good Friday,” “Mona Lisa” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” died of pneumonia on Tuesday. He was 71.

ii.His agent said he died in hospital, surrounded by family. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and retired from acting in 2012.

iii.Hoskins’ breakthrough came in Dennis Potter’s TV series “Pennies From Heaven” in 1978, and his movie career took off with 1980 gangster pic “The Long Good Friday,” in which he starred alongside Helen Mirren.

CARE sees GDP growth at 5.2-5.5% this fiscal on new govt

i.The economy would grow by 5.2—5.5 per cent in the current fiscal driven largely by a new government which is expected to focus on growth, Care Ratings said today.

ii.“It is expected the economy in general will improve in FY15, albeit gradually on the premise that a strong government would be in place after the elections which will reduce uncertainty in business environment and focus on reviving growth,” said the rating agency.

iii.During the just-ended fiscal, official estimates say the GDP growth will come at around 4.9 per cent, which will be a higher than the 4.5 per cent achieved in FY13.

iv.Care Ratings expects the new government to be more responsible on the fiscal management front, and said that it expects the fiscal deficit to get contained to 4.1 per cent in FY15, an improvement from the 4.6 per cent in FY14.

Exim Bank plans to set up project development company in Africa

i.Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) plans to set up a project development company (PDC) in Africa, with the participation of State Bank of India (SBI), IL&FS and African Development Bank.

ii.The new company will essentially look to bring infrastructure projects in Africa to a bankable stage and facilitate exports from India to Africa. This is the first time Exim Bank is looking to set up a PDC and also the first time in Africa.

Woman killed in twin blasts at Chennai Central station

i.A 22-year old woman was killed and 14 others injured, two of them grievously, when two bombs exploded in the Bangalore–Guwahati tri-weekly express here on Thursday. The explosions took place minutes after the train reached Platform No. 9 at the Chennai Central Station at 7.15 a.m. on Thursday.

ii.Train No 12509 that left Bangalore Junction at 10.30 pm on Wednesday was scheduled to arrive at Chennai Junction at 5.40 a.m. However, the train reached Central station around 7.10 a.m. Within few minutes, bombs exploded one after the other in reserved second sleeper coaches, S 4 and S 5.

India regains No.1 position in T20I rankings

i.India on Thursday climbed up a position and regained its number one ranking in Twenty20 Internationals after the annual update of the ICC Rankings, which was announced in Dubai.

ii.The Indian side has swapped places with 2014 ICC World T20 champions, Sri Lanka.

iii.In the past 12 months, India has lost just one T20I against Sri Lanka in the recent ICC WT20 final in Bangladesh, while Sri Lanka has lost four matches.

iv.The 2013-2014 results are weighted at 100 per cent whereas, the results in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are now weighted at 50 per cent.

Motorola to launch ‘Moto E’ in India on May 13

i.Tech major Motorola on Thursday said it will launch a new smartphone on May 13 simultaneously in India and the U.K.

ii.Motorola will host press events in New Delhi and London to launch the new smartphone, which reports suggest could be the ‘Moto E’.

Chidambaram makes strong pitch for NCTC

i.Concerned over the twin bomb explosions in a train in Chennai, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday made a strong pitch for NCTC, saying the mechanism would have helped plug loopholes in coordination.

ii.Mr Chidambaram, who as Home Minister had pushed hard for National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which could not see the light of the day due to reservations by non-Congress ruled states, said, “I cannot genuinely claim that NCTC would have avoided every blast.

IMF says Russia is in recession

i.The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that Russia is already in recession and slashed its growth forecast for 2014 citing the effect of the Ukraine crisis on investment.

ii.If we define recession as negative growth in two quarters in a row, then Russia from that point of view is experiencing recession," IMF economist Antonio Spilimbergo was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Pakistan army chief calls Kashmir 'jugular vein of Pakistan'

i.Terming Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of Pakistan, the country's army chief Gen Raheel Sharif on Wednesday said the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiris and in line with UNSC resolutions for lasting peace in the region.

ii.Addressing the main ceremony to mark the 'Youm-e-Shuhada' (Martyrs' Day) at GHQ Rawalpindi, Gen Sharif said Kashmir was an internationally recognized dispute.

Air India to join Star Alliance in July

i.Air India (AI) is all set to join the world's largest airline grouping company— Star Alliance, this July, making it the first airline company from India to be part of a global chain of carriers. The move, according to AI CMD Rohit Nandan, will bring immense benefits to Indian fliers from day one as they will be able to earn-and-burn miles, get access to lounges across the globe and enjoy seamless connectivity across the globe.

ii.Almost all the requirements for joining Star are complete. Some work, mostly related to IT, will be completed by mid-May. Then we are set," said Nandan.

Surface-to-air Akash missile test fired from Chandipur

i.India today successfully testfired indigenously-developed surface-to-air Akash missile with a strike range of 25 km and capability to carry warhead of 60 kgs from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur as part of a user-trial.

ii.Describing the launch as successful, Defence sources said that the sophisticated missile was testfired at about 10.58 hours from launch complex-3 of the Interim Test Range.

IIT Guwahati leads India into top 100 global varsity rankings

i.The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati has made it to the world's top 100 university rankings, bringing India for the first time on the list.

ii.IIT-Guwahati is the only Indian educational institute in the 2014 league table of '100 Under 50' institutions released by the 'Times Higher Education' (THE) magazine here yesterday.

iii.The IIT shares the 87th rank on the list with Portugal's New University of Lisbon and Australia's University of Western Sydney.

NBA: Indian-American leads charge against racist team owner

i.Mumbai-born Vivek Ranadive, the first and only Indian-American owner of a US National Basketball Association (NBA) team, is leading the charge against fellow team owner Donald Sterling accused of making racist comments.

ii.Sacramento Kings owner Ranadive expects his fellow NBA owners will vote unanimously to force Sterling, who has been banned by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for life and fined $2.5 million, to sell the Los Angeles Clippers, ESPN reported.