GK Updates - 10 May | Banking Quiz

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Janardhan Reddy died

i.Nedurumilli Janardhan Reddy, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh died in Hyderabad on 9 May 2014. Till his death, Reddy was a sitting Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009.

ii.About Nedurumilli Janardhan Reddy

• Janardhan Reddy, 80, served as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from December 1990 to October 1992.

• He was born in Wakadu on 20 February 1935.

• He became the AP Congress Committee president in 1988.

India’s Punj Llyond won Expressway project in Yemen

Indian construction major, Punj Llyod won a 211 million US dollar expressway project in Yemen on 6 May 2014. The Ministry of Public Works and Highways of Yemen confirmed the construction of a 42 km, 2*3 lane dual carriageway projects between Doraigh and Noubat Dokaim. The project is funded by Saudi Development Fund.

President dedicates India's own payment gateway 'RuPay'

i. India on Thursday launched its own payment gateway 'RuPay', equivalent of Visa and Mastercard, which will work on ATMs and merchant outlets and help in reducing cash transactions.

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee unveiled the indigenous card at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

iii. Dedicating it to the nation, Mukherjee said India is one of the few countries in the world to have its own card payment gateway.

iv. The RuPay platform -- developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)-- is being used by certain banks like ICICI, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, among others, for clearing and settlement.

v. RuPay, which works on three channels -- ATMs, Point of Sales (POS) and online sales, is the seventh such payment gateway in the world.

vi. A variant of pre-paid RuPay card would shortly be launched by IRCTC, which will help in booking railway tickets.

vii. RuPay will not only reduce dependence on cash, but will offer users diverse set of payment option within the country, Mukherjee said.

viii. NPCI Chairman Balachandran M said the NPCI board plans to take RuPay card overseas and is already in talks with Discover Financial Services in the US and JDC in Japan for partnership.

Caparo Group wins International Business of the Year award 2014

i. Caparo Group founded by leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has won the International Business of the Year award 2014 at the Asian Business Awards Midlands in Birmingham.

ii. Receiving the award on behalf of the company in London on Friday evening, Lord Paul's daughter Anjli Paul dedicated it to her younger sister Ambika.

iii. She said, her father on being told of the nomination had requested that rather than the award going to Caparo it should instead be given to one of the newer companies headed by the younger generation because young entrepreneurs needed to be encouraged in their business endeavours.

ASEAN meet: leaders to raise concerns about China

i. South East Asian leaders will express concerns about Chinese aggression in the South China Sea at their regional summit Sunday, Indonesia’s foreign minister said.

ii. An agreement to include a statement on China’s use of water cannon on Vietnamese vessels was reached at a pre-summit meeting of the foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Naypyitaw on Saturday.

iii. The meetings, held twice a year, end with declarations on regional issues such as economic integration and common security concerns.

iv. The Philippines and Vietnam are lobbying this year for a strong statement from ASEAN against aggression in the South China Sea.

v. ASEAN has been pushing for a regional agreement with Beijing that includes a commitment to a peaceful solution to their territorial disputes, respect for international law and signing a Code of Conduct in the disputed areas.

Indian companies will not be permitted to raise External Commercial Borrowings: RBI

i. The Reserve Bank of India, RBI, has decided that Indian companies will not be permitted to raise External Commercial Borrowings from overseas branches or subsidiaries of Indian banks for refinance or repayment of the Rupee loans raised from domestic banking system.

ii. In a notification, the RBI said that the restrictions are applicable in case of take-out financing, infrastructure financing and spectrum allocation and other repayments. The changes in the ECB policy come into force with immediate effect.

iii. External Commercial Borrowing loans are much cheaper than domestic loans and it is believed that some companies use the arbitrage available to their advantage.

Pakistan test-fired Hataf-III Ghaznavi missile

i. Pakistan successfully test-fired Hataf-III Ghaznavi missile during war exercises of Army’s Strategic Force Command. Hataf-III Ghaznavi missile is a short range surface-to-surface Ballistic Missile and is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional weapons up to 290 kilometers.

ii. The field training exercise was performed with an aim to test the operational readiness of a Strategic Missile Group besides up gradation of various capabilities of Weapon Systems.

HI recommends four players for Arjuna Award

i. Hockey India on Thursday announced its recommendations for the 2014 Arjuna Awards. Four players have been recommended for the sporting awards while one name each has been forwarded to the Sports Ministry for the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award and Dronacharya Award for coaching respectively.

ii. Players recommended: Arjuna award: Dharamvir Singh, V.R. Raghunath, Tushar Khandker, Bharat Chetri; Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award: Sumrai Tete (national women’s team coach); Dronacharya Award: Romesh Pathania (junior women’s team coach).

Vikas Gowda wins silver at the IAAF Diamond League in Doha

i. Ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda won the silver medal in the IAAF Diamond League Series in Doha on Friday.

ii. According reports, Gowda hurled the discuss to a distance of 63.23m, finishing behind Poland's Piotr Malachowski, who took the top spot with a throw of 66.72m.

iii. Estonia's Gerd Kanter took the bronze medal, with a best throw of 62.90 metres.

iv. The Mysore-born Gowda won the 2010 Asian Games bronze and silver in the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games in the discus event.

BHEL commissions Gas Turbine Generating Unit in Oman

i.The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 8 May 2014 commissioned Gas Turbine Generating unit at a power project in Oman. The 126 MW Gas Turbine Generator was established at Qarn Alam-3 power project of Petroleum Development Oman.

ii.Completion of this project is the second successive project for BHEL in Oman. The first unit was commissioned in 2012 and was 2x126 MW Petroleum Development Oman Amal Gas Turbine Generating project.

Five Nuclear Powers signed a protocol on Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone Treaty

The Five Nuclear Powers and UN Security Council members (United States, Russia, China, Britain and France) on 6 May 2014 signed a new protocol on existing Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (CANWFZ) Treaty in New York. The agenda of singing the protocol was creation of a nuclear free zone in five central Asian countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

SEBI exempted Etihad from making open offer in Jet deal

i.The market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 8 May 2014 exempted Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways from making an open offer in the Jet deal. In its decision, the market regulator termed that purchase of 24% stake of Jet Airways by Etihad Airways doesn’t amount to a change in ownership in Jet Airways. Thus it doesn’t need to conduct a tender offer for shares in the domestic carrier.

ii.The decision came after SEBI in February 2014 issued a show-cause notice to Etihad to this effect under the takeover code. SEBI has cleared the deal as the agreement between Jet and Etihad was modified and made compliant to the rules in existence. This was done to prevent an open offer as the control remains with Jet even after its stake acquisition by Etihad.

China-Vietnam face-off in South China Sea leaves India worried

i.India has joined the US in ringing alarm bells over China's expansionist expeditions in the South China Sea clashing with Vietnam and the Philippines early this week. Though trying to play safe, New Delhi refused to name China or Vietnam and instead called for freedom of navigation in the sea.

ii.Almost five days after Chinese ships reportedly rammed Vietnamese vessels near the Paracel Islands, the external affairs ministry said it is concerned about the "recent developments" in the South China Sea. In a statement, the foreign office said, "We would like to see resolution of the issue through peaceful means in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law."

SC seeks Centre’s reply on PIL against 4G licences to Reliance

i.The Supreme Court, on Friday, sought response from the Centre and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on a PIL filed by an NGO, challenging grant of 4G licences to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL).

ii.A bench of justices H. L. Dattu and S. A. Bobde issued notice to the Centre, TRAI and RJIL on the petition of the NGO — Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) — which challenged the government’s decision to allow Mukesh Ambani’s company to offer voice services on its 4G spectrum.

iii.The PIL, filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, also sought quashing of the permission granted by the government to Reliance for providing voice telephony on broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, and pitched for a court-monitored CBI investigation in the alleged Rs.40,000 crore scam.

Delhi HC rejects plea challenging AirAsia permit

i.The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to suspend the air operator’s permit (AOP) granted to AirAsia for flying in India.

ii.The High Court order came on a plea filed by the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) against the decision of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday to grant the operational permit to AirAsia.

iii.A Division Bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog disposed of the plea while denying any relief to FIA and said there is no urgency in the case.

iv.“Whatever permit granted will be subject matter to the outcome of the writ petition pending in the High Court,” said the court.

Sri Lanka to implement U.N. demands except international probe

i.President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Sri Lanka is in the process of implementing all demands made by the sponsors of the UNHRC resolution against it except for allowing an international probe into alleged human rights violations during the last phase of the war with the LTTE.

ii.The assertion was made by the Sri Lankan President during a meeting on Friday with Seiji Kihara, Japan’s Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs.

iii.Mr. Rajapaksa told the Japanese Minister, “Please tell this truth to rest of the world. Except for an international inquiry we are in the process of implementing all other demands made by sponsors of the Resolution.”

India lose 0-5 against Belgium in Champions Challenge 1

i.The Indian women's team was thrashed 5-0 by its counterparts from Belgium in a pool A match in Glasgow at Champions Challenge 1.

ii.The final match of the pool saw the relatively youthful teams of Belgium and India looking to score three points and put in a confidence-inducing performance.

iii.India started with far more composure than in their previous two games, backing up coach Neil Hawgood's assertion that his team needed more experience at international level.

iv.For the majority of the first half, both teams played an expansive game, spreading .

India drop two places to 147 in FIFA rankings

i.Missing a game since March this year, India dropped two places to 147 in the latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday.

ii.Wim Koevermans’ boys have been missing football action but they have managed to hold on to their continent ranking on 25th spot, though jointly with Singapore, who are also placed 147th in the world chart.

iii.India has played only one match this year, when they were held 2-2 by Bangladesh in a friendly encounter on March 5.