GK Updates - 19 May | Banking Quiz

Ashok Jacob appointed Australia-India Council Chair

I.Australia has appointed prominent investment adviser Ashok Jacob as the Chair of Australia-India Council.

II.Jacob’s appointment would be with effect from this year till 2019. His impressive business record and extensive contacts in both countries would assist in strengthening Australia’s relationship with India, an official statement said.

III.AIC was established in 1992 to promote people-to-people and institutional links between the two countries with a focus on education, science and technology, sport, public policy, heritage and arts sectors.

IV.Jacob is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Ellerston Capital and also a director of Crown Ltd, Consolidated Press Holdings, Visy Australia, Thorney Opportunities Ltd, MRF Ltd (Chennai) and Malayala Manorama Newspaper Group (Kottayam).

Three RJD MLAs resign to join JD(U)

I.Three rebel RJD MLAs today resigned from the Bihar Assembly to extend their support to Nitish Kumar after his resignation as Bihar chief minister.

II.Samrat Chaudhary, Ram Lakhan Ram Raman and Javed Iqbal submitted their resignation letters to Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhary.

III.“When Nitish Kumar left such a big post of Chief Minister can’t we make a small sacrifice like resigning from Assembly,” Samrat Chaudhary told reporters at his residence.

IV.He said they would join JD(U) to strengthen hands of Kumar.

V.Chaudhary, Raman and Iqbal were prominent among 13 RJD MLAs who had earlier proposed to the Speaker to recognise them as a separate group.

VI.But, later 9 out of the 13 had returned to RJD.

UP Minister Satai Ram Yadav dies in accident

I.A state minister and two of his staff were killed today after the car they were travelling in was hit by a train at an unmanned crossing in Linebazar area, police sources said.

II.SP leader Satai Ram Yadav (61), a minister of state, was in his car, when it was hit by Jaunpur-Aurihar passenger train at Khalsaha crossing this morning.

III.Yadav’s gunner Bhikhram Verma (27) and driver Rohit Dixit (35) were the other two victims. All three died on the spot they said.

IV.As soon as the news of minister’s death spread, his supporters from nearby villages gathered on the spot and started pelting stones on the train, which had stopped after the accident.

V.Government Railway Police (GRP) and local police somehow controlled the situation after which the train could move ahead.

Sajai Singh appointed ITechLaw president

I.Sajai Singh of J. Sagar Associates (JSA) has been appointed the first Asian President of the International Technology Law Association (ITechLaw) which is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA.

II.Singh has worked at JSA for the past twenty two years and currently serves as the Chair of the Corporate Commercial practice, and also leads the Sajai Singh of J. Sagar Associates (JSA) has been appointed as the President of the International Technology Law Association (ITechLaw) which is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, first Asian to achieve that feat.

Retain Rajan as RBI Governor: Jagdish Bhagwati to Modi

I.Describing the BJP’s election victory as an “astonishing triumph of Narendra Modi”, noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati today advised him to retain Raghuram Rajan as RBI Governor and to hold monthly press conferences to articulate the government’s agenda.

II.The astonishing triumph of Narendra Modi in the greatest election ever held puts India back on the map.

III.“Unlike the UPA leaders, the new PM, who is not tongue-tied, should hold monthly press conferences where he can bring his agenda and actions before the public and carry them with him. He was wonderfully articulate during his campaign; he can do no less now that he is the Prime Minister,” he said.

IV.Replying to PTI questions, the economist put his weight behind Reserve Bank Governor Rajan, advocating that he should remain at the helm.

V.“I also believe that he (Modi) ought to keep Raghuram Rajan. He is a major economist who commands international respect as well,” said Bhagwati, Professor at Columbia University.

VI.There has been speculation that the Modi-led government could change the RBI Governor.

Russi Mody, the former Tata Steels Chairman died

I.Russi Mody the former Chairman of Tata Steels (formerly called TISCO) died on 16 May 2014 in Alipore in South Kolkata. He was 96. Fondly called the Grand Old Man of Steel, he was known for his man management.

II.Born to Sir Homi Mody and Lady Jerbhai on 17 January 1918, Mody did his schooling from Harrow School in England and college from Christ Church College, Oxford.

III.He joined TISCO in 1939 and became a director at Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO) at the age of 35. He became a Managing Director of the steel company in 1974. In 1984, he succeeded JRD Tata as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Tata Steels.

Nabam Tuki sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

I.Nabam Tuki on 18 May 2014 was sworn-in as the eighth (seventh as person) Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh at the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar. This is second consecutive term for the veteran congress leader. His oath to the office and secrecy was administered by the Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma.

II.He was sworn in as the seventh Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh on 1 November 2011 as a successor of Jarbom Gamlin. He was selected as the Chief Minister due to internal revolt within Congress Party. In the internal revolt 42 Congress legislators in the 60-member house had opposed Gamlin due to his authoritarian rule. Gamlin was made Chief Minister of the State after the death of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on 30 April 2011 in a helicopter crash.

A documentary titled Gandhi in Mexico: A look at Non Violence screened at IIC

I.A documentary titled Gandhi in Mexico: A Look at Non Violence was screened at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi on 17 May 2014. The documentary was produced by OraWorldMadala and TV UNAM (TV channel of the National Autonomous University of Mexico) and the Gujarat Vidyapith founded by Mahatma Gandhi.

II.The aim of the documentary is to bring forth a dialogue between India and Mexico on various shades of violence they have both experienced in varying degrees.

III.The documentary film documents about a delegation that visited Mexico from India under one of the last disciples of Gandhi. The delegation to Mexico encountered Gandhian values in the effort of people to achieve a positive transformation of Mexico.

Rangarajan quits as PMEAC chairman

I.Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman Dr C Rangarajan on Monday handed over his resignation to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

II."He (Rangarajan) met the Prime Minister this morning and personally handed over his resignation letter to him,” official sources said.

III.The members of the PMEAC have also started sending their resignations to the Prime Minister directly.

IV.The present PMEAC headed by Rangarajan had Saumitra Chaudhuri, VS Vyas, Pulin Nayak, and Dilip Nachane as members.

V.The term of PMEAC members is co-terminus with that of the Prime Minister.

RBI to banks: Alert customers on fraud remittance schemes

I.To ensure that customers do not fall prey to fraudulent schemes promising cheaper funds from abroad, the Reserve Bank of India wants banks to consider prominently displaying messages cautioning them about the schemes on their websites as well as branch/ATM locations.

II.The central bank also said banks could consider incorporating a column on “reason/ purpose for payment” in pay-in slips so that officials could advise customers not to remit money to fraudsters who float fraudulent schemes.

III.The fraudulent schemes are floated under different names such as money circulation scheme or remittances for the purpose of securing prize money/awards.

Fee scams

I.The RBI said it has come across a spate of fictitious offers of cheap funds in recent times from the fraudsters through letters, e-mails, mobile phones, and SMS.

II.Communications on fake letterheads of the RBI and purportedly signed by its top executives / senior officials are also being sent to targeted people.

III.Fraudsters are seeking money from the gullible people, under different heads, such as, processing fees/ transaction fees/ tax clearance charges/ conversion charges, clearing fees, etc.

IV.The victims of the fraud have also been persuaded to deposit the amount in accounts with banks in India, and such amounts have been withdrawn immediately.

V.The RBI has been alerting the public about such fictitious schemes/ offers, through the print and the electronic media and other public education campaigns.

Tata Global Beverages buys Australian coffee company through UK arm

I.Tata Global Beverages has bought, through its overseas subsidiary based in the UK, the entire stake in the equity capital of Bronski Eleven Pty Ltd., Australia.

II.TGB said that the Australian company was engaged in the roast and ground (R&G) coffee and coffee in Pods (single service portions) segments under the MAP brand in Australia.

III.The investment is in line with TGB’s strategic vision to become a leader in the good for you beverage segment in Australia, the company said in a stock exchange filing adding that it also help Tata Global Beverages to expand its portfolio to include high growth contemporary single serve business.

TMC appoints Lok Sabha leader

I.The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has elected Sudip Bandopadhyay as its leader in the Lok Sabha. Ratna De Nag and debutant MP Sugata Bose will be occupy the deputy leaders’ post. Kalyan Banerjee will be the party’s Chief Whip.

II.According to a Twitter post by the party, Mukul Roy, TMC general secretary and a Rajya Sabha MP, will be the “Leader of all elected MPs across both the Houses”.

Nuclear scientist N Srinivasan passes away

I.Veteran nuclear scientist and Padma Bhushan recipient, N Srinivasan (84), died on Sunday due to cardiac arrest.

II.He is survived by wife, daughter and son, an official release here said.

III.Srinivasan joined the Department of Atomic Energy in 1953 and was the design engineer for the plutonium plant at Trombay. He established the indigenous technology for reprocessing spent fuels from thermal reactors, it said.

IV.“He was the first Project Director of the Reactor Research Centre (renamed subsequently as Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research) at Kalpakkam and was responsible for establishing various programmes and facilities related to fast reactors and associated fuel cycle,” it said.

V.As Chief Executive of Heavy Water Board, he enabled the country attain self—sufficiency in Heavy Water production, the release said.

CSK Late flourish gives Bangalore 5-wkt win over Chennai

I.Royal Challengers Bangalore made a stunning late flourish after initial struggle with A B de Villiers playing a cameo of 14-ball 28 to pull off a five-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling IPL match here today.

II.Chasing 139 for a win, Bangalore found the going tough with the Chennai slow bowlers seemingly tying them into knots in the first half of their innings before exploding towards the end to overhaul the target with one ball to spare in a low—scoring match that went down the wire.

III.Chennai captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni used his four slow bowlers - R Ashwin (2/16), Suresh Raina (0/20), Ravindra Jadeja (0/31) and Samuel Badree (0/15) - for long spells and, as they were getting the turn on JSCA International Stadium, Bangalore struggled to reach 45 for one at the halfway mark.

IV.Opener Chris Gayle, who top-scored for Bangalore with an uncharacteristic 50-ball 46, played and missed several times but to his credit he stayed at the crease. Bangalore, however, had wickets in their hands so that they can go all out in the last five overs.

V.That was exactly what they did as Bangalore scored 97 runs in 9.5 overs to reach 142 for five from 19.5 overs to win the match and stay afloat for a play-off berth.

Forbes Middle East released the second edition of the List of Tops Indians in the Arab world 2014

The business magazine Forbes Middle East on 5 May 2014 released the second edition of the list of Top Indian leaders in the Arab world 2014. The second edition was launched by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who features on the cover page of the second edition, in Dubai.

The list of Top 10 Indians in Middle East

Rank	Name	Company
1	Yusuffali MA	Lulu Group International
2	Mukesh Jagtiani	Landmark Group
3	BR Shetty	NMC Healthcare / UAE Exchange
4	Sunny Varkey	Global Education Management Systems (GEMS)
5	Tony Jashanmal	Jashanmal Group
5	Syed Salahuddin	ETA Ascon & Star Group
7	Rajen Kilachand	Dodsal Group
8	PNC Menon	Sobha Group
9	Harshad Mehta	Rosy Blue Group
10	Ravi Pillai	RP Group