GK Updates - 21 May | Banking Quiz

Anandiben Patel to be new CM of Gujarat

i. Gujarat Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel was today elected leader of the BJP Legislature Party Leader, who will succeed PM-designate Narendra Modi as Chief Minister of the state.

ii. 73-year-old Patel’s name was proposed and adopted unanimously at a meeting of the Legislature Party in the presence of Modi, who had moments earlier had resigned as the chief minister.

iii. She will be the first woman chief minister of Gujarat.

iv. Patel, considered to be very close to Modi, is minister of Revenue and Urban Development in the Modi government. She was also a minister in the government of Modi’s predecessor Keshubhai Patel.

GoAir announces new services from Pune

i.GoAir has announced non-stop, daily flight services connecting Pune with Bangalore and Nagpur. Pune will be further connected to Kolkata via Nagpur.

ii.The airline currently operates 7 non-stop flights from Pune to Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Nagpur.

iii.“Owing to the addition of a brand new aircraft, we have strengthened our presence in Pune. We are witnessing growing demand across segments, including business, leisure, VFR and student travel,” Giorgio De Roni, CEO, GoAir.

Modi resigns as Gujarat Chief Minister

i. Ending his 12-year stint as Gujarat chief minister and Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi submitted his resignation to state Governor Kamla Beniwal.

ii. Modi will take oath as the prime minister on 26 May.

iii. BJP legislature party will meet in Gandhinagar in the evening to elect a new leader. Reports say that Gujarat Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel's name has been cleared by Modi and that it's just a matter of time before her name is announced.

iv. Anandeben Patel is considered to be a close aide of Modi and has been a long-standing minister in the Gujarat government. If appointed, she will be the state's first woman chief minister.

v. The swearing-in of the new Chief Minister will take place on Thursday at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhingar. Modi will attend the ceremony.

N K Verma is new ONGC Videsh MD

i.Narendra Kumar Verma was today selected to head ONGC Videsh Ltd, India’s flagship overseas oil and gas assets acquisition firm.

ii.Verma, 55, is currently Director for Exploration in OVL’s parent company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

iii.The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), which is the government head-hunter, interviewed seven candidates for the post, which fell vacant after Dinesh K Sarraf was elevated as Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC.

iv.“PESB recommended the following name for the post of Managing Director, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL): N K Verma,” it said in a posting after interviews today.

v.OVL has interests in 33 oil and gas assets in 17 countries and contributes to 12 per cent and 7 per cent of India’s oil and natural gas production, respectively. In terms of reserves and production, OVL is the second—largest petroleum company of India, next only to parent ONGC.

Pawan Chamling is Sikkim CM for record 5th time

i. Pawan Chamling was today sworn in as Sikkim Chief Minister for a record fifth consecutive time. Governor Shriniwas Patil administered the oath of officet o Chamling and 11 ministers at Raj Bhawan in Gangtok.

ii. The Chamling-led Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) had secured a two-thirds majority in the Assembly elections winning 22 seats out of 32. He was yesterday elected as the SDF Legislature Party leader following which the Governor invited him to form the government.

Naveen Patnaik sworn in as Odisha chief minister

i. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik was on Wednesday sworn in as Odisha chief minister for the fourth straight term.

ii. Governor SC Jamir administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 67-year-old leader at a ceremony attended by hundreds of party leaders, workers, officials and journalists at the Raj Bhavan in state capital Bhubaneswar.

iii. Once considered a political novice and a reluctant inheritor of Biju Patnaik's mantle in 1997, Naveen Patnaik has turned master strategist to become Odisha Chief Minister for the fourth consecutive time.

ICICI Bank launches redesigned website

i.ICICI Bank has launched its redesigned website to offer its customers better interface across devices such as desktops, mobiles and tablets.

ii.Users of the website can now receive location specific information and offers, view their friends’ activities, rate and review products, share their opinions on social media and take part in interactive games to enhance their knowledge about banking, the bank said in a statement.

iii.The new design offers auto adjustment of layout to match the user’s screen size and platform.

Army launches coaching programme for J&K youth to crack IIT-JEE

i. The Army has launched a coaching programme for the students of Chenab Valley belt in Jammu and Kashmir to help them crack the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE).

ii. A senior Army official said that the Centre for Social Responsibility & Leadership (CSRL) in association with Army's Delta Force has launched Chenab Super-30 programme to provide eleven months free residential coaching for clearing the IIT-JEE to the talented youth of Chenab Valley.

iii. The proposal has drawn overwhelming response from students in the three Chenab Valley districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban.

iv. The programme got an overwhelming response from the students, especially girls, the army officer said.

Wipro, NetSuite launch new tool for finance and accounting processes

i.Wipro has launched its ‘Finance and Accounting Business-Process-as-a-Service’ (F&A BPaaS) solution for enterprises in partnership with NetSuite.

ii.Wipro’s F&A BPaaS is built on the NetSuite platform, along with its process capabilities in finance and accounting, the company said in a statement.

iii.The solution empowers customers to selectively manage and control their finance and accounting processes on a standardised platform, enables rapid implementation of business processes, improves compliance standards, and provides operational readiness, leading to significant cost savings, Wipro officials said.

iv.Jeff Heenan-Jalil, Senior Vice-President & Global Head, Advanced Technologies & Solutions, Wipro, said: "As enterprises renew their focus on agile finance and accounting processes, there is an intensifying need in the market for a platform that can provide end-to-end F&A solutions in an ‘as-a-service’ model.''

China, Russia sign 30-year gas deal

i. A spokesman for Russia’s Gazprom said the company has signed a 30-year contract to supply natural gas to China.

ii. Spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov told The Associated Press the deal was signed on Wednesday but he declined to give any price details.

iii. China and Russia have been negotiating the deal for more than a decade but had been hung up over the gas price.

iv. Chinese and Russian officials had said they expected a deal to be reached in time to be signed during this week’s visit to Shanghai by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Punjab to provide cancer drugs at subsidised rates

i.The Punjab government today said it will provide drugs at subsidised rates to hepatitis and cancer patients in government hospitals.

ii.Disclosing this here today, Punjab’s Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Vini Mahajan said these medicines will be provided to patients through Jan Aushadhi Stores functional at various District and Sub-Divisional Hospitals.

iii.She said these medicines can also be procured directly by medical colleges or hospitals from available budgetary grants from time to time.

iv.Mahajan said the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) has proposed to enter into a contract with manufacturers of drugs for treatment of Hepatitis B and C which fulfils the eligibility criteria approved by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab for supply of drugs.

Toll free helpline

i.Meanwhile, Mahajan said in Ropar that the government will soon start ‘Toll Free 104’ help line in the state, which will help people to locate health centres, lodge complaints against non-availability of doctors and medicines in the state-run hospitals.

ii.Talking to reporters, Mahajan said the helpline would be major step towards revamping health services in the state.

Hosni Mubarak sentenced to three years in jail

i. An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced ousted president Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison after finding the 86-year-old leader guilty of embezzling public funds, three years after he was toppled following a popular uprising.

ii. His two sons, 53-year-old Alaa Mubarak and 50-year-old Gamal Mubarak - were also convicted and given four-year terms for embezzling USD 17.9 million of funds earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces.

iii. The trio was also fined USD 17.6 million and ordered to reimburse USD 2.9 million to the state treasury. Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades, is also facing trial for abuse of power and conspiring in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that forced him to quit.

iv. He was found guilty of the charge relating to the protesters in 2012 along with his former Interior Minister,

v. Habib al-Adly, and sentenced to life in prison. But in January 2013 a court upheld an appeal by them against their convictions and ordered a retrial.

Former minister Sitaram Prasad passes away

i. Veteran Congress leader and former minister Sitaram Prasad passed away at a private hospital here today after protracted illness, his family sources said.

ii. He was 93. Prasad is survived by two daughters.

iii. A member of the state legislative assembly for four terms between 1969 and 1985 representing Shikarpur Assembly seat in West Champaran district, he had served as a minister in the government headed by the then Chief Minister Kedar Pandey in early 1970s.

Nation remembers Rajiv Gandhi on his martyrdom day today

i. Nation on Wednesday remembered Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary with leaders paying homage at his memorial in New Delhi.

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, and Congress President Sonia Gandhi paid tribute at Virbumi in New Delhi on Wednesday.

iii. Rajiv Gandhi was the ninth Prime Minister of the country. He was also the youngest Prime Minister of the country.

iv. He was appointed at the age of 40. His martyrdom day is also commemorated as Anti terrorism day.

v. The proponent of Modern India and the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi was born on 20th August, 1944.

vi. He was the first in the country, giving priority to the use of technology and also emphasised on the use of computers.

Kiran Bedi ready to be BJP’s Delhi CM candidate

i. A day after dropping hints of joining politics, former IPS officer and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said she was ready to become the BJP’s chief ministerial nominee in Delhi if such an offer was made to her.

ii. “I will consider myself to be ready for it if such an offer is made,” she said.

iii. The former IPS officer was asked if she would become the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in case of fresh elections in Delhi.

iv. The BJP had projected Harsh Vardhan as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the Assembly polls in December last year.

v. Dr. Vardhan has won the Lok Sabha elections from Chandni Chowk and there is speculation that Ms. Bedi may be considered the BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the next assembly polls.