GK Updates - 22 May | Banking Quiz

Flipkart buys Myntra for $300 mn

I.Putting months of speculation to rest, Sachin Bansal, co-founder of India’s largest e-commerce firm Flipkart announced that it has acquired Myntra, the country’s largest e-commerce site for fashion and lifestyle products.

II.“It has been an open secret that we are acquiring Myntra, I am going ahead and confirming it now - It is a 100% acquisition by Flipkart and by joining forces we are creating the largest e-commerce story in the country” he said.

III.He pointed out that unlike other such deals in the e-commerce space which were largely distress acquisitions, this one is a power move, a clear choice made with absolutely no compulsions.

IV.“It is a compelling business case and an opportunity for us to accelerate growth in a market that is expected to cross $50 billion by 2020 from $3 billion today.”

V.Concurs Binny “We began our fashion journey two years ago and knew that in order to grow this category which is set to dominate the e-commerce landscape, we had to acquire multiple fashion assets. This 100% takeover is not for cost but for us to scale rapidly. Together we can do it much faster.”

VI.Flipkart offers over 15 million products across 70 plus categories. It has 18 million registered users, 3.5 million visitors to its site everyday, 3,000 sellers on its platform with its technology enabling 5 million shipments per month.

VII.Myntra has partnered with over 650 leading fashion and lifestyle brands in the country to offer the latest in branded fashion and lifestyle wear. The platform receives over 50 million visits every month and services 9,000 pincodes across the country.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank included in Second Schedule of RBI Act, 1934

I.Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) was included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934. The inclusion of the BMB in the second schedule was announced by RBI in a notification issued in Mumbai on 21 May 2014.

II.With the inclusion of BMB, total number of scheduled commercial banks in India now stands at 90. As on 2 May 2014, there were 89 Scheduled commercial banks in India. The inclusion of BMB in the second schedule of the RBI Act, 1934 means that now it will be eligible for loans from RBI on bank rate and also acquired membership of clearing houses.

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.

Wabco launches AMT OptiDrive for commercial vehicles

I.Wabco India has formally launched the Automated Manual Transmission technology, AMT OptiDrive, for commercial vehicles.

II.The AMT OptiDrive was developed by Wabco of Europe, which dominates the global market for AMT in medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

III.Leon Liu, President, Wabco Asia-Pacific, addressing journalists at an event to showcase the performance of the AMT OptiDrive, said the unit can be either retrofitted or directly fitted by OEMs on commercial vehicles with manual transmission. The advantage is that the equipment automates clutch and gear shifting to optimal conditions.

IV.Wabco sees emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil as a major opportunity.

Mindshare appoints Vinod Thadani as chief digital officer

I.Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM, has appointed Vinod Thadani as the Chief Digital Officer-South Asia.

II.Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion.

III.In his new role, Vinod would be responsible for managing the agency’s full service digital offerings for existing clients as well as bringing in new business to the agency.

IV.With over 15 years of media experience, Thadani was responsible for setting up the largest mobile practice at GroupM in 2008.

Relativity Media, B4U announce joint venture in India

I.Relativity Media, a media company, and B4U, a Bollywood film and television network, have formed a joint venture that would leverage their combined expertise, relationships and resources to create and distribute highly engaging long and short form entertainment and sports content in India. The aim is to span a variety of mediums including film, television and digital.

II.Major shareholders of B4U television network include Lakshmi Mittal, Kishore Lulla, and Gokul Binani.

III.Though terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the joint venture would have an investment of approximately $100 million available for projects. The joint venture is to be managed by B4U Chief Executive Officer Ishan Saksena and would be overseen by a board of directors, to which both companies would appoint two directors.

IV.Capitalising on the significant growth potential of the Indian film and television markets, which are expected to reach revenues of Rs 19,330 crore ($3.5 billion) and Rs 84,800 crore ($15.3 billion) by 2017, respectively, the joint venture aims to provide a platform for both Relativity and B4U to co-invest and distribute local Bollywood films and television productions.

Seven new B Ed colleges to come up in J&K

I.Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday approved setting up of seven new private B Ed colleges in the state among a slew of other decisions.

II.The state cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, approved opening up of seven new private B Ed colleges as recommended by the University of Kashmir, an official spokesman said.

III.He said the new colleges will entail a corresponding reduction in the overall intake capacity of B Ed seats in Kashmir division.

IV.The Cabinet also approved adoption of Defined Pension Rules in respect of the employees of SKICC authorising the Director SKICC to sanction pensions and other retirement benefits to the eligible employees of the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC). The financial burden on account of pension will be borne by the SKICC out of its internal resources.

US downplays Russia-China gas deal

I.The US has downplayed the USD 400 billion gas deal between Russia and China, saying it does not affect Washington’s strategy to put pressure on Moscow for solving the Ukraine crisis.

II.Russia and China have been negotiating for more than a decade about a natural gas deal. I know there have been a range of reports about whether it’s been locked in or not.

III.But energy is a global market. There are always new deals getting signed, particularly with major consumers and producers like China and Russia. So we will continue to pursue our strategy as it relates to putting pressure on Russia,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters.

IV.Our view is that these negotiations have been going on for about 10 years, and certainly there are decisions that China needs to make, many countries make, based on their economic needs, their energy needs,”

Google to begin serving ads on refrigerators, thermostats

I.Google is currently the king of ads on the internet and on mobile phones too. But, according to a regulatory filing, the ad giant sees its money-spinning promotions appearing on a vast array of consumer devices — from refrigerators to thermostats, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

II.Google filed the information in an explanation to the Securities and Exchange Commission about why it does not currently break out its advertising revenues from mobile devices.

III.Our expectation is that users will be using our services and viewing our ads on an increasingly wide diversity of devices in the future,” the company said in the filing, listing “refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and watches, to name just a few possibilities.”

IV.Google is already acting to expand its territory in line with the filing — forming alliances with car makers like Audi and General Motors amd buying smart thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in January.

Europe’s parliamentary election kicks off

I.Europe’s mammoth parliamentary elections kicked off today, with Britain and the Netherlands going to the polls in a vote that is expected to see a swing towards populist right-wing parties.

II.The elections, which are spread over four days in the EU’s 28 member states, are expected to see major gains for parties bent on dismantling the European Union from the inside.

III.The vote comes as the EU struggles for relevance in the aftermath of the euro financial crisis and as it grips with the chaos in on its borders in Ukraine.

IV.“I believe in Europe, but I think there are far too many rules coming from Brussels,” Margreet de Jonge, 63, told AFP as she cast her ballot in The Hague, echoing the view of many that the EU has become a bloated bureaucracy.

V.Polls opened at 0530 GMT in the Netherlands and 0600 GMT in Britain.

Anandiben Patel sworn in as Gujarat CM

I.Anandiben Patel, a close Narendra Modi associate, was today sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat.

II.73-year-old Patel, who was Revenue, Urban Development and Disaster Management Minister, in the Modi Cabinet, was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Kamla Beniwal.

III.Along with Patel, six ministers of Cabinet rank and 14 Ministers of State were also sworn in at a ceremony attended by a galaxy of top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister-elect Modi, BJP President Rajnath Singh, party patriarch L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari and Subramanian Swamy.

IV.Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA ally, and BJP Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) were also present.

RBI directs all banks to install ‘talking ATMs” from July 1

I.The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said banks should make all new ATMs installed from July 1, 2014 as “talking ATMs” with Braille keypads.

II.Banks should lay down a roadmap for converting all existing ATMs as talking ATMs with Braille keypads and the same may be reviewed from time to time by the Customer Service Committee of the Board.

III.In addition to the above, magnifying glasses should also be provided in all bank branches for the use of persons with low vision, wherever they require for carrying out banking transactions with ease. The branches should display at a prominent place notice about the availability of magnifying glasses and other facilities available for persons with disabilities.

New Govt to decide on RBI Dy Governor appointment

I.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government at the Centre will have to take a call on appointing the RBI Deputy Governor who will succeed KC Chakrabarty.

II.Chakrabarty, who had sought an early retirement, demitted office on April 25.

III.The Prime Minister’s Office has now returned the file to the Department of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry with a note that the next Government will take a call on the RBI Deputy Governor’s appointment, sources close to the development said.

Two players approached by bookies in this IPL: Gavaskar

I.The interim president of BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar on Thursday admitted that two cricketers were approached by the bookies and the matter has been reported to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit officials (ACSU).

II.Asked if players have been approached during this year’s IPL, Gavaskar replied, “There have been a couple and it’s been reported to ACU. They are looking into it.”

III.The Test legend also said that issue regarding Brendon McCullum being approached by the bookies is something to be concerned about but assured that no leak as far as confidentiality of cricketer’s discussions with ACSU has happened from IPL.

IV.“I can assure you that the leak did not come from the IPL. I don’t know where it came from. It’s an issue to be concerned. I’ve to say we have got an Integrity Officer (IO) attached with every team this time. It has made it a lot easier for players to communicate,” Gavaskar told the mediapersons.

V.“Sometimes players didn’t know what to do. Okay there was a number to contact. But a lot of people (players) were thinking if you contact, does your number come under their list.

VI.The anonimity and confidentiality aspect was something the players were not sure about. Now with the IO attached to every team it has become a lot of easier. If there has been an approach, people go and tell the officer so that he takes it forward.”

‘Super Dan’ leaves rivals awestruck at Thomas Cup

I.Unmatched genius and an enigmatic personality to the core, Chinese superstar Lin Dan has taken the international badminton by storm despite coming back after a year’s break leaving his rival shuttlers here at the Thomas Cup in awe of the maverick who goes by the nickname ‘Super Dan’

II.Two-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion and a five-time All England champion, the 30-year-old Dan is unsurprisingly considered the greatest badminton player of all time.

III.The former world number one, who is also well-known for his mercurial temper, is a cult figure in his country and has legions of fans all over the world for his remarkable range of strokes and the ability to go from offensive to defensive to offensive again in a matter of minutes.

IV.And the left-hander’s magic has enchanted all at the ongoing Thomas Cup as well. Whether it is the Indian shuttlers or their international counterparts, the buzz at the court is just how has ‘Super Dan’ managed to be so consistently good for so long.

Mumbai Indians beat KXIP by seven wickets

Mumbai Indians defeated Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday. Opting to bowl, MI restricted Kings XI Punjab to 156/8, and then chased down the target with an over to spare.

Brief scores:

I.Kings XI Punjab: 156/8 in 20 overs (George Bailey 39, Manan Vohra 36, Shaun Marsh 30; Shreyas Gopal 2/32, Jasprit Bumrah 2/31)

II.Mumbai Indians: 159/3 in 19 overs (Lendl Simmons 100 not out).