GK Updates - 25 May | Banking Quiz

Vineet Taneja is now Micromax CEO

I.Micromax, India’s 2nd largest smartphone player announced the appointment of Vineet Taneja as its new Chief Executive Officer. He was the Country Head for IT & Mobile businesses of Samsung India till recently.

II."This move is a testimony to the vision and commitment of Micromax Co-founders to bring in the best talent from the industry at the helm to build a strong organisation and steer Micromax through the next phase of growth by capitalising the immense opportunities in this environment of data devices explosion," said a press statement.

III.Earlier, Samsung had termed the news of Taneja's resignation as market speculation and rumour.

IV.But Micromax on Sunday said that Vineet will focus on consolidating Micromax’s strong presence in the market, driving global partnerships and strategic alliances while strengthening the organizational capabilities within Micromax.

NASA develops high-tech cages to carry rats to ISS

I.NASA has developed high-tech cages to carry rodents from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS) to allow researchers to study the long-term effects of microgravity on mammalian physiology.

II.The Rodent Habitat modules will first fly in August aboard an unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.

III.Developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, the new habitats are designed for transporting the animals to the space station and as part of their long-term accommodation.

IV.They consist of a transport module, which fits inside the racks in the pressurised cargo section of the Dragon spacecraft, and an access module for moving the rodents from the transporter to the station’s rodent habitat without having the mice escape and take up residence behind the control panels.

V.Each habitat module provides as many as 10 mice or six rats with all of the basics they need to live comfortably aboard the station including water, food, lighting and fresh air.

VI.Rodents easily can move around the living space by grasping grids that line the floor and walls. The modules include data downlink capability that enables monitoring of environmental conditions such as temperature.

VII.A visible light and infrared video system allows the crew in space and scientists and veterinarians on the ground to monitor behaviour and overall health of the rodents on a daily basis.

SAIL Chairman gets ‘CEO of the Year’ award

I.Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) Chairman C S Verma has been adjudged ‘CEO of the Year’ at the 2014 Platts Global Metals Awards.

II.The award is in recognition of a comprehensive leadership style demonstrated by Verma that has placed the country’s largest steel-producing company on the path of robust growth overcoming challenges such as price volatility and increased competition, the PSU said in a statement.

III.Verma received the award in London on May 21, in an event attended by a large number of eminent industry leaders, it said adding that nominees for the awards were industry leaders from 19 nations.

IV.Verma, who became SAIL’s Chairman in 2010, has displayed visionary, passionate and tenacious leadership in steering the company of over one lakh employees.

V.“Chandra Shekhar Verma and other winners have navigated a challenging financial environment, and their accomplishments are a clear indication that the metals sector is poised for growth in the coming years,” Platts President Larry Neal said in the statement.

Pakistan frees 151 Indian fishermen ahead of Sharif’s Delhi visit

I.In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan on Sunday freed 151 Indian fishermen, a day ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India to attend Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.

II.Syed Nazir Hussain, the superintendent of the Malir jail in Karachi, told PTI that the Indian prisoners were released on written directives of the interior and foreign ministries.

III.“Most of these prisoners are poor Indian fishermen who were arrested and brought here for trespassing into Pakistani territorial waters,” he said.

IV.The freed prisoners were taken in an air-conditioned bus from Karachi to Wagah border in Lahore from where they will be handed over to Indian authorities.

V.Some of the freed prisoners told Geo News channel that they were delighted to be going back to their families.

VI.“We were treated well and not as serious criminals but everyone wants to go home to their families,” one prisoner said.

VII.Initial reports had said around 150 Indian prisoners would be freed.

VIII.Last year in August, Pakistan had released around 337 Indian prisoners from jails. Later on Diwali also, 15 Indian fishermen were released as a goodwill gesture.

Click & complain. App to alert New Delhi Municipal Council soon

I.Soon, you can alert New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) about malfunctioning streetlights or garbage on streets by clicking the site and sending the image to the agency using a photo-based mobile application.

II.The app will be launched soon to improve the grievance redressal system in the areas under the jurisdiction of NDMC, a top agency official said.

III.“This is one of the best practices being launched soon to improve the quality of life in the NDMC area for residents and tourists with the help of hi-tech and globally competitive technology,” NDMC chairperson, Jalaj Shrivastava said.

IV.The residents can download the app, click if they see any poor civic amenity and send it to the civic agency.

V.The app is in line with the wi-fi facility to be launched in some of the popular markets in the area.

VI.Khan Market will, in 15 days, be the first to have the facility provided by Vodafone India and will soon be followed by Connaught Place, Dilli Haat, and Sarojini Nagar, NDMC officials said.

Indian-American student Akhil Rekulapelli won National Geographic Bee Championship

I.Indian-American student Akhil Rekulapelli on 21 May 2014 won the National Geographic Bee championship in Washington, USA.

II.Ameya Mujumdar from Florida stood second, while California's Tuvya Bergson-Michelson finished third. Ameya Mujumdar is also an Indian American student.

III.Akhil won the 50000 US dollar college scholarship given to the winner of the National Geographic Bee Championship. Akhil also received a trip to the Galapagos Islands with National Geographic's Lindblad Expeditions.

IV.Eighth grade student Akhil Rekulapelli belongs to Virginia. He started with a School Bee competition in Ashburn and advanced to the national championship after excelling in both regional and state geography bees.

Italian scientists designed kidney dialysis machine for newborn babies

I.Italian scientists designed kidney dialysis machine for newborn babies. The study was published in the medical journal The Lancet on 23 May 2014.

II.Prof Claudio Ronco, from the International Renal Research Institute at San Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza, designed and developed the new machine to treat babies and small infants weighing between 2kg and 10kg.

III.The machine is capable to safely treat a newborn baby with multiple organ failure. Existing dialysis machines are only designed for adults and have to be adapted for use in newborns. Dialysis machines for adults can cause complications when used in very young children.

IV.The new continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) machine named CARPEDIEM (Cardio-Renal Pediatric Dialysis Emergency Machine) was created to overcome the problems of existing dialysis machines.

Project Mobile Seva under DeitY won the 2014 United Nations Public Service Award

I.The project Mobile Seva under Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) won second rank in the 2014 United Nations Public Service Award. Department of Electronics and Information Technology comes under Ministry of Information and Technology.

II.Mobile Seva has won the Second place in the Asian and Pacific Region in the Category 3: PROMOTING WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACHES IN THE INFORMATION AGE. It is the only project from India selected as the winner in 2014.

III.This award is very unique and first of its kind to have been received by C-DAC Mumbai. The Mobile Seva initiative is lead by Dr. Rajendra Kumar, joint secretary (e-Governance), DeitY.

FICCI, IDBI sign pact for cheaper credit to MSMEs

I.FICCI and IDBI on Friday signed an MoU for easy access to organised finance facility at competitive interest rates for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME).

II.The FICCI-CMSME and IDBI partnership will grant best pricing offered at the relevant time by IDBI including concession of 100 bps and charging of processing fee as low as 0.10 per cent to the proposals referred by FICCI-CMSME, the industry chamber said in a statement.

III.According to study by IFC in November 2012 titled “MSME Finance in India”, despite the increase in financing to MSMEs in recent years, there is still a considerable institutional formal finance gap of Rs 20.9 trillion.

CPI(M) veteran Umanath passes away

I.Veteran CPI(M) leader R.Umanath passed away in Tiruchi on Wednesday.

II.His political activity began from his student days. He was the youngest accused in Madras Conspiracy case(1940-41).

III.From an active trade union leader he became a Parliamentarian, thereafter legislator and rose to become a member of Polit Bureau of CPI(M). A pictorial tribute. Photos:

Krishna Rao named Andhra Pradesh's Chief Secretary designate

I.Mr. I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, Senior IAS Officer (Andhra Pradesh cadre, 1979 batch) and presently serving as the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration, has been named the Chief Secretary designate for the successor State of Andhra Pradesh.

II.Mr.Krishna Rao also called on the Governor E.S.L.Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Saturday.

III.Mr.Krishna Rao — who held key posts in Revenue, Finance, Industries, Agriculture and served as Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam Board Executive Officer — was one of the senior officers in the reckoning for the post of Chief Secretary of united Andhra Pradesh.

I finally have a medal: Gopi Chand

I.“The funny part is, even after playing so many times in the Thomas Cup, I could not win a medal. Today, thanks to our ladies’ team, I have a medal from the Uber Cup. Perhaps, that’s the best part of being a coach,” said a smiling P. Gopi Chand reflecting on the gains from the past week.

II.Visibly pleased with the first-ever bronze medal in the Uber Cup, Gopi said, “I think our players played very well. To expect Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa to pull off their matches against Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan would have been unfair. I am proud of my team for the way they played.”

III.On India’s over-reliance on three singles in the Thomas Cup, Gopi said, “Again, we had no other go. K. Srikanth, Kashyap and Gurusaidutt had to come good on the same day against players of equal strength. As a player, you know it is not going to happen every day. With a bit of luck, we could have beaten Korea, against whom we won two singles. So, it was pretty good.”

IV.Gopi also chose to bring into focus the way Thomas Cup and Uber Cup is seen by India. “It has never been on our radar. Historically, too, we have not done well in this event. So, to do well at home has given many positives.

CSK beat RCB by 8 wickets in IPL

I.Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here today.

II.Opting to field, CSK restricted RCB to 154/6, and chased down the target with 16 balls to spare.