GK Updates - 3 May | Banking Quiz

Three CEOs put in their papers

i.Three companies informed the stock exchanges that their chief executive officers had quit.

ii.The Cairn India board said it had accepted the resignation of P Elango, interim CEO and whole-time director, and that Sudhir Mathur, CFO, has taken over the additional responsibility of leading the organisation in the interim.

iii.HeidelbergCement India said that Ashish Guha, its CEO and Managing Director, had notified the board that he had tendered his resignation to HeidelbergCement Group.

iv.The board accepted his resignation, but asked him to continue in the post till a successor is appointed.

v.According to the Jet Airways note, Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, CFO and acting CEO, resigned with effect from 2 April.

Bandhan plans to open 600 branches

i.Microfinance outfit Bandhan Financial Services Ltd., which got a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India on April 9, is planning to open around 600 branches, its Chairman and Managing Director Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said.

ii.Talking to the media after participating at an interactive session organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, he said that the organisation’s strength was in its rural presence. “About 80 per cent of our network is in rural areas,” he said.

iii.An estimated 600 branches may have to be opened to cater to Bandhan’s 55 lakh clients — all women. In response to a question as to how he proposed to take on competition from big banks, Mr. iv.Ghosh said “Bandhan can get one crore active accounts”.

v.In addition to creating banking facilities in unbanked areas, MFIs helpd to create employment opportunities, he said. He also said that the present workforce would be re-trained to carry out banking operations.

Upper than 2,100 confirmed dead in Afghanistan landslide: Official

i.More than 2,100 are confirmed to have been killed after a landslide crashed into a remote mountain village in northeast Afghanistan, a spokesman for the provincial governor said on Saturday.

ii.More then 2,100 people from 300 families are all dead," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan provincial governor, told Reuters.

iii.The United Nations said the focus was now on more than 4,000 displaced by Friday's disaster. There is a risk of further landslides in the area, officials say.

Arrest warrant issued against director, actors of Ram Leela

A court in Muzaffarpur on Friday issued arrest warrants against Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, actors Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh in connection with a case alleging that a few scenes in the movie hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

India ranked No. 3 in US Green Building Council list

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) has ranked India as No 3 among the list of top 10 countries for LEED outside of the United States.Canada tops the list followed by China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and Brazil, among others.The list demonstrates the global reach of the movement that is transforming the built environment into healthy, high-performing structures that benefit the planet and its people.

Big loss for Apple as US jury cuts Samsung fine to $120 mn

i.A US jury has ordered Samsung Electronics Co to pay $119.6 million to Apple Inc, far less than Apple had sought and marking a big loss for the iPhone maker in the latest round of their globe-spanning mobile patent litigation.

ii.During the month-long trial in a San Jose, California, federal court, Apple accused Samsung of violating patents on smartphone features including universal search, while Samsung denied wrongdoing.

On Friday, the jury found the South Korean smartphone maker had infringed two Apple patents.

Apple and Samsung have been litigating around the world for three years.

Mango ban: India threatens to drag EU to WTO

i.Talking tough, India today threatened to drag the European Union to the World Trade Organization if the 28-nation bloc did not lift its ban on the import of Indian mangoes and vegetables.

ii.We do hope that the EU will see sense, considering the strength of the economic partnership between India and EU, and not precipitate the situation any further, which leads us to go to the WTO," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here.

iii.Sharma said he has already written a letter on the matter to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

US economy rebounds, adding 288,000 jobs in April

i.The US economy pumped out 288,000 jobs in April, the highest pace in over two years, in a fresh confirmation that growth has resumed after a harsh winter freeze.

ii.Coupled with upward revisions for the previous two months, Labor Department data Friday showed a firm rebound in hiring after a tepid winter pace that had spurred worries of a fundamental downshift in the economy.

iii.The unemployment rate meanwhile plunged to 6.3%, down from 6.7%, the lowest level since September 2008. But that figure was deceiving.

Amitabh presents scholarship to Indian in Melbourne

i.Indian cinema icon Amitabh Bachchan Friday presented an Indian student with a scholarship of upto AUD 200,000 (appoximately $185,000) at La Trobe University here.

ii.The recipient of the Amitabh Bachchan Scholarship, that runs for four years, is La Trobe graduate Roshan Kumar, who is from Ranchi in Jharkhand. He will works towards a doctorate in the potential of using social media to better communicate health messages to India's estimated 80 million social media users.

Heritage Foods' independent director passes away

Heritage Foods Ltd has informed the BSE about the sudden demise of A Appa Rao, non-executive independent director of the company, on April 30, 2014.

World's highest railway tunnel opens in China

i.The world's highest tunnel for high-speed trains in northwest China became operational today at an altitude of 3,607.4 metres.

ii.The 16.3-km-long was completely linked up, operationalising the line linking Gansu Province and Xinjiang provinces.

iii.With altitudes of up to 3,607.4 metres, the tunnel passes through the Qilian Mountains with two sections and a bridge.

iv.The construction began in 2009. The tunnel's complete joining means the most difficult part for the Lanxin high-speed railway has been solved, state-run Xinhua reported, quoting an official in charge of the tunnel project.

Ford Announces Mark Fields as Next CEO, Praises Outgoing Alan Mulally

i.The company announced the transition at a news conference at its headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., attended by hundreds of employees along with Mulally, Fields and Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, who were all smiles on stage. The board met to finalize the decision on Wednesday, and Mulally joked that he may have made and seconded the motion himself.

ii.Mulally has been Ford’s longest-standing CEO not named Henry Ford. Mulally joined the company in September 2006 from Boeing Co., just as the industry and the American economy were headed for the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Akash missile successfully test fired for second day in a row

i.In a perfect launch of the same missile for second day in a row, India on 2 April successfully test fired indigenously-developed surface-to-air Akash missile as part of a user trial from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha.
ii.The missile with a strike range of 25 km and capability to carry warhead of 60 kg, was test fired for the second consecutive day at about 2.28pm from launch complex-3 of the ITR, defence sources said.
iii.Akash, which aimed at a para-barrel target during the trial, is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defence system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

President confers gallantry awards

i.President Pranab Mukherjee Friday conferred three Kirti Chakras and nine Shaurya Chakras on armed forces personnel for displaying "conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion" to duty at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

ii.The president also presented three Uttam Yudh Seva Medals for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational context which includes times of war, conflict, or hostilities.

iii.Besides, the president conferred 13 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, four Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medals and 23 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals upon senior officers of the armed forces for distinguished service of an exceptional order.

iv.Two of the three Kirti Chakras were given posthumously.

v.The recipients of Kirti Chakras are Constable Bhrigu Nandan Choudhary (posthumous), Constable Lohit Sonowal (posthumous) and Naib Subedar Bhupal Singh Chhantel Magar.