GK Updates - 4 May | Banking Quiz

World Press Freedom Day observed across the world

i.World Press Freedom Day was observed on 3 May 2014 across the world. The theme of 2014 year is: Media Freedom for a Better Future: Shaping the post-2015 Development Agenda.

Four Indians win awards at Harvard competition for startups

i.Four Indians are among the winners of a Harvard Business School competition that awards prizes worth over $3,00,000 to new and innovative business and social impact startups conceptualized by the US institution's students and alumni.

ii.Harvard MBA student Amrita Saigal won the grand prize in the 'Social Enterprise' category at the 18th Harvard Business School New Venture Competition for her venture 'Saathi', which she cofounded with Oracle engineer Kristin Kagetsu.

iii.Saathi provides affordable sanitary pads made from waste banana tree fibre to women in rural India.

Manavjit is World No. 3 trap shooter

i.India's ace trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu jumped to the third spot in the latest International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) world rankings, thanks to his gold at the World Cup in Tucson, Arizona.

ii.The former World Champion jumped 13 places in the ISSF rankings released on Thursday.

iii.Manavjit, 37, won the World Cup gold medal last month beating legendary Australian shooter Michael Diamond, a two-time Olympic champion, and Alexei Alipov, also an Olympic gold medallist from Russia.

Airtel to resume 3G services from Monday

i.As the telecom tribunal TDSAT upheld their plea to provide 3G intra-circle roaming services, Airtel on Sunday announced the resumption of its 3G services in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

ii.In a statement, the service provider said 3G roaming services would now be available in Haryana, Maharashtra and Goa, Kerala, MPCG (Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh), Gujarat, Kolkata and UP (east).

BSNL aims to double post-paid users in one year

i.As it aims to double its post-paid mobile customer base to 10 per cent in one year, BSNL has launched a facility wherein bills can be paid at over 5 lakh of its franchises or retailers all the seven days in a week.

ii.The State-owned telecom firm has been citing bill payment problem as one of the issues for decline in its high revenue post-paid customer base.

iii.“One of the reason for our declining post-paid users was the problems related to bill payment. But with the launch of this new facility from May 1, we are targeting to double our post-paid users to 10 per cent by May next year,” BSNL Director (Consumer Mobility) Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.

iv.Currently, 5 per cent of BSNL’s users are post paid as most of them prefer pre-paid due to hassles in bill payment.

v.Customers had to pay the bills on BSNL’s counters and billing centres during working hours only, which used to be a problem for working professionals.

Peaches Geldof Died of Heroin Overdose

i.Writer, model and TV presenter Peaches Geldof , daughter of musician Bob Geldof, died of heroin overdose — the same drug that killed her mother.

ii.An inquest that opened in Gravesend , Kent, on Thursday was told that forensic samples examined have concluded, "there was recent use of heroin and that the levels identified were likely to have played a role in her death."

iii.The 25-year-old was found dead in her bed by her husband Tom Cohen on April 7. It was initially believed that Peaches had died in her sleep and it was an uneventful death.

Indian-American appointed to key U.S. Treasury Department post

i.An Indian-American has been appointed to a key post in the U.S. Department of Treasury.

ii.Jawahar Kaliani has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Application Services Delivery (ASD) at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Department of Treasury.

iii.Taking over the job from Sunday, Mr. Kaliani will lead the development and implementation of complex applications to deliver secure business solutions that meet organisational priorities and support the agency’s mission of ensuring the safety and soundness of national banks and federal savings associations.

Pakistan's ISI planned terror attacks on US and Israeli consulates in India

i.Central security agencies have claimed that Pakistan's ISI had plans to carry out terror attacks on two foreign consulates in India with evidence for this reportedly given by a Sri Lankan national, arrested from Chennai, during his interrogation.

ii.Official sources claimed on Sunday that Sakir Hussain, a Sri Lankan national, told his interrogators that he had been hired allegedly by an official in Pakistani high commission in Colombo as part of the ISI's alleged plans to conduct reconnaissance of US consulate in Chennai and Israeli consulate in Bengaluru.

Paul Ranjan assumes charge as Director (Finance) of Cochin Shipyard

D Paul Ranjan has assumed charge as Director (Finance) of Cochin Shipyard.A chartered Accountant by profession, Paul Ranjan, joined the company as Executive trainee in December, 1984.

World Bank approves $12b loan for Pakistan

i.The World Bank is preparing to loan Pakistan 12 billion dollars over the next five years to help lift its economy, which has been battered by a decade of conflict and an acute energy shortage, the Finance Ministry said Friday.One billion dollars would be transferred next week while the remaining loans, which carry a 2% interest rate, would be sent to Pakistan over the next five years, it said.The money would be used to boost the economy, fight extremism, reduce energy shortfalls and improve education, the ministry said.

ii.The approval comes as a Pakistani minister said there will not be enough electricity in the country to meet growing demand during the summer when temperatures can rise up to 45 degree.

FDI in services sector drops 54% during April-February

i.Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the services sector declined 54 per cent to $2.18 billion during April-February of 2013-14 from a year earlier.

ii.Services such as banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing had received $4.74 billion of FDI during April-February 2013, according to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

iii.According to experts, foreign investors will move ahead with their decisions once a new government takes over after the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

iv.“Although the present government has taken steps to attract investments, more needs to be done by the new government,” said Krishan Malhotra, an expert on FDI with corporate law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas.

Maheswary nominated again for Arjuna Awards

i.Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, who has been stopped from receiving Arjuna Award under controversial circumstances on charges of dope violation last year, has again been recommended by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the coveted honour this year.

ii.A top AFI official told PTI that Maheswary’s name has again been nominated for this year’s Arjuna Award on the ground that the Sports Ministry’s eligibility rule does not bar him from getting the coveted honour. “Sports Ministry’s eligibility clause says that any athlete who failed a dope test conducted by a WADA or IOC accredited laboratory will be barred from getting the award.

Court to begin recording of statements of accused in 2G case tomorrow

i.A special CBI court here is likely to commence tomorrow the recording of statements of the accused, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

ii.Special CBI judge O P Saini, who had earlier supplied the draft questionnaire containing 1,718 questions running into 824 pages to the 17 accused, including Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG), had fixed the matter for tomorrow.

iii.The special court, constituted to deal exclusively with the 2G scam related cases, is also scheduled to start tomorrow the recording of statements of the accused, including promoters of Essar Group and Loop Telecom, facing trial in a case arising out of the probe into the radiowave scam.

iv.In the case involving the promoters of Essar Group and Loop Telecom, the court had given a questionnaire having 645 questions each and running into 308 pages to the eight accused.

v.CBI had filed a charge-sheet against them, alleging that they had cheated the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) by using Loop Telecom as a “front” to secure 2G licences in 2008.

Court stays curbs on foreign travel by bank officers

i.The Madras High Court has ordered an interim stay on a recent circular that took away leave travel concession facility to bank officers for journeys abroad.

ii.Having regard to the undertaking given by the petitioners and having regard to the rules position, there shall be an order of interim stay until June 12, 2014, Justice S Nagamuthu observed.

Non-food credit grows 14.3% in ‘FY14

i.Robust demand for credit from agriculture, services, homes and consumer durables segments helped the banking system grow non-food credit by 14.3 per cent in FY2014 against 13.5 per cent in the previous financial year.

ii.Non-food credit comprises loans given by banks to agriculture & allied activities, industry, services, personal loans, and priority sector.

iii.In FY2014, bank gave loans (non-food credit) aggregating Rs 6,96,400 crore as against Rs 5,79,900 crore in the previous year.

iv.Credit to agriculture and allied activities increased by 13.5 per cent in March 2014 as compared with the increase of 7.9 per cent in March 2013, , according to RBI data on sectoral deployment of credit.

Hockey: Indian women lose 0-1 to USA in quarterfinal

i.The Indian women’s hockey team put up a tough fight but eventually ran out of steam, losing 0-1 to USA in the quarterfinal of the Champions Challenge 1 in Glasgow on Friday.

ii.In the first half, Katie O’Donnell was the driving force behind the USA team, but all too often her teammates were sloppy with the final ball, and the young India side took full advantage.

iii.Ritu Rani, the India captain was a creative force in midfield and tried to create some moves but opposition’s defence denied any scoring chances.

India lose 0-5 against Belgium in Champions Challenge 1

i.The Indian women's team was thrashed 5-0 by its counterparts from Belgium in a pool A match in Glasgow at Champions Challenge 1.

ii.The final match of the pool saw the relatively youthful teams of Belgium and India looking to score three points and put in a confidence-inducing performance.

iii.India started with far more composure than in their previous two games, backing up coach Neil Hawgood's assertion that his team needed more experience at international level.