GK Updates - 5 May | Banking Quiz

Rahul Kulshreshth appointed new Indian envoy to Turkey

i.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday appointed Rahul Kulshreshth as the next Ambassador to Turkey.

ii.Kulshreshth, a member of the 1985 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), is currently serving as the Joint Secretary at Headquarters.

iii.He is expected to take up his new assignment in the next few days. (ANI)

RBI switches 30 banks to risk-based supervision

i.The Reserve Bank of India, scrapping its age-old practice of CAMELS inspection, has switched 30 banks to risk-based supervision, indicating what could be the beginning of the regulator's micro management of banks.

ii.The CAMELS (capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity, and system & control) framework was developed in the early 1970s by the US Federal Reserve to assess the health of a bank.

iii.Under this, banks were rated largely on financial parameters and performance. Post the 2008 global crisis, regulators across the world have begun shifting to risk-based supervision to ensure banks do not take undue risks to maximise profits and boost performance.

Swamy moves EC on issue of licenses to AirAsia, Tata-SIA

i.Continuing his tirade against proposed carriers AirAsia India and Tata-SIA Airlines, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has urged Election Commission to restrain DGCA from giving flying licenses to them till a new government takes over.

ii.In a memorandum presented to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath here, he urged the EC to "formally restrain the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) from proceeding any further in the matter till after the new government take office after the election.

Former British number one Elena Baltacha dies aged 30

i.Former British number one Elena Baltacha has died of liver cancer at the age of 30.

ii.Born in Ukraine and brought up in Scotland, Baltacha revealed she had the illness in March, having being diagnosed in January.

iii.Baltacha, who was British number one for nearly three years, only retired from professional tennis in 2013.

Vidyashankar appointed IESA president

i.India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the trade body representing the Indian Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) industry, has appointed M N Vidyashankar, as its new President.

ii.Vidyashankar has in the past served as Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Commerce & Industries, and Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT and Science &Technology, Government of Karnataka.

Himalaya to launch new products in personal care segment

i.Himalaya Drug Company will launch two more products to further increase revenues from this segment.

ii.Personal care business contributes about 38 per cent to the company’s total turnover of Rs 1,450 crore. The company aims to further increase the revenue share from this category by launching more products in the men’s grooming segment this year.

Ankush Arora quits Tata Motors

i.Ankush Arora, Tata Motors’ Senior Vice-President (Commercial) of the Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, has resigned at a time when two vital car launches are around the corner.

ii.The timing of his move is also intriguing given that the company’s PR team had arranged for media meetings with Arora barely a week ago to discuss these launches. He had then told Business Line that the 'Bolt' hatchback and 'Zest' sedan would mark a ‘dramatic perception change’ of Tata Motors.

Emirates NBD launches quick money transfer service to India

i.UAE-based bank ‘Emirates NBD’ has launched ‘DirectRemit’ service which would, among other things, enable customers to speedily transfer money to other banks in India.

ii.The remittance service would also allow Non-Resident Indian (NRI) customers to remit money to any HDFC Bank account in India in just 60 seconds.

iii.Emirates NBD said with the launch of this service, customers can transfer money to other banks in India with their remittance being processed within an hour.

iv.The service is free for all transfers to HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank accounts in India, and attracts only a nominal charge of AED 10 for transfers to all other Indian banks.

Hyderabad team wins Microsoft Imagine Cup

i.A Hyderabad team has won the top slot in one of the three categories in Microsoft Imagine Cup. Around 60,000 student innovators have vied for the three slots in the Indian leg of the 12th annual Microsoft Imagine Cup 2014.

ii.Seven Summits, represented by Asar Dhandala and Prithvi Raj Pawar, emerged winners in the gaming catetory.

iii.The Team Dexters - represented by Shanu, Ajay Kumar Saini, Shubham Goel and Roshit Gopinath - won the Innovation category, while the Team Untraceable0208 clinched the top slot in the World Citizenship category.

E-commerce portal for diamond jewellery launched

i.AVT Lifestyle Products Pvt Ltd and Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers have partnered to launch an e-commerce portal Zaamor.com to sell precious jewellery online.

ii.Launching the portal here, V Amarendra, Managing Director, Zaamor.com, said the portal is designed to offer easy access and convenience.

iii.It will make shopping for diamond jewellery hassle-free one with discounts, free shipping and multiple payment options – including cash on delivery. V Thiagarajan, Co-founder of the portal said it will offer exclusive designs of diamond-studded gold and platinum jewellery for daily wear.

iv.The average ticket size will be ₹25,000.

v.While the designs will be supplied by Za Amor, the jewellery will be manufactured by a select band of manufacturers from across the country.

vi.The company has tied up with Blue Dart for shipment and National Insurance Company for insurance.

Bandhan Bank may open doors in 18 months

i.Bandhan Finacial Services Pvt Ltd is looking at setting up about 600 branches across 22 States before it begins full-fledged banking operations.

ii.These 600-odd branches will come up over an 18-month time-frame.

iii.The West Bengal-based micro-finance institution (MFI), and IDFC beat 21 applicants — including Aditya Birla Nuvo, Bajaj Finserv, Indiabulls and L&T Finance — which had applied to the RBI for securing a banking licence.

iv.According to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director, Bandhan Financial Services, the focus would be to cater to its existing customer-base of 55 lakh. As such, it would require approximately 600-odd bank branches to cater to them.

ING Vysya Insurance changes name

i.ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd has become Exide Life Insurance Company.

ii.An announcement to this effect was made by Managing Director Kshitij Jain in Bangalore.

iii.The change is with immediate effect following approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

iv.It is a decision in tune with Exide acquiring 100 per cent ownership of the insurance company.

Astra missile debuts from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter

i.A fighter aircraft's lethality in air-to-air combat is governed by the air-to-air missile that it carries. Since the Independence, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has mounted French, Russian and British missiles on its fighters. On Sunday, an IAF Sukhoi-30MKI fighter conducted the first test launch of the indigenous Astra air-to-air missile, which the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) is developing at its missile cluster in Hyderabad.

ii.The Astra air-to-air missile is the smallest missile on the DRDO's menu, which has achieved notable successes in giant ballistic missiles like the Agni Series. Yet the Astra is among the DRDO's biggest technological challenges.

'PayPal's Rakesh Agrawal leaves after snide tweets'

i.PayPal, the payment processing arm of eBay Inc, said on Saturday that it parted ways with a recently hired strategy executive after he posted a series of disparaging and at times indecipherable tweets.

ii."Rakesh Agrawal is no longer with the company," PayPal said on Saturday in a Twitter message. "Treat everyone with respect. No excuses. PayPal has zero tolerance."

iii.Agrawal, who was hired about two months ago, could not immediately be reached for comment.

iv.He sent several messages on Twitter, which have since been deleted, from a jazz festival in New Orleans that, among other things, specifically insulted Christina Smedley, vice-president of global communications at PayPal. One tweet said, "Duck you Smedley, you useless middle manager," according to copies of the tweets posted by news website Business Insider.

Sania Mirza and Cara Black won WTA Portugal Open 2014

i.Sania Mirza of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe on 3 May 2014 won women’s doubles title at the WTA Portugal Open 2014 held in Oeiras, Portugal.

ii.Sania and Cara won the title by defeating the Czech Russian team of Eva Hrdinova and Valeria Solovyeva 6-4, 6-3 in the final. This is the first title and third final of the season for Sania and Cara who ended runners-up at Indian Wells in March 2014 and at Stuttgart event in April 2014. Sania and Cara shared 9919 euro as prize money and earned 280 ranking points each for the title.

Ahmet Sik won UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2014

i.Turkish investigative journalist Ahmet Sik won 2014 UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. He received the award worth of 25000 dollars by the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova in Paris on 2 May 2014.

ii.Ahmet Sik, 46, is a freelance journalist who worked for several Turkish newspapers such as Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Evrensel and Yeni Yuzyil between 1991 and 2011. He has also worked as photo journalist for the magazine Nikta and Reuters news agency. He is a member of the Turkish Journalist’s Union.

First indigenous air-to-air missile Astra successfully test fired over Arabian Sea

i.First indigenously developed air-to-air missile Astra successfully test fired on 4 May 2014 from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet over the Arabian Sea off Goa. Astra is India's first Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-to-Air missile. It was designed and developed indigenously by the DRDO.

ii.India becomes the fifth country to have BVR missile. Only a few countries like the US, Russia, France and Israel have managed to develop BVR missiles till now.

iii.The 60-km plus range missile possesses high Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) which makes it highly reliable.

Mahindra Racing branching out in sports arena

i.Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is aligning with top-class sporting events that emphasise endurance, reliability and strategy. Other than cricket, it is football, basketball, motorcycle racing and even rowing that have got M&M’s motor sports division, Mahindra Racing, charting out a new course.

ii.With M&M unveiling its electric sports car Halo at the Auto Expo this year, Mahindra Racing is stepping on the gas to ensure that the benefits of the Group’s association with sporting encounters accrue to the Mahindra brand.