GK Updates - 23 June | Banking Quiz

RBI directs banks, FIs to give information to SIT on black money

I.The Reserve Bank of India today directed all banks and financial institutions to provide information and documents sought by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to unearth black money.

II.“All the banks and financial institutions (FIs) are advised to ensure that information/documents required by the SIT are made available as and when required,” the Reserve Bank said in a notification.

III.The SIT under the chairmanship of former Justice M B Shah was constituted by the Narendra Modi—led government on its first day in office, in pursuance of a July 2011 Supreme Court judgement.

IV.The panel has jurisdiction in cases where investigations have commenced or are waiting to be initiated or have been completed. The SIT held its first meeting on June 2.

V.Earlier today, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will write today to Switzerland seeking details of Indians with unaccounted money in Swiss banks.

VI.The minister’s remarks came a day after a Swiss government official told PTI that the names of certain persons and entities who have come under the scanner of Swiss authorities is being shared with India.

VII.Jaitley, however, said his ministry is yet to receive official communication in this regard.

Ashok Varma appointed Director (Onshore), ONGC

I.In first oil PSU appointment by the new NDA government, Ashok Varma has been appointed Director (Onshore) of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC).

II.Prior to his joining as Director (Onshore) on June 19, he was heading ONGC’s Eastern Offshore Asset at Kakinada, where he was instrumental in putting the Eastern Offshore Asset on production.

III.“Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India vide letter dated June 19, 2014, has appointed Ashok Varma, as Director (Onshore), ONGC,” the company said in a filing to the stock exchange.

IV.Earlier, Varma steered Imperial Energy in Russia, a subsidiary of the ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), as the Chief Executive Officer and played an important role in the Sakhalin project in Far East Russia.

V.The post of Director (Onshore) had been lying vacant since October 2012 when A K Hazarika superannuated.

ISRO to launch five satellites on June 30

I.India will launch five satellites for France, Canada, Germany and Singapore on June 30 under commercial agreements, space agency ISRO said today.

II.The indigenous PSLV-C23 rocket will carry a 714 kg French Earth Observation Satellite ‘SPOT-7’ as the main payload. It will also carry 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and two NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) satellites of Canada, each weighing 15 kg, and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore, it said.

III.These five satellites will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota under commercial arrangements that Antrix, the marketing arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has entered into with the respective foreign agencies.

IV.“All the five satellites have been integrated with PSLV-C23 and the final phase of checks is progressing. The Mission Readiness Review Committee and the Launch Authorisation Board are meeting on June 27 to review the progress of pre-launch activities.

V.“After the clearance from LAB, the 49-hour countdown for the mission will commence at 8.49 a.m. on June 28,” ISRO spokesperson B R Guruprasad said.

FinMin mulls fixed 5-year term for PSB chief

i. The Union finance ministry is considering a proposal to provide a fixed tenure of five years to heads of public sector banks (PSBs). The aim is more operational stability and accountability.

ii. It is also considering changes in the appointment procedure of wholetime directors and revising the criteria for selection of non-official directors on PSB boards.

iii. We have proposed a fixed tenure of five years for chairmen & managing directors of PSBs,” said a ministry official. The department of financial services has discussed its proposals with minister Arun Jaitley, who will decide.

iv. The department has argued that a fixed tenure would give CMDs enough scope to strategise and take action, beside increasing their level of commitment and accountability.

v. The problem, though, is that heads of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in other sectors would also ask for a fixed tenure. The retirement age for all PSU executives is 60 years. So, generally, the term of a CMD varies between one year and five years.

Note: The P J Nayak committee on governance changes in PSBs had also recommended a minimum five-year tenure for CMDs and a minimum three-year tenure for EDs.

US successfully tests missile defence system

I.The US for the first time has successfully tested a ground-based missile defence system which intercepted a simulated incoming missile over the Pacific Ocean.

II.The $40-billion Boeing-managed Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) system aims to protect against long-range ballistic missiles and provide the data necessary to assess the performance of numerous Ballistic Missile Defence System (BMDS) elements for homeland defence.

III.“This is a very important step in our continuing efforts to improve and increase the reliability of our homeland ballistic missile defence system,” said Vice Admiral James D Syring, Missile Defence Agency director.

IV.“We’ll continue efforts to ensure our deployed ground-based interceptors and our overall homeland defensive architecture continue to provide the warfighter an effective and dependable system to defend the country,” he said.

Swiss Money: India moves up to 58th rank; UK remains on top

i. India has moved up to 58th rank in terms of foreign money lying with Swiss banks, but it accounts for a meagre 0.15 per cent of an estimated USD 1.6 trillion total global wealth held in Switzerland's banking system.

ii. The UK has retained its top position with highest share of close to 20 per cent of global wealth in Swiss banking system, followed by the US, West Indies, Germany and Guernsey in the top-five in terms of exposure to banks in Switzerland.

iii. Amid much hue and cry over huge amounts of illicit wealth stashed by Indians in Swiss banks, the latest official data released by Switzerland's central banking authority SNB shows that Indian money in Swiss banks rose by 43 per cent during 2013 to close to Rs 14,000 crore (2.03 billion Swiss francs), pushing its global ranking up from 70th at the end of 2012.

iv. The rankings are based on the direct client exposure as also the funds held through 'fiduciaries' or wealth managers with a total of 283 banks in Switzerland.

v. India now ranks higher than Pakistan, whose position has slipped from 69th earlier to 74th now, as its total exposure to Swiss banks declined from 1.44 billion Swiss francs at the end of 2012 to 1.23 billion Swiss francs in 2013.

UBI offers merchant payment service on mobile phones

I.Kolkata-based United Bank of India (UBI) has rolled out its merchant payment service on mobile phones using the IMPS (immediate payment service) merchant payment service offered by the National Payment Corporation of India. The service will now allow customers to have round-the-clock (24x7) merchant payment services including mobile recharge, utility payments and ticketing facilities.

II.The merchant payment service on mobile phones was inaugurated at the bank’s headoffice by Sanjay Arya Executive Director of the bank.

III.UBI has all the alternate banking delivery channels (ATMs, debit cards, Internet banking & mobile banking) and plans to route over 50 per cent of its total transactions through these modes, Arya was quoted in the bank’s release.

President releases first Encyclopedia on Hinduism

i. The basic tenet of Hinduism is happiness, health and enlightenment for everyone, and suffering, pain and agony for none, President Pranab Mukherjee said as he received the first copy of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism on Monday.

ii. Speaking at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President complimented Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the Parmarth Niketan Rishikesh, the founder-chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation (IHRF) for undertaking the effort to bring out the encyclopedia.

iii. Hindu philosophy identifies 'Dharma', 'Artha', 'Kama' and 'Moksh' as the foremost objectives of a human being, and striking a balance in human behaviour in working towards these objectives has been prescribed as a key aim of human existence, the President said according to a statement from Shamima Siddiqui, Deputy Press Secretary to the President.

iv. Quoting former President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Mukherjee said Hinduism is not just a faith, but a union of reason and intuition that cannot be defined, but is only to be experienced.

RBI sets timelines for regulatory approvals

I.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released timelines for regulatory approvals on Monday. It said it will revert to the applicant if the deadline is likely to be exceeded.

II.Among other deadlines, few included an in-principle approval to private bank licensing must be given within 90 days, ‘in principle’ approval to banks for IPO, preferential issues of capital and qualified institutional placements within 30 days, permission to banks for expanding the scope of para-banking activities of the bank/it’s subsidiary within 45 days and authorisation for import of gold/silver by banks within 60 days.

III.As part of the recommendations of the government-appointed Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), all regulators are required to move to a time-defined approval process, subject to applicable laws, for all permissions including licence to do business, as well as launch of products and services.

IV.In case an applicant does not get a response within the indicated timeline, the entity can approach the head of the concerned department, the RBI said.

Nivea to set up first plant in India at Sanand

i. Global skin care giant Nivea today announced to set up its first ever manufacturing plant in India at Sanand near Gujarat.

ii. Apart from the manufacturing facility, Nivea India, an affiliate of Germany-based Beiersdorf AG, will also set up its R&D center at the Sanand-based factory, which will focus on innovations for Indian consumers as well as other markets, said Managing Director of Nivea India, Rakshit Hargave.

Gro Harlem Brundtland awarded Tang Prize in sustainable development

i. Gro Harlem Brundtland was awarded with the first Tang Prize in sustainable development. The Tang Prize was given to her by the Tang Prize Foundation.

ii. She is a former Prime Minister of Norway and was awarded the prize for her innovation, leadership and implementation of sustainable development. She is known as the Godmother of sustainable development.

Ramanarayanan, Tamil film director and producer, died at 65

i. Ramanarayanan, Tamil film director and producer died on 22 June 2014 in Singapore at the age of 65.

ii. He has directed 125 films and holds the world record of directing the maximum number of movies by a director.

IRB Infra inks pact with NHAI for Haryana road development

I.IRB Infrastructure today said it has entered into a pact with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a Rs. 2,300-crore project for widening of a highway stretch in Haryana under National Highways Development Project (NHDP).

II.“One of the largest BOT (build, operate, transfer) road developers in India, IRB Infrastructure Developer’s wholly owned subsidiary Kaithal Tollway Pvt Ltd has executed concession agreement with NHAI for the project of four laning of Kaithal—Rajasthan Border Section of NH—152/65 in Haryana under NHDP Phase — IV,” the company said in a statement.

III.The project is to be executed on DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) pattern with a concession period of 27 years.

IV.“The estimated project cost is approximately Rs. 2,300 crore and the construction is to be completed within 910 days,” the statement said.

Magnus Carlsen wins FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship in Dubai

i. Norway’s Magnus Carlsen has won the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship in Dubai.

ii. He bagged Gold medal with 17 points from the 21 rounds to emerge the winner in the super fast 5 minutes rounds of chess. Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi won the Silver followed Carlsen and Hiraki Nakamura of US got the Bronze medal.

iii. India’s Grandmaster Vishwanathan Ananad ended up at the seventh place in the blitz round with 13 points. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has also won the Rapid Chess Championship followed by Armenia’s Fabiani Caruana in second and India’s Vishwanathan Anand in the third place.

SBI invites youth for fellowship movement

I.India’s largest bank State Bank of India has started the 'SBI Youth for India fellowship' to enable young people to work for the development of India for one year.

II.“The SBI Youth for India fellowship is a volunteering platform initiated, funded and managed by SBI in partnership with NGOs (non-government organisations). The fellowship enables urban youth to work on rural development projects for one year,” SBI said in a statement.

III.For the fellowship year 2014-15, the partner NGOs are MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Seva Mandir, Gram Vikas and Aga Khan Rural Support Program (India).

IV.It will have 100 SBI youth for India fellows working at 35 rural locations in 15 States across the country. The fellows can work on any of 12 programme areas covering the entire gamut of rural development from alternative energy, women’s empowerment, health, education, environmental protection to rural livelihoods, to mention a few, SBI statement said.

V.The applications for the SBI Youth for India fellowship (2014-15) will close on June 30, 2014. More than 4,800 candidates have already applied for the fellowship.

VI.Started in 2011, past fellows of the fellowship programme include candidates from premier institutes such as the IIMs, IITs and foreign universities. Post-fellowship, fellows have walked different paths, to work as social entrepreneurs or with a non-profit to roll out a pan-Indian rural helpline, or for betterment of migrant workers, amongst others. Those who returned to their parent company went back with deeper knowledge about the rural psyche.

Virat Kohli loses top spot in ODI rankings to ABDevilliers

i. South Africa’s ABDevilliers has eclipsed Virat Kohli as the number One batsman in the latest ICC ODI team rankings. Devilliers has also maintained his top billing in the ICC Test rankings.

ii. After a string of poor performances, Shikhar Dhawan has been pushed down to the tenth place. Ravindra Jadeja is placed seventh in the ICC ODI bowler’s rankings while he is at number four in the Allrounders list. India maintains its third position in the latest ODI rankings after Australia and Sri Lanka.