GK Updates - 8 June | Banking Quiz

Chavan flags off Mumbai metro services, dispute over fares goes to court

I.The wait of Mumbaikars for metro services in the city came to an end when Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan flagged off the first service from Versova Station in the western suburb today.

II.The service was launched by Chavan along with ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani at 10.10 am.

III.The launch of metro services will revolutionise the commutation of Mumbaikars, Chavan said after the launch.

IV.With this service, the journey on the 11.4-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar stretch will reduce to 20 minutes which otherwise takes around 90 minutes by road.

V.The launch of the metro services was, however, not without controversy as Chavan had yesterday said he will inaugurate the services only if MMOPL (Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd) adheres to the State Government-notified fares. But, later on he agreed to flag-off the service.

Kudankulam Unit I generates full capacity of 1,000 MWe of power

I.Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) today attained its full generation capacity and became the first nuclear plant in the country to generate 1,000 MWe of power, its site director R S Sundar said.

II.“At 13.20 hours today, Unit I of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant started generating its full capacity of 1,000 MWe of power. We will run it for some more time before we stop the unit for conducting some tests as mandated by AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board),” he told PTI over phone.

III.He also said that of all the sources of power available in the country, units of KNPP have the capacity to produce large amounts of power from a single unit.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi sworn in as President of Egypt

I.Egypt’s former army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was today sworn in as the country’s new President after winning by a landslide in May elections, strengthening the military’s grip on power in the deeply polarised nation.

II.Sisi, 59, was declared the country’s president last week after winning 96.6 per cent of the presidential vote, almost a year since the ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi last year.

III.He took the oath of office for a four-year term at a ceremony held in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court’s General Assembly here. Later he was given a 21-gun salute followed by the national anthem.

IV.He is the seventh president of Egypt.

China imports fall, exports rise in May

I.China’s imports fell 1.6 per cent year-on-year to $160 billion in May, the Government announced on Sunday.

II.Imports in April had risen 0.8 per cent, up from March’s 11.3-per-cent decline.

III.Exports were valued at $196 billion, up 7 per cent year-on-year, customs data showed. Exports rose 0.9 per cent in April, recovering from March’s decline of 6.6 per cent.

IV.The total foreign trade volume increased 3 per cent to $355 billion, the General Administration of Customs reported.

V.The trade surplus for the month stood at $36 billion.

VI.The Government is trying to promote domestic consumption and more sustainable growth as it tries to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on exports and investment in infrastructure.

Sourav Ganguly joins Mudgal panel

I.Former India captain Sourav Ganguly today joined the Supreme Court—appointed Mudgal committee, which is probing the IPL betting and spot—fixing scandal, as an expert on cricketing affairs.

II.The panel is headed by Retd Justice Mukul Mudgal and includes advocates L Nageswara Rao, Niloy Dutta and senior IPS officer B B Mishra.

III.We had requested Sourav Ganguly to join the IPL probe panel and he has agreed to join us in the investigations. I had telephoned Sourav and he confirmed me about coming on board. We haven’t yet decided on the day when we will meet,” Justice Mudgal told PTI today.

IV.Since our committee member L Nageswara Rao was not present today, we couldn’t fix the date of our next meeting.

Uday Kotak wins ‘EY World Entrepreneur of the Year’ award

I.Uday Kotak, Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has won the ‘EY World Entrepreneur of The Year 2014’ award at a ceremony held in Monaco.

II.Kotak was picked from among the 60 country finalists vying for the title.

III.He is the second from India to win the award and his selection comes 11 years after N R Narayana Murthy of Infosys had won in 2003, EY said in a statement.

Facebook COO’s first India visit to focus on SMEs, developers

I.Aggressive on tapping the multi-billion dollar opportunity in the Indian SME market, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is scheduled to make her maiden trip to the country as the social networking giant deepens ties in its second-largest market.

II.Sandberg, who will be in India in the last week of June, is scheduled to meet small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hyderabad, followed by a media round-table in the national Capital next month.

III.“She will be coming to India later this month but we are not in a position to share the details yet,” an official from the company said.

IV.India is the largest market for Facebook outside the US, with over 100 million users.

V.The company has been aggressively hunting for new avenues to increase advertising revenue and the SME sector in India, which has over 25 million firms, could play a crucial role.

ICICI Bank overtakes HDFC Bank as top private bank employer

I.With the addition of over 10,000 jobs last fiscal, ICICI Bank has overtaken rival HDFC Bank as the biggest employer in the private banking space with more than 72,000 employees.

II.Incidentally, HDFC Bank saw its employee headcount decline by 900 during the fiscal ended March 31, 2014, while at least five other major private sector banks saw their workforces grow during the year.

III.These five lenders — ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank — saw their employee strength rise by over 20,000 in 2013-14.

IV.HDFC Bank’s headcount stood at 68,165 at the end of last fiscal, while that of ICICI Bank grew by 10,161 to 72,226 employees. In 2012-13, HDFC Bank was the largest employer among private banks with 69,065 employees, as against ICICI Bank’s 62,065 staff.

V.ICICI Bank has also recorded higher total income and profits than HDFC Bank in the latest fiscal year.

VI.HDFC Bank posted total income Rs 50,852 crore and net profit Rs 8,743 crore for the year ended March 31, 2014. On stand-alone basis, HDFC Bank’s net profit for the year stood at Rs 8,478 crore, while total income was Rs 49,055 crore.

VII.In comparison, ICICI Bank’s consolidated total income was Rs 79,563 crore and net profit at Rs 11,041 crore. It recorded total income of Rs 54,606 crore and net profit of Rs 9,810 crore on stand-alone basis.

Ministry shortlists B Sriram, V G Kannan for appointment as MDs in SBI

I.The Finance Ministry has shortlisted two senior officials of State Bank of India (SBI) for the post of Managing Directors in the country’s largest bank.

II.B Sriram, Managing Director of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), and V G Kannan, Managing Director of SBI Capital Markets Ltd, are contenders for the post of two Managing Directors of the SBI, sources said.

III.Names of the shortlisted candidates have been sent to the Finance Minister for his approval, sources said, adding that the final call on the appointment will be taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

IV.The vacancy for two managing directors arose after the retirement of Hemant Contractor and S Viswanathan on April 30.

V.Besides SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, the other two serving Managing Directors are A Krishna Kumar and P Pradeep Kumar.

VI.According to the State Bank of India Act 1955, not more than four Managing Directors may be appointed by the Government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.

FDI in services sector drops 54% in 2013-14

I.Foreign direct investment in the services sector declined by about 54 per cent year-on-year to $2.22 billion last fiscal, according to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

II.The services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received FDI worth $4.83 billion during 2012-13.

III.The services sector accounts for over 60 per cent of India’s GDP.

IV.FDI inflows have also declined in sectors including construction development and hotels and tourism.

V.Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs about $1 trillion in the 5-year Plan period ending March 2017 to overhaul infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways and boost growth.

VI.The decline in foreign investments could affect the country’s balance of payments and the rupee.

VII.Overall foreign inflows into the country grew by 8 per cent to $24.29 in the last fiscal as against $22.42 billion in 2012-13.

Irish Author Eimear McBride won Baileys Prize for fiction

I.Irish author Eimear McBride won the 2014 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction on 4 June 2014 for her first novel A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing.

II.Other books on the shortlist were Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, Hannah Kent's Burial Rites, Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland, Audrey Magee's The Undertaking and Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch.

III.McBride wrote the book when she was 27 and only found a publisher a decade later when the Galley Beggar Press paid her a 600 pound advance for what was then its second book.

Anil Chopra took over as Commander-in-Chief of Western Naval Command

I.Vice Admiral Anil Chopra took over the charge of Western Naval Command (WNC) as Commander-in-Chief on 6 June 2014. He was appointed two months after Vice Admiral Shekar Sinha took voluntary retirement.

II.Anil Chopra a graduate from National Defence Academy, Pune is second senior-most officer of the Indian Navy and only second officer to head both the operational commands – Eastern and Western Naval Command.

Lithuania to become 19th country to adopt Euro as currency from 1 January 2015

I.Lithuania will become the 19th country to adopt Euro as a Single currency from 1 January 2015. This was revealed by the European Union Commission's Convergence Report released on 4 June 2014. Convergence Report examined whether Member States satisfy the conditions for adopting the single currency Euro.

II.As per the report, Lithuania met all of the criteria among the eight countries which showed interest to join Euro club. The eight countries are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.

III.Although, EU commission asked the Lithuania to maintain low inflation rates but it is not a worrisome aspect.

IV.The commission expected inflation in Lithuania to accelerate to 1.1pc in 2014 from a 12-month average of 0.6pc measured to April 2014.The target is to maintain inflation within the eurozone below but close to 2pc – something that has been elusive in recent years.

Union Government launched anti-tobacco advertisement, The Price We Pay

I.Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in first week of June 2014 launched a new four-minute video titled, The Price We Pay. The video was launched to highlight the health and economic impacts of tobacco consumption.

II.The Price We Pay explains the effect of tobacco and its impact on the lives and livelihoods by using footage of tobacco-related sufferings and death captured at the Tata Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Ward. The video includes interviews of special victims of tobacco use in which he/she or their families has explained sufferings both physical and economic level in cases when the bread owner gets sick or died from tobacco-related diseases.

III.The Price We Pay was developed with technical support from the World Lung Foundation and produced in collaboration with HEALIS calls for increased taxes on tobacco products to discourage the public from consuming them. It has also presented the case of implementation of strong tobacco control policies through hard-hitting graphic health warnings and higher tobacco taxes.

Madhuri Dixit appointed as brand ambassador of health campaign, Mamta Abhiyan

I.State government of Madhya Pradesh appointed Madhuri Dixit as the brand ambassador of maternal and child health campaign, Mamta Abhiyan. The campaign will kick off from 26 June 2014 with an event organised in collaboration of Bhopal unit of UNICEF.

II.Health Department launched Mamta Abhiyan in 2013 as part of a move to bring down the maternal and infant mortality rates and improve maternal and child health in the State by providing better facilities.

40th G-7 summit 2014 held at Brussels

I.40th G-7 summit 2014 was held at Justus Lipsius building, Brussels at the Council of the European Union on 4 June 2014 – 5 June 2014.

II.It was the first time that the EU hosted a G7 summit. The summit is jointly represented by the European Council President Herman van Rompuy and the European Commission President.

III.The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission (G7 leaders) met for the summit.

IV.Originally, a G8 summit was scheduled to take place in Sochi (Russia) in early June 2014 under a Russian presidency. Due to the Russian Federation's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the G7 leaders decided to meet in Brussels on 4-5 June 2014 in the G7 format instead.

French Open: Sharapova wins stunned by a decade of success

I.Maria Sharapova admits she is stunned to have won her fifth grand slam title in a decade and sometimes cannot believe what she has accomplished.

II.Sharapova lifted her second Roland Garros trophy as she beat Romanian Simona Halep in a three-hour final, the first to go three sets in Paris since 2001.

III.“It’s incredible to be sitting here 10 years after my first Grand Slam win, and to think that I now have five,” she said. “I don’t know what else to say. At that (2004 Wimbledon) stage you’re 17 years old, and of course you think it was a great tournament, obviously. Can I do that again? Can I win more majors? You always have those question marks.