GK Updates - 14 August | Banking Quiz

More than one million people affected by Ebola outbreak: WHO
I.With more than one million people affected by the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the WHO has warned that there is “no early end in sight” to the severe health crisis and called for “extraordinary measures” to stop the transmission of the disease.
II.According to the latest update issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease, as well as 56 deaths, were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone between August 10 and 11, bringing the total number of cases to 1,975 and deaths to 1,069.
III.WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said more than one million people are affected by the disease and these people need daily material support, including food.
IV.The infected people are in the “hot zone of disease transmission” on the borders of the three countries most impacted by the disease.
V.“There is no early end (to the outbreak) in sight. This is an extraordinary outbreak that requires extraordinary measures for containment. This is a severe health crisis, and it can rapidly become a humanitarian crisis if we do not do more to stop transmission,” Chan had said during a briefing in Geneva yesterday.

Govt appoints two Dy Managing Directors in Nabard
I.The Government has appointed R. Amalorpavanathan and H.R.Dave as Deputy Managing Directors of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).
II.Their appointment is for a period of five years from the date of their taking over. Prior to their elevation both were Chief General Managers in Nabard.
III.Nabard is a development bank with a mandate for providing and regulating credit and other facilities for the promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts and other allied economic activities in rural areas.

PAK celebrates its 68th Independence Day
I. Celebrating the 68th Independence of Pakistan, Google has posted a doodle on the Pakistan homepage. The doodle features the blooming flower-shaped Pakistan Monument in Islamabad, Pakistan.
II. As Pakistan celebrated its Independence Day on Thursday, fear of violence loomed large with the capital turned into a fortress ahead of two massive anti-government rallies, demanding resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and fresh elections.
III. The two groups, led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and Canada-based cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, plan to converge on Islamabad to press Sharif to call an early election little over a year after his landslide victory in the polls.

Mamata to visit Singapore on Aug 17
I.A number of prominent city industrialists will accompany the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on her overseas visit to Singapore on August 17 to attract investment in the State
II.According to a senior state official, the list includes Harsh Neotia of real estate major Ambuja Neotia; Sanjiv Goenka of infrastructure and retail major RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group; C K Dhanuka of Dhunseri Group; Sanjay Budhia of Patton; and Sumit Mazumder of mining equipment major TIL. Karan Paul of tea and hotel major Apeejay Surrendra Group may also join.

Himachal Pradesh selected to host First Para-gliding World Cup in India
I. Paragliding World Cup Association selected Himachal Pradesh as a venue to host the 2015 para-gliding World Cup. This will be the first para-gliding World Cup to be hosted in India. The tournament will be organised under the aegis of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.
II. The information was disclosed by Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma, who is also Chairman of the Billing Paragliding Association on 13 August 2014.
III. The World Cup will be hosted in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh from 24 October 2015 and will see around 150 top ranked pilots of the world besides 500 free flying pilots as participants.
IV. Himachal got the chance to organise and host the world cup event by the Paragliding World Cup Association after successfully hosting the para-gliding pre-World Cup in 2013.

Saregama appoints Vikram Mehra as MD
I.RP Sanjiv Goenka Group has announced the appointment of Vikram Mehra as Managing Director of its company Saregama India Ltd.
II.Mehra has been associated with Tata Sky Ltd for the last 14 years as Chief Commercial Officer handling sales, marketing, technology and operations.
III.Prior to this he was a Tata Administrative Services (TAS) officer working with Tata Motors, Indian Hotels, Tata Teleservices, Rallis and Tata Infotech.

Inflation at 5-month low of 5.19 per cent in July
I. Inflation dipped to a five month low of 5.19 per cent in July mainly on account of decline in prices of some food articles, vegetables and protein rich items. It was at 5.43 per cent last month and 5.84 per cent in July 2013.
II. Inflation in the overall food articles basket, which account for 14 per cent of the total Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 8.43 per cent. It was at 8.14 per cent in June.
III. Inflation in vegetables declined 1.27 per cent, and for onion it was (—)8.13 per cent on an annual basis in July, as per the WPI data released on Thursday.
IV. However, potato prices shot up 46.41 per cent and fruits 31.71 per cent during the month. Rate of price rise in milk was at 10.46 per cent.
V. The BSE Sensex extended gains for the fourth straight session on Thursday soaring by 184 points to reclaim the 26,000-mark after two weeks as inflation dropped to five-month low level and foreign capital inflows rose.

H Kumar takes charge as MRPL managing director
I.H Kumar, who was appointed as the Managing Director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on August 7, took charge in Mangalore on August 14.
II.A press release by the company said here on Thursday that Kumar has over three decades of professional experience across the entire gamut of petroleum functions. Prior to this, he was Executive Director (Corporate Strategy and Planning) of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
III.He was instrumental in HPCL projects such as construction and commissioning of the 356-km Mangalore-Bangalore Pipeline and in the construction of Mangalore LPG Import Facility project.

Roger Federer advances with milestone Masters match win
I. Roger Federer became the first man to win 300 matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level, beating Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 6-2 on Wednesday in Cincinnati.
II. The victory in just over two hours put the 33-year-old world number three into the third round of his final tune-up tournament for the US Open.
III. The Swiss great, who had notched his 200th Masters match win against Lleyton Hewitt at Cincinnati five years ago, arrived at the tournament he has won five times off a runner-up finish to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Toronto.

Online furniture store Urban Ladder appoints new CFO
I.Online furniture store Urban Ladder has Avinash Shekhar as its Chief Financial Officer with effect from August 1, 2014.
II.He will report to Ashish Goel, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, and will be a member of the Senior Executive Team, the company said in a statement today.
III.Shekhar joins Urban Ladder from premium fashion brand Zara (India). Shekhar is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience in finance with luxury and semi-luxury brands.

Real Madrid won UEFA Super Cup in Cardiff
I. European champions and Spanish giant Real Madrid football club on 13 August 2014 lifted the UEFA Football Super Cup, the first European trophy of the season. To lift the trophy, Real Madrid defeated Sevilla football club, 2-0 in Cardiff, Wales. With this win, Madrid has 14 major European trophies.
II. Both the goals were scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. First goal was scored on the half-hour mark, whereas the second goal was made after half-time.

UEFA Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football match that is played between the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Life sentence to Sher Singh Rana for killing Phoolan Devi
I. A Delhi court on Thursday pronounced life sentence to lone convict Sher Singh Rana for the murder of bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi in 2001.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Rana.
II. Rana, 35, had been convicted under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC for murdering Phoolan at her residence here on July 25, 2001.
III. The prosecution had sought death penalty for Rana, calling him a threat to society.

Australia approves Adani Mining's rail line project
I.The Queensland State Government of Australia on Thursday said it has cleared the Galilee Basin rail line project to be executed by the Adani Group.
II.The approval follows the Australian Federal Government’s recent decision to give environmental approval to Adani Mining’s $16.5-billion Carmichael coal mine and rail infrastructure project.
III.Welcoming the decision, the Australian High Commissioner to India, Patrick Suckling, said the 300-km rail line would be a key link connecting the proposed Adani Mining’s Carmichael coal mine west of Moranbah to the port of Abbot Point.
IV.“This is an important decision as it will enable the State to tap its rich resources’ potential. These decisions signal that Australia welcomes investments and is open for business,” he added.
V.The project will drive economic growth in the State, create additional jobs and develop the region through boosting export of coal. It will help in India’s development by providing electricity to an estimated 100 million Indians, he added.

Asian Games torch unified with Incheon flame
I. The Asian Games torch was unified with the Incheon flame in a colourful ceremony amidst huge fanfare at the Incheon Culture and Arts Centre in Incheon on Thursday.
II. The torch relay started on Saturday from the National Stadium in Delhi, the first venue of the Games, and arrived in Incheon on Wednesday morning after covering 5700 km.
III. The flame was received by Mijito Vinto, third secretary, Embassy of India, in the presence of Ambassador Vishnu Prakash at the Incheon Culture and Arts Centre. Hundreds of persons including a large number of Korean dignitaries were present at the occasion.

Badani takes charge as ACC MD
Harish Badami assumed office as CEO and Managing Director of ACC with effect from Wednesday, said the company in a press release. Prior to joining ACC, Badami was Managing Director of Celanese India. He has held similar positions of President and Managing Director of Dow Chemical India, and Managing Director of Rohm and Haas India, before its acquisition in 2009 by Dow. He earned an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1989.

Modi to announce ambitious ‘financial inclusion mission’ on Independence Day
I. India would be celebrating the 68th Independence Day on 15th August 2014.
II. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to unveil an ambitious financial inclusion scheme on Independence Day tomorrow to provide bank accounts to 15 crore poor persons with an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 and accident insurance of Rs 1 lakh.
III. The-two phase "financial inclusion mission", which has been approved by the Cabinet, will be formally launched by Modi here at the end of this month, sources said.

Nabard cuts refinance rates to banks by 20-50 basis points
I.To give a boost to investments in the agriculture sector, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has reduced the rate of interest on their refinance facilities to banks by 20-50 basis points.
II.The new rates of interest on refinance will now be 9.30 per cent (9.50 per cent earlier) for 5 years and 9.50 per cent (9.70 per cent) for 3-5 years period and 9.50 per cent (10 per cent) for 18 months to 3 years period.
III.The new refinance rates will be applicable from August 14, 2014. One basis point is equal to one-hundredth of a percentage point.
IV.In addition to this rate cut, Nabard will further give 50 basis points reduction in interest rates for area development projects and innovative activities which enhance production and productivity of agriculture.
V.These activities, among others, include production under controlled conditions like poly houses, water saving drip and sprinkler facilities, and precision farming.
VI.Banks availing more than Rs. 500 crore in a single drawal will further be incentivised by 10 basis points, Nabard said in a statement.
VII.The Development Bank has also reduced rate of interest to 10 per cent (from 10.50 per cent earlier) on short-term loans to State Cooperative Banks, and Regional Rural Banks for financing of other prescribed activities (other than crop loans) such as financing to Weaver’s Cooperative Societies, Handloom Development Corporations, and marketing of crops.