GK update - 3rd December 2014

1.    Anil Sinha takes over as new CBI Chief

i. Mr. Sinha is the third consecutive chief of the agency from Bihar following Ranjit Sinha and A.P. Singh

ii. Anil Kumar Sinha, a 1979-batch IPS officer, on Wednesday took over the reins of the Central Bureau of Investigation at a time when the agency is facing criticism from courts over its handling of probe in coal allocation and 2G scams.

iii. Mr. Sinha, 58, has been with the agency as a Special Director for the past 21 months and supervised the Saradha chit fund probe.

iv. He has a tough task cut out to restore the credibility of the CBI, which has drawn flak from various courts, including the Supreme Court which had once called it a “caged parrot”.

2.    SBI Cards ties up with Future Group to offer co-branded card

i. SBI Cards has tied up with Future Group company Fashion at Big Bazaar (FBB) to offer a co-branded CREDIT CARD, ‘Styleup’.

ii. The new Styleup card offers a lifetime flat 10 per cent discount on fashion apparel, fashion accessories and footwear at all FBB and Big Bazaar stores and the customers will also get 10 times the rewards on all Big Bazaar purchases besides other discounts and rewards.

iii. “SBI Cards is the only free-standing CREDIT CARD company in the country.

iv. All others are parts of banks SBI Cards has been seeing strong year on year growth in the last few years. The tie-up with the Future Group is to fuel this performance by entering into the high growth retail sector that is expected to increase to more than US$ 800 billion by 2015,’’ Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson, State Bank of India said, adding that the offering would create value for customers and is a “win-win situation for both partners.’’

3.    World Bank, ADB to assist AP in Hudhud cyclone relief works

i. Teams from World Bank and ADB now on a visit here have assured the Andhra Pradesh Government to assist the State in Cyclone Hudhud rehabilitation works.

ii. The World Bank Country Director Omno Rahl and Country Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Theresakho today called on State Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao at the secretariat for an update on the relief and rehabilitation works of the cyclone Hudhud damages in the state.

iii. During the meeting some of the Secretaries made presentations on cyclone Hudhud relief and rehabilitation works.

iv. The World Bank team lead by Tarun Bajaj, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs participated in an hour long presentations by Secretaries on the rehabilitation works of cyclone.

4.    Sachin Tendulkar to lead Kerala in a run ahead of National Games

i.  Sports-mad Kerala will launch itself into a frenzied run ahead of the start of 35th National Games here with brand ambassador and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, no less, in the lead.

ii. Styled Run Kerala Run, the group run is being organised across the State to celebrate the historic event when the State is hosting the Games after a gap of 28 years.

iii. The run will be taken out between January 20 and 22, 2015, to declare solidarity with the Games and welcome sportspersons, sports organisers, and sports lovers from different parts of the country.

iv. The National Games will be held from January 31, 2015 to February 14, 2015.

5.    Central Bank to raise Rs. 626.23 cr from preferential issue to LIC

i. Central Bank of India today said it would raise about Rs. 626 crore through preferential allotment of shares to country’s largest insurer LIC to FUND business growth.

ii. The capital raising committee of the board approved raising of additional equity capital by issuance of up to 8.28 crore shares at Rs. 75.55 a equity, Central Bank of India said in a statement.

iii. Thus, the bank would raise Rs. 626.23 crore by allotting shares on preferential basis to LIC. This would be subject to approval of Government of India, Reserve Bank of India, shareholders and other statutory authorities, it said.

6.    Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait Delhi branch offers full-fledged services

i. Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) has launched full-fledged services from its fourth branch in India located at New Delhi. The branch will cater to its Non-Resident Indian (NRI) clients.

ii. Earlier in August this year, the bank had launched soft or partial services from the branch located in the national capital, said a bank official.

7.    India improves rating on global corruption index 

i. India has showed some improvement in addressing corruption this year, ranking 85th among 175 countries as against 94th last year, graft watchdog TransparencyInternational India (TII) said on Wednesday.
ii. Denmark retained its position as the least corrupt country in 2014 with a score of 92 while North Korea and Somalia shared the last place, scoring just 8, it said. 
iii. In India's neighbourhood, China moved to 100th place, down from 80th last year, while Pakistan and Nepal were at 126th position. 

iv. Bangladesh was 145th and Bhutan 30th in the ranking. Sri Lanka was ranked 85th with India. 
v. Afghanistan was at a bleak 172. 

8.    Cricket world bids tearful adieu to Phil Hughes

i. Tearful tributes were paid to young Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes at his funeral today. Thousands gathered at the ceremony which was held at Hughes' former school in his coastal home town of Macksville. The procession moved through the streets with players and other mourners walking behind.
ii. The Australian players later formed a guard of honour and the hearse. The coffin was carried by pall bearers, Phillip's father, his brother, Australian skipper Michael Clarke, Mitchell Lonergan, Matthew Day, Aaron Finch and Tom Cooper. A lone cricket bat rested against the coffin.
iii. Eyes welled up all around and mourners, including Clarke, broke down while reading out tributes to Hughes, who died last week after being hit on the head by a bouncer during a domestic game. Indian stand-in skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Team Director Ravi Shastri were present in the ceremony.
iv. Million others mourned the death of talented cricketer through live television feeds of his funeral.

v. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also joined the world in bidding farewell to Hughes. Mr Modi said in a tweet that Hughes will be missed and his game and exuberance won him fans all over.

GK update - 2nd December 2014

1.    RBI keeps interest rate unchanged

i. RBI in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy statement kept the policy rates unchanged.

ii. On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macro-economic situation, the RBI has decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 8.0 per cent.

iii. It has also kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

 iv. It has said that it will continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate, and liquidity under 7-day and 14-day term repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions.

v. As a result of these decisions, the reverse repo rate under the LAF will remain unchanged at 7.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate at 9.0 per cent

vi. The headline inflation has been receding steadily, and current readings are below the January 2015 target of 8 per cent as well as the January 2016 target of 6 per cent,'' the RBI said.

Current RBI Policy & Reserve Rates:

Repo Rate	8%     (Unchanged)
Reverse Repo	7%       (Unchanged)
CRR	4%        (Unchanged)
SLR	22%     (Unchanged)
MSF	9%        (Unchanged)
Bank Rate	9%        (Unchanged)

Note: As on 2, Dec, 2014, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) in its fifith bimonthly monetary policy statement kept the key policy rate unchanged.

2.    Vajpayee's birthday to be celebrated as 'Good Governance Day'

i. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's birthday on 25th December would be observed as national 'Good Governance Day', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

ii. Modi was addressing party MPs at the meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party, where BJP President Amit Shah was also present. 
iii. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the party MPs that the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would be observed as national 'Good Governance Day' on December 25, where all BJP MPs and government officials will make the day symbolic of good governance," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. 

3.    Former Maharashtra CM A. R. Antulay passes away

i. Senior Congress leader A R Antulay passed away here today after a prolonged illness. He was 85.

ii. Antulay, who was a former Maharashtra Chief Minister and a Minister in the UPA-I government, was suffering from a kidney ailment. He breathed his last at the Breach Candy hospital, where he was admitted last month.

iii. The veteran Congressman, who hailed from the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, passed away at around 10 am today, his son-in-law Mushtaq Antulay, told PTI.

iv. The funeral will take place at his native Ambet village in the State’s Raigad district tomorrow.

4.    India successfully test-fires Agni-IV missile

i.  India today successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable strategicballistic missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of about 4,000 km, from a test range off the Odisha coast.

ii. This was the fourth trial of Agni-IV missile. The last trial was carried out successfully on January 20 this year from the same test range off Odisha coast.

iii. Supported by a mobile launcher, the sleek missile was flight tested from the launch complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, at about 10.20 am.

iv. The test conducted by the specially formed Strategic Force Command (SFC) was successful, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Director of the Directorate of Public Interface, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said.

5.    Film artist Duncan Campbell won Turner Prize for the year 2014

i. Film artist of Ireland Duncan Campbell on 1 December 2014 won Turner Prize 2014 for a video called It For Others. The video reflects on African art and includes a dance sequence inspired by Karl Marx.  He received the prize of 25000 pounds at Tate Britain in London.

ii. He became the fifth winner of Tuner Prize 2014 since 1996 and the fourth graduate of our Master of Fine Art programme from the Glasgow School of Art to have won the prize in the last 10 years.

6.    Rajdeep Sardesai penned the book titled 2014: The Election That Changed India

i. Rajdeep Sardesai penned the book titled 2014: The Election That Changed India. The book was released on 1 November 2014.

ii. The book tracks the story of 2014 Indian general elections that changed the political landscape of India and is regarded as the most important elections in Indian history since 1977. The 2014 election led to the demise of grand old party of India Congress Party and spectacular rise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

iii. The book is a thoughtful reflection on what ails India’s sensation-seeking, ratings-addled and chronically shallow news television. 

About Rajdeep Sardesai : Rajdeep Sardesai is an Indian news presenter and author. Sardesai is currently a consulting editor at the India today group and will be doing a marquee show for Headlines Today.

7.    Veteran music critic SV Krishnamurthy passed away

i. The veteran music critic of The Hindu SV Krishnamurthy passed away on 30 November 2014 after a brief illness. He was 89.

ii. Born in 1925, Krishnamurthy joined The Hindu in 1947 in a Kasturiranga Iyengar studentship and was promoted as a sub-editor in 1948. 

8.    Prime Minister of Taiwan Jiang Yi-huah resigned after election loss

i. The Prime Minister of Taiwan Jiang Yi-huah on 29 November 2014 resigned after election loss. He lost his first election since protests erupted over a controversial TRADE deal with mainland China.

ii. His ruling party Kuomintang party (KMT) was placed second in election with just over 40 percent support. Democratic Progressive Party won the elections with more than 47 percent of the vote.

9.    Bollywood actor Deven Varma passes away

i. Veteran actor-filmmaker Deven Varma, best known for his comic performance in Khatta Meetha and Angoor, passed away this morning at his residence following a heart attack, family sources said. He was 78.

ii. Varma started his acting career as a stage artist and eventually made his Bollywood debut with a supporting role in Yash Chopra’s Dharmputra in 1961, which did not do well.

iii. He shot to fame with his performance in 1975 film Chori Mera Kaam, which bagged him his first Filmfare Award for Best Comedian.

iv. Varma went on to star in memorable films like Chor Ke Ghar Chor, Sanjeev Kapoor-starrer Angoor, Gol Maal, Khatta Meetha, Naastik, Rang Birangi, Dil, Judaai, Andaz Apna Apna and Dil Toh Pagal Hai.

v. His dual role of Bahadur in Gulzar’s 1982 film Angoor, is considered as one of the most loved comic roles in Hindi cinema.

10.  Russia launched new generation GLONASS-K navigation satellite

i. Russia on 30 November 2014 launched the new generation navigation satellite GLONASS-K from the Plesetsk space centre in Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region.

ii. The satellite was launched on a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage. The carrier rocket was launched in a normal mode.

iii. This is the fifth launch of a Global Navigation Satellite System satellite (GLONASS) from the Plesetsk space centre. The first launch of a GLONASS satellite from Plesetsk took place on 26 February 2011.

11.  West zone storm into Deodhar trophy finals; To clash with East zone tomorrow

i. Defending champions West Zone are to meet East Zone in the final of the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament on Wednesday. In the second semi-final in Mumbai yesterday,

ii. West Zone defeated South Zone by two wickets. Chasing an imposing 315 for victory, West surpassed the target by making 319 for 8 in 47.1 overs. Sent in to bat, South had made 314 for 7 in their 50 overs. 
iii. Earlier, East Zone registered a 52-run win over North Zone in the first semi-final in Mumbai.

GK update 1st December 2014

1.    UN climate summit begins in Peru

i. Officials from over 190 nations, including India, on Monday converged in Lima at the UN climate summit to negotiate on a new ambitious and binding deal to cut global carbon emissions, in the last chance to reach on a historic deal to be signed next year in Paris.

ii. Negotiations have been ongoing for 20 years, as the UN continues to bring its member countries together to help curb the damaging effects of coal burning and gasoline use, among other sources of pollution. 
iii. During the 12-day summit in the Peruvian capital, countries will put forward what they plan to contribute to the 2015 pact in the form of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) by the first quarter of 2015, well in advance of the Paris conference in December. 
iv. The Lima conference needs to provide final clarity on what the INDCs need to contain, including fordeveloping countries who are likely to have a range of options from, for example, sector-wide emission curbs to energy intensity goals. 
v. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar leads India's 17- member delegation to negotiate terms for the final agreement to be signed in Paris, which will take effect in 2020. 

2.    Tabare Ramon Vazquez Rosas won Uruguay Presidential Election 2014

i. Tabare Ramon Vazquez Rosas on 30 November 2014 won the 2014 presidential elections of Uruguay extending the decade-long rule of a leftist coalition. Vazquez belongs to the leftist Broad Front coalition party of Uruguay.
ii. Vazquez won comfortably with 52.8 percent votes support while his centre-right challenger Luis Lacalle Pou of the National Party trailed on 40.5 percent votes.
iii. He will succeed President Jose Mujica who was barred by law from running for a second consecutive term. 

3.    Modi dedicates Tripura power plant to nation

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday dedicated to the nation the second unit of the 726 MW gas-based power plant at Palatana in Tripura. A host of dignitaries from India and Bangladesh, which facilitated transportation of heavy machineries to the plant, were present on the occasion.

ii. Senior advisor to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Minister of State for power, energy and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, as well Indian Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan graced the inauguration of the plant owned by ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC). ONGC CMD D.K. Sarraf and the Union Petroleum Secretary were also present.

iii. Mr. Modi commissioned the second unit by pushing a button in the plant control room at 2.40 p.m. He also addressed the gathering at the site.

4.    PM announces Rs 28,000 cr for new rail projs in Northeast

i. Focusing on improving connectivity to the Northeast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Centre would provide Rs 28,000 crore for laying new railway lines in the region and develop the untapped tourism potential of the area.

ii. The Prime Minister also said that the Centre has sanctioned Rs 5000 crore to provide 2G mobile coverage in this area for comprehensive telecom development plan of the northeast region. 

iii. As energy is a lifeline for development, Rs 5000 crore has been sanctioned for the northeastern region power system improvement project for six states, including Nagaland, the Prime Minister said. 

iv. The Prime Minister said his government has decided to set up a National Sports University in Manipur and the people of the region will be great beneficiaries. 
v. The NE region could be the organic capital of the country, Modi said, adding that the Centre has decided to set up six new agriculture colleges in this area. 

5.    The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence announced

i. The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence was announced on 30 November 2014.

The awards were announced in the following category:

ü  Business Leader of the Year – Dilip Shanghvi

ü  Company of the Year – Tata Consultancy Services

ü  Emerging Company of the Year – Adani Ports & SEZ

ü  Global Indian of the Year – Satya Nadella

ü  Startup of the Year – Zomato

ü  Business Reformer of the Year – UK Sinha

ü  Corporate Citizen of the Year – Tata Steel

ü  Lifetime Achievement – Yusuf Hamied

ü  Entrepreneur of the Year - Dhiraj Rajaram and Chandra Shekhar Ghosh

About ET Awards: i.  ET awards are the awards conferred by The Economic Times in the field of business, corporate and government policies, economies in India.

ii.  It is an annual award. The award was sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank. Since 2012, Standard Chartered Bank has been the presenting sponsor of The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence.

6.    Egypt court declared Islamic State of Iraq and Syria a terrorist group

i. An Egyptian court on 30 November 2014 declared the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group as a terrorist organization and banned it in the country. 
ii. The court in its ruling added that it considers all of the Islamic State's affiliates to be terrorist organizations as well. 

iii. This jihadi group regularly attacks Egyptian security forces and has declared responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks.

7.    Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Jarbom Gamlin passes away

i. Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin has died.

ii. He was 53. Gamlin was suffering from liver thrombosis. His family said he passed away last night at a hospital at Gurgaon in Haryana.

iii.  His body will be flown to Aalo in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday. Gamlin is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son.

8.    ICC names SAP as analytics and cloud partner for 2015 World Cup

i. The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced an innovative new partnership with SAP SE, a worldwide leader in enterprise application software services, as its exclusive Analytics and Cloud Partner for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

ii. In addition, SAP will provision cloud-based services to host the ICC’s historical ICC Cricket World Cup statistics database, incorporating match data for its flagship ODI event.

iii. Our partnership with the ICC will allow SAP to continuously develop technology that can be adapted for infinite use cases. In this instance, our technology provides the ICC the ability to engage fans with insightful and user-friendly solutions, bring them closer to the action on the field and keep them informed about their favourite matches.”

9.    UAE captain Khurram Khan became the oldest player to score a century in ODI

i. United Arab Emirates (UAE) captain Khurram Khan became the oldest player to score a century in the One-Day International (ODI).  He scored the winning century against Afghanistan in Dubai on 30 November 2014.

ii. He achieved the feat at an age of 43 years and 162 days thus breaking the record held in the name of Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya scored 107 against India in 2009 when he was 39 years old.
 iii. Khan smashed 17 fours to score unbeaten 132 run and he also put on a 160 run third wicket partnership with Mohammad Shadzad.

10.  Mascot for the 2016 European football championship named Super Victor

i. The mascot for the 2016 European football championship has been named Super Victor.

ii. The announcement was made on 30 November 2014.The name for the cartoon character boy dressed as a footballer in blue and white with a red cape and number 16 jersey was preferred to Driblou and Goalix.

iii. The mascot made its first appearance on the pitch of Marseille`s new Velodrome stadium before kickoff of France`s 1-0 friendly victory over Sweden. In 1984, the mascot for the European Championships organised in France was Peno, and the 1998 World Cup mascot was called Footix.

iv. Euro 2016 will take place in France from 10 June 2016 to 10 July 2016.

11.  Baichung Bhutia conferred with AFC 'Hall of Fame' Award

i. Former Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia has been conferred with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Hall of Fame Award.

ii. He received the award in Manila, Philippines yesterday on the occasion of afc's 60th anniversary. FIFA President Sepp Blatter presented the award to Baichung, the only Indian in the AFC's Hall of Fame.
iii. All India Football Federation President Praful Patel and a host of dignitaries from all over the football world were present on the occasion.
iv. After receiving the award, Baichung said the award was not solely for him, but for football, for India and for all Indian footballers who have to struggle against all odds to prove themselves every single day.

12.  Adelaide to host 1st India-Australia Test

i. The first cricket Test between India and Australia will be held here from December 9 after the four-match series’ schedule was revised on Monday in the wake of young player Phillip Hughes’ tragic death which left the home team distraught.

ii. “Revised Schedule: 1st Test (Dec 9-13), 2nd Test (Dec 17-21), 3rd Test (Dec 26-30) and 4th Test (Jan 6-10). Venues: 1st Test (Adelaide), 2nd Test (Brisbane), 3rd Test (Melbourne) and 4th Test (Sydney) #AUSvsIND,” the BCCI said on its official twitter handle.

iii. Hughes’ funeral would be held in Macksville on Wednesday.