Daily GK Update 20th February, 2017

Daily GK Update 20th February, 2017

Cash withdrawal limit for savings account increases to Rs 50,000 per week

i. Savings accounts holders will now be able to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per week. An RBI notification, issued on January 30,2017  announced that from February 20, 2017 the cash withdrawal limit for savings accounts will be raised to Rs 50,000 from Rs 24,000 a week. ii. The limits on cash withdrawals from savings bank account will be withdrawn completely from March 13, 2017. Till now, there is no limit on current account and there is a cap of Rs 50,000 for farmers a week and Rs 2.5 lakh for marriage.

31st state hood day of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram: 20 February

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has greeted people of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram on their 31st statehood day (20 February 2017) Conveying his best wishes to people of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. 

ii. Prime Minister prayed for the state's progresses immensely in the years to come. Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh also greeted both the states. 

T.R. Zeliang steps down as Nagaland chief minister

i. Ending more than two weeks of standoff with Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC), Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang resigned from his post. 

ii. T. R. Zeliang is an Indian politician who has been Chief Minister of Nagaland, a state in northeast India, since 2014. Zeliang previously served as a Member of Parliament, representing Nagaland in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.

India sanctions soft loan USD 340 million to Nepal

i. India has sanctioned a soft loan of 340 million US dollar to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.

ii. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae handed over the approval papers to Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister of Nepal Ramesh Lekhak in the presence of Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.Under this programme Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will be constructed in various parts of Nepal.

Oriental Bank launches mobile wallet ‘Batuaa’

i. On the occasion of the 75th Foundation Day, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has come up with several digital offerings including launch of mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’.

ii. Besides introducing a new version of mobile banking, OBC has also launched two new cards.While the Oriental Premium card is a RuPay based Platinum international debit card with airport lounge access, the other card-Oriental Prepaid Card is a RuPay card for individuals and corporates. 

iii. Besides it has also launched two MSME schemes The two MSME schemes that have been launched are ‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and Restaurants’.Oriental Sanjeevani is a specialised scheme for doctors for setting up new hospitals and clinics. The other scheme is for individuals, proprietors, companies etc for setting up new hotels, restaurants, lodges, motels etc.

Karnataka Bank inks pact with Daimler India

i. Karnataka Bank Ltd has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt Ltd (DICV) for extending finance to customers for the purchase of commercial vehicles manufactured by the company. 

ii. DICV has nominated Karnataka Bank as a preferred financier for the purchase of commercial vehicles manufactured by the company.

ICAI’s Accounting Research Foundation signs pact with Railways

i. The CA Institute’s Accounting Research Foundation (ARF) has signed an agreement with Indian Railways for the national rollout of accrual accounting in Railways. 

ii. According to the agreement accrual accounting will be introduced at 17 Railway zones and 8 production units across the country.

IRB InvIT Fund gets SEBI approval to launch IPO

i. IRB InvIT Fund, an investment trust sponsored by IRB Infrastructure Developers, has received markets regulator SEBI’s approval to raise Rs. 4,300 crore through initial public offering.

ii. However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has asked for clarification from India Grid Trust and Reliance Infra InvIT Fund regarding their proposed IPOs

Fabindia removes ‘Khadi’ brand name from its products

i. Fabindia has started removing the brand name ‘Khadi’ it uses to promote its cotton products after a legal notice by Khadi India that the use of the word amounted to unfair trade practice and misusing its trade name.

ii. The Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) had sent a legal notice to Fabindia Overseas Pvt Ltd, a chain of ethnic wear retail outlet, asking it to immediately stop using the word Khadi from all its cotton products and remove display banners from its showrooms.

Srinagar Airport Gets Its First Foreign Airline Service

i. AirAsia became the first foreign airline to begin its operations from Srinagar international airport in Jammu and Kashmir. 

ii. Srinagar has The Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport since last five years, but no  Air Asiaforeign airlines had yet operated services from there.The flight operation by AirAsia is expected to give a boost to tourism in the valley.

Microsoft, Flipkart announce strategic cloud partnership

i. Information technology giant Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with Flipkart, wherein as a first step, the online retailer will adopt Microsoft Azure as its exclusive public cloud platform.

ii. The strategic partnership was aimed at providing consumers in the country the best online shopping service.Microsoft chief executive officer (CEO) Satya Nadella and Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal announced the partnership at an event in Bengaluru.

Ranganathan, Mehta appointed Non-Official Director in IOB, PNB 

i. T C A Ranganathan and Sunil Mehta were appointed as Non-Official Directors in Indian Overseas Bank and Punjab National Bank by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet. Both appointed for a period of three years. 

ii. It is announced by Personnel Ministry. Prior to this,  T C A Ranganathan has worked as the CMD of Exim Bank while Mehta is currently Chairman & Managing Director at SPM Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd.

Indian Movie Newton Wins top Honour at Berlin Film Festival

i. Indian Cinema movie Newton directed by Amit Masurkar was honored with the Art Cinema Award in the Forum Segment at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival held from February 9-18, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. 

ii. Over 43 films were screened in the Forum segment out of which 29 had their world premiere.The film is produced by Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, company best known for bankrolling critically-acclaimed projects such as Masaan, Ankhon Dekhi and Umrika.

Apple acquires Israeli start-up RealFace

i. In a bid to boost its prospects in the world of artificial intelligence (AI), Apple has acquired Israel-based start-up RealFace that develops deep learning-based face authentication technology.

ii. The terms of the deal are not public, but it is estimated at several million dollars. Apple would mainly be interested in the promise of the technology than pure resources.

Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl penned by Ram Kamal Mukherjee

i. An actor turned politician Hema Malini’s journey from an actor and filmmaker to a politician being chronicled as an authorised biography titled ‘Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl‘ .

ii. The biography is written by author-columnist Ram Kamal Mukherjee.

Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir Passes Away

i. Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passed away at a city hospital, recently. He was 68. He was suffering from a kidney ailment and related complications. 

ii. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on September 29, 2012. He retired on July 19, 2013.

Virat Kohli first Indian sportsperson to ink Rs 100-cr deal with Puma

i. Virat Kohli became the first Indian sports personality to strike a Rs 100-crore endorsement deal with a single brand. Kohli signed an eight-year deal with sports apparel brand Puma worth Rs 110 crore. 

ii. The Indian cricket captain is now set to join the likes of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Thierry Henry, among others, as a global ambassador for the brand.

India to Host Next Davis Cup tie in Bangalore in April, 2017

i. Bangalore has been chosen to host the next Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone group-1 tie against Uzbekistan from April 7 to 9, 2017.

ii. As per the announcement made by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) the tie clash will be held on the hard courts of Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) in Bangalore.

Akhil and Jitender Kumar Signs Deal to Turn Professional Boxers

i. Following the path of Indian boxing sensation Vijender Singh, Olympic quarterfinalists boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar are also stepping up to enter professional boxing.

ii. The former Melbourne Commonwealth Games gold medalist boxer Akhil Kumar and Asian medallist Jitender Kumar signed a multi-year deal with IOS Boxing Promotions confirming turning professional boxers.

Afghan players Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan create IPL history

i. Afghanistan cricket broke a new barrier when Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan became the first from the war-torn nation to be picked in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

ii. Both Nabi and Khan players were bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad, for Rs. 30 lakh and Rs. 4 crore respectively. Five cricketers from Afghanistan were included in the auction for the first time.

Shahid Afridi retires from international cricket

i. Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has announced his retirement from international cricket, but stated that he wants to play in his country’s domestic league for two more years.

ii. The flamboyant allrounder, who played the last of his 27 tests in 2010 and retired from one-day internationals in 2015, quit as Pakistan’s 20-overs captain after the team’s poor World Twenty20 campaign in India last year.