Daily GK Update 13-14th March, 2017

Daily GK Update 13-14th March, 2017

No Limit On Cash Withdrawals From Savings Bank Accounts

i. All limits on savings bank cash withdrawals post-demonetisation ended on 13 march 2017, as had been announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month.

ii. In a two-stage process, the weekly withdrawal limit per account had been raised to Rs. 50,000, from Rs. 24,000, with effect from February 20,2017, and all limits on ATM withdrawals were slated to cease from March 13, 2017. 

iii. It kept its key interest rate unchanged at 6.25%, saying it awaited data on the full impact of the government's demonetisation drive.

Jaitley gets additional charge of Defence Ministry

i. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was given the additional charge of the Defence Ministry after Manohar Parrikar resigned to take on the new role of Goa Chief Minister.

ii. This is the second time that Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence Ministry during the present NDA government. 

iii. He was incharge of the ministry earlier from May 26 to November 9 in 2014.

Manohar Parrikar appointed Goa chief minister

i. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar appointed as the Goa chief minister after BJP concluded hectic negotiations with regional parties and independents to stitch up the numbers to form a government.

ii. He was made the Defence Minister at the Centre in 2014 and was succeeded by Laxmikant Parsekar as the Chief Minister.

iii.  He will take oath as the chief minister on 14th March, 2017.

India Bangladesh border guards celebrate Holi together

i. Border guards of India and Bangladesh celebrated the festival of Holi together along the international border. 

ii. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) played Holi at Akhaura, an integrated checkpost, and other bordering areas of Tripura and exchanged sweets.

 iii. BSF and BGB are very close and have celebrated various annual carnivals each year.

Women Safety app ‘Ammavin Aran’ launched by AIADMK

i. The AIADMK IT Wing has launched the first-of-its-kind women safety application in Tamil Nadu. The app is called 'Ammavin Aran' meaning 'mother's fortress'.

ii. The app will give the user details about the nearest police station and hospital along with map details and phone number. 

iii. There is an in-built whistle, which can manipulate the phone speaker to create a loud noise when pressed by anyone in distress.Also the app carries an in-built call recorder and and 'Tips' icon to provide life saving information.

Arunachal Pradesh Launches Adarsh Gram Yojana for Rural Poor

i. The Arunachal Pradesh government has launched a new scheme Adarsh Gram Yojana that is in accordance with the basic philosophy of the Prime Minister 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas'. 

ii. The scheme aims to reach the poor people in rural areas of the state to serve them better. Under the scheme, 123 villages (comprising one village per circle) will be developed as 'Model Villages' during the fiscal year 2017-18.

Karnataka announces Rs10-crore fund for women entrepreneurs

i. Karnataka has announced an Idea2POC (Proof of Concept) fund of Rs10 crore for women entrepreneurs. 

ii. Under this (Idea2POC) scheme, the Karnataka Department of IT, BT and S&T will fund up to Rs50 lakh for any woman innovator looking for funds for Proof of Concept validation, certification, and cover costs in manufacturing of pilot devices. 

iii. The IT/BT Department, under the Multi-Sector Startup Policy of Karnataka, created the Idea2PoC Fund.

Rs605-crore ‘KCR Kit’ scheme for pregnant women, new born

i. Focussing on women welfare and new born, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has come out with an innovative scheme – KCR Kit. The scheme is designed to address complications during the time of pregnancy and aimed at reducing infant mortality rate and encourage institutional deliveries.

ii. The KCR Kit consists of 16 essential things needed for a new-born and will be useful for up to three months.The government proposes to earmark Rs605 crore for the scheme.

Over 1 lakh SB accounts opened in TN: Airtel Payments Bank

i. Airtel Payments Bank, offered by telecom major Bharti Airtel, announced that over one lakh savings accounts were opened in 100 villages across Tamil Nadu.

ii. Through the initiative, the villages would have access to banking services along with the option of making digital payments. 

iii. Till date, over one lakh savings accounts have been opened with Airtel Payments Bank across Tamil Nadu.

iv. By launching the service, Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from its customers and merchant partners for digital transactions.  Payment Banks accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh per account.

HSBC breaks with tradition, names AIA boss Tucker as Chairman

i. HSBC Holdings Plc , Europe's biggest bank, tapped an outsider for its top job appointed insurance veteran and AIA Group boss Mark Tucker as chairman to replace Douglas Flint, who plans to step down in 2017.

ICICI Bank, SBI top bank frauds list: RBI

i. As per RBI data, ICICI Bank topped the list of banks that witnessed most number of frauds during April to December period of 2016 with state-owned SBI taking the second spot.

ii. During the first nine months of the current fiscal, as many as 455 fraud cases, involving 1 lakh rupees and above, were detected in ICICI Bank, closely followed by SBI with 429, Standard Chartered with 244 and HDFC Bank with 237.

iii. However, in value terms, frauds involving 2,237 crore rupees were reported in SBI, followed by Punjab National Bank with 2,250 crore rupees and Axis Bank with 1,998 crore rupees.

OnePlus India Ropes Amitabh Bachchan as its New Brand Ambassador 

i. Chinese smartphone company OnePlus has roped in Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan as its new brand ambassador for India.

 ii. Mr Bachchan is the first major face that OnePlus India is associating with for its latest flagship smartphone, OnePlus 3T. With this, Amitabh Bachchan has now joined the first-ever 'OnePlus Star' which is a select group of distinguished OnePlus users.

Pakistan set to conduct its first census in 19 years

i. Pakistan is set to conduct its first national census in 19 years which will begin on Wednesday with the assistance of over 200,000 troops.

ii. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor and Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb addressed a joint conference about preparation for the sixth census, which will be conducted in two phases and will be completed on May 25, 2017. iii.Islamabad last conducted a census in 1998, which recorded a national population of approximately 180 million at that time.

Hyundai Signs 3 Bn Euro Deal For Iran Oil Project

i. Korea’s Hyundai Engineering Co has signed a deal worth 3 billion euros (USD 3.2 billion) with an Iranian investment fund to invest in a major Iranian oil project. 

ii. This agreement covers construction of the second phase of the Kangan Petro Refining Complex in southwest Bushehr province of Iran in which Hyundai Engineering plans to invest 3.1 billion euros which is 95% of the overall project cost.

 Intel to buy Mobileye for $ 15.3 billion

i. U.S. chip giant Intel has agreed to buy Israeli driverless technology firm  Mobileye for $15.3 billion, the largest ever acquisition of an Israeli high-tech company. 

ii. The $63.54 per share cash deal is the world's biggest purchase of a company solely focused on the autonomous driving sector. 

iii. Mobileye accounts for 70 percent of the global market for advanced driver-assistance and anti-collision systems.

Sena's Vishwanath Mahadeshwar elected as Mumbai Mayor 

i. Shiv Sena's Vishwanath Mahadeshwar elected as the Mayor of Mumbai with the support of the BJP, marking a coming together of the two parties after contesting the civic polls separately. 

ii. Mahadeshwar defeated Congress nominee Vitthal Lokare by 171-31 margin. He is the 76th mayor of the city.

KPMG elects Bill Thomas as Global Chairman

i. William B Thomas has been elected Chairman of KPMG International. He will lead the KPMG global network of professional services firms for a 4-year term, effective October 1, 2017, succeeding John B Veihmeyer who is completing his term as Chairman and retiring from the firm, at the end of September 2017.

ICC appoint Sachin Tendulkar as official ambassador of women's World Cup 2017

i. Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar was announced as the official ambassador of Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday, on the occasion of International Women's Day.

ii. The women’s World Cup this year starts on June 24, 2017 at England and Wales with eight top cricketing countries locking horns to grab the coveted trophy. 

iii. The 21-day tournament having 28 matches will be played at five different venues with the final at Lord's Cricket Ground,London. 

UK parliament gives final approval for Brexit bill

i. In UK, the House of Lords has passed the Brexit bill, paving the way for the government to trigger Article 50 so the UK can leave the EU. 

ii. The Prime Minister could theoretically invoke Article 50, which formally starts the Brexit process. 

iii.The EU Withdrawal Bill was passed unamended after peers voted by 274 votes to 118 not to challenge the Commons again over the issue of whether Parliament should have a veto on the terms of exit.

CAS upholds lifetime ban on Sergei Portugalov

i. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a lifetime ban levied against Sergei Portugalov, former chief of the Russian Athletics Federation's Medical Commission for his role in providing illicit substances to Russian athletes.

ii. The CAS stated that Portugalov had been found to have violated several articles of the IAAF anti-doping regulations, including the possession, trafficking and administration of prohibited substances.

Former Puducherry Agriculture Minister M Chandrakasu passes away  

The former Puducherry Agriculture Minister M. Chandrakasu passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 67 .

Chawrasia clinches second successive Indian Open title in Golf

i. SSP Chawrasia has become only the second Indian golfer to successfully defend the Hero Indian Open title.He clinched a seven-stroke win at the redesigned DLF golf and country club in Gurgaon. 

ii. This was his sixth win on the Asian Tour and overall sixth international victory. Chawrasia pocketed a winner's cheque of 291,660 US Dollars.

iii. He is the third player to win back-to-back Indian Open. The other two golfers who did so earlier are Jyoti Randhawa who won in 2006 and 2007 and Japan's Kenji Hosoishi who won in 1967 and 1968.

All England Open badminton: Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia lifts Men's Singles crown

i. Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia has lifted the Men's Singles crown at the All England Open badminton championships.In the final in Birmingham, the 34-year-old world number one defeated Shi Yuqi of China in straight games 21-12, 21-10. 

ii. For the Malaysian, it is his fifth Singles Title in seven finals in the prestigeous championships.