GK Daily Update | Bankersadda
1. Marathi novelist Bhalchandra Nemade bags 50th
Jnanpith Award
i. Modi
awarded the 50th Jnanpith Award to eminent Marathi litterateur Bhalchandra
Nemade whose several books, including Kosala and Hindu, have influenced Indian
writing.
ii. He was
presented award comprising of 11 lakh rupees and a citation plaque and a bronze
replica of Saraswati by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
iii.
Nemade's contribution rests in initiating Deshivad, a theory of nativism that
negated globalisation, asserting the value of a writer's native heritage, and
language.
iv.
Seventy-six-year-old Nemade hails from Jalgaon.
2. Bank of Baroda ties up with UAE Exchange for
instant money transfer
i. Bank of
Baroda, a leading Indian public sector bank, has tied up with UAE Exchange to
offer an instant cash transfer facility to NRI customers.
ii. UAE
Exchange, a global remittance and foreign exchange company, serves over 7.9
million customers worldwide and currently has over 750 branches across 32
countries.
iii. Following
the agreement, customers can send money to their desired bank accounts in Bank
of Baroda in India, within minutes.
iv. Bank of
Baroda has a network of more than 5,000 branches across Europe, US, Africa,
Asia and Australia and in financial centres like New York, London, Dubai, Hong
Kong, and Singapore.
3. Another strong tremor hits Nepal
i. A powerful
tremor measuring 6.7 magnitude struck Nepal again, according to US Geological
Survey (USGS).
ii. The
government has already declared emergency in affected areas and announced a
relief package of Rs.500 million.
iii. Tremors
were also felt in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and
Jharkhand.
4. FIU detects over Rs. 7,800 cr black money
i. Government
detected a whopping over Rs 7,800 crore of illegal monies within the country
and abroad during 2013-14 as the elite Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) found
all-time high cases of suspicious transactions in the country’s economic
channels.
ii. The agency
also received a total of 87,79,082 Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs), 3,01,804
Counterfeit Currency Reports (CCRs) and 80,616 Non-Profit Organisation
Transaction Reports (NTRs).
iii. CTR is
fund movement of the value of more than Rs. 10 lakh in one tranche or a series
of transactions internally connected to each other in either Indian currency or
foreign in the country’s banking or any other channel.
iv. A CCR
pertains to an instance of usage of fake currency in any bank by an entity
while NTRs pertain to filing of dossiers by Non-Governmental and non-profit
organisations with regard to their economic operations.
5. Anil Kapoor conferred with Master Deenanath
Mangeshkar Award 2015
i. Bollywood
actor Anil Kapoor conferred with prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award
2015.
ii. He was
presented the award by noted historian and writer Babasaheb Purandare. Apart
from Anil Kapoor, veteran Marathi actor Dilip Prabhavalkar was also bestowed
with the prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award 2015.
iii. Master
Dinanath Mangeshkar Award was instituted in 1999 in memory of Dinanath
Mangeshkar, father of Lata Mangeshkar.
6. Ratan Tata picks up stake in Xiaomi
i. Iconic
business leader Ratan Tata has acquired a stake in Chinese handset maker
Xiaomi, the first investment by any Indian in the smartphone maker.
ii. Mr. Tata,
who retired as head of over $100 billion conglomerate in December 2012 and
currently serves as chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has emerged as a major
venture capital investor since his retirement.
iii. He has
already made personal investments in homegrown e-commerce players like
Snapdeal, Urban Ladder, Bluestone and Cardekho.com.
iv. In
December last year, Xiaomi raised $1.1 billion, valuing the firm at $45
billion. Often touted as the ‘Apple of China’, the company has grown to become
a major competition to global giants like Samsung and Apple.
7. Government to amend Child Labour Prohibition Act
i. The
government plans to push through an amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition
Act in the current session of Parliament, which will allow children below the
age of 14 to work in select family enterprises if it doesn't hamper their
education.
ii. The bill
will retain the proposal of a complete ban on child labour in any organisation,
big or small.
iii. Children
between 14 and 18 years will not be allowed to work in hazardous industries.
According to the labour ministry official, this provision is in conformity with
the ILO convention
iv. India has
seen a sharp drop in the number of child labourers in the last decade, down to
4.3 million from 12.6 million.
8. Capgemini acquires iGATE for $4 billion
i. Capgemini
and iGATE have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Capgemini
will acquire iGATE for a cash consideration of $48 per share.
ii. the
transaction will amount to $4 billion and is expected to be immediately
accretive to Capgemini’s normalized Earnings Per Share (EPS)1.
iii. iGATE is
US-listed IT services company headquartered in New Jersey.
iv. This
transaction would lead to a group with an estimated combined revenue of €12.5
billion in 2015, an operating margin above 10 per cent and around 190,000
employees.
9. CJI refuses participation to choose NJAC
i. Chief
Justice of India H L Dattu has refused to participate in a three-member panel
for selecting two eminent persons in the six-member National Judicial
Appointments Commission (NJAC).
ii. The
five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice J S Khehar, which is hearing
the issue of constitutional validity of the new law on appointment of judges to
higher judiciary, was told by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that Dattu has
written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would not participate in the
meeting of the panel till the matter is decided by the apex court.
iii. The
three-member panel comprises Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister and the
Leader of Opposition, who are authorised to select and appoint two eminent
persons in the six-member NJAC for appointment of judges to higher
judiciary.
10. All MAT tax claims under DTAA to be settled in a
month
i. Central
Board of Direct Taxes will settle all minimum alternate tax (MAT) matters of
FIIs coming under the ambit of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements within a
month of filing of claims.
ii. The move
is aimed at quickly resolving the controversial tax issue facing foreign
portfolio investors.
iii. The
Income Tax Department has sent notices in 68 cases to FIIs for payment of dues
totalling Rs 602.83 crore towards Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).
iv. Central
Board of Direct Taxes said several FIIs, which have received income from
transactions in securities, claim such income as exempt from tax under the
DTAAs signed between India and their countries of residence.
11. Bharatiya Mahila Bank Wins The Asian Banker
Achievement Award 2015
i. Bharatiya
Mahila Bank (BMB) has won The Asian Banker Achievement Award 2015.
ii. The award
was presented to the BMB in the Technology Implementation category of Best
Outsourcing Project (New Bank).
iii. Usha
Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director of BMB received the award at
a function held in Hongkong as a part of The Asian Banker Summit 2015.
iv. BMB is India’s first all-women public sector bank and was formally launched on November 19, 2013. It's objective is to focus on the banking needs of the women and promote economic empowerment.
12. DIPP notifies 49 per cent FDI in pension
sector
i. The
government has raised the limit of foreign direct investment in pension sector
to 49 per cent in line with the FDI cap in the insurance sector.
ii. In
pursuance of the enactment of Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority
Act, iv. 2013, government has decided to permit FDI in the pension
sector.
iii. The FDI
cap in the sector has been hiked to 49 per cent and that includes foreign
investment in the forms of FPI, FII, QFI, FVCI, NRI and DR.
iv. All
investments in the pension sector, however, will have to abide by the pension
sector regulator PFRDA.
13. BCCI to nominate Rohit Sharma for Arjuna award
i. The Board
of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated Rohit Sharma for the
Arjuna award for 2015. Rohit has had an excellent last year for India in
international cricket.
ii. Since
January 1, 2014, he has averaged 55.05 from 21 innings with 3 centuries and 5
fifties, with the epic 264 his highest score.
iii. The
decision to nominate Rohit was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in
Kolkata.
Source: Bankersadda
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