Daily GK Updates: 23rd August 2014

T M Bhasin elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association

i. T M Bhasin was elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) . He will be the Chairman of IBA for 2014-15.T M Bhasin is the chairman and managing director of Indian Bank.He replace KR Kamath.

ii. Besides, Chanda Kochhar who is ICICI Bank's managing director, Arun Kaul, CMD of UCO Bank and S L Bansal who is the head of Oriental Bank of Commerce have been elected as the deputy chairpersons of the association. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson of State Bank of India was elected as Honorary Secretary of IBA for 2014-15.

Note: K R Kamath, who is the chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank, was the previous chairman of this Association. K R Kamath was chairman for two consecutive tenures, that is, 2012-13 and 2013-14.

About Indian Banks Association

i. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) was formed on the 26 September 1946 with 22 members. As on 1 April 2014 IBA has 189 members.

ii. Homi P Mody was the First Chairman of IBA.

iii. IBA is an association of Indian banks and financial institutions. It is based in Mumbai.

iv. The members comprises of Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks having offices in India and Urban Co-operative Banks.

RBI notifies increase in deposit money under PPF

i. RBI has notified the increase in deposit money under Public Provident Fund, PPF to 1.5 lakh rupees from 1 lakh rupees.

ii. This is in pursuance to an announcement made by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this month. After the new ruling, people can now deposit up to 1.5 lakh rupees annually in their PPF account. The Finance Minister had raised the investment limits in tax saving schemes with an aim to encourage household savings.

3.    INS Kamorta Anti-submarine corvette inducted into the Navy

i. INS Kamorta, an indigenously built anti-submarine warfare corvette, was inducted into the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy on Saturday.

ii. INS Kamorta is the first of four ASW stealth corvettes designed by the Navy’s in-house organisation, the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), under Project 28, with around 90 per cent indigenous components. Measuring 110 meters in length, 14 meters in breadth and displacing 3,500 tonnes, the ship can achieve speeds of 25 knots.

iii. The ship is fitted with anti-submarine rockets and torpedoes, medium and close-in weapon systems, and an indigenous surveillance radar.

4.    Eminent Kannada writer UR Anantha Murthy passes away

i. Eminent Kannada writer and Jnanpith Award winner UR Anantha Murthy, 82, passed away here on Friday.

ii. Anantha Murthy, a writer and critic, was considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement in Kannada literature.

iii. He is the sixth person among eight recipients of the Jnanpith Award for the Kannada language. In 1998, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan.

iv. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, Kerala, during the late 1980s.

Note: i. Anantha Murthy was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize in 2013.

ii. His important literary works include Samskara and Avasthe (both of which were made into movies and won several awards), Bhava and Bharathi Pura. He has also written numerous short stories.

iii. Several of his novels and short fictions have been made into movies. One of his short stories, Bara, was also made into a movie by renowned director MS Sathyu.

5.    Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana

i. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi . The Yojna has been announced to meet the irrigation needs of all farmers across the country. Sum of 1000 crore rupees has been allocated for implementation of the scheme.

Background
Earlier, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana was proposed in the Lok Sabha on 10 July 2014 by Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister in his maiden Budget Speech. The scheme was planned to provide assured irrigation to mitigate risk to the farmer since bulk of the farm lands are rain fed and it depends on monsoon.

6.    20th edition of annual Delhi Book Fair begins in New Delhi

i. Twentieth edition of annual Delhi Book Fair began at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi today. Theme of the nine- day event is 'Literature in Cinema'.

ii. Around 530 stalls have been set up and 300 publishers are participating in the event. Online booking option to avoid queue and ten air-conditioned buses to ferry visitors from different gates of Pragati Maidan to exhibition halls have been arranged.
iii. Conferences, seminars, painting competitions, book launches and debates have also been planned. Fair is being jointly organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Federation of Indian Publishers(FIP). Entry charge for adult is 20 rupees and for children 10 rupees.

7.    Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul won first gold for India at Youth Olympics

i. Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul on 22 August 2014 bagged Silver medal in the 77 kg category by lifting 141 kg in Snatch and 175 kg in Clean and Jerk to finish with a total of 316 kg. With this, Rahul won India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

ii. Silver medal of Rahul was also India's first medal in Weightlifting in Youth Olympics. It was also his personal best performance in the total lift, which was six kg more than he did at the 2013 Asian Youth Games held in Nanjing.
iii. Apart from this, Maymon Poulose in the 110 meter hurdles and Mithra Varun in the discus throw qualified for the Final-A stage, which is the second stage.

8.    Veteran CPI-M leader Amitava Nandy died at 71

i. Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Amitava Nandy died in Kolkata. He was 71 and was suffering from cancer in pancreas.

ii. He was a Member of Parliament of 14th Lok Sabha (2004-09).

iii. He represented the Dum Dum constituency in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal and was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) political party.

9.    Guru Hanuman Akhara chosen for 2014 Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar

i. Guru Hanuman Akhara, a Delhi-based wrestling academy was chosen for the 2014 Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (RKPP) . The Akhara was chosen in the category of establishment and management of sports academies of excellence.

ii. Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar will be given on 29 August 2014 at the National Sports Awards function by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee along with Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awards.

Other awardees of Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar are

i. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures)

ii. Jindal Steel Works (community sports — identification and nurturing of budding/young talent)

iii. Child Link Foundation of India — Magic Bus (other forms of sports activities not covered in the categories mentioned in the schemes)

10.  Afghanistan celebrated 95th Independence Day

i. Afghanistan celebrated its 95th Independence Day on 19 August 2014. It is celebrated to mark the signing of the 1919 Anglo-Afghan treaty, which gave the country complete independence from British Empire.

ii. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this eve greeted Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai on behalf the Government and people of India