Current Affairs Updates: 02 January 2015

1) Post Offices can now provide ATM cards, account statements: Post office savings bank accounts can now be operated through ATMs. The Centre has amended the Post Office Savings Bank General Rules accordingly following the Budget announcement in this regard. This facility, however, will be available only in post offices that are on core banking solution (CBS) platform. A notification said: “In case of an account standing at any post office with a core banking solution platform in place, the Post office Savings Bank shall issue ATM or debit card to the account holder on payment of such fee as may be prescribed by the Central Government.” Currently, 676 post offices are on CBS.

2) Steven Gerrard to leave Liverpool:  Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard announced on 2 January 2015 he was leaving the club at the end of the season and would be heading broad, in what he said was the "toughest decision of my life". The 34-year-old midfielder has captained the Reds for 12 years and never played for another club, winning the Champions League, two FA Cups, three League Cups and the UEFA Cup among other honours.

3) Boxing India got name clearance from sports ministry: The Sports Ministry on 2 January 2015 cleared the National Boxing Federation of India's name as 'Boxing India', a body recognised as a permanent member of the International Boxing Association (AIBA). The Ministry stated that the matter has been examined in detail and it has no objection to the registration of 'Boxing India' (BI).

4) Virat Kohli becomes first cricketer to cross 5 million followers on Twitter: Indian captain Virat Kohli (@ImVkohli), who is all set to lead the team in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Sydney starting January 6, on 2 January 2015 became the first cricketer to cross the 5-million mark on Twitter with 5,004,544 followers. Kohli (@imVkohli) heads the list with a total base of 5,004,544 fans, which is higher than ?Sachin Tendulkar's (@sachin_rt) 4,910,498 fans.

5) R Koteeswaran took charge as MD, CEO of Indian Overseas Bank: Indian Overseas Bank has said that R Koteeswaran has taken charge as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank on December 31, 2014. Prior to this appointment, he was working as an Executive Director of Bank of India. His career started in 1976 in Bank of Baroda, where he worked in several positions till August 2013.

6) Government holds two-day retreat "Gyan Sangam" with banks and financial institutions: The Narendra Modi government has embarked on a mission to overhaul public sector banks, beginning with a two day, high-profile retreat in Pune to search for "out-of-the-box" ideas to reorient them to support the country's bid to move back to a high-growth trajectory. A robust strategy for ushering in reforms across PSBs is to emerge after exhaustive discussions with top bankers at the end of the two-day retreat.

7) Scientist Vasant Gowarikar passed away: Space veteran and eminent scientist Vasant Gowarikar passed away after a brief illness. Mr. Gowarikar, a protégé of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, was part of the illustrious band of scientists who initiated India’s satellite research programme and included luminaries such as A. P. J. Kalam, E. V. Chitnis, Pramod Kale and U. R. Rao among others.

8) Mumbai train services hit as commuters go on rampage: Suburban Thane witnessed commuter rage on Friday as irate Mumbaikars pelted stones at police and staged a rasta roko after train services on Central Railway’s local route were disrupted due to technical failure, prompting police to cane-charge the protestors. It all started after passengers at Diva (a suburb of Mumbai) went on the rampage protesting a snag caused by a broken pantograph (the equipment on an EMU rake to draw electricity from overhead wires). This led to delay in Mumbai’s local trains as power supply was switched off.

9) PM Narendra Modi dedicated ‘ICICI Digital Village’ to nation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the ‘ICICI Digital Village’ to the nation at an event which was organised to celebrate the ICICI Group’s 60 years of ‘partnering India’ in its progress. With PM Narendra Modi in attendance ICICI Bank announced that it has created the ‘ICICI Digital Village’ at Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat to enable villagers to use technology in various aspects of life including banking, payments, education and healthcare among others – financial transactions will be cashless, text books paperless and patients can avail facility of telemedicine and wi-fi connectivity across the village. The dedication of ICICI Digital Village to the nation marks ICICI Group’s 60 years of existence. The Group will complete 60 years on January 5, 2015.