18th February 2015 Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) Payments Corporation developed unified payment interface for mobile banking:

--> National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for retail payment system in India, has taken up the initiative of implementing ‘unified payment interface’ to simplify and provide a single interface across all systems.

--> “The new interface is designed to enable all account holders to send and receive money from their smartphones with a single identifier – Aadhaar number, mobile number, virtual payments address – without entering any bank account information,” NPCI said at a conference.

--> The unified payment interface will make possible paying and receiving payments as easy as swiping a phone book entry and making a call on mobile phone. 

2) PM Modi inaugurated Aero India 2015:

--> Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 February 2015 inaugurated Aero India 2015 in Bengaluru and made a strong pitch for increasing defence preparedness.

--> Aero India is a biennial event held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka (Bengaluru) during February.

--> The organizer of Aero India is Defence Exhibition Organisation (DEO), an arm of the Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

3) Foreign Secy included in Space Commission:

--> For the first time, the Foreign Secretary has been made a member of the Space Commission, which was reconstituted last week following the appointment of a new chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

--> The Space Commission is the highest policy-making body for matters related to space exploration in INdia and is headed by the chairman of ISRO.

4) Legendary filmmaker Ramanaidu died:

--> Legendary film producer Daggubati Ramanaidu (79) passed away in Hyderabad on 18 February 2015.

--> He produced over 150 films in most of the Indian languages with Telugu topping the list.

--> Considered as an icon of film industry, he introduced several film personalities through his Suresh Productions.

--> Recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement in 2009 and also Padma Bhushan in 2012 in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema, Ramanaidu also holds the record for producing highest number of films in the world.

5) Snapdeal acquired luxury goods portal Exclusively:

--> Online marketplace Snapdeal has acquired luxury fashion portal Exclusively.com for an undisclosed amount.

--> With this acquisition, the city-based firm that gets a little over $1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) from its fashion business expects this figure to touch $2 billion by the end of the current calendar year.

6) Airtel, UNICEF pact to provide education content in Africa:

--> Bharti Airtel has partnered with UNICEF to provide health, education and youth-focussed content to its customers in 17 African countries.

--> The company said this partnership aims at improving African population's access to health and education-related information whilst pushing forward various innovative projects supported by UNICEF.

7) Delhi airport ranked best by Airport Council International:

--> Delhi Airport has been adjudged the best, among the world's most performing airports in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category by the Airport Council International (ACI), with Mumbai Airport also figuring in the top five list.

--> Indira Gandhi International Airport won the annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award, which recognises and rewards the best airports in the world based on Geneva-based ACI's ASQ passenger satisfaction survey.

Read More

Oriental Insurance Company Ltd Administrative Officer(AO) Recruitment 2015

Friends...Oriental Insurance Company Limited has invited applications for the recruitment of Administrative Officer (Scale – I) in the disciplines of Accounts, Actuaries, Generalist, Legal and Marketing vacancies. Details are as follows:

Important Dates:

Opening Date for Apply Online: 27-02-2015.

Closing Date for Apply Online: 20-03-2015.

Date of Written Examination: 15-05-2015.

Total No of Posts: 246 Posts

Name of the Posts:

1. Administrative Officers Scale -I

Name of the Disciplines

a. Accounts: 100 Posts

b. Actuaries: 02 Posts

c. Generalists: 50 Posts

d. Legal: 44 Posts

e. Marketing: 50 Posts

Application Fee:

--Rs. 600/- for all candidates other than SC/ ST/ PWD/ Confirmed employees of Oriental Insurance Co.

--Rs.50/- (Intimation charges only) for SC/ ST/ PWD/ Confirmed employees of Oriental Insurance Co.

Selection Process: Selection will be made on basis of Written Examination.

For more details refer official advertisement from the below link.

View Official Notification: Click Here

Apply Online: Click Here

Read More

MCQ Current Affairs 19 February 2015

1) Who was recently confirmed by the US Senate as the next American Defence Secretary?

(A) Ashton Carter

(B) Chuck Hagel

(C) Leon Panetta

(D) Robert M. Gates

2) Balasubramaniam Venkataramani was on 13 February 2015 appointed as new MD & CEO of?

(A) National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange

(B) Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

(C) Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)

(D) Ace Derivatives and Commodity Exchange

3) Which company on 13 February 2015 appointed Ashish Agrawal as its new Chief Technology Officer?

(A) Samsung

(B) Micromax Informatics

(C) Dell India

(D) Motorola Mobility

4) What was India's rank in World Press Freedom Index 2015 released recently?

(A) 180

(B) 54

(C) 105

(D) 136

5) Sunil Chhetri was on 15 February 2015 presented with 2014 AIFF Player of the Year award(male). Who won the award for the female player?

(A) Kamala Devi

(B) Bala Devi

(C) Dangmei Grace

(D) Roshini Devi

6) India on 15 February 2015 defeated Pakistan in the ICC World Cup Cricket 2015, thus securing its sixth consecutive World Cup game win against Pakistan. Who was adjudged the Man of the Match?

(A) Virat Kohli

(B) Suresh Raina

(C) Mohammed Shami

(D) Shikhar Dhawan

7) China has recently opened its largest overseas embassy in which country?

(A) India

(B) Srilanka

(C) Bhutan

(D) Pakistan

8) Which state was felicitated for emerging as one of the best performing states in the renewable energy segment, during the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet (RE-Invest) held in New Delhi recently?

(A) Andhra Pradesh

(B) Kerala

(C) Chhattisgarh

(D) Assam 

9) Who recently became the first ever Indian cricketer to score a hundred in the ICC World Cup match against Pakistan?

(A) Rohit Sharma

(B) Virat Kohli

(C) Suresh Raina

(D) None of these

10) Who is the director of the movie'Dhanak' that was honoured at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival recently?

(A) Nagesh Kukunoor

(B) Ritesh Batra

(C) Geetu Mohandas

(D) Anurag Basu

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Ashton Carter

2) Ans. (C) Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)

3) Ans. (B) Micromax Informatics

4) Ans. (D) 136

5) Ans. (B) Bala Devi

6) Ans. (A) Virat Kohli

7) Ans. (D) Pakistan

8) Ans. (C) Chhattisgarh

9) Ans. (B) Virat Kohli

10) Ans. (A) Nagesh Kukunoor

Read More

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 17 February 2015

1) Croatia's first female president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic sworn in:

--> Croatia's first female president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, was sworn in on 15 Feb 2015 and pledged to help kickstart the EU member's ailing economy.

--> The 46-year-old conservative former foreign minister and NATO official narrowly defeated her left-wing predecessor Ivo Josipovic in an election run-off in January.

--> The leading member of the main opposition HDZ party will serve a five-year term.

2) 3 Indians in 100 shortlisted for one way trip to Mars:

--> Three Indians, two women and one man, have made it to the list of 100 applicants who will move on to the next round of an ambitious private mission that aims to send four people on a one-way trip to Mars in 2024.

--> From the initial 202,586 applicants, only 100 hopefuls have been selected to proceed to the next round of the Mars One Astronaut Selection Process, The Netherlands-based non-profit organisation Mars One has announced.

--> The project aims to set up a human colony on Mars and eventually around 40 people will be sent to the red planet on a permanent basis.

--> The finalists will train for seven years and Mars One will begin sending out four at a time from 2024.

3) Jawed Usmani took oath as UP Chief Information Commissioner:

--> Former IAS officer Jawed Usmani on 17 February 2015 took oath as new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Uttar Pradesh at a function at Raj Bhawan.

--> Usmani, a 1978-batch IAS officer, had taken voluntary retirement from service before taking over as the CIC.

--> As per rules laid down for appointment of CIC, no one serving any post in the government can take the charge.

4) 14th National Theatre Festival began:

--> The week long 14th National Theatre Festival was inaugurated by Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs, K C Joseph at Kozhikode on 16 February 2015.

--> As many as 18 plays from across the country will be staged in various venues in the city during the week.

--> "The Long March" in Bengali will be the inaugural play of the festival.

5) HTC appointed Faisal Siddiqui as South Asia President:

--> Taiwanese handset maker HTC said its Vice President and India Head Faisal Siddiqui has been appointed as the new Regional President of its South Asia operations.

--> South Asia region includes, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and emerging markets in Asia.

--> He succeeds Jack Yang, who is leaving HTC for personal reasons and will move into an advisory role during this transition of the South Asia business.

6) Reliance Communications partnered with Twitter for cricketing action:

--> Reliance Communications (RCom), part of the Anil Ambani-led group, which is the global telecom sponsor of the ICC World Cup 2015, has partnered with Twitter to provide its customers with a platform to follow the global commentary as the world’s 14 best cricketing nations compete for the tag of the champion team, with no data charges. 

7) Sourav Ganguly made MCC honorary life member:

--> Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has been awarded an honorary life membership to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the celebrated cricket club announced.

--> Following his Test debut in 1996 the 42-year-old played a combined 424 Test and one day international matches for India, averaging over 40 with the bat and taking 132 wickets.

--> Honorary life memberships are awarded by the Lord's-based the MCC, the guardian of the sport's laws for more than 200 years, to recognise an individual's service to cricket and other projects surrounding the game.

Read More

IBPS Clerk IV Interview Experience - P Prasad Bhubaneswar(ODISHA)

Friends.. Here is the IBPS Clerk IV Interview Experience shared by our friend P Prasad Bhubaneswar(ODISHA).

Name-P Prasad

Cat-General

Time-8:30 am

Venue-BANK OF INDIA BUILDING

Z ONAL OFFICE

1/1 D STAR HOUSE

JAYADEV VIHAR

BHUBANESWAR

There were 24 candidates in our panel. During document verification they told us to copy the pre-printed article to a blank page in our regional language, ODIA. My turn for interview came at around 12:30pm. Bell rang….

There were 5 panelists (1female and 4male)

Me-may I come in?

M1-yes come in

I wished them

They told me to sit. I sat and said thank you.

M1-tell something about yourself

Me-told

M1-father’s occupation, how many siblings, what they are doing?

Me-told

M2-why banking after engineering? How you will become an asset for a bank?

Me- told (but he is not satisfied)

M2-how many bank accounts do you have? And in which banks? What are the services offered by them?

Me-told

F-what is KYC? what are the documents required?

Me-told

M3-what is PMJDY and what are the advantages of it?

Me-told (but he is not satisfied with my answer to advantages of PMJDY)

M3-what is DBT? what are the benefits?

Me-told but M2 interrupted and asked whether transaction cost reduces or increases

F-what is CBS?

Me-told

They told me to leave. I thanked them and left with a smiling face.

M4 didn’t ask any question

My interview lasted for about 10-15 mins in my regional language i.e. in ODIA.

Read More

Latest Repo, Reverse Repo, Bank Rate, CRR, SLR, MSF Rates for Exams

Bank Rate	7.75%	w.e.f. 29/09/2015
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)	4.00%	wef   09/02/2013
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)	21.50%	w.e.f. 07/02/2015
Repo Rate	6.75%	w.e.f. 29/09/2015
Reverse Repo Rate	5.75%	w.e.f.29/09/2015
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)	7.75%	w.e.f. 29/09/2015

(Last Updated on: 25/10/2015)

Repo (Repurchase) Rate

Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow funds from the RBI.

Reverse Repo Rate

The rate at which RBI borrows money from the banks (or banks lend money to the RBI) is termed the reverse repo rate.

Bank Rate

This is the rate at which RBI lends money to other banks (or financial institutions)

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)

Also called the cash reserve ratio, refers to a portion of deposits (as cash) which banks have to keep/maintain with the RBI.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

Besides the CRR, banks are required to invest a portion of their deposits in government securities as a part of their statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) requirements.

To know each rate in detail: Click Here

Read More

Tamil Nadu Circle: Postal Assistant/Sorting Assistant Exam 2014 Results Out

Friends..TamilNadu Postal Circle has today (18.02.15) published the result of its PA/SA Exam 2014. The write up along with the results read as follows:

Results of Postal Assistant/Sorting Assistant Direct Recruitment Examination 2014 held on 11.05.2014(Paper I) and 24.09.2014 to 30.09.2014 (Paper II) released on 18.02.2015.

Selected candidates are requested to await further communication from the Divisions/Units concerned.

Congratulations to all selected candidates. You can check the result from the below link.

Download Result: Click Here

Read More

Daily Current Affairs: 16 February 2015

1) India inked civil nuclear deal with Sri Lanka:

--> India on 16 February 2015 inked a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Sri Lanka, making the first breakthrough with the new government in the island nation.

--> Parleys between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lanka’s new President Maithripala Sirisena in New Delhi ended with both sides signing four agreements, including one for cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

--> They also agreed to expand defence and security cooperation. 

2) IPL 2015 Auction- Daredevils picked Yuvraj for Rs.16 crore:

--> Yuvraj Singh was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a whopping sum of Rs 16 crores in the IPL 2015 auction held on 16 February 2015.

--> While Angelo Mathews (7.5 cr to DD), Dinesh Karthik (10.5 cr to RCB) were also bought for hefty sums, the talk of the auction was unheralded spinner KC Cariappa who was bought for 2.4 crores by Kolkata Knight Riders.

--> Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who went unsold, despite being world class cricketers. 

3) Ireland shocked West Indies by 4 wickets in WC 2015:

--> Ireland justified their giant-killer tag by creating the first major upset of the cricket World Cup, shocking West Indies by four wickets in their opening encounter at Saxton Oval, in Nelson, New Zealand on 16 February 2015.

--> Chasing 305 for a win, Ireland rode on brilliant half-centuries from Paul Stirling (92), Ed Joyce (84) and Niall O'Brian (79 not out) to canter home in 45.5 overs.

4) RR Patil, former Maharashtra home minister, passed away:

--> Former Maharashtra home minister and senior NCP leader RR Patil passed away on 16 February 2015.

--> Mr Patil was among the longest serving home ministers of Maharashtra and was also one of the most powerful ministers in the Congress-led coalition that ruled the state till last year.

5) Lahiri won Best Professional golfer of the year award:

--> Anirban Lahiri, who recently won the Malaysian Open, bagged the Best Professional golfer of the year award at the Take Solutions India Golf Awards 2015 in New Delhi on 16 February 2015.

--> Delhi's Vani Kapoor was declared the Best Professional Female golfer of the year at the dazzling evening in the presence of Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal.

--> The India golf awards, powered by GolfingIndian.Com, is the country's foremost awards for recognising and rewarding golf excellence.

6) Infosys to acquire automation technology provider Panaya for $200 mn:

--> Infosys, on 16 February 2015, announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to fully acquire U.S.-based automation technology provider Panaya for an enterprise value of $200 million.

--> This is the company’s second largest acquisition after it acquired Zurich-based consulting company in 2012 for around $350 million.

7) India-born Punit Renjen to be Deloitte Global CEO:

-->  India-born Punit Renjen was on 16 February 2015 appointed the next chief executive of US-based accounting giant Deloitte's global operations, becoming the first person of Indian-origin to head a 'Big-Four' audit firm.

--> Hailing from Rohtak, Haryana, Mr Renjen will assume his new role of Deloitte Global CEO from June 1.

8) 1971 wartime Dakota handed over to Bangladesh:

--> India has ceremonially handed over to Bangladesh a vintage Dakota aircraft, which played a crucial role in the country's 1971 liberation war.

--> The Dakota aircraft played a crucial role in the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan and formation of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF).

--> It was used for air dropping troops in Bangladesh's Tangail during the 1971 war.

9) Cartoonist Rajinder Puri passed away:

--> Veteran cartoonist, columnist and political activist Rajinder Puri died on 15 February 2015 after a brief illness.

--> Born in 1934 in modern-day Karachi, Puri was known for his incisive and critical political cartooning.

10) YES BANK launched India's FIRST Green Infrastructure Bonds:

--> YES Bank has succeeded in floating the country's maiden green infrastructure bond issue for Rs 500 crore, against which it has received commitments of over Rs 450 crore at sub-9% interest rates.

--> The proceeds of the bonds, which are for a tenor of 10 years, will be invested in renewable energy projects such as solar power, wind power, biomass and small hydel projects.

Read More