DAILY GK BULLETS | JAN 8 | S.W.A.G

1. Airtel appoints Rakesh Bharti Mittal non-executive director

• Bharti Airtel on Friday named Rakesh Bharti Mittal as non-executive director in place of Rajan Bharti Mittal.
• Rajan Bharti Mittal quit his position effective January 7, 2016.
• Both Rakesh and Rajan are vice-chairmen of Bharti Enterprises, of which Airtel is a group company.

2. ICICI Bank to partner FINO PayTech 

• ICICI Bank will partner FINO PayTech to foray into the payments bank space. 
• ICICI Bank joins some of the leading lenders of the country which have partnered with payments banks that have received licence from the banking regulator. 
• For example, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank have picked up stake in the payments banks that will be floated by Reliance Industries and the Bharti Group, respectively. 
• The ICICI Group, with about 16 per cent stake in FINO Paytech, a business correspondent, is the largest domestic shareholder. 
• FINO Paytech has received ‘in principle’ licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start a payment bank.
• RBI regulations allow universal banks to invest up 30 per cent in payments bank. 

3. Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry merges with MEA

• In order to avoid duplication of work and to improve efficiency, the government on 07 Jan 2016 merged the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the Ministry of External Affairs. 
• The decision to merge MOIA with MEA was taken as senior diplomats wanted officials dealing with foreign workers-related issues and emergencies to have better diplomatic back-up and coordination. 
• The merger is expected to increase efficiency in MEA’s emergency work abroad. 

4. Indo-French military exercise ‘Shakti-2016′ begins 

• India and France on 8 January 2016 started their eight-day counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in Rajasthan. 
• This is the third edition in the series of bilateral exercises under this banner and is being held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan’s Bikaner. 
• The exercise will be focused on counter terrorism operations in backdrop of semi-urban terrain under United Nations Mandate. 
• It is an important for the armies to train together and gain from each other’s rich operational experience. 

5. Watan Ko Jano initiative for J&K youths

• Wattan Ko Jano, an initiative being carried out by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Government on 6 January 2016. 
• The initiative came in news after more than 240 youth in the age-group of 15 to 24 from J&K met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. 
• The initiative aims at exposing youth from the state to the vibrant development and vitality of culture of people residing in other states of the country. 

6. RBI relaxes IFSC banking unit norms 

• The Reserve Bank on 07 Jan 2016 relaxed norms for the units of banks operating from International Financial Services Centres (IFSC). 
• It has allowed IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) to open foreign currency current accounts of units operating in IFSCs and of non-resident institutional investors to facilitate their investment transactions. 
• The RBI has clarified that the IBUs cannot raise liabilities from retail customers including high net worth individuals (HNIs). 
• No cheque facility will be available for holders of current accounts in the IBUs. 
• The RBI has prescribed exposure ceiling limits for IBUs. 
• The exposure ceiling of IBUs has been pegged at 5 per cent of the parent bank’s Tier-I capital in case of a single borrower and 10 per cent in the case of a borrower group. 

7. Rajan wins Central Banker of the Year Award 

• The Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on 7 January 2016 was felicitated with the Central Banker of the Year Award (Global and Asia Pacific) for 2016. 
• The award was given by the Financial Times Group’s monthly publication The Banker. 
• The Central Banker of the Year 2016 Awards celebrates the officials that have best managed to stimulate growth and stabilise their country’s economy. 
• The Banker is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd. and edited in London. 

8. India to grow at 7.8% in year 2016 

• The Global Economic Prospect report published by the World Bank (WB) has projected a robust 7.8 per cent growth for the Indian economy in the year 2016. 
• In its report Bank has cited strong investor sentiment in India and the positive effect on real incomes of the recent fall in oil prices. 
• World Bank also predicted that India will be the fastest growing economy in the world in the next three years and would outpace China. 
• World Bank says, India will grow at a 7.9 per cent growth in the next two years 2017 and 2018.
• Amng BRICS Nations, China will grow at 6.7 per cent in the year 2016 and 6.5 per cent each in next two years 2017 and 2018. 
• Brazil and Russia are expected to remain in recession during the year 2016 among the major developing economies. 

9. Shikha Sharma BS Banker of the year 

• Shikha Sharma, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Axis Bank, is the Business Standard Banker of the Year for 2014-15. 
• Business Standard is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published by Business Standard Ltd (BSL) in two languages, English and Hindi. 

10. Centre allows Jallikattu 

• The Centre on 08 Jan 2016 allowed the conduct of jallikattu in Tamil Nadu by altering a 2011 Ministry of Environment notification by exempting the sport from performances for which the bulls should not be used. 
• The ban on the sports was lifted few days before the traditional harvest festival will begin in Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu is celebrated around pongal in southern state of Tamil Nadu. 

11. AMRUT Mission for Punjab and Uttarakhand 

• The Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on 7 January 2016 approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for Punjab and Uttarakhand for the year 2015-16. 
• The plans were approved by an inter-ministerial Apex Committee under the State Annual Action Plans (SAAP). 
• Punjab Government will invest 720 crore rupees in improving basic urban infrastructure in 16 cities. 
• Uttarakhand will spend 267 crore rupees in 6 cities under action plan. 

12. Landmark unveils e-commerce venture 

• Dubai-based retail and hospitality conglomerate Landmark Group, has introduced its e-commerce initiative —LandmarkShops.in — in India. 
• With this new initiative, customers can browse and shop over 10,000 products across women, men and kids’ apparel, footwear, accessories and beauty products through the e-commerce site. 

13. L&T gets orders worth Rs 49,666 cr  

• Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro bagged orders worth Rs 49,666 crore this fiscal, Rs 5,421 crore in the first week of January alone, implying that economic recovery is visible. 
• About 28 per cent of the orders are from overseas. 
• The $15 billion conglomerate with interests in engineering, construction, and logistics expects a modest five to seven per cent growth in its order book for this fiscal. 

14. D.K. Sikri appointed CCI chairman 

• Devender Kumar Sikri, a former Gujarat cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was on 07 Jan 2016 appointed as chairman of fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI). 
• He succeeds Ashok Chawla. 
• Sikri will have a tenure of about two and half years, i.e. till he attains the age of 65 years. 

15. Shatrughan’s biography “Anything But Khamosh” releases 

• BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha’s biography, “Anything But Khamosh” written by very famous journalist author Bharathi S Pradhan released on  07 Jan 2016. 
• BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha’s biography says he had predicted Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party winning 63 of the 70 seats in Delhi in 2015. 
• He admires Mr. Kejriwal’s courage in standing against Sheila Dikshit in 2013 and defeating her. 

16. Quikr merges CommonFloor 

• Online classifieds portal Quikr on 07 Jan 2016 announced the merger of real estate listing company CommonFloor.com, making the combined entity the biggest in the space. 
• Sumit Jain is the co-founder and CEO, CommonFloor.com. 
• Pranay Chulet, CEO and founder, Quikr, has publicly stated that the company is two years away from being profitable and if not for the marketing spends, Quikr would have already been profitable. 

17. Pavan Kapoor India’s new ambassador to Israel 

• Pavan Kapoor, a 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, was on 06 Jan 2016 named as India’s new ambassador to Israel. 
• Pavan Kapoor (lFS: 1990), presently high commissioner of India in Maputo. Kapoor will replace Jaideep Sarkar.
• The appointment assumes significance as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit India this year.