Current Affairs Update – 1st March, 2015

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• Gross bank credit grew by 10.1 per cent in the December quarter as against 14.2 per cent growth registered in the year-ago period, according to the RBI data.
• Aggregate deposits grew 10.9 per cent in the period which was slower than 15.4 percent registered in the year-ago quarter.
• Metropolitan branches, constituting 53.1 per cent of aggregate deposits and 64.2 percent of gross bank credit, recorded the highest credit-deposit (CD) ratio at 92.3 per cent, it said.
• For other population groups, CD ratio was lower than the national level of 76.4 percent.
• The CD ratio was the highest for Tamil Nadu (121.1 per cent) followed by Chandigarh (114.9 per cent), Andhra (109.3 per cent) and Telangana (106.4 per cent).
• The borrowing capacity provided to an individual by the banking system, in the form of credit or a loan. The total bank credit the individual has is the sum of the borrowing capacity each lender bank provides to the individual.

• State-run oil firms including Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will invest over Rs. 76,565 crore on the project expansion during 2015-16, up 5 per cent over the previous fiscal.
• ONGC, the nation’s most profitable company, will see its capital expenditure rise to Rs. 36,249.37 crore as compared with Rs. 34,813 crore in the current fiscal, according to the Budget 2015-16 document.
• Its overseas investment arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd, will invest another Rs. 10,402 crore in 2015-16. This, however, is lower than the investment of Rs. 12,387 crore in the current fiscal. Oil India Ltd (OIL) has projected its capex rising by 11 per cent to Rs. 3,917.64 crore.
• Refining and marketing companies will invest Rs. 20,256.02 crore with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) leading the pack with 10.5 per cent increase in the capex at Rs. 9,407.80 crore. It will invest another Rs. 1,000 crore in exploration and production as well as petrochemical business.

• Ending 49-days of Governor rule, Jammu and Kashmir today got a new government with veteran PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed taking oath as Chief Minister of a 25-member cabinet which marked the entry of BJP for the first time in the state government.
• 79-year-old Sayeed was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor N N Vohra at Zorawar Stadium where the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders -- L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, party President Amit Shah and General Secretary Ram Madhav.
• The swearing-in was boycotted by National Conference.

• Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today appointed BJP's Dr Nirmal Singh as Deputy Chief Minister in the Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed government.
• Vohra on the advice of Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed appointed Nirmal Singh as Deputy Chief Minister, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said.
• The Governor also appointed Abdul Rehaman Bhat (Veeri), Chander Parkash, Javaid Mustafa Mir, Lal Singh, Abdul Haq Khan, Bali Bhagat, Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari, Sukhnandan Kumar, Choudhary Zulafkar Ali, Sajad Gani Lone, Haseeb A Drabu, Ghulam Nabi Lone, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, Imran Raza Ansari and Naeem Akhter as Cabinet Ministers.

• Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial to enhance the tracking of aircraft over remote oceans, allowing planes to be more easily, Australia’s transport minister said on Sunday.
• The announcement comes one week ahead of the anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370, which vanished last year on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. No trace of the plane has been found.
• Airservices Australia, a government-owned agency that manages the country’s airspace, will work with its Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts to test the new method, which would enable planes to be tracked every 15 minutes, rather than the previous rate of 30 to 40 minutes, Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss said.

• South African city Durban is set to be the host city of the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) as the lone contender for the quadrennial, 71-member multisport event.
• The 600-page bid book will be handed to Commonwealth Games Federation officials during a brief mid-day ceremony on Monday at the official residence of the London Lord Mayor, reports Xinhua.
• South Africa has proposed a 12-day Games starting from July 18, birthday of late president Nelson Mandela.
• Canadian city Edmonton also wanted to play host to the 2022 Games, but withdrew due to financial constraints.
• Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 edition is scheduled for the Australian Gold Coast.

• Pakistan have topped the chart of most searched teams playing in the ongoing ICC World Cup despite not performing well, a latest study by global online giant Google said.
• Pakistan are closely followed by India, West Indies, England and Australia as the other most searched teams in Google search.
• The analysis of online trends shows that among the minnows, Afghanistan lead in global search interest and are followed by Bangladesh, Ireland and United Arab Emirates.

• In the soon-to-be-released Mandate: Will of the People on India's recent political history, veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi looks at issues like Sonia Gandhi's refusal to become Prime Minister in 2004, and Rahul's ambivalence on major issues paving the way for a resurgent BJP to take centrestage.
• The author says Rahul took "too long to emerge and when he did, it was not clear if he was for the Manmohan Singh government or against it".
• He also dubs the 2014 election campaign of Rahul as "the worst" in living memory.
• The book also talks about Emergency, the rise and fall of Sanjay Gandhi, militancy in Punjab, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the riots that followed. It tracks the emergence of Rajiv Gandhi, and explains the Bofors scandal that contributed to his defeat.
• It also describes how P V Narasimha Rao become Prime Minister.
• The book began its life as a television series 'Mandate with Destiny' which was aired before the Lok Sabha polls last year.

• The United Nations agency leading the world's HIV/AIDS response has kicked off the 2015 global edition of Zero Discrimination Day as part of the Organization's wider effort to spur solidarity towards ending discrimination.
• This year's theme Open Up, Reach Out encourages all members of the international community to unite under the banner of diversity and celebrate each other's difference in an authoritative rejection of discrimination in all its forms.
• At the same time, Zero Discrimination Day, observed annually on 1 March, draws attention to the millions who still suffer from social and economic exclusion due to prejudice and intolerance.

Books For 2015 Banking/Insurance Exams