Current Affairs Update – 1st March, 2015

In today’s Current Affairs we have news on:






Finance/Banking
Gross Bank credit
growth down to 10 per cent in December quarter: RBI Data

  • 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.

PSU oil cos to invest
Rs. 76,000 crore on project expansion
  • 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.

Appointments/India
Mufti Mohammed Sayeed
Takes Oath as J&K Chief Minister

  • 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.

Nirmal Singh
Appointed J&K Deputy CM
  • 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.

World
Australia, Malaysia,
Indonesia to trial new flight tracking system

  • 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.

Sports
Durban to host 2022
Commonwealth Games
  • 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 Tops Online
Searches during World Cup: Google

  • 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.

Books

Mandate: Will of the
People by Vir Sanghvi

  • 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.

Days
Zero Discrimination
Day celebrated on March 1

  • 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.

Download Today’s Current Affairs PDF


Books For 2015 Banking/Insurance Exams

This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 12:10 pm