Current Affairs Update – 24th Feb, 2015

In Today’s Current Affairs News on:

• Banking/Finance
• India
• Sports
• Obituaries

• The Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) on 23 February
  2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Defence Salary Package.
• The MoU is tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving
  soldiers, pensioners and families. The revised MoU has incorporated a number of
  additional facilities and basic features of the MoU include
• Number of free/concessional services like free drafts, free
  cheque books, free funds transfers to any bank in India through RTGS / NEFT,
  free ATM cards and others
• The provision also includes the Nepal Express Remittance
  Scheme which enables instant fund transfers to Nepal for the benefit of the
  Nepali Domicile Gorkha Soldiers serving in the Indian Army.
• Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) was enhanced and was
  linked to the Savings account instead of the debit card.
• Exemption percentage of margin money for house and car loans
  was enhanced while the processing charges on the loans were waved off.

• In a bid to keep bad loans in check, State Bank of India is
  now trying a new collection model that allows borrowers to pay back on a daily
  instalment basis. SBI has started offering this loan product to cab hailing
  service company Olacabs.
• This is a departure from the existing loan servicing model
  where borrowers repay by way of equated monthly instalments.
• Under the tie-up, cab owners associated with Olacabs can
  avail themselves of car loans from SBI on a preferential basis, with faster
  loan turnaround time. Since repayments will be on a daily basis, the loans
  could come a tad cheaper. Each time the driver makes a payment to Olacabs, a
  part of it will automatically go to SBI towards loan servicing, through
  Olacabs’ pre-paid wallet.
• According to B Sriram, Managing Director & Group
  Executive (National Banking), SBI is increasingly trying to push risk mitigated
  products within the small and medium enterprises segment. Through the daily
  collection cycle, the bank’s officials will be able to keep track of the borrower’s
  financial situation.
• Any break in the daily collection cycle will serve as an
  early warning signal and the bank can quickly intervene and resolve the matter,
  ensuring that the loan does not become non-performing.

• Now a train passenger can also order and enjoy hot pizza at
  his or her seat while travelling.
• They can order their pizza either online or through a phone
  call and delivery will be made at 12 selected stations including New Delhi and
  Jaipur to begin with.
• As part of its endeavour to offer wide variety to passengers
  to choose from and to make available the popular food brands in market under
  its newly launched e-catering services, IRCTC has tied up with Jubilant Food
  Works Ltd, the parent company of Domino’s Pizza, on a trial basis.
• As per the arrangement, a passenger travelling in a train
  without pantry car will be able to place an order for a pizza of his choice
  either online (www.Ecatering.Irctc.Co.In) or through a phone call which would
  be served at his seat in the train enroute, said a senior IRCTC official.

• Happay Card is a product of start-up Happay, founded by
  IITians from Kharagpur, Anshul Rai and Varun Rathi in 2012. It is one of its
  kind, business expense management solution that streamlines an organization’s
  expense workflow from end-to-end (expense reporting to accounting) and gives
  real-time visibility and control over business spending. All purchases done
  from this card are auto-captured on the Happay platform. Employees can snap
  photos of receipts, record cash expenses and submit expense reports in minutes,
  on-the-go without bothering about collecting or forgetting to submit the bills
  on time.
• Happay has exclusively tied up with Ratnakar Bank for these
  co-branded Happay Business Expense VISA Card. Happay’s Anshul Rai said, “The
  initial results from our pilot customers has been very encouraging and we’re
  pleased to now take this solution to the broader market. We hope to tap more
  SMEs as our solutions are far cheaper than the already present ERP solutions
  used by large corporates.”

• Hitachi Limited on 23 February 2015 announced to acquire
  Finmeccanica Rail Businesses for 2 billion US dollar.
• An Italy based company Finmeccanica has agreed to sold its
  rail car unit AnsaldoBreda and Ansaldo STS to the vast Japanese
  conglomerate.  It holds a roughly 40
  percent stake in Ansaldo STS.
• Under the deal, Hitachi plans to first acquire all shares
  held by Finmeccanica in the two companies and then make a tender offer to turn
  the Milan Stock Exchange-listed Ansaldo STS into a wholly owned subsidiary as
  well.

• The oil ministry has suspended ONGC director (technical)
  Shashi Shankar over allegations of irregularities.
• The ministry on Tuesday wrote to Oil and Natural Gas
  Corporation that a disciplinary proceeding against Shankar is being
  contemplated.

• The Eighth India-Nepal Battalion level Combined Military
  Training named Exercise Surya Kiran-VIII, commenced on 23 February 2015 at
  Integrated Army Training Centre, Saljhandi, Nepal. The exercise will end on 8
  March 2015.
• The two week long exercise started with unfurling of the
  National Flags of the two countries. The Nepalese Contingent was represented by
  a Battalion from an Infantry Division of Nepalese Army while Indian side was
  represented by an equivalent strength from a Mountain Brigade.
• Objective of Exercise Surya Kiran-VIII include
• To carry out Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist
  Operations in mountainous and jungle terrain
• To practice facets of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster
  Relief including actions to be taken during pandemic, epidemic and various
  other humanitarian assistance situations

• 3rd Tortoise Festival was organised at Hajong Lake in Dima
  Hasao district of Assam on 21 February 2015. The festival was organised to
  create awareness among people on the endangered tortoise species by Environment
  and Forest Department of Dima Hasao.
• The day-long festival saw various activities like
  discussions, presentation and others aimed at protection of the species.

• The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 23
  February 2015 revised the National Sports Awards Schemes. The ministry revamped
  the Schemes of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award
  and Dronacharya Awards.

• Selection Committee for Arjuna Award will now be headed by
  the Retired Judge of Supreme Court/High Court.
• A sportsperson of eminence or sports administrator or a
  sports expert belonging to Para sports will be a member in Selection Committee
  for Arjuna Awards.
• Not more than one sportsperson of eminence or a coach from a
  particular sports discipline shall be a member of the Selection Committee to
  avoid any bias in favour of a particular discipline.
• Nomination agencies are expected to send nominations of most
  deserving sportspersons and coaches irrespective of whether
  sportspersons/coaches have applied to them for awards.

• Chris Gayle, the Cricketer of West Indies on 24 February
  2015 became the first person to make double century in any Cricket World Cup.
  He struck 202 off 138 balls in a match against Zimbabwe in World Cup 2015.
• The match was played at Canberra’s Manuka Oval and by the
  end of match Gayle scored 215 off 147 balls.
• This is the fastest double century in any ODIs, the previous
  record was held by Virender Sehwag of India who scored a double century off 140
  balls. Sehwag scored a double century in a match played against West Indies at
  Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore in December 2011.
• Apart from this, Gayle is the first cricketer outside India
  to smash a double-century in ODIs.

• Ranchi Rays on 23 February 2015 crowned champions of Hero
  Hockey India League 2015 (HHIL) by defeating Jaypee Punjab Warriors.
• The HHIL 2015 was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National
  Stadium, New Delhi from 22 January 2015 to 22 February 2015. The Grand Finale
  was witnessed by the eminent personalities. This is the third season of the
  professional field hockey tournament, Hockey India League.
• The city franchise earlier called Ranchi Rhinos had also
  grabbed the inaugural title in 2013. Despite the overhaul in stakeholders, the
  team has almost maintained the same squad as earlier. India Cricket Captain
  Mahendra Singh Dhoni co-owns the franchise with Sahara Group.

• Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma has joined the People for
  Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to support sterilisation of homeless cats
  and dogs.
• Sharma will star in a new PETA campaign that shows him and a
  small dog peering into the camera next to the caption “Bat for Animals!
  Sterilise Cats and Dogs”.
• The campaign image was shot by ace photographer Gaurav Sawn
  and Sharma’s make-up and hair were done by Neha Kamra.
• Sharma discussed his thoughts on the campaign in an
  exclusive PETA interview.

• India is set to host the star-studded Asian Football
  Confederation (AFC) Awards function for the first time in November, according
  to the president of the national body of the game.
• All India Football Federation chief Praful Patel today told
  at a press conference here that the annual gala event is expected to be held
  during the second season of the Indian Super League (ISL).
• Last year, the Awards Night was held in Manila and former
  India captain Bhaichung Bhutia was presented with the AFC Hall of Fame Award by
  incumbent FIFA chief Joseph Blatter.
• Patel said that MoU with the JFA will enable India to seek
  help from Japan on technical matters, exchange visits by youth teams of the two
  countries.

• Rana Bhagwandas, the former acting Chief Justice of Supreme
  Court of Pakistan died on 23 February 2015 in Karachi, Pakistan. He was 72.
• Bhagwandas was the first Hindu and second non-Muslim to head
  the Supreme Court of Pakistan. First non-Muslim Chief Justice was Alvin Robert
  Cornelius (a Christian).

• Adya Sharma, a cultural icon and pioneer of mobile theatre
  in Assam, passed away on 23 February 2015 in Nalbari town, Assam following a
  brief illness. He was 86.
• Adya Sharma was famously known for bringing innovation in
  the technical aspects of mobile theatre which made it more attractive and
  capable of staging more complex themes.
•  
• He was awarded Bishnu Prasad Rabha Award by Assam Government
  and Pranab Barua Award for his contributions to the cultural world. Moreover,
  the Assam government had honoured him with artiste’s pension.
• He was the founder of Ranghar, an organisation dedicated to
  promote painting in Nalbari. He was also a well known painter and sculpture
  artist in Assam.

• Maria Golovnina, Reuters bureau chief for Afghanistan and
  Pakistan on 23 February 2015 found dead in Islamabad. She was 34.
• She was found collapsed and unconscious in the bureau and
  was rushed to hospital, but medical teams were unable to save her.
• However, the cause of Golovnina’s death could not be
  determined immediately and the authorities have launched an investigation to
  ascertain the facts of the case.

• Popular Tamil director R.C. Sakthi passed away on 23
  February 2015 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu following a brief illness. He was 76.
  Sakthi is survived by two daughters and a son.
• He was mentor of the famous actor Kamal Haasan and had
  launched him as lead role in his Tamil directorial debut Unarchigal in 1972.

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