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Bank GKCA Update st th 21 to 27 May Starred Articles 26 Narendra Modi sworn in as India’s 15th Prime Minister, BJP keeps key ministries May India > Narendra Modi > 26-05-2014 Narendra Modi has been sworn in as India's 15th prime minister in a grand ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on Monday, 26th May. Leaders and top diplomats of all 7 SAARC nations, who were invited for the first time in such a ceremony, attended the event. Forty-five MPs, including seven women, from Mr Modi's BJP party and their allies have also been sworn in as ministers. The Prime Minister will also be the Cabinet Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space. He will also look after "all important policy issues" and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister. The following table mentions some of the more prominent portfolios and the ministers who will be heading them: Cabinet Ministers Portfolios Sri Raj Nath Singh Home Affairs Sri Arun Jaitley Finance, Corporate Affairs, Defence Smt. Sushma Swaraj External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs Sri D.V. Sadananda Gowda Railways Sri Ramvilas Paswan Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani Human Resource Development Dr. Najma A. Heptulla Minority Affairs Sri Nitin Jairam Gadkari Road Transport and Highways, Shipping Sri M. Venkaiah Naidu Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Parliamentary Affairs Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi Women and Child Development Sri Ravi Shankar Prasad Communications and Information technology, Law and Justice Sri Sarbananda Sonowal Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports 22 New Delhi all set to become India's first Wi-Fi enabled city May India > New Delhi The national capital, New Delhi, is all set to become the country's first ever Wi-Fi enabled city. The whole of New Delhi will come under Wi-Fi in a phased manner and the project is expected to be complete within a year. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Project Director OP Mishra said that Vodafone India will provide the wi-fi services while clarifying that NDMC will not lease out the project to any private company. In fact, NDMC will be the sole caretaker of the project. The Wi-Fi will be available free of cost for the first 15 minutes to the users. www.testfunda.com Page 1 of 5 Bank GKCA Update st th 21 to 27 May 22 RBI mandates banks to make ATMs disabled-friendly May Bank Specific > ATMs The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for all banks to make all new ATMs installed from July 1, 2014 as talking ATMs with Braille keypads. It has also asked banks to provide all existing / future ATMs and bank branches with ramps. The above facilities have been made compulsory by the RBI in order to help persons with disabilities have easy access to ATMs and bank branches. In addition, magnifying glasses should be provided in all bank branches for the use of persons with low vision for carrying out banking transactions with ease. The branches should display, at a prominent place, notice about the facilities available for disabled people. Others 21 IDBI launches comprehensive IT system ‘I-DaB’ for disaster & business continuity management May Corporate > IDBI Bank IDBI Bank has launched a comprehensive IT system ‘I-DaB’ for Disaster & Business Continuity Management that involves protection of human lives and continuity of critical operations through alternate locations in the event of disasters / disruptions. 21 Supreme Court refuses to stay HC order Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma merger deal May Corporate > Ranbaxy - Sun Pharma The Supreme Court has refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order that stalled the $4 billion Sun Pharmaceutical Industries merger with Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. Sun Pharma, Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy Laboratories had approached the Supreme Court seeking vacation of the stay of the order by the High Court. Andhra Pradesh High Court had directed the BSE and NSE not to approve the merger while admitting a petition by retail investors alleging insider trading in the $4-billion deal. 21 Google overtakes Apple as world's top brand May Corporate > Google According to global market agency, US search engine Google has overtaken innovative technology company Apple as the world's top brand in terms of value. Google's brand value shot up 40 per cent in a year to $158.84 billion. Google has been quite innovative this year with the launch of the Google Glass (an internet linked eyewear), investments in artificial intelligence and a range of partnerships which have sent out a strong signal about its presence to consumers. Apple, which dominated the top position for three straight years, saw its brand value fall by 20 per cent to $147.88 billion. Brand value is calculated on the basis of the firms' financial performance and their standing among consumers. www.testfunda.com Page 2 of 5 Bank GKCA Update st th 21 to 27 May 21 Bharatiya Mahila Bank included in second schedule to RBI Act May Bank Specific > Bharatiya Mahila Bank Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the country's first all-women lender, has been included in the second schedule to the RBI Act. Following inclusion in the second schedule or the commercial bank category, the bank becomes eligible for loans from RBI on bank rate and also acquires membership of clearing houses. Also, the second schedule provides that any activity of the bank would not adversely affect the interests of depositors. 21 Russia and China sign $400bn gas deal May World > Russia-China Gas Deal According to the China National Petroleum Corporation, China and Russia have agreed to a major 30-year natural gas deal that would send gas from Siberia by pipeline to China. A new pipeline linking Siberia's gas fields to China's main coastal cities will be built as part of the agreement and Russia plans to invest $55bn in exploration and pipeline construction. Beginning in 2018, Russia would supply 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year to China. China will build the pipeline within its own borders, while Russia will be responsible for the development of the fields and pipeline construction in its territory. 21 N K Verma to be wew ONGC Videsh Managing Director May Corporate > ONGC Videsh Narendra Kumar Verma has been selected to head ONGC Videsh Ltd, India's flagship overseas oil and gas assets acquisition firm. Mr Verma, 55, is currently director for exploration at OVL's parent company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC). Verma holds a masters’ degree in applied geology and an M Tech degree in petroleum exploration and is MBA in Finance. He has played vital role in management of exploration activities in frontier basin, mumbai offshore and Assam-Arakan basin. He was also involved in assessing the blocks in Vietnam Offshore, Indonesian Offshore, Myanmar Offshore, Qatar, Iran Onland and North Caspian. 22 Naveen Patnaik sworn-in as fourth time CM of Odisha May India > Naveen Patnaik Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, 21st May. 21 other Members of the new Council of Ministers headed by Mr. Patnaik were also sworn-in at a well-attended ceremony. Mr. Patnaik had become the Chief Minister for the first time on March 5, 2000 when the BJD-BJP alliance came to power by defeating the Congress. Mr. Patnaik’s BJD which did not go for seat-sharing arrangement with any party to fight the recent polls won a comfortable victory with 117 seats in the 147-member State Assembly. 22 Pawan Chamling to become longest serving Chief Minister May Politics and Government > Sikkim Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling is set to become the country's longest serving chief minister after he led the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party to a record mandate for the fifth time in a row in the assembly www.testfunda.com Page 3 of 5 Bank GKCA Update st th 21 to 27 May elections. The ruling party, Sikkim Democratic Front, won the assembly election by 2/3 majority in Sikkim assembly. Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has been the Chief Minister of Sikkim since December 12, 1994 and has completed 20 years at the post. He is set to become the only leader of the country to celebrate silver jubilee as the chief minister breaking the record of late Communist leader Jyoti Basu who is considered longest serving chief minister by holding the post in West Bengal for more than 23 years. 22 Gujarat's 'Rani ki Vav' to be digitally recreated in Scotland May India > Gujarat One of Gujarat's monuments, Rani ki Vav (The Queen's Stepwell) is among five international heritage sites to be replicated digitally using latest technology in Scotland. It is part of a project called The Scottish Ten, an ambitious five-year-programme to create accurate digital models of Scotland's five Unesco-designated World Heritage Sites and five international heritage sites in order to better conserve and manage them. Though Rani ki Vav is currently on the UNESCO tentative World Heritage List. Through the digital documentation, Scotland hopes to bring the site to a much wider national and international audience. 23 Flipkart acquires Myntra in India’s largest e-commerce deal May Corporate > Flipkart-Myntra Flipkart, the largest consumer focused e-commerce company in India, has acquired Myntra Designs Pvt Ltd, the company which runs the online fashion and apparel shop Myntra.com. As part of the deal, Myntra’s co- founder and CEO Mukesh Bansal will join Flipkart’s board and will also head its fashion vertical.