Daily GK Update : 19th August, 2016 For All The Upcoming Exams

SBI approves merger with associates

i. The board of country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has approved share swap ratio to merge 5 associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself.

ii. In the swap ratio an acquiring company will offer its own shares in exchange for the target company's shares during a merger or acquisition.

As per the approved merger ratios for each of the banks, the scheme provides for allotment of:

1. SBI will give 28 of its shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.

2. It will give 22 of its shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Mysore.

3. The lender will give 22 of its own shares for every 10 shares held of State Bank of Travancore.

4. SBI will give 4,42,31,510 shares with face value of Re. 1 for every 100 crore equity shares of Bhartiya Mahila Bank.

Sachin Tendulkar adopts village in Osmanabad under SAGY

i. Former Cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar has selected Donja village in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra for development under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY).

ii. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is a rural development programme.

iii. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, launched in October 2014.

IIT-Kanpur Adopts Villages Under Namami Gange

i. IIT-Kanpur has adopted 5 villages under the Namami Gange programme and will use its expertise to restrict the flow of sewage into the river.

ii. The task will be undertaken by the institute's civil engineering department.

iii. The five villages adopted by the institute are Ramel Nagar, Khoyra Katree, Pratapur, Hari Hindpur, and Katri Ladhva Khera.

iv. Under the initiative, IIT-Kanpur will ensure sewage water is not disposed of in the river, and also keep a check on quality of drinking water and sanitation.

7 Indian companies among top 200 carbon clean firms

i. Seven Indian companies have made it to a carbon-clean list of 200 largest companies worldwide ranked by their total clean-energy revenues.

ii. The list is topped by Japan's Toyota Motor.

iii. Indian companies are: 1. Suzlon Energy at 68 rank for its wind farms. 2. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd at 106 for its wind electric generators and solar cells. 3. Tata Chemicals at 114 for chemicals for biodiesel, solar energy, and fuel cells. 4. Thermax Ltd is at 139. 5. Exide Indus at 153 for electric storage batteries. 6. IDFC Ltd is at 155 for its green infrastructure financing. 7. Havells India at 166 for energy meters.

Hindi author Sunita Jain conferred Vyas Samman award

i. Hindi scholar and writer Sunita Jain was awarded the prestigious 25th Vyas Samman 2015 for her poetry collection "Kshama".

ii. West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi conferred the award on the scholar.

iii. The award instituted by the K K Birla Foundation carries a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh. It is given annually to outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen.

NMCG and IOC sign MoU for industrial use of treated water

i. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) sign MoU for industrial use of treated water.

ii. This MoU helps in the establishment of STP in Mathura which will provide treated water for industrial use.

iii. Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti lays foundation of Rs. 40 crore sewage treatment plants (STP) in Vrindavan, which is estimated at a cost of Rs. 40 crore and a nine kilometer pipeline from Laxmi nagar to Gokul barrage will carry the treated water to Mathura refinery.

E-auction portal for power transmission

i. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal launched the process of tariff-based reverse auction in the transmission sector and also inaugurated a portal for electronic bidding for transmission projects.

ii. Union Minister has launched “Tarang” mobile App, “e-Trans” and “DEEP” (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-bidding web portals developed by Rural Electrification Corp which reverse auction is being introduced in transmission sector on the lines of coal sector in order to facilitate better price discovery in such projects.

India Post Payments Bank incorporated, to start ops in 2017

i. India Post Payments Bank has come into existence after it received certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, setting the stage for the new bank to begin operations in 2017.

ii. This will be the first PSU under the Department of Posts which expects to complete the rollout of its branches all over the country by September 2017.

Doha Bank opens first branch in Kerala

i. Doha Bank QSC, one of the prominent banks in Qatar, is formally inaugurating its first branch in Kerala on August 27.

ii. The branch offers all banking products to corporate and retail customers. It will be formally inaugurated by the State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Federal Bank to use Chillr app

i. Federal Bank has partnered with Chillr, a mobile banking application that connects directly to a person’s bank account and enables instant money transfers, bill payments, phone recharge and e-commerce payments in a very secure environment.

ii. As India’s first and only multi-bank mobile application, Chillr allows users to connect seamlessly with multiple bank accounts and manage all their banking needs on a single platform, making money transfer between bank accounts easier, faster and safer than sending a text message.

Alibaba Group launches ‘million books’ donation drive

i. Online and mobile commerce major The Alibaba Group, along with Crossword and Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust has launched ‘Mission Million Books’, a pan-India initiative inviting Indian citizens to donate textbooks and educational material for the underprivileged.

ii. TAlibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals.

India inks deal to ferry oil through Bangladesh

i. India has signed a short-term route agreement with Bangladesh to allow transport of petroleum goods from Assam to Tripura through Bangladesh after heavy monsoon damaged roads and made the transportation between the two states difficult.

ii. This is a short-term deal and Bangladesh side agreed to the Indian proposal to grant validity of the MoU till September 30.

Love Story director Arthur Hiller is dead

i. Arthur Hiller, who received an Oscar nomination for directing the blockbuster romantic tragedy “Love Story”. He was 92.

ii. The Canadian-born, dauntingly prolific Mr. Hiller ascended during the era of live television, and his versatility and workmanlike skill brought him a great deal of Hollywood work in TV and then film.