1. Serena Williams lifted Australian Open
Women’s Singles Title
i. Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in
the final by 6-3, 6-7 to win the Australian Open Women’s Singles Title for
the sixth time.
ii. She defeated world number two Maria Sharapova, , 16 times in a row dating back to 2004.
iii. With this win , Serena Williams won 19th
Grand Slam title in her career.
Note: i.
Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player who
is currently ranked No. 1 in women’s singles tennis.
ii. She became the second oldest woman to win a
Grand Slam singles title after Martina Navratilova won her last Wimbledon in
1990.
2. Central Bank of India opens first forex hub
in Gujarat at Vadodara
i. Central Bank of India opens first
forex hub in Gujarat at t Urmi Char rastain Vadodara
to
provide prompt and efficient services to importers and exporters.
ii. The bank plans to open a forex hub in Delhi before March 2015
and then march to Kolkata and Chennai later this year.
iii. At present, Central Bank of India has overseas office at
Nairobi, Hong Kong and a joint venture with Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and
the Zambian government.
3. Naresh
Takkar appointed CEO of ICRA
i. Naresh
Takkar appointed Chief executive officer (CEO) of India rating agency ICRA.
ii. He will
continue to hold his current title as managing director and CEO of ICRA, Ltd in
the company.
About
ICRA
i. ICRA Limited (ICRA) is an Indian independent
and professional investment information and credit rating agency.
ii. It was
established in 1991, and was originally named Investment Information and Credit
Rating Agency of India Limited (IICRA India).
iii. It is
second largest Indian rating company in term of customer base. It was a joint-venture
between Moody’s and various Indian commercial banks and financial services
companies.
iv. The
company changed its name to ICRA Limited, and went public on 13 April 2007,
with a listing on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.
4. Baranagar
Co-operative Bank license cancelled by Reserve Bank of India
i. Reserve
Bank of India has cancelled the licence of Kolkata-based Baranagar Co-operative
Bank Ltd as the bank turned insolvent and all efforts to revive the bank had
failed.
ii. The
bank was not in position to pay its present and future depositors in full as
and when their claims accrue.
Note:
i. Now, a liquidator will start the winding up process and every depositor
will get back up to Rs 1 lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee
Corporation as per banking norms.
ii. The central bank had granted a licence to the
co-operative bank on April 15, 1996.
iii. It
was placed under all inclusive directions from July 30, 2013. The directions
were extended thrice with January 29, 2015 being the last deadline
5. PaySmart
prepaid card launched by mRUPEE & Ratnakar Bank
i. MMP
Mobi Wallet Payment Systems launched a new open loop, VISA-powered prepaid card
in partnership with Ratnakar Bank (RBL).
ii. MMP Mobi Wallet Payment Systems is a subsidiary
of Tata Teleservices.
iii. With
the help of this PaySmart card, mRUPEE customers will be able to withdraw money
from VISA-licensed ATMs and also pay for goods and services at all merchants
that accept VISA debit or credit cards nationally.
iv. The
service mainly targets unbanked customers. The money value the PAY Smart card
would hold ranges from INR 200 to INR 100,000.
v. To get
a PAY Smart card, customers should visit an mRUPEE Retailer outlet and requests
the PaySmart card to the retailer.
6. T Suvarna Raju appointed
new chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics
i. T Suvarna Raju appointed
new Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
ii. He replaced RK Tyagi.
iii. He will be the chairman of
the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).
7. ICICI Bank account
holders can use Twitter to transfer funds
i. Now customers of
ICICI Bank can use Twitter account to transfer their funds.
ii. Customers can
also recharge prepaid mobile and also they can check
their bank balance.
iii. To avail
this facility user or customer will have to subscribe (‘follow’) the bank’s
Twitter handle and register for the facility, it said.
iv. For fund
transfer, the sender needs to know the beneficiary’s Twitter handle.
v. The sender
will get an SMS with a unique code after the transfer; the beneficiary would
need to enter it on the special webpage where he/she would be directed, to
complete the transaction.
vi. The bank will not charge for such fund transfers but
the sender will have to pay the fees as applicable for a NEFT or RTGS
transaction.
8. Kanagasabapathy
J Sripavan is new Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
i. Kanagasabapathy J Sripavan sworn in as 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka.
ii. Justice
Sripavan succeeded Shirani Bandaranayake.
iii. Sripavan
is the second Tamil to be the Chief Justice of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court
after Suppiah Sharvananda, who served between 1984 and 1988.
Note: Shirani
Bandaranaike is the first woman Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, was purportedly
impeached and removed by the Sri Lankan Parliament in 2013.
9. India successfully
test-fired Agni-5 missile
i. India today successfully
test-fired Agni-5 missile from
Wheeler’s Island off the Odisha coast.
ii. Agni-5 is a intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear
capable ballistic missile which has a strike range of over 5,000 km.
iii. It is about 17 metres long, 2 metres wide and has a
launch weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of
more than one tonne.
10. Commemorative Postage Stamp on Swachh Bharat
i. Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad today released a set of commemorative postage stamps on Swachh Bharat.
ii. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Prasad said
that cleanliness was close to the heart of Mahatma Gandhi and to realise his
cherished ideal there is a strong need to observe Swachhagraha just as Gandhiji
had launched Satyagraha.
11. Krishna Chaudhary appointed new Chief of ITBP
i. Krishna Chaudhary has been appointed the new
chief of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
ii. He is presently working as the Director
General of the Railway Protection Force.
iii. The post of ITBP DG has been
vacant since January 1 after the retirement of Subhas Goswami on December 31
last year.
iv. He will be in office till June 2017.
Note: i. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is one
of the eight Central Armed Police Forces of India, raised on 24 October 1962,
under the CRPF Act, in the wake of the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
ii. The ITBP was intended for deployment along
the India’s border with the Tibet Autonomous Region.
12. PETA to
bulit India’s first fenced elephant sanctuary near Bengaluru
i. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) has announced to create India’s first
fenced elephant sanctuary near Bengaluru.
ii. This will be the first fenced elephant sanctuary in
India which will be built near Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka.
13. Paul van Ass
appointed new coach of Men’s Hockey team
i. Paul van Ass appointed as the new coach of Indian men’s hockey team.
ii. He replaced Terry Walsh of Australia.
iii. He is a former
Dutch field hockey coach.