1. Frank Schloeder appointed as acting President of BMW India
(i) Luxury car maker BMW has named Frank Schloeder as acting President of BMW Group India. The outgoing president Philipp von Sahr will head BMW Niederlassung in Berlin, Germany.
(ii) Schloeder, who is at present the director of marketing at BMW India, began his career with the luxury car maker in France in 1997. In his new role, he is expected to face tough competition from rivals like Mercedes which has witnessed double digit growth figures in the last few quarters.
(iii) He completed International Studies in Business Administration from University of Munster, Germany and Montpellier Business School, France.
2. Obama nominates Indian-American Geeta Pasi as US’ next envoy to Chad
(i) US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Foreign Service officer Geeta Pasi as US’ next envoy to Chad.
(ii) A career member of the Foreign Service, Pasi served as the US Ambassador to Djibouti from 2011 to 2014. Presently, she is the Director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State.
(iii) Since joining the Foreign Service in 1988, she has served in countries like Cameroon, Ghana, India and Romania.
(iv) She was also the Director of the Office of East African Affairs from 2009 to 2011, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Dhaka, from 2006 to 2009, and Deputy Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany from 2003 to 2006.
3. Five-time Emmy winning actress Doris Roberts passes away
(i) Legendary actress Doris Roberts has passed away at the age of 90 due to natural causes.
(ii) Having donned the hat of stage, film and television actress, the five-time Emmy award winning actress was known for her role as Marie, the mother of Ray Romano in the long-running TV series, “Everyone Loves Raymond”.
(iii) She was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2011 and a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003.
4. RBL Bank launches dedicated branch for start-ups
(i) RBL Bank has opened its first dedicated branch for start-ups in Bengaluru and is set to open more such branches to offer an array of banking services specific to their needs.
(ii) The branch will aid budding businesspersons in establishing new ventures and provide services like foreign exchange, remittances and cash management. Other value added services like registration, legal and tax formalities will also be made available through its affiliates and partners.
(iii) To attract start-ups, the bank aims to make the most of Application Program Interface banking, electronic payments and receivables, prepaid card-based solutions and escrow services.
5. Costa Rican midfielder is Mumbai FC’s new head coach
(i) Costa Rican midfielder Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimaraes has been roped in the as the head coach of Mumbai FC for season 3 of the Indian Super League.
(ii) As the head coach of the Costa Rica National Squad, Guimaraes lead them past the qualifying stages of the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.
(iii) He also coached Deportivo Saprissa, a Costa Rican club, and won three national tournaments with them. Besides, Guimaraes has also trained several international teams, such as Comunicaciones of Guatemala, Irapuato and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico and won victories with teams like Al Wasl in UAE & Tiajin Teda in China.
6. FIH promotes India’s Durga Thakur to international outdoor umpire
(i) The International Hockey Federation has promoted India’s Durga Thakur to the post of international outdoor umpire in the wake of her performance at the recently-concluded Hawke’s Bay Cup in Hastings, New Zealand.
(ii) She started her career as an umpire from the third Hockey India Sub-Junior Men & Women National Championship (Finals) in Bhopal in 2013. The double six-Nation Cup in Breda, Netherlands in 2015 was her first international assignment.
(iii) A physical education teacher, she has represented her state Himachal Pradesh in the National Championships across three sports, namely handball, basketball and hockey.
7. Hindi Sevi Samman awards presented
(i) President Pranab Mukherjee recently presented the Hindi Sevi Samman awards to 39 scholars across seven different categories for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
(ii) Among those honoured was Chinese professor Ge Fuping, who was given George Grierson prize for his remarkable works done for the propagation of Hindi abroad.
(iii) Besides him, Alka Dunputh (from Mauritius) and Shichiro Soma (from Japan) were also given the George Grierson award by the President.
8. Serena, Djokovic win big at 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards
(i) American tennis ace Serena Williams and Serbian player Novak Djokovik have been named Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year respectively at the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards. Both the players entered the finals of the four Grand Slams, winning three of them.
(ii) Brazil’s Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias was declared Disabled Sportsperson of the Year after winning seven golds at the IPC Swimming World Championships.
(iii) This award has been annually being give since 2000 to athletes who show remarkable achievements in their chosen field of sport.
Other awardees are as follows:
i. Team of the Year: New Zealand, who won the Rugby World Cup
ii. Comeback of the Year: Rugby player Dan Carter, who helped the All Blacks become champions after missing the 2011 final because of injury
iii. Breakthrough of the Year: US golfer Jordan Spieth, who won the Masters and US Open
iv. Action Sportsperson of the Year: German triathlete Jan Frodeno, who became World Ironman champion
v. Athlete of the Year: Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi
vi. Lifetime Achievement Award: Three-time Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda
vii. Spirit of Sport Award: Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff
9. PHDCCI, PHFI signs pact for skill development in health sector
(i) The PHD Centre of Commerce and Industry has signed pact with the Public Health Foundation of India to kick start a joint programme to organise skill development workshops for healthcare professionals.
(ii) Training workshops for industry, government and MNCs will be conducted across India based on public health issues, especially non-communicable diseases.
(iii) The healthcare sector grapples with staff shortage due to which most people are overworked. The skill development workshops thus endeavour to make the workforce more competent.
10. India signs MoU with Mauritius for collaboration in traditional medicine and homeopathy
(i) India and Mauritius have signed a pact for cooperation in the field of medicine and homeopathy.
(ii) The MoU envisions exchange of experts, traditional medicinal substances, collaborative R&D and recognition of the traditional systems of health and medicine in the two nations. It also aims to promote the diverse Indian traditional systems which fall under Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).
(iii) The Ministry of AYUSH has entered into similar MoUs with China, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Bangladesh and Nepal.
11. Indian firms focussing more on digital investments in IT & marketing: Survey
(i) PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 7th Digital IQ Survey has revealed that Indian firms are focussing more digital investments in IT & marketing vis-à-vis their global counterparts, but relative less investments on customer experience and operations.
(ii) Conducted among 1,988 companies across the world, and 100 firms from India, the survey states that 36% of Indian companies are focussing digital investments on marketing versus 27% globally, while 37% Indian companies are focusing on IT as against 32% globally.
(iii) However, the global average outlay on customer experience is higher at 12% as against 7% in India.
(iv) Further, companies globally are using a technology-driven approach to adopt digital technologies rather than a business-driven approach. This is mainly true for the US where 18% of digital adoption is driven through business vis-a-vis 66% through technology. However, Indian firms are giving equal importance to technology (43%) and business (42%).
12. Women representation on company boards increases in
India: Study
(i) A study conducted by Singapore-based advisory firm Korn
Ferry and the National University of Singapore Business School’s Centre for
Governance Institution and Organisation (CGIO) reveals that women
representation in boards of Indian companies has increased from 7.3% in 2013 to
8.6% in 2014. It is projected to be 12% for 2015.
(ii) Titled “Building Diversity in Asia Pacific
Boardrooms”, the study stated that three countries in the Asia Pacific
region, viz. Australia, India and Malaysia, exhibited considerable change in
increasing women representation on boards across companies.
(iii) India’s corporate boards without women decreased from
44% in 2013 to 29% in 2014. The highest number of female board members were in
the Telecommunication Services at 17.5%, followed by 11.6% in IT and 9.6% in
Financials. At 4.9%, the lowest was in Industrials.
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