DAILY GK UPDATE 14-15TH JULY

1.    Telegram service comes to an end

i. The 163-year old telegram service in the country - the indication of good and bad news for generations of Indians – comes to an end.

ii. India's last telegram went out late Sunday, marking the end of a service that provided millions of Indians with a fast and reliable mode of communication.

iii. Hundreds of people thronged the 75 telegraph offices remaining in the country Sunday to send their last telegrams to friends or family as a keepsake.

iv. Nudged out by technology SMS, emails, mobile phones the iconic service gradually faded into oblivion with less and less people taking recourse to it.

v. State-run telecom firm BSNL had decided to discontinue telegrams following a huge shortfall in revenue.

vi. Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal had said last month that "We will bid it a very warm farewell and may be the last telegram sent should be a museum piece. That's the way in which we can bid it a warm farewell."

vii. There are about 75 telegram centres in the country, with less than 1,000 employees to manage them.

viii. BSNL will absorb these employees and deploy them to manage mobile services, landline telephony and broadband services.

NOTE: i. Started in 1850 on an experimental basis between Koklata and Diamond Harbour, it was opened for use by the British East India Company the following year.

ii. In 1854, the service was made available to the public. It was such an important mode of communication in those days that revolutionaries fighting for the country's independence used to cut the telegram lines to stop the British from communicating.

2.    Money laundering: RBI imposes fine of Rs 49.5 crore on 22 banks

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 July 2013 imposed fines of around 49.5 crore on 22 private and public sector banks including SBI, PNB and Yes Bank for violating KYC/anti-money laundering norms. 

ii. The bank also had given cautionary letters to seven banks which includes Citibank and Stanchart,Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and State Bank of Patiala following an expose made by an online portal. 

iii. The penalty on 22 banks follows scrutiny carried out by RBI of books of accounts, internal control, compliance systems and processes of these banks at their corporate offices and some branches during April 2013. 

iv. The scrutiny was conducted to probe allegations of contravention of Know Your Customer (KYC)/anti—money laundering guidelines against them following the expose.

Some main points with respect to the imposition of Fine:

i. SBI along with Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Federal Bank  has been imposed with a penalty of 3 Crore Rupees. 

ii. The United Bank of India, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank and Andhra Bank were slapped a penalty of Rs. 2.5 crore each. 

iii. While, a penalty of 2 crore Rupees each was imposed on Yes Bank, Vijaya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Dhanlaxmi Bank. 

iv. The other banks which were penalised by the RBI include Deutsche Bank, Development Credit Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Ratnakar Bank. 

NOTE: i. RBI has earlier imposed fines totalling 10.5 crore rupees  on top three private lenders — Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank,

ii. The bank not adhere to the KYC norms for walk—in customers for sale of third party products and failed to file cash transaction reports in respect of some cash transactions and sale of gold coins for cash beyond 50000 Rupees. 

 

3.    Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi died

i. Controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was a key figure in the Bofors payoffs scandal, on 13 July 2013 died in Milan, Italy following a stroke. He was 74 years old.

ii. Ottavio Quattrocchi was an Italian businessman who was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal.

iii. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had named Quattrocchi in a chargesheet as the conduit for the Bofors bribe. The case against him was strengthened in June 2003.

About Quattrocchi

i. Quattrocchi was born in Mascali, province of Catania, Sicily.

ii. He had arrived in India in the mid 1960s as the representative of Italian oil and gas firm Eni and its engineering arm Snamprogetti.

iii. His family came close to the Gandhi family based on their connection with Rajiv Gandhi's Italian wife Sonia Gandhi, now the president of the ruling Indian National Congress party.

NOTE: i. In 1984, a tender was issued for Howitzer guns for the Indian Army. After evaluation, the French Sofma gun was found to be the best in terms of price and features.

 ii. The Army required a range of 30 km. Army chief Krishnaswamy Sundarji had favoured the Sofma because during field trials it showed its range as 29.2 km against 21.5 for Bofors.

iii. Moreover, Bofors was permitted to alter its bid without re-tendering. As a result, inspite of the objections of the army and others, the order went to Bofors.

iv. The Bofors scandal hit limelight after a 1987 report on Swedish radio. It claimed that Bofors had paid bribes to secure the contract.

4.    Renowned surgeon Dr N Rangabashyam dies

i. Renowned surgical gastroenterologistProf Dr N Rangabashyam today died at his residence in Chennai, family sources said. He was 79. 

ii. Rangabashyam, a Padma Bhushan award recipient, is survived by wife and two children. 

iii. Considered as a pioneer in surgical gastroenterology andproctology in the country, Rangabashyam was credited with various efforts including starting the first M.Ch. (Surgical Gastroenterology) degree course in India, besides the Ostomy Department in the Madras General Hospital. 

iv. He also established the first enterostomal therapy diplomafor nursing professionals in the country

v. Rangabashyam was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and won the prestigious Dr B C Roy National Award twice. 

5.    Book: Smritiyan authored by Garima Sanjay

i. The Vice President of India Hamid Ansari on 13 July 2013 released a book entitled Smritiyan authored by Garima Sanjay. Garima Sanjay is a professional author & documentary filmmaker by profession. 

ii. Smritiyan, the book describes that Life in general throws challenges before, we can fulfill our aspirations. At times we beat those challenges, but sometimes, especially in case of our personal and emotional lives, we’re unable to face these challenges and we simply give up and compromise with the situation and accept our failure. I

iii. In such a situation, we blame our luck; or someone, whom we perceive as a villain in our life for our failures.

6.    Abhijeet Gupta wins Commonwealth Chess Ch’ship title

i. Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta has won the Commonwealth Chess Championship title. 

ii. In the 11th and final round at Port Elizabeth, he settled for a draw with Indian national title holder G Akash in the 11th and final round.

iii. Gupta scored nine points out of a possible eleven and had the best tiebreak score to win the gold medal in the championship. 

iv. South African President Jacob Zuma lauded Indian chess player Abhijit Gupta after he won the Championships. Zuma handed the Gold medal to the 23 year old in a glittering ceremony. 

v. So far, Abhijeet has won 20 medals representing India at World, Asian and Commonwealth Chess Championships in sub-junior, junior and senior categories. 

vi. Winning silver was Sergii Fedorchuk of Ukraine, while the bronze medal went to Sergei Tiviakov of Netherlands.Nearly 900 participants from 29 countries participated in the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Chess Championships.

7.    Moin Khan appointed Pakistan chief selector

i. The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday opted for a younger chief selector when it appointed former captain Moin Khan after the sudden resignation of Iqbal Qasim last month.

ii. Moin, 41, is the youngest person to be named to the chief selector’s post by the board.

iii. The former wicketkeeper-batsman, who played 69 Tests and 219 one-day internationals, said it as a big challenge about his new assignment.

8.    England win first Ashes Test against Australia

i. England won a thrilling first test against Australia by just 14 runs on Sunday after James Anderson claimed 5-73 on a tense fifth day.

ii. Chasing 311, Australia struggled at 231-9 before its last-wicket pair of Brad Haddin (71) and James Pattinson (25 not out) took the total to 296 and the brink of a famous victory.

iii. England leads the five test series 1-0. The second test starts at Lord’s on Thursday.

iv. James Anderson took five wickets for the second time in the match