DAILY GK UPDATE 6TH AUGUST

1.    Raghuram Rajan appointed next RBI Governor

i. Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram G Rajan has been appointed as the next Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

ii. Mr. Rajan will replace D. Subbarao, who completes his five-year term on September 4, 2013 and will be the 23rd Governor of the central bank.

iii. "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved appointment of Raghuram Rajan as Governor of RBI for a term of three years," an official statement said.

iv. Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, was appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry in August last year.

v. As the new RBI chief, Rajan will have a challenging time as he will have to battle the declining rupee, sliding growth and rising retail inflation, amid global economic uncertainty.

vi. "These are challenging times for the Indian economy and the RBI and government will work together," Rajan said in a statement shortly after the announcement.

vii. Known for his frank views, Rajan was also honorary economic advisor to the Prime Minister. He was acclaimed for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis.

viii. An alumni of IIM-Ahmedabad and IIT-Delhi, Rajan did his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business before taking over as CEA.

ix. Rajan was also involved with the report on Financial Sector Reforms, which was authorised by the Planning Commission.

8 interesting facts about Raghuram Rajan

1. Raghuram Rajan will take over as the next governor just in time for the next mid-quarter policy review on September 18.

2. Rajan will become the 23rd governor of the Reserve Bank.

3.  After two IAS officers –Y V Reddy and Subbarao – at the helm, the RBI governor’s post now goes to an economist. The other economist to be appointed as governor was Bimal Jalan.

4.  One of the youngest governors, Rajan shares a common factor with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also 50-years-old when he became the RBI governor. 

5. Raghuram Rajan was appointed as the youngest-ever Economic Counselor and Director of Research (chief economist) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from October 2003 to December 2006.

6.  Admitting that he is poor in Hindi, he said he started learning Hindi in 7th grade and of course passed the examination. He plans to master the national language soon.

7. Rajan, who was a gold medalist in IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, was featured on Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers list in 2010 and 2012.

8. After two governors from Andhra Pradesh, Y V Reddy and D Subbarao, it is the return of a Tamil Brahmin to the high profile post.

2.    Vodafone, ICICI launch M-Pesa money transfer service in Bihar

i. Telecommunication major Vodafone India in association with ICICI bank has started a unique money transfer and payment service “M-Pesa” in Bihar and Jharkhand where banking network and financial penetration is inadequate, particularly, in rural areas.

ii. “The ‘M-Pesa’ service launched in December last year is available across 32 districts and 250 tehsils in Bihar at present,” Suresh Sethi, Business head-M-Pesa, Vodafone, told reporters here on Tuesday.

iii. The innovative use of mobile technology makes it possible for customers to enjoy a fast, simple and secure way to transfer money and make payments, Mr Sethi said.

iv. For a population of over 10.50 crore, there are only 4108 bank branches. Bank penetration in Bihar is as low as 13 per cent, Mr Singh said.

v. With a subscriber base of 56 lakh, 82,840 retail outlets and 2826 M-Pesa outlets, Vodafone in association with ICICI which has 51 branches in the state holds great promise for easy and convenient money transfer facility in Bihar

3.    Hiroshima Day: 68th anniversary of historic atomic bombing today

i. Japan marked the 68th anniversary today of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a somber ceremony to honour the dead and pledges to seek to eliminate nuclear weapons.

ii. Some 50,000 people stood for a minute of silence in Hiroshima's peace park near the epicentre of the early morning blast on August 6, 1945, that killed up to 140,000 people.

iii. The bombing of Nagasaki three days later killed tens of thousands more, prompting Japan's surrender to the World War II Allies.

iv. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that as the sole country to face nuclear attack, Japan has the duty to seek to wipe out nuclear weapons.

v. The anniversary comes as Japan is torn over restarting nuclear power plants shut down since the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 damaged reactors at a plant in Fukushima, causing meltdowns. 

vi. More than 100,000 people remain displaced because of radioactivity near the plant. Abe favours restarting plantsradioactivity near the plant. Abe favours restarting plants under new safety guidelines, while many Japanese oppose such restarts.

4.    Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi won Denmark's Politiken Cup

i. Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi, the chess player from India won the Denmark's Politiken Cup  at Copenhagen, Denmark by gaining 9 out of the total possible 10 points. 

ii. He defeated the seventh seed, Italian Sabino Brunello in just 31 moves of Ruy Lopez. Earlier, he won the same tournament in 2009. 

iii. Parimarjan was the only Indian participant to the Denmark Politiken Cup that featured about 600 players from across the world.

iv. He scored eight wins and two draws (with Cheparinov and David Bekker Jensen) in the Open tournament. 

v. This was the second title won by Parimarjan in last three outings, which includes DC International Open and he tied for the top place in the World Open.

5.    England retain Ashes

i. England retained the Ashes after rain meant the third Test against Australia at Old Trafford ended in a draw on Monday.

ii. Only 20.3 overs were possible on the fifth and final day, but that was still long enough for England to collapse to 37 for three, having been set 332 to win after Australia declared on their overnight 172 for seven.

iii. But England, 2-0 up in the five-match series after wins by 14 runs and 347 runs at Trent Bridge and Lord's respectively, only had to draw this match to be sure of retaining the Ashes

6.    Mumbai to host IPL-style football league opener

i. Mumbai's D Y Patil Stadium is likely to host the opening match of the inaugural IPL-style football league that commences from 18th January, 2014.

ii. "The IMG-Reliance tournament starts from 18th January and would run till 30th March, and the first match will be played in Mumbai.

iii. Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Goa, Delhi and Bangalore will be the eight cities where the franchises would be based, while Guwahati and Hyderabad have been kept in the reserves.

iv. IMG-Reliance, which is the marketing partner of the All India Football Federation, has already signed 39 domestic players and 20 players of AIFF developmental side Pailan Arrows will also be part of the league.

7.    Rly announces Rs 5 lakh reward for para-athlete Jhajharia

i. Devendra Jhajharia, the first differently-abled Indian to win a gold at the Para Athletics World Championships, will be rewarded Rs five lakh by the Railways for his feat in the recently-held sixth edition of the event in Lyon, France.

ii. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge announced the special reward for Jhajharia while declaring open the 79th Railways Athletics Championships in New Delhi.

iii. Jhajharia, an Office Superintendent working at Southeast Central Railway Zone headquarters in Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), had won gold in javelin throw in F-46 category -- meant for one-armed athletes on 21^st July in the sixth Para-Athletics World Championships.

iv. Jhajharia was among a host of past and present Indian athletes, who are employees of Railways, present at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.