Daily GK Updates - 3rd November, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 1.Atul Goel takes charge as MD, CEO of UCO Bank : Atul Kumar Goel has assumed charge as Managing Director (MD) and CEO (Chief executive officer) of UCO Bank.Earlier, he was executive director of Union Bank of India.Goel takes over from R K Takkar who completed his three-year tenure on 1^st November 2018.UCO Bank (formerly United Commercial Bank) established in 1943 in Kolkata.

2.Railway Ministry launched ‘UTS on Mobile’ facility : The Ministry of Railways has launched the ‘Unreserved Mobile Ticketing’ facility (UTS on Mobile) to enable seamless booking of unreserved tickets in all Zonal Railways.Now, the booking of unreserved tickets on all non-suburban sections across all Zonal Railways will now be made available on mobile.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Doha to host World Corporate Games : The World Corporate Games 2019 will be held for the first time in the Middle East in Doha, organisers of the Games  anounced. The 23rd edition is held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and will bring together the local, regional and international business sporting community.It will be the first time that the World Corporate Games, established nearly 30 years ago, incorporate eSports and mind sports.

2. India and Japan sign a loan agreement worth Rs. 1817 crore : India and Japan have signed a loan agreement worth of approximately 1817 crores for the construction of Turga Pumped Storage (I).The objective of the Project is to strengthen the capability to respond to a fluctuation in supply and demand of power and to improve the stability of the power supply.In the last few years, the economic cooperation between India and Japan has steadily progressed.

3. India Pavilion inaugurated at Videocittà 2018 in Rome Film Festival : India Pavilion inaugurated at Videocittà 2018 in Rome Film Festival.India Pavilion at Videocitta 2018 showcased Indian films’ heritage, ease of film shooting in India, promoted film shooting locations in India.It is an event focussing on Virtual Reality, Video gaming, Animation, Film Making, etc. was organized along with Rome Film Festival and Mercato Internazionale dell' Audiovisivo (MIA) (the International Audio-Visual Market).

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1.  Kirloskar Capital gets RBI nod for NBFC biz : Kirloskar Capital has received RBI licence to start a non-banking financial company (NBFC).Kirloskar Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil Engines (KOEL), plans to lend more than Rs 1,000 crore over the next three years.Earlier, the company roped in former Indo-Star Capital Finance Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Vimal Bhandari, to head its operations.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.  Bank of Maharashtra to reinstate CEO, ED : The board of directors of Bank of Maharashtra decided to restore/reinstate the functional responsibilities of RP Marathe, Managing Director and CEO, and RK Gupta, Executive Director, with immediate effect.This move is possibly an indication that these two top executives, who were taken into custody by the Pune police for the bank’s Rs 96.52-crore exposure to DSK Developers, have got a clean chit from the authorities. Earlier, the board, in its meeting held on June 29, had divested these two top executives of all their functional responsibilities.

SPORTS:

1. Azhar Ali announces retirement from ODIs : Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has announced his retirement from ODI cricket in order to prolong his Test career.Azhar has been one of Pakistan's most prolific run-scorers in Test cricket as he scored a triple century and a double hundred in Tests in the UAE and Australia in 2016 & 2017.In January 2018, he played his last ODIs against New Zealand.