Current Affairs 22nd August 2015

Current Affairs 22nd August 2015 - Important Points

• Norms for Selection of CEOs and MDs of Smaller PSU Banks were issued by - Union Government

• To set up WiFi hotspots in each of its cabs, Uber Cabs tied-up with - Bharti Airtel

• Who is appointed as Advisor to J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed - Noted academician Amitabh Mattoo

• Name the eminent Sanskrit Scholar and Indologist who has passed away - NR Varhadpande

• Free Laptop Scheme was launched by - Puducherry CM N Rangasamy

• Name the services launched by Infosys launched - Aikido

• Who has sworned in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka - Ranil Wickremesinghe

Current Affairs 22nd August 2015 - Details

Norms for Selection of CEOs and MDs of Smaller PSU Banks were issued by - Union Government

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 20th August 2015, The Union Government issued norms for selection of Managing Directors (MDs) and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in Mid and Small Public Sector Banks (PSBs).

Guidelines are as follows :

• The existing pool of executive directors (EDs) or deputy managing directors (DMDs) in state-owned banks with a remaining service period of 2 years will fill the top post in the PSBs.
• For post of MD & CEO, the DMDs of IDBI Bank, the EDs of nationalised banks and MDs of associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI) who have one year of service experience as ED/DMD/MD and who have two years of service left are entitled.
• The pool of executive directors of the public sector banks itself, other than five large PSBs will be hired for the remaining banks.
• There will be a separate procedure for selection for the five large banks viz. Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank.

To set up WiFi hotspots in each of its cabs, Uber Cabs tied-up with - Bharti Airtel

On 21st August 2015, Bharti Airtel Limited tied-up with the Uber Cabs, allowing Uber riders to pay using Airtel’s mobile wallet service Airtel Money and to set up WiFi hotspots in each of its cabs.

Now, with the help of Airtel's mobile wallet service Airtel Money, Uber riders across India can now pay for their trips using. The first city in India to enjoy free high-speed internet from Uber, powered by Airtel 4G will be Mumbai.

According to the terms, Bharti Airtel will offer its 4G MiFi (mobile WiFi) devices to Uber vehicles, while subsidised mobile devices and data plans will be offered to drivers. On the other hand, Uber will offer discounts to Airtel customers, including 500 rupees off on their first ride using Airtel Money.

Who is appointed as Advisor to J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed - Noted academician Amitabh Mattoo

Among the important appointments, On 21st August 2015, Amitabh Mattoo, noted academician and former Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu University was appointed as Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister (CM) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Mattoo has been the inaugural Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Australia India Institute and Professor of International Relations at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Mattoo is a member of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well Being and also serves on the Governing Council of the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), the Executive Committee and Governing Council of Pugwash.

Name the eminent Sanskrit Scholar and Indologist who has passed away - NR Varhadpande

On 21st August 2015, Eminent Sanskrit Scholar and Indologist NR Varhadpande passed away in Nagpur at the age of 94.

Varhadpande is considered as one of the most profound works in changing the course of ancient Indian history and is famous for his book titled Aryan Invasion: A Myth that exposes fallacy of Aryan invasion.

He is the the Founder Editor of the periodical Sanskrit Bhavitavyam and had also served as the President of Sanskrit Bhasha Pracharini Sabha for many years.

Free Laptop Scheme was launched by - Puducherry CM N Rangasamy

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 21st August 2015, Free Laptop Scheme was launched by Puducherry Chief Minister (CM) N Rangasamy. Students who have passed Plus Two from Government Higher Secondary Schools in the last two academic years that is 2013-14 and 2014-15 will be provided by free laptops.

An expense of 20 Crore rupees will be incurred to give free laptops to 11 thousand odd students. 180 students who topped in Plus Two Examinations in their respective schools were presented with the laptops while launching the scheme.

Name the services launched by Infosys launched - Aikido

On 21st August 2015, India’s second largest IT services company Infosys launched Aikido, three enhanced service offerings in design thinking, platforms and knowledge-based IT (KBIT).

The three service offerings are Ai in Platforms, Ki in Knowledge-Based IT and Do in Design Thinking.

About Ki Service

• It is a large-scale, modular service to help renew enterprise landscapes.
• The services will include knowledge-based cost optimization, knowledge-based IT strategy and knowledge curation services.
• It objective is to help enterprises to drive automation in business operations, renew their mainframe applications and support cost optimisation.

About Do Service

• Do refers to the service offering on Design Thinking and design-led initiatives.
• The framework for finding, understanding and defining the problems that are most important to clients and their businesses will be provided by the Do service.

About Ai Service

• It refers to platform and platforms as a service to build intelligent solutions.
• This will include the Infosys-automation platform, Panaya and other offerings in the engineering services, BPO and testing space.

Who has sworned in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka - Ranil Wickremesinghe

Among the important International Current Affairs, Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworned in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo administered the oath of office.

Earlier he had served as the Pm of the country in 1993-94, 2002-2004 and since January 2015.

Apart from this, immediately after the swearing-in, the General Secretaries of the two main parties in the country, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) signed .

A Memorandum of Understanding to work together in the parliament and form a National Government was signed by SLFP’s Acting General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake and UNP General Secretary Kabir Hashim soon after the oath.