IBPS2020

1. Satnam Singh Bhamara scripted history by becoming the first Indian basketball player to be drafted in America's prestigious National Basketball Association (NBA) after being picked by Dallas Mavericks. Earlier teams like Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics had chosen him for practice. The 19-year-old, who hails from Punjab and stands 7 feet 2 inches tall, was the 52nd pick in the NBA Draft. 2. India and the United States of America (USA) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) on cooperation on Cancer Research, prevention, control and management in Environmental and Occupational Health and Injury Prevention and Control, and a Letter of Intent (LoI) on Antimicrobial Resistance Research. 3. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry,...

1. Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas has been appointed President of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for one year term at the annual conference of the sport's world governing body in Barbados. Zaheer, 67, filled the vacancy for the post left by Mustafa Kamal, who resigned in April. Abbas played 78 tests and 62 one day internationals from 1969 to 1985 in which he has made 5,062 and 2,572 runs, respectively. 2. According to the UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2015, after 2008, for the first time, India again broke in to the top 10 recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) during 2014. India jumped to the ninth rank in 2014 with a 22 percent rise in FDI inflows to $34 billion. China became the largest recipient of FDI in 2014 with $129 billion inflows, followed by Hong Kong (China) that received $103 billion and the U.S. with $92 billion. 3. India has emerged as the third largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for United Kingdom (UK) afte...

The Reserve Bank of India has issued 100 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005 with a new numbering pattern. Now the numerals in both the number panels of these banknotes will be in ascending size from left to right, while the first three alphanumeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.  Printing the numerals in ascending size is a visible security feature in the banknotes so that the general public can easily distinguish a counterfeit note from a genuine one. The Reserve Bank, in consultation with Government of India, has been improving security features of Indian banknotes so as to make their counterfeiting difficult and make it easy for members of public to identify genuine banknotes. The design of banknotes with numerals in ascending size is similar in all other respects to the current design of 100 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005 except for the new numbering pattern. The banknotes will continue to have " " symbol on t...

The Reserve Bank of India has extended the date for the public to exchange their pre-2005 banknotes till December 31, 2015. It had, in December 2014, set the last date for public to exchange these notes as June 30, 2015. Soliciting cooperation from members of public in withdrawing these banknotes from circulation, the Reserve Bank of India has urged them to deposit the old design notes in their bank accounts or exchange them at a bank branch convenient to them. The Reserve Bank has stated that the notes can be exchanged for their full value. It has also clarified that all such notes continue to remain legal tender. Explaining the move, the Reserve Bank said that the banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi series have now been in circulation for a decade. A majority of the old banknotes have been withdrawn through bank branches. It has, therefore, decided to withdraw the remaining old design notes from circulation. Not having currency notes in multiple series in circulation at the same time i...

The online examination (Preliminary and Main) for Probationary Officer/ Management Trainee posts in the Participating Organisations is tentatively scheduled in October 2015. The tentative schedule of events is as follows:  On-line registration including Edit/Modification of Application by candidates:  10.07.2015 to 01.08.2015 Payment of Application Fees/Intimation Charges (Online):  10.07.2015 to 01.08.2015  Download of call letters for Pre - Exam Training:  09.09.2015 to 19.09.2015  Conduct of Pre-Exam Training:  18.09.2015 to 23.09.2015  Download of call letters for online examination - Preliminary:  23.09.2015 onwards  Online Examination Preliminary:  03.10.2015, 04.10.2015 10.10.2015, 11.10.2015 Result of Online exam – Preliminary:  October 2015  Download of Call letter for Online exam - Main:  October 2015  Online Examination – Main:  31.10.2015  Declar...

1. Tennis legend Steffi Graf was appointed the Ayurveda brand ambassador of Kerala. The Kerala tourism department was given sanction to sign an agreement with Graf to become Ayurveda brand ambassador as part of the department's 'Visit Kerala' Scheme. Germany's former world number one tennis player, Graf bagged 22 Grand slam single titles and retired in 1999. 2. In the 20th USIC- Tennis (World Railways) Championship held at Nuremberg, Germany, Indian Railway Team defeated France by a margin of 3-1 in the finals and won USIC Tennis Championship 2015. In another event, in 20th USIC –Volleyball (World Railways) Championship held at Gomel, Belarus, Indian Railway Team defeated Russian team in the finals and won USIC Volleyball Championship 2015. 3. Noted DRDO scientist Narayana Murthy has been conferred with the Astronautical Society of India's Rocket and Related Technologies Award in recognition of his research, innovations, sustained contributions and leadersh...

1. Retirement fund body EPFO has made Universal Account Number (UAN) mandatory for all employers covered under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952. The UAN facility was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October last year. The UAN remains portable throughout the lifetime of an employee and they don't have to apply for PF transfer claims at changing jobs. 2. ICICI Bank has partnered with Alibaba.com, the leading platform for global wholesale trade, to launch a ‘trade facilitation centre’, a single window facility to provide easier trade finance to the small and medium enterprises in India. The collaboration for the centre will enable the Indian entrepreneurs who are members of Alibaba.com to get quick access to an array of integrated business services from ICICI Bank including business loans, cash management solutions, foreign exchange transactions, bank guarantees and cross-border remittances.  3. Renowned carnatic ...