General knowledge

1. Atul Kumar Goel takes charges as ED in UBI

• General Manager of Allahabad Bank Atul Kumar Goel has taken charge as Executive Director (ED) in Union Bank of India (UBI).
• The appointment is for a period of 3 years.

2. World Bank to invest Rs. 1,000 cr. in Assam

• World Bank will invest Rs. 1,000 crorerupees in Assam for the betterment of the inland waterways.
• The money will be utilised to develop inland waterways including ghats.

3. New Executive Director for Syndicate Bank

• S S Mallikarjuna Rao has taken charge as executive director (ED) of Manipal-based Syndicate Bank.
• Earlier, Mallikarjuna Rao was general manager (GM) and CFO of Oriental Bank of Commerce, looking after alternate delivery channels, marketing and publicity.
• He started his career as officer in Bank of Maharashtra in 1985.

4. India stands at 112th spot on  World Economic Freedom Index

• India's Centre for Civil Society in collaboration with Canada's Fraser Institute has released the Economic Freedom of the World 2016 Annual Report.
• India has slipped by 10 positions to 112th on WEF index out of 159 countries and territories.
• China, Bangladesh and Pakistan lagged behind India at 113th, 121st and 133th ranks respectively.
• The report is based on data from 2014 and measures the World Economic Freedom (WEF) Index by analysing the policies and institutions of 159 countries and territories.

5. Govt. approves nine highway projects in 5 states

• The Union Government has approved nine highway projects of 414 km at an estimated cost of Rs. 2600 crore.
• These projects are related to the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh.
• The projects were approved at standing finance committee chaired by Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra.
• All the projects approved will be constructed in the engineering, procurement and construction mode.

6. RBI approves Rs 26,000 crore CCL for paddy procurement in Punjab

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given approval to Rs. 26 thousand crore cash credit limit (CCL) for purchasing paddy in poll-boundPunjab.
• Paddy procurement in Punjab will commence from  1st October and the state is expecting procurement of 150 lakh tonne of the crop from the state.
• The state government will seek approval of the Centre by sending the RBI's approval letter for the release of funds for the purchase of paddy.

7. Jim Yong Kim reappointed as World Bank President

• The World Bank has reappointed Jim Yong Kim ( an American citizen) for 2nd five-year term as President (from 1st July 2017) after the nomination period closed without any challengers.
• Jim Yong Kim is a South Korean-American physician and anthropologist who has served as the 12th President of the World Bank since July 1, 2012.
• The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs.
• The World Bank's stated official goal is the reduction of poverty.

8. R Subramania Kumar appointed ED of Indian Overseas Bank

• The Central Government has appointed R Subramania Kumar as Executive Director (ED) of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) with effect from his taking over the charge of the Indian Overseas Bank and up to January 21, 2019(or until further orders).
• Kumar is currently Executive Director of Indian Bank.

9. Fiscal deficit at 76.4% of Budget estimate in April-August

• The government's fiscal deficit during the first five months (April-August) of the current fiscal stood at around 4.1 lakh crore rupees,
• It was 76.4 % of the budget estimates for the entire 2016-17 fiscal.
• The fiscal deficit in previous year (April to August) had stood at 66.5% of the Budget estimates.
• Fiscal deficit is the gap between expenditure and revenue for the entire current fiscal has been pegged at Rs 5.33 lakh crore (3.5% of GDP).
• Total receipts of the government during the first five months of this fiscal were 27.3 % of the estimates for the current year.
• The revenue deficit during these five months was 91.8 % of budget estimates.

10. Rs. 65,250 cr declared in Income Disclosure Scheme so far

• According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley 65 thousand 250 crore rupees have been declared in the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) so far.
• Some disclosures have not beentabulated yet and the figure could increase after the final tabulation.
• The scheme was announced by the government in June this year with an aim to bring out black money from the domestic economy.
• Those disclosing assets under the IDS will have to pay 45% tax with penalty.
• The payments can be made in three installments till September 2017.