Daily Current Affairs Updates: 21 August 2014

1) T M Bhasin elected IBA chairman: T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Bank, has been elected as the Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), which is a representative body of CMDs and CEOs of public sector, private sector and foreign banks. IBA plays an advisory role, and presents views of banking industry to various UnionMinistries for policy formulation as also to RBI for regulatory matters. 
On behalf of IBA, Mr. Bhasin, will be associated with “Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana” Mission, headed by Union Finance Minister, said a statement.

2) Thai Army chief chosen Prime Minister: Thailand’s Army chief is all set to become the country’s next Prime Minister after the junta-picked National Legislative Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved his nomination, consolidating the military’s hold on power three months after he ousted the elected government in a coup. The 60-year-old Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha was named as the next Prime Minister after the NLA voted 191-0 in his favour in an uncontested race. Altogether 194 of the existing 197 NLA members signed in to attend Thursday’s meeting to vote on the prime minister.

3) Islamic State militants killed US journalist James Foley: Militants from Islamic State (Isis) claimed to have killed an American journalist long held captive in Syria in retaliation for ongoing US air strikes against its forces in Iraq. A propaganda video circulated showed a masked Isis fighter beheading a kneeling man dressed in an orange jumpsuit who is purported to be James Wright Foley, a photojournalist who went missing in Syria in 2012. The masked executioner spoke in English, with what sounded like a British accent, and said the slaying came in response to the air strikes ordered by President Barack Obama against Isis 12 days ago.

4)  Bangladesh to join BRICS Bank: Bangladesh has decided to join the newly formed BRICS Bank, an initiative of the world's five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This was informed to news reporters by Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith.

5) PM dedicates Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat transmission line to the nation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated to the nation the Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat 765kv inter-regional power transmission line in Jharkhand. This line is the first inter-regional link between eastern region and western region, an official statement said. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the commencement of work at state-run NTPC’s thermal power plant (3x660 MW) at North Karanpura at Chatra in Jharkhand.

6) Australian Cyril Baldock is oldest to swim English Channel:Australian Cyril Baldock has set the world record for the oldest person to swim the English Channel. The 70 year old Bondi Surf Life Saving Club member completed the swim between England and France in 12 hours and 45 minutes.

7) RBI tightened rules for lending against shares by NBFCs: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Thursday, tightened the norms for giving loans against shares by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). NBFCs lending against collateral of shares have been told to maintain a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 50 per cent. They can accept only specified Group 1 securities as collateral for loans of value more than Rs.5 lakh.

8) Kerala, India’s top consumer of liquor, heads for prohibition:  The excise policy of the Congress-led United Democratic Front government, finalized in a two-hour meeting held at the chief minister's official residence on Thursday, proposed to make Kerala alcohol-free in 10 years. As a first step, 418 bars closed since April 1 as they had failed to upgrade to two-star facilities, won't have their licenses renewed. Similarly, licenses of 312 functioning bars in the state won't be renewed after March 31, 2015. The government will also seek the legal possibility of terminating the licenses of these 312 bars immediately. Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of liquor in the country at 8.3 litres. Punjab comes second with 7.9 litres, while the national per capita consumption of liquor is 4 litres.


9) Film on Indira Gandhi's assassins banned from release: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Thursday put on hold the release of the controversial Punjabi film, Kaum De Heere, based on the assassination of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, following concerns raised by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. “The film will not be released on Friday. The decision has been taken as per Rule 32 of the Cinema Certification Rules, 1983,” an official said. The instruction was issued after Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Chairperson Leela Samson watched the movie.

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