1.Greek Prime Minister resigns
(i) Alexis Tsipras stepped down as Greece’s Prime Minister on August 20 and called for early elections.
(ii) Tsipras had lost his majority in the 300-seat Greek parliament as some members of his party disagreed over the multibillion euro bailout his government agreed to from international lenders.
(iii) About his early resignation Tsipras said that the present parliament cannot offer a majority government or a national unity government.
2. High Commissioner to Singapore receives ‘Asian of the Year 2014’ award on PM Modi’s behalf
(i) India’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Vijay Singh Thakur, received the ‘Asian of the Year 2014’ award by leading Singapore daily, The Straits Times, on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 21.
(ii) PM Modi was conferred this award for bringing focus on India’s development and making other countries “excited” about the nation’s prospects.
(iii) The award was instituted in the year 2012, and is conferred on individuals who contribute significantly for the progress of either their own nation or Asia.
3. Himachal Pradesh CM launches RISHTA Scheme
(i) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh launched an urban smart street lighting project called ‘Rajiv Gandhi Illuminating Scheme for Hill Town Advancement (RISHTA) to make street lighting advanced.
(ii) In this scheme, Energy Efficient Services Ltd. (EESL), a government venture, will invest all the capital upfront. The money invested will be paid back by municipalities over a period of seven years from the energy and cost savings that come in due to installation of energy efficient LED lights.
(iii) Himachal Pradesh is the first state to introduce such a scheme in north India.
4. Bandhan Bank begins operations
(i) Bandhan Financial Services (BFS), a microfinance institution, which recently received universal banking licence from the RBI in April 2014, formally started banking operations on August 23.
(ii) The bank opened doors with 501 branches, a loan book of Rs.10,500 crore, over 10 million customers and a net worth of Rs. 2,570 crore. Over a third of its branches would be in unbanked areas.
(iii) Chandrashekhar Ghosh, Managing Director of the new bank and the founder of the Bandhan Financial Services said, “My aim was to not only help build livelihoods…but help foster holistic development.” Thus, the organisation has also set up an arm to run intervention programmes in health and education.
5. Banks to remain closed on 2nd and 4th Saturday
(i) Staring September 1, all public sector and private sector banks will remain closed on 2nd and 4th Saturdays, a move that has lakhs of bank employees cheering.
(ii) All India Bank Employees’ Association ( AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam opines that this is a welcome move. He feels that it may improve the productivity of employees.
(iii) In a month with five Saturdays, only 2nd and 4th Saturday will be an off as per the notice.
6. Eritrean teen wins first gold at Beijing worlds
(i) Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, 19-year-old Eritrean teen, claimed the first gold medal of the Beijing worlds in the men’s marathon on August 22.
(ii) This is his third marathon, and second ever medal after the 2009 worlds held in Berlin.
To get fresh updates on your Facebook & Twitter timelines, subscribe to our pages created specifically for them. We will be posting only those exam specific links on these pages:
Bank PO:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pagalguybankpo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYBankPO
SSC & Other Exams:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-SSC-CGL-Others/879667042056262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pagalguyssc
UPSC:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-UPSC/951926044840262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYUPSC