Friday, January 2, 2015
Daily GK Update - 1st Jan 2015
Daily GK Update - 1st Jan 2015
1. Isro chairperson K Radhakrishnan retires
i. Spearheading Indian Space Research Organisation triumphantly through several milestones, its chairperson K Radhakrishnan retired on Wednesday carrying the crowning glory of the much-hailed India's mission to Mars.
ii. Indian space scientists bid a 'sombre' farewell describing Radhakrishnan an "iconic leader" as his exit left the space agency at what ISRO on its Facebook called "at its most glorified pedestal ever."
iii. Radhakrishnan, a recipient of Padma- Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, was recently chosen as one of the top ten scientific personalities in 2014 by Nature Science Journal.
India's Mars Orbiter, currently orbiting the red planet, tweeted it's farewell.
2. Planning Commission renamed "Neeti Ayog"
i. India's Planning Commission will be renamed "Neeti Ayog" as part of a plan to restructure the institution that the government believes has run its course.
ii. The name, replacing "Yojana (planning)" with "Neeti (policy)" will be announced in an amended resolution for the new plan body today, sources said.
iii. The Planning Commission had suggested to a group chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that its replacement body should be structured to meet the need of changing economic paradigm and comprise sectoral experts and states' representative.
It was India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a socialist who admired Joseph Stalin's drive to industrialize the Soviet Union, who in 1950 set up - and chaired - the Planning Commission to map out a development path for India's agrarian economy.
3. Tropical storm Jangmi struck Philippines
i. Jangmi, a tropical storm made landfall in northeastern Mindanao Island of Philippines on 28 December 2014. The storm that caused heavy rains and triggered flash floods and landslides in the country killed at least 30 people.
ii. Tropical storm Jangmi, known in the Philippines as Seniang carried winds of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour destroying several bridges and highway and lead to evacuation of thousands of residents.
iii. Apart from Philippines, the storm has affected several parts of other countries like Malaysia and southern Thailand.
4. NASA's SMAP instrument to measure Earth's soil
i. The U.S. space agency NASA's Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) instrument is ready to measure the amount of moisture in Earth's soils with an unparalleled precision and resolution.
ii. The instrument comprises of three main parts namely radar, a radiometer as well as the biggest rotating mesh antenna ever used in space.
The new instrument is expected to be launched on January 29.
5. A K Mittal appointed railway board chairman
i. Mittal, who was member (staff), has succeeded Arunendra Kumar, whose appointment as well as entire tenure was mired in lot of controversies.
ii. Mittal's position as member (staff) has been taken by Pradeep Kumar, who was general manager, North-Central Railway with additional charge as GM, Northern Railway.
iii. Navin Tandon had been appointed as new member (electrical), a post which was lying vacant for last six months. Tandon was GM, South Eastern Central Railway. Gupta, member (engineering), has been given additional responsibility of member (mechanical), the post which is likely to be filled within a week.
6. Noted journalist Boobli George Verghese died
i. Eminent journalist Boobli George Verghese died on 30 December 2014 following a brief illness. He was 87.
ii. He was an information adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966 to 1969. In 1975, Verghese was given the Ramon Magsaysay award for his contribution to journalism.
iii. In October 2010, he published his autobiography First Draft: Witness to Making of Modern India.
His last work was Post Haste: Quintessential India, a book that was released in May 2014.
7. Govt splits CMD post in Public Sector Banks
i. The government of India decided to split the post of chairman and managing director at public sector banks (PSBs).The finance ministry has appointed chief executive officers (CEOs) of four banks, while confirmed that non-executive chairman would be declared shortly.
ii. The appointment of the CEOs would be for a fixed tenure, in this case for three years or when the candidate retires, whichever is earlier.
iii. The four banks for which new MD & CEOs were announced on Wednesday were Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, United Bank of India and Vijaya Bank
8. Rajnath Singh launches women safety mobile app 'Himmat'
i. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 1st Jan 2015 launched India's first integrated mobile application for women safety called 'Himmat', in the presence of Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi and Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
ii. Who-so-ever will download this smart phone-based application can alert the police in the hour of need by either shaking the phone or pressing the power button twice," said Bassi.
iii. "It is directly linked to the Police Control Room and they will get an indication immediately. After that the location can be traced and will be updated every ten seconds," he added.
9. PM Narendra Modi greets nation on New Year
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday greeted the nation on New Year, wishing that it brings immense happiness, peace and prosperity to everyone.
Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2015/01/daily-gk-update-1st-jan-2015.html#ixzz3NdDRAA00
Thursday, January 1, 2015
VENTURE CAPITAL FUND
DEFINITION OF 'VENTURE CAPITAL'
Money provided by investors to startup firms and small businesses with perceived long-term growth potential. This is a very important source of funding for startups that do not have access to capital markets. It typically entails high risk for the investor, but it has the potential for above-average returns.
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'VENTURE CAPITAL'
Venture capital can also include managerial and technical expertise. Most venture capital comes from a group of wealthy investors, investment banks and other financial institutions that pool such investments or partnerships. This form of raising capital is popular among new companies or ventures with limited operating history, which cannot raise funds by issuing debt. The downside for entrepreneurs is that venture capitalists usually get a say in company decisions, in addition to a portion of the equity.
'Venture Capital' is an important source of finance for those small and medium-sized firms, which have very few avenues for raising funds. Although such a business firm may possess a huge potential for earning large profits in the future and establish itself into a larger enterprise. But the common investors are generally unwilling to invest their funds in them due to risk involved in these type of investments. In order to provide financial support to such entrepreneurial talent and business skills, the concept of venture capital emerged. In a way, venture capital is a commitment of capital, or shareholdings, for the formation and setting up of small scale enterprises at the early stages of their life cycle.
Venture capitalists comprise of professionals of various fields. They provide funds (known as Venture Capital Fund) to these firms after carefully scrutinizing the projects. Their main aim is to earn huge returns on their investments, but their concepts are totally different from the traditional moneylenders. They know very well that if they may suffer losses in some project, the others will compensate the same due to high returns. They take active participation in the management of the company as well as provide the expertise and qualities of a good banker, technologist, planner and managers. Thus, the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur literally act as partners.
The venture capital recognises different stages of financing, namely:-
- Early stage financing - This is the first stage financing when the firm is undertaking production and need additional funds for selling its products. It involves seed/ initial finance for supporting a concept or idea of an entrepreneur. The capital is provided for product development, R&D and initial marketing.
- Expansion financing - This is the second stage financing for working capital and expansion of a business. It involves development financing so as to facilitate the public issue.
- Acquisition/ buyout financing - This later stage involves:-
- Acquisition financing in order to acquire another firm for further growth
- Management buyout financing so as to enable the operating groups/ investors for acquiring an existing product line or business and
- Turnaround financing in order to revitalise and revive the sick enterprises.
In India, the venture capital funds (VCFs) can be categorised into the following groups:-
- Those promoted by the Central Government controlled development finance institutions, for example:-
- Those promoted by State Government controlled development finance institutions, for example:-
- Those promoted by public banks, for example:-
- Those promoted by private sector companies, for example:-
- Those established as an overseas venture capital fund, for example:-
All these venture capital funds are governed by theSecurities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) . SEBI is the nodal agency for registration and regulation of both domestic and overseas venture capital funds. Accordingly, it has made the following regulations, namely, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations 1996 and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Foreign Venture Capital Investors) Regulations 2000. These regulations provide broad guidelines and procedures for establishment of venture capital funds both within India and outside it; their management structure and set up; as well as size and investment criteria's of the funds.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/venturecapital.asp
http://business.gov.in/business_financing/venture_capital.php
- See more at: http://www.sbank.in/2015/01/venture-capital.html#sthash.vHelWeeD.dpufWednesday, December 31, 2014
Public sector banks in India
Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are banks where a majority stake (i.e. more than 50%) is held by a government. The shares of these banks are listed on stock exchanges. There are a total of 27 PSBs in India [19 Nationalised banks + 6 State bank group (SBI + 5 associates) + 1 IDBI bank (Other Public Sector-Indian Bank) = 26 PSBs + 1 recent Bhartiya Mahila Bank].
Emergence of public sector banks[edit]
The Central Government entered the banking business with the nationalization of the Imperial Bank Of India in 1955. A 60% stake was taken by the Reserve Bank of India and the new bank was named as the State Bank of India. The seven other state banks became the subsidiaries of the new bank when nationalised on 19 July 1960.[2] The next major nationalisation of banks took place in 1969 when the government of India, under prime minister Indira Gandhi, nationalised an additional 14 major banks. The total deposits in the banks nationalised in 1969 amounted to 50 crores. This move increased the presence of nationalised banks in India, with 84% of the total branches coming under government control.[3]
The next round of nationalisation took place in April 1980. The government nationalised six banks. The total deposits of these banks amounted to around 200 crores. This move led to a further increase in the number of branches in the market, increasing to 91% of the total branch network of the country. The objectives behind nationalisation where:
- To break the ownership and control of banks by a few business families,
- To prevent the concentration of wealth and economic power,
- To mobilize savings from masses from all parts of the country,
- To cater to the needs of the priority sectors.....
Public sector banks before the economic liberalisation[edit]
The share of the banking sector held by the public banks continued to grow through the 1980s, and by 1991 the public sector banks accounted for 90% of the banking sector. A year later, in March, 1992, the combined total of branches held by public sector banks was 60,646 across India, and deposits accounted for Rs. 1,10,000 crore. The majority of these banks were profitable, with only one out of the 27 public sector banks reporting a loss.[4]
Problem, with nationalised banks reporting a combined loss of Rs. 1160 crores. However, the early 2000s saw a reversal of this trend, such that in 2002-03 a profit of Rs. 7780 crores by the public sector banks: a trend that continued throughout the decade, with a Rs. 16856 crore profit in 2008-2009.[4]
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