GK UPDATE

1.    SBI launches twitter handle

i. After launching accounts on Facebook and Youtube, the country’s largest lender SBI yesterday took one more step on the social media front by launching a twitter handle.

ii. Mid-sized private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank had last month launched twitter-linked current accounts.

iii. The Twitter handle for SBI is “https://twitter.com/TheOfficialSBI”.\

iv. “Targeting huge customer base as well as potential customers, there will be round-the-clock tweets on the banks’ products and services, as also continuous education of the customers,” the bank said in a statement.The bank expects this Twitter handle to connect better with the tech-savvy young generation.

2.    Former President of Guinea Kumba Yala died at 61

i. Former President of Guinea Kumba Yala died at the age of 61 due to cardiac arrest on 4 April 2014. Kumba was elected civilian President of Guinea in 2001 and ruled the country till 2003.

ii. He was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2003. He founded the Social Renewal Party (PRS) in 1992 and he was the president of the Party.

iii. Yala belonged to the Balanta ethnic group and was a professor of Philosophy. He did masters in Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.

About Guinea
Guinea or Republic of Guinea is a West African country. It is also known as French Guinea. It declared its independence from France in 1958.

Guinea is a republic with Presidential system but it was governed by autocratic rulers till 2010. The first free and fair presidential election was held in 2010.

3.    FIFA imposed transfer ban on Barcelona

i. International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) imposed a transfer ban at both national and international level on 2 April 2014 on Spanish club FC Barcelona. 

ii. The ban prohibited FC Barcelona from buying and/or selling players for the next two transfer windows (June 2014 and January 2015).

iii. This ban will last for one year. Apart from this ban, FIFA also imposed financial penalty on FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

iv. Real was accused of violating Article 19 of regulations of FIFA and has been given one year to regularize their regulatory framework and existing system concerning the international transfer of underage players.

v. According to Article 19, international transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18. The Disciplinary Committee underlined that FIFA takes the protection of minors in football very seriously. The protection of minors is one of the key principles included in the agreement concluded between FIFA, UEFA and the European Commission in 2001.

4.    Iran and Japan signed a MoU to cooperate in environmental issues

i. Iran and Japan signed on 2 April 2014 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for bilateral cooperation on environmental issues in Tokyo.

ii. Vice-President and Head of Department of Environment of Iran Masoumeh Ebtekar and Head of International Cooperation Agency of Japan Nobuteru Ishihara signed the MoU.

iii. Under the MoU, the two countries agreed to broaden cooperation in reducing air pollution, dealing with climate change consequences and protecting ponds.

iv. And also both the countries exchanged views and discussed various issues pertaining to environment protection. Both the countries called for collective cooperation among world countries in fighting air pollution.