G.K Update 9,May 2016
By: D.K. Choudhary
Shashi Kapoor’s Biography ‘Shashi Kapoor – the Householder, the Star’ released
i. Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor’s autobiography titled ‘Shashi Kapoor – the Householder, the Star’ was released recently.
ii. The biography has been authored by film journalist Aseem Chhabra and with forword by Karan Johar. It unveils the chapters of actor’s personal and professional life.
About Shashi Kapoor
- Born as Balbir Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on March 18, 1938 in Kolkata, West Bengal.
- Started acting in films as a child in late 1940s. Since then he has appeared in 160 movies altogether, 12 being in English and the rest in Hindi. Advertisement
- His Bollywood debut as a lead actor was in the film Dharmputra (1961). His best known performances as child artist were in Aag (1948), Awaara (1951) and Sangram (1950).
- He is also best-known for his performances in Hindi films like ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’, ‘Deewar’, ‘Waqt’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Utsav’and ‘Kabhi Kabhie’.
- He also acted in American and British films. They are The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970), Heat and Dust (1982), The Deceivers (1988), Side Streets (1998) etc.
- Apart from acting in movies, he also had worked as a film director, assistant director and film producer.
SpaceX successfully launches Japanese JCSAT-14 Satellite
i. US based private space transport service company, SpaceX has successfully launched Japanese JCSAT-14 communication satellite into the space.
ii. The satellite was place into its intended preliminary geostationary transfer orbit by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US.
iii. After meeting its primary goal of the mission, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on an ocean (floating) platform, known as a drone ship, off the coast of Florida.
iv. This is for the second time in row the reusable main stage booster of Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on offshore floating platform after the April 8, 2016 landing.
About JCSAT-14 Satellite
- JCSAT-14 Satellite is owned by Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation. The satellite will boost the company’s fleet of relay stations to 17.
- The satellite is built by Space Systems/Loral and is equipped with 26 C-band and 18 Ku-band transponders.
ICICI Bank signs MoU with BRICS’s New Development Bank
i. India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has inked a MoU with the BRICS Grouping-promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources.
ii. With this ICICI Bank becomes first financial institution in the country to tie up with the BRICS Grouping-promoted NDB. The MoU was signed by BDB’s first President and ICICI Bank veteran KV Kamath and ICICI Bank Chief Chanda Kochhar in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Key facts
- The MoU will help NDB in exploring rupee-denominated bonds in the domestic and international markets.
- It will make both the lenders collaborate to fund development projects in India.
- They will also leverage a mutually beneficial partnership in other areas such as treasury risk management, human resource development and account and cash management services.
- The MoU will help NDB to leverage the deep market access and insight of ICICI Bank in the India’s financial markets.
About New Development Bank
- NDB is a multilateral development bank promoted by BRICS nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is outcome of 6th BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza, Brazil.
- It is headquartered in Shanghai, China. It will have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- NDB began its operations in July 2015 with an initial capital of 100 billion dollars.
- The goal of the bank is to fund infrastructure projects in emerging economies for sustainable development.
- In the NDB, each participant country has been assigned one vote, and none of the countries have veto power.
Switzerland Government honours Yash Chopra with special statue
i. Switzerland Government has honoured late veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra by unveiling bronze statue at Interlaken.
ii. The bronze statue weighing about 250 kilos was inaugurated by his wife Pamela Chopra and daughter-in-law Rani Mukerjee.
iii. Chopra was known for opening a legacy of South Asian tourists flocking to Switzerland and spend much time in the country besides shooting his movies.
iv. This statue has been installed at the heart of Interlaken, inside the Kursaal area near the Congress Centre which is a prime, popular spot with tourists.
v. This is not the first time the filmmaker has been honoured in this way by the Switzerland Government. Earlier in 2011, government of Interlaken awarded him the honorary title of Ambassador of Interlaken and Jungfrau Railways had named a train after him – an honour shared only with the railway’s founder, Adolf Guyer.
