GK and Current Affairs Updates

ICICI Bank has appointed Vishakha Mulye as Executive Director on its board effective January 19. She has worked in various capacities across ICICI Bank and its group companies as CFO of the bank between 2005 and 2007, a board member of ICICI Lombard General Insurance between 2007 and 2009, besides leading ICICI Venture Funds Management Company as MD & CEO since 2009.

Tata Motors announced the appointment of ex-Airbus COO Guenter Butschek as its Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, two years after the death of its former MD Karl Slym. Butschek will lead all operations of Tata Motors in India and in international markets, including South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and South Africa. Prior to Airbus, Butschek had worked at Daimler AG for more than 25 years in international automotive management, leading functions like production, industrialisation and procurement. 

In an initiative aimed at quick delivery of government services,Tamil Nadu Chief J Jayalalithaa launched a round the clock call centre for ensuring fast response to grievances. The latest initiative was aimed at ensuring quick response to people's grievances where in they can dial toll-free number '1100' at any point of time in the day. Equipped with latest technology like Computer Telephony Integration and Voice Logger System, the centre will initially handle upto 15,000 calls a day, with 138 operators recruited for the purpose. Their numbers will be expanded based on the requirement.

The world’s oldest man, a Japanese, died at the age of 112 after suffering chronic heart problems. Yasutaro Koide had said his secret to a long life was not to smoke, drink or overdo it. Mr. Koide,who was born on March 13, 1903, died two months short of his 113^th birthday. Japan’s oldest man is now Masamitsu Yoshida, a 111 year old Tokyo native who was born on May 30, 1904. The world’s oldest person is an American woman, 116 year old Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York.

Renowned Kannada filmmaker and lyricist Geethapriya passed away after a battle with throat cancer in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was 84. He has penned lyrics for over 250 immortal songs and directed 40 films including one in Hindi. He was famously known as Geethapriya (lover of songs) as a result of his renowned work as a song-writer. He had directed his last film Shravana Sambhrama in 2003. 

NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly, tweeted the photo of the first flower to bloom in outer space. The flower is the beautiful orange Zinnia, a flower native to southern United States.The flowers were grown inside the Veggie lab aboard International Space Station (ISS) which was installed in early May 2014. With the success of this experiment, Zinnia has become the first flowering plant grown outside Earth's atmosphere. The system, according to scientists, uses red, blue, and green LED lights to simulate sunlight, making the successful growth of the flower possible.

The Delhi Acers continued their hot streak and were crowned the PBL 2016 champions with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Mumbai Rockets in the star-studded final with Rajiv Ouseph winning the final match, Delhi's nominated trump game, against RMV Gurusaidutt 15-11, 15-6 to overturn a 2-3 deficit.

Veteran BJP leader and former Sikkim governor V. Rama Rao died at a city hospital in Hyderabad on Sunday after prolonged illness. He was 81. Rao was suffering from severe lung infection and was hospitalised about a month ago. Rao was a lawyer and practised at  the Andhra Pradesh High Court. 

Punjabi folk singer Manpreet Akhtar (55), sister of famous Punjabi singer Dilshad Akhtar, died of brain hemorrhage. Music teacher in a government school, Manpreet was known for her classical style of singing and her songs from Punjabi and Hindi movies. “Tujhe yaad na meri aye” in Bollywood movie “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” was sung by her. Her other popular numbers are “Beriye Ni”, “Nikdi sui” and “Bas ek gera giddhe vich”, apart from various folk songs.

Taxi aggregator Ola has appointed Raghuvesh Sarup as its chief marketing officer from February. Prior to this, Sarup was marketing director at Microsoft India.  At Ola, Raghuvesh will lead marketing across the brand and P&L for all categories.