Daily GK Updates – 2nd June 2015
1. Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa sworn-in as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
i. Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa was sworn-in as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 1 June 2015. He became the 19th 
Governor of the state
ii. His oath of the office and secrecy was administered by the Chief Justice of Guahati High Court (Acting), Justice K Sreedhar Rao in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhawan.
iii. His appointment was necessitated after Lt General (Retired) Nirbhay Sharma was transferred to Mizoram in second week of May 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee on 12 May 2015 appointed Rajkhowa as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.
iv. Rajkhowa was the former Chief Secretary of Assam and is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer from 1968 batch.
2. RBI cuts repo rate by 0.25% to 7.25%
i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.5 per cent to 7.25 per cent with immediate effect.
ii. It was announced in the second bi-monthly policy of RBI. It says that Cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks has kept unchanged at 4 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).
iii. Continuation of providing liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bankwise NDTL at the LAF repo rate. Liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer-term repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions.
iv. Continuation with overnight/term variable rate repos and reverse repos to smooth liquidity.
v. This the third time RBI has cut interest rates in 2015. RBI has reduced the rates in order to take advantage of subdued inflation and to give more support to an economy.
3. Meena Hemchandra appointed as Executive Director of RBI
i. Meena Hemchandra was appointed as the Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). With this appointment she will be in charge of RBI’s department of banking supervision, non-banking supervision and department of co-operative banking supervision.
ii. Prior to this appointment Meena Hemchandra was in charge of RBI’s Department of Supervision. Previously, she also had worked in RBI’s department of external investment and operations which manages country’s reserves and Foreign Exchange Department.
iii. She also had served as Principal of Reserve Bank’s College of Agriculture Banking located in Pune. She is a chartered financial analyst from Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) and also holds a post graduate degree in Economics.
iv. It should be noted that RBI has 11 Executive Directors who are in charge of various departments. With this appointment the portfolios of other Executive Directors remain unchanged.
4. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, designated as first woman President of Mauritius
i. Government of Mauritius has designated internationally renowned biodiversity scientist and biologist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim as their new President.
ii. This designation will make her Indian Ocean island nation’s first woman and sixth President, a top ceremonial position. Now this appointment is subject to Mauritian Parliament approval.
iii.She will succeed Former president Kailash Purryag, who had stepped down as the island’s figurehead and was appointed in 2012 by then Labour party government of former premier Navin Ramgoolam.
iv. She has received several accolades and honours including Laureate for the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Award for Africa (2007), African Union Award for ‘Women in Science’ for the Easter African Region (2009) etc.
5. SBI’s car loan scheme for women
i. After the Her Ghar loan product, country’s largest bank State Bank of Indialaunched ‘Her Ghar Her Car’ loyalty scheme offering reduced interest on car loans.
ii. “Under this scheme, ‘Her Ghar’ borrowers can go in for a ‘Her Car’ loan at reduced rates of 10 per cent per annum… Her Ghar Her Car is an addition to products available with SBI wherein concession in rates have been introduced with the objective of reaching out to women in the country and empowering them to take decisions that can change the course of their family and society at large,” SBI said in a statement.
iii. SBI cut its base rate in April to 9.85 per cent.
iv. Car loans to borrowers who have not taken loans under ‘Her Ghar’ scheme would continue to be at 10.25 per cent per annum. The original ‘Her Ghar’ scheme provided a concession in interest rates for women home loanborrowers.
6. Ravi Shastri named as interim coach of Team India for Bangladesh tour
i. Former Indian Cricket Captain, Ravi Shastri was named interim coach of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting from 10 June 2015 which will host one Test and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
ii. He was appointed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Jagmohan Dalmiya. This appointment is stop-gap arrangement for the short tour as the BCCI is yet to decide on a full-time coach to replace Duncan Fletcher whose tenure had ended in March 2015.
iii. Previously, Shastri had served as Team Director during the tour of Australia and the subsequent World Cup held in February-March 2015. In 2007, Shastri also had travelled with the Indian team to Bangladesh as cricket manager after Greg Chappell resigned from the coach’s post.
iv. Shastri had represented India in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs. He was part Indian cricket team led by Captain Kapil Dev which had lifted first Cricket World Cup for India in 1983.
7. Govt launches BIS App to register complaints against Hallmarked jewelry
i. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today launched a BIS App for complaint registration which will allow consumers to register complaints regarding sub-standard quality of ISI marked products or Hallmarked jewelry.
ii. Briefing media persons in New Delhi on completion of one year of NDA government, Mr Paswan said operation of godowns under Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been made online to increase transparency in the functioning of the corporation.
iii. He said NDA government’s priority is to bring Food Security Act into operation to curb corruption. He added, end-to-end computerization of FCI operations will bring further transparency in the system and stem corruption.
iv. Mr Paswan said government has decided to continue food grain allocation for other welfare schemes for the poor. Saying that food grains older than a year and a half are not kept in the godowns, the Minister said 20 lakh tonnes storage capacity is being added.
v. Highlighting the achievements of his Ministry, Mr Paswan said import duty on sugar was first increased from 15 to 25 per cent and then to 40 per cent to facilitate payment of sugarcane arrears.
vi. He said norms for procurement of wheat have been relaxed to give relief to the farmers affected by unseasonal rains. He said an action plan is being finalized by FCI to provide better price support services to farmers in eastern states.
8. India, Sweden ink six agreements during President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit
i. India and Sweden inked six agreements, during the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Sweden, key Arctic Council member.
ii. It should be noted that Mr. Pranab Mukherjee is the first Indian President to visit Sweden.
Following agreements were signed
MoU on Cooperation in the field of Sustainable Urban Development- It aims to foster closer and long term cooperation between both nations in the field of sustainable development and protection of the environment.
MoU on cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) – It aims at promoting partnership projects, institution and enterprise level cooperation related to MSMEs. It also seeks development of MSMEs and facilitating exchange of business mission by initiating technology transfer and sustainable business alliances.
Agreement on Visa Exemption for diplomatic passports- It aims to strengthen the friendly relations by facilitating the entry of citizens of both nations holding diplomatic passports.
Letter of Intent (LoI) on Collaboration in Polar and Ocean Research- It seeks to encourage collaboration in the areas of Polar (Antarctic and Arctic) and Ocean Research. Signatory parties are Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) of India and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS)
Memorandum of Intent (MoI) between Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare (FORTE) for cooperation in the field of ageing research and health.
MoI between India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) for complimentary cooperation between both nations in the area of health, electronic submissions, pharmacovigilance, drugs, clinical trials, medical devices and diagnostic kits etc.
9. Ericsson partners Sterlite for smart city initiatives in India
i. Telecom gear maker Ericsson has inked a pact with Sterlite TechnologiesBSE -3.24 % to work together in driving smart sustainable city initiatives in the country.
ii. Under the agreement, Ericsson will collaborate with Sterlite to design a roadmap and deploy solutions and services required to create a fully functioning knowledge-based society, Ericsson said in statement.
iii. The alliance will design, deploy, integrate and manage solutions in areas like communications, public safety, smart grid solutions and intelligent transport, it added.
iv. The government plans to develop 100 smart cities by 2022. In the Budget, Finance Ministry had allocated Rs 7,060 crore for developing these smart cities.
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