Daily GK Update 28th March 2015

Delhi Government launched India’s first e-ration card Service

(i) Delhi Government on 27 March 2015 launched India’s first e-ration card service. The service was launched by the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal.

(ii) In this service, E-ration card will be linked with Aadhaar cards and it would enable the beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS) to get the cards online from the government’s web portal without hassles.

(iii) The new service is expected to curb corruption and increase transparency in the system.

(iv) The service would cut down the delays in preparation of ration card and would ensure the fast delivery to the beneficiaries.

Saina becomes World No. 1

(i) Saina Nehwal has what it takes to be World No. 1. She is taking over the top spot from Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui.

(ii) Officially, Saina will hold the coveted spot from April 3.

(iii) With Li Xuerui — at the top for 119 weeks since December 20, 2012 — choosing not to defend the points earned in reaching the final of the Indian Open last year for being fully fit to defend her Malaysia Open title next week, the ranking points earned by Saina in reaching the final of the Indian Open here on Saturday were enough to overtake the Chinese.

TC Goyal to retire from the post of Managing Director of DLF Limited

(i) TC Goyal, the Managing Director realty major DLF Limited, will retire on 31 March 2015. This was informed by the company in a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 26 March 2015.

(ii) He will also resign as director of the company. His resignation has been accepted by the Board of Directors of DLF Limited.

(iii) Mohit Gujral and Rajeev Talwar would be jointly responsible for affairs of the company after the retirement of TC Goyal. Mohit Gujral and Rajeev Talwar are the Whole Time Directors of the company.

Tim Cook to donate millions to charity

(i) American multinational Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook has announced that he will donate millions of dollars of his wealth to charity before he dies, a media report said on Saturday.

(ii) Mr. Cook said he would leave his wealth, worth over $800 million, to philanthropic causes after paying for his 10-year-old nephew’s college education, BBC reported citing a Fortune magazine interview. 

(iii) With the commitment, Mr. Cook has become part of a growing trend among wealthy individuals like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who are giving away their fortunes to charity.

(iv) According to Fortune magazine, Mr. Cook holds $120 million worth of Apple shares and a further $665 million of restricted stocks.

RBI signed Currency Swap Agreement with Central Bank of Sri Lanka

(i) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 March 2015 signed a 400 million US dollar currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. 

(ii) The agreement is valid for a period of three years from the date of signing.

(iii) According to the agreement, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka can make withdrawals of US dollar or Euro in multiple tranches up to a maximum of 400 million US dollar or its equivalent. 

(iv) This agreement will further economic co-operation between the two countries and also bring in more financial stability in the region.

Railways aim to eliminate direct discharge toilets by 2020-21

(i) Aiming to eliminate direct discharge toilets from its entire fleet of passenger coaches by 2020-21, Railways has drawn up an action plan to replace them with environment-friendly bio-toilets.

(ii) “While 17,338 existing toilets in trains have been replaced with bio-toilets till date, our aim is to equip the entire coaching fleet with bio-toilets,” said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project.

(iii) According to the action plan, all new coaches would be fitted with bio-toilets by 2016-17, while the retrofitting of existing coaches with bio-toilets will continue.

(iv) For the 2015-16 fiscal, Railways has set the target to fit 17,000 bio—toilets in long—distance trains as part of its ’Swachh Rail -- Swachh Bharat’ programme.

Russia joins Asian infrastructure bank

(i) Russia has decided to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the latest country to sign up as the application deadline draws close, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov said on Saturday.

(ii) He made the announcement at the 2015 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia in the coastal town of China’s southern island province of Hainan, Xinhua reported.

(iii) According to the Asia Development Bank (ADB) data, Asia’s infrastructure demand is expected to reach some $730 billion per year by 2020, but the supply of investment funds from the World Bank and the ADB falls far short of the demand.

RBI to trim bank exposure

(i) Concerned over the rising NPAs (non-performing assets) in the banking sector, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to lower the ceiling on how much a bank can lend to a single corporate group.

(ii) Under the proposal, banks can lend up to 25 per cent of their core capital to a single corporate group.

(iii) Currently, they have been given flexibility, with riders though, to lend up to 55 per cent of their core capital to a single corporate group.

(iv) The apex bank has proposed that the revised lower ceiling could come into effect from January 1, 2019.

(v) The RBI also wants to align its lending caps to companies with the 25 per cent norm set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which comes into effect from January 1, 2019.