Daily GK Update 5th March 2015

Shanghvi is richest Indian: Forbes

(i) Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals, with a net worth of $21.5 billion, surpassed

Mukesh Ambani as the world’s richest Indian on Wednesday, two days after the Reliance Industries Ltd. chief was ranked India’s wealthiest for the eighth consecutive year.

(ii) A real-time update by the business magazine Forbes reworked the rankings. On the global rich list, Mr. Shanghvi moved up to the 37th position, while Mr. Ambani slipped to the 43rd.

(iii) Earlier on Monday, Forbes released its annual rich list for 2015, ranking Mr. Ambani at the 39th position and Mr. Shanghvi at the 44th. Azim Premji of Wipro was ranked 48th, from which he has moved up one place now. 

(iv) Mr. Shanghvi’s net worth stood at $ 21.5 billion, following a sharp rally in the share prices of his group companies.

Inflation targeting ‘credit positive’ for India: Moody’s

(i) In a major boost to India’s sovereign outlook, Moody’s on Thursday said the new ‘inflation targeting’ mechanism is a “credit positive” move and it would make RBI’s monetary policy tools much more effective.

(ii) Under the new ‘inflation targeting’ mechanism, the government has mandated RBI to bring down inflation to below 6 per cent by January 2016 and then target a level of 4 per cent by March next year.

(iii) Moody’s said since inflation targeting is forward looking, it would encourage a focus on future, rather than past, price trends.

ISRO defers satellite launch

(i) The Indian Space Research Organisation has postponed the launch of IRNSS-1D, its fourth navigational satellite, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, scheduled for March 9.

(ii) A technical anomaly detected during combined electrical checks of the satellite and the launcher on Tuesday led to the postponement. 

(iii) The flight on the PSLV-C27 launcher will take place after testing and clearing the anomaly, the space agency announced on its website on Wednesday.

RBI to put Re. 1 note into circulation

(i) One-rupee notes are all set to come back into circulation as the government has decided to restart printing the currency after more than two decades.

(ii) “The Reserve Bank of India will soon put in circulation currency notes in one rupee denomination. The notes will be printed by the Government of India,” Reserve Bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

(iii) The RBI said the notes to be issued would be legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011.

(iv) “The existing currency notes in this denomination in circulation will also continue to be legal tender,” it added. 

(v) The RBI said the note will bear Ashoka Pillar symbol in the window without words ‘Satyamev Jayate,’ and carry a hidden numeral in the centre.

Centre sets up task forces to plan smart cities

(i) The Centre on Wednesday announced the setting up of task forces that will draw up concrete action plans for the development of Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam as smart cities.

(ii) The task forces will have representatives from the Ministries of Urban Development and External Affairs, State governments and cities, and the United States Trade Development Agency, said a Urban Development Ministry official. 

(iii) The task forces are being set up following the decision taken at a recent meeting between Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.

Fewer children born each year; child sex ratio worsens

(i) The number of children born every year is slowing rapidly in India, but the slowdown is faster for girl babies than for boy babies, new data from the 2011 Census shows.

(ii) While India’s poor sex ratio for children under the age of six is well-known, data released by the office of the Registrar-General of India on Monday gives an indication of the situation at the time of birth. 

(iii) Just under 2.1 crore children were born in 2010, the year before the latest Census was conducted. In the year 2000 in comparison, 1.98 crore children were born. 

(iv) However, the growth in the number of male children born was higher at 5.44 per cent, while the growth in the number of girls born was far lower at 4.69 per cent. 

(v) The sex ratio at birth as a result was slightly worse in 2011 than it was in 2001.

Indian Railways approves Maiyas ready -to-eat meals in bowl for trains

(i) Indian Railways has now approved Maiyas ready-to-eat food brands served in bowls on all express trains with pantry facility. 

(ii) The company range approved for train service covers Curd Rice, Curd Vada, Sambar Idli, Sambar Vada, Bonda Soup, Masala Upma and Sooji Halwa. 

(iii) This is in a major effort by the Indian Railways to improve the quality and hygiene and provide variety to the passengers in on-board catering services.

(iv) This is an age of convenience food which is prepared to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready-to-eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have a long shelf life

Parliament passes Citizenship Amendment Bill to remove disparity between PIO and

OCI cardholders

(i) Parliament on March 3, 2015 passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on March 1, 2015 and was cleared by the upper house also called Rajya Sabha on March 3, 2015.

(ii) The bill seeks an amendment in the Citizenship Act, 1955 and to merge the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes.

(iii) The Citizenship Act, 1955 regulates the acquisition and determination of citizenship and details registration of overseas citizens of India and their rights.

(iv) Under PIO, citizenship was extended up to great-grandchildren while in OCI and it was only till grand children. Now with the passing of this bill it has been extended to great grandchildren in OCI.

(v) It also says the government may shift a PIO card-holder, who enjoys fewer benefits, to be an OCI card-holder from a specified date.