Daily GK Update - 12 June 2015

Twitter’s Dick Costolo to step down as CEO

(i) Twitter Inc CEO Dick Costolo abruptly announced he was stepping down on Thursday amid increasing scrutiny of the company's slow user growth and inability to attract advertisers at the same rate as its competitors.

(ii) Mr. Costolo will be replaced by co-founder Jack Dorsey on an interim basis. According to a source familiar with the matter, it was Mr. Costolo's decision to leave, and Mr. Costolo said he brought it up with the board last year as it began talking about succession planning.

(iii) Mr. Costolo said on a conference call that Twitter will consider both internal and external candidates for its next CEO and that it has the "strongest management team (it's) ever had," which influenced his decision to step down. 

(iv) In a statement earlier he said he was "tremendously proud" of his six years at Twitter.

TN, Adani Group sign agreement on 200-MW solar plant in Ramanathapuram

(i) The Adani Group has signed a power purchase agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a 200-MW solar power plant in Ramanathapuram at an investment of nearly Rs.1,400 crore, according to TANGEDCO officials.

(ii) The group is also in discussion with the State government to set up a 1,000-MW solar plant in the State.

(iii) “The agreement to set up a 200-MW plant was signed a couple of days back and the investment in the project will be about Rs. 6.5 crore–Rs. 7 crore per MW,” the official said.

(iv) The company is likely to stagger the investment and commission the 1,000-MW plant in phases. Officials at Adani Group were not available for comment.

C.S Verma steps down as SAIL CMD

(i) State-owned SAIL on Thursday said C. S. Verma had relinquished the charge as Chairman and Managing Director on completion of his tenure and Steel Secretary Rakesh Singh has assumed the charge till a regular incumbent is appointed.

(ii) Mr. Verma was appointed CMD of the country’s largest steel producer for a 5-year term in June 2010 by the previous UPA government, and was eligible for an extension till he attained the superannuation age of 60 years in September 2019.

(iii) The government’s not extending his tenure to the top job makes him the first ‘Maharatna’ PSU head to be denied an extension during the current NDA regime.

Britain to award medals to over 3,000 Ebola fighters

(i) Britain has created a new medal to recognise the bravery and hard work of people who have helped to tackle Ebola in West Africa, Downing Street announced on Thursday.

(ii) The medal is set to be awarded to over 3,000 people who travelled from Britain to work in high risk areas to stop the spread of the disease. 

(iii) This is the first time a medal has been created specifically to recognise those who have tackled a humanitarian crisis, Xinhua quoted Downing Street as saying in a statement.

(iv) The medal has been designed by veteran engraver and artist John Bergdahl, whose design was chosen following a competition run by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee.

RBI permits NRIs to subscribe to chit funds

(i) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to permit non-resident Indians (NRIs) to subscribe to the chit funds without limit on a non-repatriation basis.

(ii) The subscription to chit funds, however, should come through the normal banking channel, including through an account maintained with a bank in India, the apex bank said.

(iii) The RBI has also added a rider saying that the Registrar of Chits or an officer authorised by the State Government in accordance with the provisions of the Chit Fund Act in consultation with the State Government concerned should permit any chit fund to accept subscription from NRIs on non-repatriation basis.

Anurag Tewari new DC of Bidar district

(i) The State government posted Anurag Tewari as the new Deputy Commissioner of Bidar district.

(ii) The 2007 batch IAS officer is an electrical engineer from Lucknow University. 

(iii) He has served as Assistant Commissioner of Madhugiri, Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu and Deputy Secretary (Finance) in Bengaluru earlier.

(iv) He replaces P.C. Jaffer, who has been posted as special project director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Bengaluru. 

(v) Dr Jaffer was responsible for several development programmes in the educationally-backward

Flipkart hires executive Ravi Garikipati

(i) Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer has appointed Ravi Garikipati, a top executive at information technology company [24]7 Inc., for a newly created role as ‘entrepreneur in residence.’ 

(ii) The position is of when an organisation brings an accomplished executive to work on a new project or start a new firm and is willing to back him financially.

(iii) Garikipati will work closely with Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal and Mukesh Bansal, head of Flipkart’s e-commerce platform on new business projects. His first assignment will be to help Flipkart scale up their new ads initiative.

Iconic Rock Garden creator Nek Chand dead

(i) Nek Chand, creator of the iconic Rock Garden who has amazed people for decades with his unique sculptures made from waste, died on Friday at a hospital here following cardiac arrest.

(ii) The 90-year-old architectural autodidact had been ailing and was admitted to a private hospital here for the past few days. 

(iii) He was shifted to PGIMER on Thursday evening where he died shortly past midnight after suffering cardiac arrest, officials said.

(iv) The Chandigarh Union Territory administration had declared a holiday in its offices on Friday.

(v) “We have declared a holiday in view of Nek Chandji’s demise. His body will be kept in the Rock Garden tomorrow(Saturday) to enable people to pay their last respects.