Daily GK Update - 5th June 2015

Wal-Mart names new board chairman, keeps job in family

(i) Wal-Mart says board Chairman Rob Walton will step down and be succeeded by Vice Chairman Greg Penner, who is Walton’s son-in-law.

(ii) The company says the change will take effect at the end of its annual meeting Friday.

(iii) Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, has been chairman since 1992. The company says the 70-year-old will continue to serve as a director.

(iv) Penner, 45, joined Wal-Mart as a management trainee and held a number of positions including senior vice president of finance and strategy. Rob Walton noted on stage at the meeting that Penner is married to his daughter.

SBI to e-auction distressed properties on June 12

(i) Country’s largest lender State Bank of India on Friday said it will be selling its distressed assets through an online auction on June 12.

(ii) This is the second e-auction which the bank will be conducting in this year after its maiden attempt in March.

(iii) SBI, in a public notice on Friday, said it will be conducting a mega e-auction of distressed residential and commercial properties on June 12.

(iv) At the auction, the bank will try to sell offices, shops, apartments and factory buildings located in about 40 cities.

(v) Last month, SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya had said that the bank would continue to hold such e-auctions every quarter.

K.V. Kamath steps down, Infy appoints Seshasayee as Chairman

(i) Infosys Limited on Friday announced that the Company’s Board have approved the appointment of R. Seshasayee as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board with immediate effect.

(ii) A release from the Company added that K.V. Kamath will be stepping down from his position as Chairman of the Board and as an Independent Director of the Company, consequent to his nomination as President of the BRICS New Development Bank.

Coal India offers Rs 15 cr for green transport at Rajarhat

(i) Country’s largest mining company Coal India Limited (CIL) has extended a financial assistance of Rs 15 crore towards greener transport options for Rajarhat New Town in West Bengal.

(ii) Coal India offered the funds to West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) for purchase of three electric buses and an electric car on World Environment Day, the company said in a statement on Friday.

D-Link to invest Rs.350 crore in Telangana

(i) Taiwanese multinational firm D-Link, a leader in networking and connectivity products, plans to invest Rs.350 crore on setting up new facilities and expanding its operations in Hyderabad.

(ii) Apart from setting up a global research and development centre as well as a network of training centres and expanding its offices in Hyderabad, D-Link will work with Telangana government to enhance public internet access. On Friday, it entered into an MoU with the government.

‘World Environment Day’ celebrated in Bidar

(i) Various schools and organisations organised 'World Environment Day' in Bidar on Friday.

(ii) Students of the Gnyana Sudha Vidyalaya participated in a 'Green Run' from the old RTO office to their school campus in Shiva Nagar. 

(iii) They held placards and raised slogans calling people to protect the environment. Later, they planted saplings in the school campus. 

(iv) Poornima G., school committee president, and others were present.

(v) Naveen Public school organised Vana Mahotsava. Shivayya Swamy, member, Indian Animal Welfare Board, planted a sapling and appealed to students to plant trees and care for them.