BY: D.K Choudhary
Cabinet approves listing of 11 CPSEs on stock exchanges
i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for the listing of 11 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) on stock exchanges.
ii. As approved, the listing of CPSEs will be through the public offer of shares up to 25 per cent of Government of India’s shareholding.
CPSEs are:-
1. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL)
2. IRCON International Limited
3. Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) Ltd.
4. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd.
5. RITES Ltd.
6. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)
7. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Ltd.
8. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL)
9. North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) Ltd.
10. MSTC Ltd.
11. Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. (MIDHANI)
Petrol, diesel prices to change every day from May 1
i. As per the announcement of government from May 1, 2017, petrol and diesel prices will change every day in sync with international rates.ii. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) will launch a pilot for daily price revision in five select cities which are Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh from May 1, 2017 stated by Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan
PM Modi becomes the most followed world leader on Instagram
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as the most followed world leader on photo-sharing app Instagram with a whopping 6.9 million followers, surpassing US President Donald Trump.ii. Mr. Modi is also the most “effective world leader” on the platform. Trump, who occupies the second spot, has 6.3 million followers while Pope Francis is in third place with 3.7 million followers.Government sets up a panel to examine framework for Virtual Currencies
i. The Government has set up an Inter-Disciplinary Committee to examine the existing framework with regard to Virtual Currencies.ii. The Committee will take stock of the present status of Virtual Currencies both in India and globally. It will also examine the existing global regulatory and legal structures governing these Currencies.
iii. The Finance Ministry stated that the committee will suggest measures for dealing with such currencies including issues relating to consumer protection and money laundering. The Committee will be chaired by Special Secretary of Economic Affairs, Shri Shaktikanta Das.
India, Australia sign sports partnership
i. India and Australia have started a partnership aimed at increasing cooperation in sports, in the presence of visiting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.ii. The partnership will advance India-Australia cooperation in four areas athlete and coach training and development, sports science, sports governance and integrity, and grassroots participation.
iii. Sports Minister Vijay Goel has launched a major grassroots programme named ‘Khelo India’ for developing a sporting culture at grass-root level.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu relaunches ‘Adarana Scheme’
i. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu announced the re-launch of ‘Adarana scheme‘ for improving traditional occupations.ii. It is for the uplift and all-round development of people belonging to the Backward Classes stated by CM Naidu.
Pink patrol, security app for women in Bengaluru
i. A fleet of pink patrol vehicles to attend to the distress calls from women and an exclusive police mobile phone distress application have been introduced in Bengaluru as part of an effort to improve the safety and security of women in the city.ii. The pink patrol cars called the ‘Pink Hoysalas’ and the Suraksha mobile phone app were unveiled by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The app has been developed by the Bengaluru city police IT team and can be downloaded on Android and iOS phones.Bank accounts to be blocked if not self-certified by April 30, 2017
i. As part of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) compliance, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has asked the banks/financial institutions to link their accounts with Aadhaar number and self-certification from customers by April 30, 2017, to avoid closure of accounts.ii. It is clearly directed the banks to obtain a self-certification for the accounts opened between July 1, 2014 to August 31, 2015.World Bank approves $375-mn loan for India’s first waterway project
i. The World Bank has approved a $375 million loan to India’s first inland water transport fairway National Waterway 1 (NW1) project on a 1,360 km stretch of the Ganga river between Varanasi and the seaport of Haldia for bringing thousands of jobs in cargo logistics and transportation.
Amazon receives RBI approval for e-wallet
i. Amazon India has received the RBI’s approval for an e-wallet ‘Amazon Pay’, which the e-tailer had applied for early last year.ii. The licence has been issued to Amazon Online Distribution Services on March 22, 2017 and is valid for five years.
Karnataka Bank gets new MD and CEO
i. Mahabaleshwara Mavinakudige Subrahmanya has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank Ltd. ii. He succeeds Polali Jayarama Bhat, who voluntarily stepped down 15 months ahead of his three-year term as MD and CEO.
iii. Mr. P J Bhat is the new part-time non-executive chairman of Karnataka BankHaldia Port Tops the List in the First Ever Ranking of Ports on Sanitation Parameters
i. Haldia Port in West Bengal has topped the List in the First-Ever Ranking of Ports on Sanitation Parameters.ii. The survey was done on the twelve major ports under the Ministry of Shipping. The exercise was undertaken during the ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ observed from the 16th to 31st of March 2017
UN chief Guterres names Achim Steiner as new administrator of UNDP
i. United Nation (UN) chief Antonio Guterres has named a German Achim Steiner, as the new administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). ii. Headquartered in New York City, the UNDP seeks to reduce poverty, improve social development and encourage women’s empowerment.Tata Motors arm launches Made-in-India robot
i. TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors has launched a Made-in-India robot catering primarily to micro, small and medium industries.ii. The indigenously built robot TAL Brabo is available in two variants of payloads of 2 kg and 10 kg, priced at ₹5 lakh and ₹7 lakh, respectively.
iii. This is the first robot conceptualized and designed in India.
Important Takeaways from above GK Update are as follows-
- Amazon India has received the RBI’s approval for an e-wallet named ‘Amazon Pay’
- RBI 24th governor is Urjit Patel and its headquarter is in Mumbai
- Amazon CEO is Jeff Bezos and Headquarter is in United States.
- World Bank has approved a $375 million loan to National Waterway (NW1)
- The NW 1 project is to create a water transport fairway on a 1,360-km stretch of the Ganga river between Varanasi and Haldia
- Haldia Port is situated in West Bengal
- World Bank CEO is Kristalina Georgieva and its Headquarter is in Washington, D.C., U.S.A
- World Bank was founded in 1944.
- Bank accounts be blocked if not linked with Aadhaar number and self-certification by April 30, 2017
- Customers whose account opened between July1, 2014 to August 31, 2015 have to submit their self-certication by April 30, 2017.
- The pink patrol cars called the ‘Pink Hoysalas’ and the Suraksha mobile phone app were launched by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru
- N. Chandrababu Naidu announced the re-launch of ‘Adarana’ scheme
- The scheme is for improving traditional occupations for people belonging to backward class.
- Petrol and Diesel prices will change every day from May 1, 2017
- Dharmendra Pradhan is the Petroleum Minister
- Five cities selected which are Puducherry, Vishakapatnam, Udaipur, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh.
- Haldia Port in West Bengal has topped the List in the First-Ever Ranking of Ports on Sanitation Parameters
- The exercise was undertaken during the ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’
- Minister of Shipping is Sh. Nitin Gadkari
- Haldia and Vizag ports bagged the first and second ranks respectively
- ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi on 2nd October 2014.
- Mahabaleshwara Mavinakudige Subrahmanya is the new MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank Ltd
- He succeeded Polali Jayarama Bhat
- Mr. P J Bhat is the new part-time non-executive chairman of Karnataka Bank
- India and Australia have started a sports partnership
- Sports Minister Vijay Goel has launched a major grassroots programme named ‘Khelo India’
- Malcolm Turnbull is the Prime Minister of Australia
- Government sets up a committee to examine framework for Virtual Currencies
- The committee will be chaired by Secretary of Economic Affairs, Shri Shaktikanta Das.
- CCEA has given its approval for the listing of 11 CPSEs on stock exchanges.
- CPSEs stands for Central Public Sector Enterprises.
- CCEA stands for Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
- UN chief named Achim Steiner to head UNDP
- Antonio Guterres is the chief of United Nation
- United Nation Headquarter is in New York, U.S.A and was founded in 1945
- PM Modi emerged as the most followed world leader on Instagram
- PM Modi followed by US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis at the second and third position.
