Daily GK Updates: 5th August 2014

1.    RBI keeps key interest rates unchanged, Cur SLR by 0.5%

i. Reserve Bank of India today maintained the status quo with regard to the key interest rates in its third bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2014-15.
ii. In its monetary policy statement released in Mumbai, RBI stated that on the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, it has been decided to keep the policy repo rate, the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks , unchanged at 8 per cent. 

iii. The reverse repo rate, the rate at which the RBI borrows money from commercial banks, will also remain unchanged at 7 per cent. The cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks, the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with the RBI, has been kept unchanged at 4 per cent. The bank rate would remain at 9 per cent.

iv. The fourth bi-monthly monetary policy statement is scheduled on 30th September, 2014.

Note: RBI has, however, reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points from 22.5 per cent to 22.0 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning 9th August, 2014.

Current Rates are as follows”

1. Repo Rate – 8% (unchanged)

2. Reverse Repo Rate – 7% (unchanged)

3. CRR – 4% (unchanged)

4. SLR – 22%  (changed from 22.5 per cent to 22.0)

5. Bank Rate – 9% (unchanged)

6. MSF – 9% (unchanged)

2.    GDP growth expected to go up to 5.5% this fiscal: RBI

i. With improvement in economic activity and revival of sentiments, the Reserve Bank of India today said that the GDP growth in the current fiscal is expected to go up to 5.5 per cent from 4.7 per cent in the last financial year.

ii. “The implementation of government policy actions that have been announced should create a congenial setting for a steady improvement in domestic demand and supply conditions,” the RBI said in its bi-monthly policy statement.

iii. “Prospects of re-invigoration of growth have improved modestly... the central estimate of real GDP growth of 5.5 per cent within a likely range of 5 to 6 per cent for 2014-15 can be sustained,” it said.

3.    Arvind Gupta appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor

i. The government has appointed Indian Foreign Service officer Dr. Arvind Gupta as Deputy National Security Advisor and Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat for a period of three years.

ii. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet yesterday approved his name for the post. Mr Gupta, a 1979 batch IFS , is currently serving as the Director General in the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.

4.    Lt Gen Philip Campose takes over as Army Vice Chief 

i. Lt Gen Philip Campose- a veteran mechanised infantry officer, has taken over as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff succeeding Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who is now heading the 1.3 million strong force. 

ii. 59-year-old Lt Gen Campose, who was till now the Western Army Commander, took over as the Vice Chief on August 1, an Army release said in New Delhi. 

iii. An alumnus of St Xavier's School, Delhi, the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, he was commissioned into the Infantry in 1974 and later sidestepped into the newly constituted Mechanised Infantry Regiment in 1982. 

5.    India, Nepal to build pipeline for petroleum products' supply to Himalayan nation

i. India and Nepal have agreed to build a pipeline for supply of petroleum products to the Himalayan nation.
ii. According to a joint statement, issued at the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal, the request was made from the Nepalese side to which the Indian side agreed to take up the project for construction of the pipeline from Raxual in Bihar to Amlekhganj in Nepal in the first phase and extend it to Kathmandu in the next phase. 
iii. Nepal is dependent on India for its all fuel requirements. Currently, petrol, diesel, LPG and jet fuel are transported to Nepal through trucks from India. 

6.    World Bank pledges 200 mln to fight Ebola

i. The World Bank has pledged USD 200 million in emergency funding to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help the West African countries contain spread of deadly Ebola infections and improve public health systems.

ii. World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim, who is experienced in treatment of infectious diseases, said the new financing commitment was in response to a call from both the three African countries hardest-hit by Ebola and the World Health Organisation for immediate assistance to contain the outbreak. 
iii. In a statement, he said the World Bank Group would step up social safety net assistance for affected communities and families and help to build up public health systems in West Africa to strengthen the region's disease control capacity. 

iv. With the Ebola virus now directly and indirectly impacting economies in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and neighboring countries, the new WB Group emergency response will also help countries and communities cope with financial hardship caused by the outbreak, a media statement said.

7.     CIBIL to start Risk Index for corporate sector

i. The Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) on Tuesday said it will come up with a risk index which will help banks and financial institutions in the process of granting loans and advances to corporates.

ii. It is basically a risk management tool which will help banks and financial institutions while sanctioning any loan to the corporate sector,” CIBIL Senior Vice President-Consumer Relations and Communications Harshala Chandorkar said.

Note: i. CIBIL provides credit information about individual customer and business entities that helps banks in taking decision on sanctioning credit to any customer. It maintains account credit information of 350 million accounts of individual consumers and 19 million accounts of businesses.

ii. CIBIL has also recently launched new product for banks called ‘Alert’ wherein it will send an alert to the bank whenever there is a change in the profile of a customer.

8.    HDFC Bank opens branch in Dubai

i. HDFC Bank Ltd has opened its branch in Dubai at the International Financial Centre, and will provide wealth management services to non-resident Indians based in the UAE.

ii. A bank statement said after Bahrain and Hong Kong, this is HDFC Bank’s third branch overseas. It also operates two more representative offices in the UAE at Dubai and Abu Dhabi which will continue to function.

iii. As of June 30, the bank had a network of 3,488 branches and 11,426 ATMs in 2,231 cities and towns.

9.    Manipur tops in employment growth

i. Manipur at 83.29 per cent tops the list of percentage of growth in employment followed by Assam, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan. 

ii. As per the provisional results of the Sixth Economic Census released by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on July 30, Assam was placed at the second position in terms of percentage of growth in employment at 78.84 per cent as against the national average of 34.35 per cent. 

10.  Justice Dr. Chellur sworn in as CJ of Calcutta HC

i. Justice Dr. Manjula Chellur was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court today.

ii. The West Bengal Governor Mr. Keshari Nath Tripathi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Justice Dr. Chellur. She will be the first Lady Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. 
iii. Prior to this she was the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. The West Bengal Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee, State Law Minister Mrs. Chandrima Bhattacharjee, Senior Judges of the High Court and other distinguished persons were present.

11.  UP Governor Ram Naik given additional charge of Rajasthan

i. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has been given additional charge of Rajasthan in place of Margaret Alva, who completes her tenure today.

ii. A Rashtrapati Bhawan press communiqué said Governor of Gujarat Om Prakash Kohli has also been given additional charge of Goa.

12.  Tagore’s Gitanjali part of WWI commemorative event at UN

i. A poem from Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s masterpiece The Gitanjaliwas recited by Indian Ambassador to the U.N. Asoke Kumar Mukerji as part of a commemorative ceremony held here marking 100 years of the outbreak of the World War I.

ii. Mr. Mukerji was among the 15 UN envoys who chose, recited and recorded poems related to the war by authors from their respective countries.

iii. The poems and their recordings were displayed at an interactive exhibition organised by the U.K.’s mission to the U.N. on Monday as it took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of August.

13.  Sayeeda Warsi resigned from British government over Gaza conflict

i. Sayeeda Warsi, the Foreign Office minister of Britain resigned from the government on 5 August 2014 in protest of Britain’s policy on Gaza.

ii. She described the British policy on the crisis in Gaza as morally indefensible. She tendered her resignation to the British Prime Minister David Cameron.
iii. She was the fir st female Muslim cabinet minister to serve United Kingdom during David Cameron led government. She, although, has never won an election.