Daily GK Update - 3rd January 2015

1. ICICI Launches Digital Village Project in Gujarat

i. Joining Digital India programme, top lender ICICI Bank has launched its own 'digital village' project while adopting an entire village in Gujarat to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching.

ii. Digital village has three themes -- cashless, comprehensive and connected. 

iii. Village, named Akodara, in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat incidentally happens to be the same place where Modi started Gujarat's first animal hostel in 2011 when he was the Chief Minister of the state.

iv. One of the key points is providing cashless banking services to every villager. 

v. The villagers are getting SMSs in Gujarati for their transactions and other digital services.

vi. the bank has set up e-health, e-milk producer group, Wi-Fi connectivity and schools with digital black boards in the village, along with a host of other digital facilities.

2. Gyan Sangam: Government on its way to overhaul public sector banks

i.  Government has embarked on a mission to overhaul public sector banks, beginning with a twoday, high-profile retreat in Pune.

ii. The main objective is to search for "out-of-the-box" ideas to reorient them to support the country's bid to move back to a high-growth trajectory. 

iii. the government wants to draw up an urgent reform road map that could include the revamp of priority sector lending, consolidation and effective use of technology for lending besides greater financial inclusion. 

iv. The event is being held at the National Institute of Bank Management on the outskirts of Pune.

3. Bengal Global Business Summit

i. Projecting itself as an ideal investment destination, the Government of West Bengal is organising Bengal Global Business Summit — Bengal Leads.

ii. The State is seeking investment in sectors such as urban infrastructure and housing, IT software and hardware, food processing, horticulture and floriculture, MSME and textiles.

iii.Other Sectors such as health care, education and skills development, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure, hospitality and tourism and business of entertainment and financial services are given the nod of the state as special sectors to look for. 

4. Kumar Sangakkara fastest to 12,000 runs in Tests

i. Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan Wicket Keeper batsman became the fastest player to reach 12,000 Test runs.

ii. Sangakkara had entered the game needing five runs to become the fifth man to surpass 12,000 test runs.

iii. Sangakkara has accumulated his runs in 224 innings, compared to India's Sachin Tendulkar and Australia's Ricky Ponting, who both needed 247 innings to surpass the mark.

5. Intel invests $24.8 million to speed up launch of Google Glass rival
i. Vuzix Corporation said that Intel Corp invested $24.8 million in the company to speed up the launch of internet-connected eyewear.
ii. Rochester, New York-based Vuzix develops computerized, internet-connected glasses and other video eyewear aimed at consumers, businesses and entertainment.
iii. Intel, which was slow to launch chips for smartphones and tablets, is striving to be at the forefront of future trends in mobile computing and expand into new markets.

 6. RBI relaxed KYC rules for Non-Banking Financial Companies
i. Know-Your-Customers (KYC) rules for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) were relaxed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
ii. The KYC rules were amended for NBFC’s due to practical difficulties and constraints being faced by them in getting KYC documents at frequent intervals.
iii. As per RBI notification, the KYC exercise will be required to be done in three ways and they are

• For high-risk individuals and entities – in at least every 2 years
• For medium risk individuals and entities - in at least every 8 years
• For low risk individuals and entities – in at least every 10 years

7. India lost 66 wild tigers in 2014

i. Sixty-six wild tiger deaths were reported in the country in 2014.Two tiger deaths occurred on the last day of the year. 

ii.  It was the only day in 2014 when two wild tiger deaths were reported. One was at Bandipur in Karnataka and the other at Tadoba Andhari in Maharashtra.

iii. As per statistics provided by Tigernet, the official database of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the highest number of wild tiger deaths was reported from the forests of Tamil Nadu —15, followed by Madhya Pradesh —14. Six of the deaths in Tamil Nadu were from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

iv. The majority of wild tiger deaths was caused by poaching, It is estimated that about 50 tigers could have been killed in this manner.