Daily GK Update - 24th February 2015

1. Salaries in PSU Banks increased by 15%

i. Employee unions of public sector banks withdrew their strike call following an agreement with the management on 15 per cent wage hike. 

ii. The bank unions had threatened to go on 4-day nation-wide strike from February 25 demanding 19 per cent hike in wages. The wage hike was due from November 2012. 

iii. The bank employees will now also get holidays on two Saturdays in a month. The banks, however, will work full-day on remaining Saturdays instead of the current practice of half-day.

2. Land acquisition amendment bill introduced in LS

i. The government introduced the land acquisition amendment bill in the Lok Sabha amid uproar by the Opposition.

ii. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 will replace an ordinance which had been promulgated by the NDA government on December 30 last year.

iii. Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha after the government introduced the Land Acquisition Bill.

3. Indian Army and State Bank of India inked MoU

i. The Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Defence Salary Package. 

ii. The MoU is tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. 

iii. The signing ceremony was chaired by the Adjutant General, Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma.

The revised MoU has incorporated a number of additional facilities and basic features of the MoU include the following

• Number of free/concessional services like free drafts, free cheque books, free funds transfers to any bank in India through RTGS / NEFT, free ATM cards and others
• The provision also includes the Nepal Express Remittance Scheme which enables instant fund transfers to Nepal for the benefit of the Nepali Domicile Gorkha Soldiers serving in the Indian Army.
• Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) was enhanced and was linked to the Savings account instead of the debit card.
• Exemption percentage of margin money for house and car loans was enhanced while the processing charges on the loans were waved off.

4. ONGC director Shashi Shankar suspended

i. The government has suspended Shashi Shankar,the director of the country's biggest oil producing company, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. 

ii. Shankar is the youngest director on the board of the nation’s most profitable oil company.

iii. He was appointed Director (Technical and Field Services) on February 1 last year.

5. Modi government accepts Finance Commission recommendations

i. The Modi government said on Tuesday that it has accepted the recommendation of Finance Commission to raise the share of states in central taxes to 42 per cent from current 32 per cent. 

ii. As per the increased devolution suggested in the report of the 14th Finance Commission, the states will get Rs 3.48 lakh crore in 2014-15 and Rs 5.26 lakh crore in 2015-16. 

iii. PM Modi said that while the Finance Commission was in favour of all state plans being met through the resources being devolved, the Centre will continue to support national priority projects like poverty elimination, MNREGA, education, health, rural development, agriculture and a few others. 

6. Rana Bhagwandas first Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan passes away

i. First Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Rana Bhagwandas passed away in Karachi, Pakistan. 

ii. He was the first Hindu and the second non-Muslim to head of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. 

iii. In 2005 for first time he was appointed as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for few days and again in 2006 during the absence of then CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry.

iv. During the Pakistan’s judicial crisis of 2007, he was again appointed as acting Chief Justice.

7. Chris Gayle hits first-ever World Cup double hundred

i. West Indies opener Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score a double century in a World Cup innings when he reached the landmark against Zimbabwe in a Pool B clash.

ii. It was also only the fifth double century in all ODI cricket and the first by a non-Indian, with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat.

iii. The West Indian coincidentally scored his double century exactly on the day when master blaster hammered first ever ODI double ton five years ago in 2010 against South Africa in Gwalior.

Records broken by Chris Gayle:

• First batsman to score a double hundred at World Cup.
• Fastest ODI double hundred off 138 balls. Virender Sehwag was the previous fastest off 140 balls.
• Fourth batsman to score ODI double hundred.
• Equals the record for most sixes an innings - Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers'