Daily GK Update - 9th February 2015

1. Swiss leaks: India ranks 16th on leaked HSBC list

i. It is called Swiss Leaks — a trove of secret documents from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm that reveals names of account holders and their balances for the year 2006-07.

ii. The investigation revealed 1,195 Indian HSBC clients, roughly double the 628 names that French authorities gave to the Government in 2011.

iii. The new revelation— published today as part of a global agreement — is expected to significantly widen the scale and scope of the ongoing probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court.

2. CarDekho.com gets Ratan Tata fund

i. In a first-of-its kind partnership in the Indian auto space, CarDekho.com announced an investment in the company by Ratan Tata.

ii. Tata has for the first time ever joined hands with an auto portal by investing in his personal capacity.

iii. GirnarSoft, the parent company of CarDekho.com, now valued at USD 300 million, recently concluded its series B funding with a raise of $50 million.

iv. The automobile space has created the largest market value among vertical classifieds and globally public and private companies in the space are together valued at over $50 billion.

3. Bengaluru, Chennai, Surat among ‘100 Resilient Cities'

i. In its centenary year in 2013, the Rockefeller Foundation announced the 100 Resilient Cities project with a $100 million commitment to build urban resilience worldwide.

ii. The idea behind choosing is that cities have complex ecosystems and have a hard time organising themselves around what their key challenges are and the second is that too often the cities don’t access the resources or best practices efficiently enough.

ii. The project consists hiring of a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) in each city, or a senior person to work in municipal government usually with mayors, or in the Indian context, probably more with the commissioners with the breadth and gravitas to work across the sectors and silos and engage with private sector and civil society.

4. Vodafone India appoints Naveen Chopra as Chief Operating Officer

i. Vodafone India on Monday announced the appointment of Naveen Chopra as Chief Operating Officer (COO) with effect from April 1, 2015.

ii. Mr. Chopra, currently Director — Vodafone Business Services (VBS), will succeed Sunil Sood, who will be the MD and CEO of the company.

iii. Naveen has, over the last five years, ably led the VBS into significant growth and led our expansion into new customer and product segments.

5. Singapore President's visit to India

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam, who is presently in the national capital to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

ii. Indian envoys focussed today on interface of Digital communications and Diplomacy. 

India-Singapore discussed an agenda of development. Skill development, connectivity in North East India primary focus.

iii. Singapore is one of India's major trade and investment partners, with bilateral trade for the financial year 2013-14 standing at $19.27 billion.

iv. The year 2015 marks 50 years of the establishment of India-Singapore diplomatic relations.

6. Nitish set to return as Bihar CM as BJP stumbles

i. The Janata Dal United (JDU) replaced their leader Jitan Ram Manjhi with Nitish Kumar, as the Bharatiya Janata Party put its weight behind Manjhi but could not coordinate his 'rebellion'.

ii. The leaders including JDU president Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad and Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh handed over a list of 130 MLAS and asked the Governor to administer the oath of office to Kumar.

iii. Manjhi has been expelled from the party on grounds of "anti-party activities", which means he will retain his seat in the Assembly but will have to ensure two thirds of the JDU splits to enable him to form a government with the BJP's support.