Daily GK Update - 2nd June 2015

1. RBI lowers repo rate to 7.25 per cent

i. The Reserve Bank of India in its second bi-monthly policy announced on has reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.5 per cent to 7.25 per cent with immediate effect.

ii. It has decided to keep the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

iii. It has decided to continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bankwise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer-term repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions and continue with overnight/term variable rate repos and reverse repos to smooth liquidity.

iv.  the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.25 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate to 8.25 per cent.

2. Bangladesh Liberation War award for Vajpayee

i. Bangladesh is set to honour former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for his outstanding support for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971 when he was a Lok Sabha member.

ii. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also approved a proposal to honour the families of the members of Indian armed forces for sacrificing their lives for the cause of Bangladesh’s independence.

iii. Bangladesh will hand over Vajpayee’s “Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War Award” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit to the country from June 6.

3. RBI lowers GDP growth forecast to 7.6% for FY16

i. The Reserve Bank of India has marked down the projection for output growth for 2015-16 from 7.8 per cent in April to 7.6 per cent.

ii. The RBI stated that strong food policy and management would be important to help keep inflation and inflationary expectations contained over the near term.

iii. Assuming reasonable food management, inflation is expected to be pulled down by base effects till August but to start rising thereafter to about 6.0 per cent by January 2016.

4. BIS App launched

i. Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan launched a BIS App to register complaints against sub-standard quality of ISI marked products and Hallmark jewellery.

ii. Operation of godowns under Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been made online to increase transparency in the functioning of the corporation.

iii. Mr Paswan said government has decided to continue food grain allocation for other welfare schemes for the poor. Saying that food grains older than a year and a half are not kept in the godowns.

5. Ericsson partners Sterlite for smart city initiatives in India

i. Under the agreement, Ericsson will collaborate with Sterlite to design a roadmap and deploy solutions.

ii. The alliance will design, deploy, integrate and manage solutions in areas like communications, public safety, smart grid solutions and intelligent transport.

iii. Sterlite is working closely with the Government to drive smart sustainable city initiatives and supports Digital India programme.

iv. Solutions covered in the agreement include communications (Wi-Fi networks and fibre deployment), public safety (video situational awareness solutions and emergency response), intelligent transport (traffic management and fleet management) and smart grid solutions (smart grid communications and smart metering).

6. Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa sworn-in as Arunachal Pradesh Governor

i. Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa was sworn-in as the 19th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee had appointed him as Governor on May 12, 2015 after then Governor Lt General (Retired) Nirbhay Sharma was transferred to Mizoram.

iii. Mr. Rajkhowa is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from 1968 batch. He is the former Chief Secretary of Assam and had retired from service in 2004.

iv. Mr. Rajkhowa has authored a book, Central Vigilance Mechanism with special reference to P.S.E’s, and also had contributed by writing number of articles to leading newspapers.

7. Ravi Shastri to continue as Indian team director 

i. Former captain Ravi Shastri was on Tuesday retained as director of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting June 10.

ii. Shastri, who served as team director during the tour of Australia and the subsequent World Cup earlier this year, is a stop-gap arrangement for the short trip.

iii. Mr. B. Arun, assistant coach (Bowling) and Mr. R. Sridhar, assistant coach (Fielding), will assist Mr. Shastri during the tour.