DAILY GK UPDATE 6TH APRIL

1.    India, Azerbaijan ink three key pacts!

i. Aimed at creating the necessary legal framework in areas of extradition, India and Azerbaijan on Thursday inked three key pacts which also included treaties for mutual legal assistance in criminal and civil matters.

ii. Visiting Justice Minister of Azerbaijan Fikrat Mammadov held a meeting with Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde where the extradition treaty was signed.

iii. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Mammadov signed the treaty on legal and judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters

iv. While minister of state for External Affairs E Ahamed and the minister signed the contract for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

v. "These agreements will provide the necessary legal framework for facilitating our contacts and interaction in the areas of extradition of citizens of one country to the other, whenever required and for extending any legal assistance sought by one country from the other in the investigation of criminal as well as civil cases,".

2.    Padma Awards conferred by President Mukherjee!

i. Cricketer Rahul Dravid, actresses Sharmila Tagore and Sridevi, and DRDO chief V K Saraswat were among the 54 people honoured with Padma awards by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday.

ii. Sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra and researcher Yash Pal received Padma Vibhushan, Indias second-highest civilian award.

iii. Saraswat, Tagore, film producer D Ramanaidu and Dravid were presented the third highest Padma Bhushan, while Sridevi got Padma Shri from the President at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan's Darbar Hall.

iv. Theatre personality B Jayashree, boxer Ngangom Dingko Singh of Indian Navy, photographer Pablo Bartholomew and Subedar Major Bajrang Lal Takhar also received Padma Shri.

NOTE: This year's list of honours were announced on 25th January and another ceremony is expected later for presentation of the awards to the remaining recipients.

3.    Govt to roll out cash transfer scheme on LPG from May !

i. After initial hiccups, the government decided on Friday, to transfer cash subsidy to domestic cooking gas (LPG) consumers under its ambitious Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme from next month.

ii. LPG consumers will get about Rs 4,000 per annumin cash from the government, and they will have to then buy LPG at a market price of Rs 901.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

iii. Currently, each consumer is entitled to get 9 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised price of Rs 410.50.

iv. On each of these cylinders, the government bears a subsidy Rs 435. 

v. Beginning next month, consumers in select districts will get this subsidy amount transferred into their bank accounts.

vi. Once they get the subsidy, they will have to buy LPG at market price !

vii. The decision to roll out the DBT on LPG cylinders in a phased manner was taken at a high powered meeting headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

NOTE: "The subsidy amount will be transferred to consumers directly into their bank accounts. With the subsidy going directly, there will be only one price at which cylinders will be sold at a dealer's shop. DBT, it added, will eliminate all ghost connections and diversion of cylinders.

4.    Website launched on Babu Jagjivan Ram Birth Anniversary !

i. Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Kumari Selja on 5 April 2013 launched a Website on Babu Jagjivan Ram on the occasion of his 106th Birth Anniversary.

ii. The Government has dedicated this website (http://www.jagjivanram.nic.in/)to Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation an autonomous organization that is functional under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

iii. Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation was established on 14th March, 2008 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, with the main aim of propagating the ideals of the late Babu Jagjivan Ram, on social reform as well as his ideology, philosophy of life, mission and vision to create a casteless and classless society.

5.    S Gopalakrishnan elected as new President of CII !

i. S Gopalakrishnan, the co-founder and Executive Co-Chairman of Infosys, on 5 April 2013 was elected as the President of the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2013-14. 

ii. He is succeeding Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group. 

iii. S Gopalakrishnan, who is also a Padma Bhushan recipient, Gopalakrishnan was in recent times was voted as the top CEO (IT services category) in Institutional Investor's inaugural ranking of Asia's Top Executives, and was selected as one of the winners of the second Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia.

About S Gopalakrishnan !

i. He is an alumni of IIT, and is also on the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

ii. In 1981, Gopalakrishnan co-founded Infosys with six other entrepreneurs. 

iii. He is also the Chairman of the International Institute of Information 

6.    Raninder Singh re-elected as the President of National Rifle Association of India

i. Raninder Singh on 6 April 2013 was re-elected as the President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

ii. Raninder Singh has been holding the Post of the President since 29 December 2010. 

7.    ICSI National Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance for 2012 !

i. ICSI National Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance -2012 is presented  to two Best Governed Companies - Indian Oil Corporation Limited and HCL Technologies Limited.

ii. These awards were presented during the ongoing 2nd CSIA International Corporate Governance Conference. 

iii. The Company Secretaries of the awardee companies, Raju Ranganathan- the Company Secretary of Indian Oil Corporation Limited as well as Manish Anand- the Company Secretary of HCL Technologies Limited were honoured for the contribution in adhering to good corporate governance practices.

iv. ICSI Life Time Achievement Award for the year 2012 was conferred upon Deepak S. Parekh, Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd.

v. He was given the award for translating excellence in Corporate Governance into reality.

vi. Apart from this, the Certificates of Recognition were presented to the top five companies which were:

i. CMC Limited
ii. Engineers India Limited
iii. ONGC Limited
iv. Persistent Systems Ltd.
v. Power grid Corporation of India Limited

8.    RBI finds ICICI, HDFC and Axis guilty of violating KYC norms: report

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly found some private lenders guilty of violating know your customer (KYC) norms.

ii. A source from the central bank revealed that the probe found that officials at ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank violated KYC norms.

iii. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source said, "The RBI, in its probe, has found that there have been some instances where bank officials have not done proper KYC for larger transactions."

iv. The central bank said in a statement that the probe was a supervisory matter and such matters were dealt with bilaterally with concerned banks, and thus it could not share any details with the media.

v. If the RBI actually finds the three banks guilty of money laundering, the banks would have to face hefty penalties.

9.    Toll free complaint number to be printed on train tickets !

i. In an effort to improve the food quality at rail premises and help passengers lodge complaints against poor catering services, Indian Railways has decided to print a toll free helpline number behind train tickets.

ii. Though it had launched the 10-digit helpline number (1800-111-321) in January this year, the response is so far tepid.

iii. The number of complaints against catering service on an average is five to six per day. This is because of the less awareness about the operation of the toll-free number.

iv. That is why it has been decided that all train tickets will have the toll-free number on its back and the modalities are being worked out to change the software for it.

v. Besides, stickers with toll-free number will also be put on coaches as part of the awareness campaign.

NOTE: i. Railways has set up a central monitoring cell with the toll-free number for the convenience of railway users to register their complaints regarding railways' catering services like food quality, over charging both at railway stations and in running trains.

ii. The facility is available on all seven days from 7 am to 10 pm. Food is generally served to the passengers during this time.

iii. According to the official, as soon as the complaint is registered, all possible action will be taken on real time basis to address that issue.

iv. Till date the railways has realised about Rs 5 lakh as penalty from caterers due to the complaints registered through the toll-free number.

10.  Hyderabad Sunrisers beat Pune Warriors by 22 runs !

i. Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Pune Warriors by 22 runs in their opening Pepsi IPL match at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Friday.

ii. Playing in their first match of the IPL under a new name, the Sunrisers defended a small total of 126 for six with their bowlers producing a disciplined show to bundle out the Warriors for 104 in 18.5 overs at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

iii. Steyn dismissed tailenders Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3), Rahul Sharma (0) and Ashok Dinda (0) in the space of four balls in the 19th over to end the Warriors' innings. The South African fast bowler conceded just 11 runs in his 3.5 overs.

iv. Uthappa's was the highest score for Warriors while Yuvraj Singh could contribute just two runs.

11.  Royals post challenging 165/7 against Daredevils  !

i. Riding on skipper Rahul Dravid's half-century, Rajasthan Royals posted a competitive 165 for seven in their Pepsi IPL match against Delhi Daredevils.

ii. Dravid (65) was ably supported by all-rounder Stuart Binny (40) but Daredevils pacers Umesh Yadav (4/24) and Ashish Nehra (2/35) bowled well at the death as the visitors lost four wickets in the space of eight deliveries with the addition of only four runs.