Daily GK Update [1st April 2015]

1. Mustafa Kamal resigned from the post of President of International Cricket Council

i. Mustafa Kamal on 1 April 2015 stepped down as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He sent out the resignation letter to the ICC.

ii. The Bangladeshi cricket administrator had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.

iii. He has been associated with cricket for 30 years and served cricket in different capacities. In 2012, he was named as the Vice-President of the ICC for the term 2012-2014.

2. Commerce Ministry releases Foreign Trade Policy

i. The commerce ministry announced its new Foreign Trade Policy for the period 2015-2020. 

ii. To address the infrastructural bottlenecks, complex procedures and manufacturing hurdles, the new trade policy announced two new schemes -- Merchandise Exports From India Scheme (MEIS) and Services Exports From India Scheme (SIES).

iii. The new trade policy will boost exports, create jobs while supporting 'Make In India' and 'Digital India'… Will focus on defence, pharma, environment-friendly products and value-added exports.

3. Snapdeal acquires majority stake in RupeePower 

i. E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal has acquired a majority stake in digital financial distribution platform RupeePower for an undisclosed amount.

ii. Snapdeal’s entry into online financial services is a first for an e-commerce company in India. Following the deal, the SoftBank-backed Snapdeal will offer consumer loans through the RupeePower network. The online financial services market in India is estimated at Rs 4,500 crore.

iii. The latest development is part of Snapdeal’s $1-billion acquisition spree. Founded in 2011, RupeePower has partnered 12 banks, including the State Bank of India, and non-banking financial companies.

4.  Kotak Mahindra-ING Vysya merger gets RBI approval 

i. The merger deal between Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya Bank has received the Reserve Bank's approval, which would create the country's fourth largest private sector lender. 

ii. The scheme of amalgamation (of Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya Bank) shall come into effect from April 1, 2015. Following the merger, all the tangible and intangible assets have been transferred to Kotak Mahindra Bank. 

iii. The Rs 15,000 crore merger deal between Kotak Mahindra and ING Vysya got the Competition Commission's approval in February. 

5. RBI penalises 16 Central Co-operative Banks (CCBs)

i. The Reserve Bank of India penalised 16 central cooperative banks with a fine of Rs 5 lakh each for non-adherence of the Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering guidelines.

ii. The lenders were issued show-cause notices and the action was taken after going through the responses.

iii. The penalties were imposed on these co-operative banks in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47(A) read with Section 46 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949

6. New Zealand cricketer Mills follows Vettori into retirement

i. New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Mills announced his retirement from all cricket Wednesday, following Daniel Vettori in calling it quits after the World Cup final.

ii. Mills was consistently ranked among the world's top 10 one-day bowlers throughout his illustrious 14-year career, and for a long time was ranked number one.

iii.  Mills represented New Zealand in 170 ODIs and took 240 wickets to be the Black Caps' second highest wicket-taker in the shortened game behind Vettori, who took 297.