Daily GK Update [8th April 2015]

1. SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank heed Raghuram Rajan's call, cut base rate

i. State Bank of India was the first off the block to impress the regulator by reducing its base rate, forcing private sector peers HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to follow suit as they took heed of RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's stern message to ensure transmission of monetary policies. 

ii. State Bank of India lowered its base rate by a token 15 basis points — from 10% to 9.85%. HDFC Bank lowered its base rate by 15 bps to 9.85%, while ICICI Bank cut it by 25 bps to 9.75%, the lowest in the industry now. 

iii. SBI's new base rate is effective from April 10, while HDFC Bank's will come into effect from April 13. ICICI Bank said its existing floating rate customers will get the benefit of the new rate from April 10, while new borrowers will get it from July 1. 

iv. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have also reduced deposit rates by 25 bps for medium-term deposits of up to Rs 1 crore.

Base rate is the minimum rate at which a bank can lend. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. 

2. Rs 20,000 cr MUDRA Bank launched by PM Narendra Modi

i. PM Narendra Modi launched the Rs 20,000 cr Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank and said , “the aim of the bank is to fund the unfunded small entrepreneurs and to strengthen savings habit in the country”.

ii. MUDRA Bank will provide credit of up to Rs 10 lakh to small entrepreneurs and act as a regulator for ‘Micro-Finance Institutions’ (MFIs).

iii. The roles envisaged for MUDRA include laying down policy guidelines for micro enterprise financing business and registration of MFI entities as well as their accreditation and rating.

iv. MUDRA is to be set up through a statutory enactment. It would be responsible for developing and refinancing through a Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana.

v. MUDRA would also partner with state/regional level coordinators to provide finance to “Last Mile Financiers” of small/micro business enterprises.

3. Narendra Modi announces compensation for farmers

i. Coming to the rescue of farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorm, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced higher compensation for crop damage and eased criteria for them to avail government support.

ii. Modi said criteria of 50 per cent crop damage for providing compensation to affected farmers has been reduced to 33 per cent which will help more farmers to get compensation for their crop loss.

iii. Following Mr. Modi's footsteps the Reserve Bank has instructed banks to restructure loans of farmers whose crops have been damaged by the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms.

iv. In its first bi - monthly monetary policy on  7th April 2015, the RBI said that the adverse impact of unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March is still unfolding.

4. Snapdeal acquires FreeCharge

i. Online marketplace Snapdeal acquired India’s fastest growing mobile transaction platform FreeCharge. 

ii. With this acquisition, Snapdeal has become India’s largest mobile commerce firm with 40 million users and the largest mobile transactions base for any company. 

iii. Now Snapdeal can offer wide range of services and products including financial services, mobile recharge and utility payments to its growing user base.

5. Mayilsamy Annadurai appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)

i. Mayilsamy Annadurai is appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.

ii. He took over as Director, ISAC from Dr SK Shivakumar who superannuated on 31 March 2015.

iii. As the Director of ISAC he will oversee development of satellite technology and implementation of satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions.

iv. Before the present appointment he had been the Programme Director of Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) and Small Satellite Systems (SSS) at the ISAC since 2011.

6. Government raises stake in state-owned IFCI to 51% 

i. IFCI Ltd has now become a state- owned firm with the government increasing its stake in the infrastructure financing firm to 51.04 per cent. 

ii. Government has acquired IFCI's 6,00,00,000 Preference shares of Rs 10 each from certain scheduled commercial banks and has consequently increased its holding from 47.93 per cent to 51.04 per cent of the paid-up share capital. 

7. World Cup heartache fades as fresh IPL season starts

i. The Indian Premier League (IPL), with its heady cocktail of cricket, money and glamour, begins its eighth edition on 8th April 2015. The T20 tournament brings together the superstars of the game in an epic festival of club cricket at its best.

ii. The first and final match of IPL 2015 will both be played at the Eden Gardens. The title clash will take place on May 24.

iii. Yuvraj Singh - bought by Delhi for Rs 16 crores - is the most expensive player in the tournament. His amount is 3.5 crores more than even that of Dhoni.