Daily GK Update [5th June 2015]

1. Infy appoints Seshasayee as Chairman

i. Infosys Limited announced that the Company’s Board have approved the appointment of R. Seshasayee as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board with immediate effect.

ii. K.V. Kamath will be stepping down from his position as Chairman of the Board and as an Independent Director of the Company, consequent to his nomination as President of the BRICS New Development Bank.

iii. Mr. Seshasayee has been an Independent Director on the Company’s Board since January 2011 and is the chairperson of the Audit Committee. Mr. Seshasayee’s other board positions include Non-Executive Vice Chairman of Ashok Leyland Ltd. and Chairman of IndusInd Bank Ltd.

2. Essel, Rajasthan government ink Rs 4k crore pact for solar parks

i. Essel Group formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with the Rajasthan government to set up solar parks in the state. 

ii. The solar parks will be set up in Bikaner and Jaisalmer regions with an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.

iii. Solar Park Project in Rajasthan will be India's turnkey project in the renewable energy space which will aid the clean energy initiatives of the Government of Rajasthan.

3. Mahindra business city to be carbon-positive

i.  A 'green' integrated business city pioneered by the Mahindra Group has drawn a road map of becoming climate positive in 10 years, a distinction which places India on the world map. 

ii. Mahindra World City Jaipur (MWCJ), spread across 3,000 acres on the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, has become the first project in Asia — and sixth in the world — to commit to a carbon-positive road map as part of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

iii. projected to reduce 8 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in about 10 years to become climate-neutral. 

4. Prince Harry knighted 

i. Prince Harry was today knighted by his grandmother the Queen as a sign of her personal esteem.

ii. The fifth in line to the throne was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

iii. The Order was founded in April 1896 by Queen Victoria as a way of rewarding personal service to her, on her own initiative rather than by ministerial recommendation and remains entirely within the Sovereign's personal gift.

5. Snapdeal-Tata Housing sells house worth Rs. 1.1 cr

i. E-commerce firm Snapdeal and Tata Housing, which have partnered to sell homes online, have announced their largest transaction worth Rs. 1.1 crore hours after commencing the sale of premium and luxury apartments.

ii. Snapdeal is also exploring alliances for providing options such as site visit facilities and documentation services.

iii. Snapdeal real estate category has grown 400 per cent in the last six months and currently comprise a portfolio of residential projects from developers across India including Tata Value Homes, Tata Housing, DLF, Sobha Developers, Godrej Properties, Mantri Developers, and Purvankara.