Daily GK: 5th December 2014

1.    Narndra Modi named 'Asian of the Year' by Singapore's Straits Times

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was today named ‘Asian of the Year’ for being a development-focused leader by editors of Singapore’s leading daily, The Straits Times.

ii. “Despite being relatively new to the job, he has already made a mark on Asia, reaching out to neighbours and receiving national leaders including Xi Jinping of China and Tony Abbott of Australia,” said the Singapore Press Holdings Ltd, publisher of the daily.

iii. It said Modi has had a highly successful visit to Japan for a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

iv. “Mr Modi has got India and the world excited about his country’s prospects again. He has given his people a renewed sense of direction and purpose, and there are hopeful signs that he is minded to using his strong mandate to good effect in one of Asia’s major powers. We wish him and India every success,” Warren Fernandez, editor of the daily said.

v. Every December, editors of the Singapore daily pick an Asian whose actions have significantly impacted his own society or the wider Asian continent in the 12 months past.

2.    Govt relaxes norms for licenses for e-rickshaw drivers

i. The government on Friday approved relaxation in norms for e-rickshaw drivers, paving the way for the battery-operated vehicles to ply on national capital roads, which were banned by the Delhi High Court on safety concerns.

ii. "Cabinet has approved relaxation in norms for driving licences for e-rickshaw drivers," a source said after the Cabinet meeting in New Delhi on Friday.  iii. "The norms have been relaxed for issuing licences for e-rickshaw drivers. The provision that no person shall be granted a learners licence to drive a commercial vehicle unless he or she has held a driving licence for light motor vehicle for at least one year has been waived," another source said. 
iv. E-rickshaw is a legal entity and any driver passing the driving test would now be granted a licence, he added.
v. The government in October had notified the rules for plying of e-rickshaws making drivers licence mandatory for operating them and limiting the maximum speed to 25 km per hour. 

3.    RBI relaxed norms for PPIs and doubled the limit to one lakh rupees

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 December 2014 relaxed the norms for Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPI) and doubled the limit of PPI from 50000 rupees to one lakh rupees.

ii. The move would help in achieving the objective of limiting cashtransactions in the system.

Highlights of RBI norms on PPI

i.  The maximum validity of gift cards has been enhanced from one year to three years. Other provisions of PPI guidelines with respect to gift cards will continue.

ii. RBI also allowed issue of multiple PPIs by banks from fully-KYC compliant bank accounts for dependent or family members.

iii. Only one card can be issued to one beneficiary.

iv. The bank may put in place mechanisms to monitor and report suspicious transactions on these PPIs to Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU-IND).

v. The central bank also permitted banks to issue rupee denominated PPIs for visiting foreign nationals and NRIs.

4.    RBI issues norms for trading platform for MSME receivables

i. RBI issued guidelines for setting up a trading platform for trade receivables and bills of exchanges of Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises - MSME.

ii. In a notification issued from Mumbai, RBI said that the Trade Receivables Discounting System - TReDS should have a minimum paid up equity capital of 25 crore rupees and non-promoters would not hold over 10 per cent of the equity capital of TReDS.

iii. The foreign shareholding in the TReDS would be as per the extant foreign investment policy. According to RBI, TReDS will facilitate financing of invoices/bills of MSMEs drawn on corporate and other buyers, including government departments and PSUs by way of discounting. It would discount invoices so that final payment of the bill to the MSME is made by buyer on a due date.

iv. RBI has said that entities, other than the promoters, will not be permitted to have shareholding in excess of 10 per cent of the equity capital of the TReDS.

v. The overall financial strength of the promoters/entity seeking to set up TReDS would be an important criteria of assessment/selection.

5.    HDFC Bank rules out a JV for payment bank

i. HDFC Bank has become the first in the sector to rule out a joint venture partnership with any applicant for one of the proposed payment banks (PBs).

ii. “We will not do a joint venture for this. We are a full bank ourselves and don’t need to form an alliance,” said Aditya Puri, managing director.

iii. In final guidelines issued last week, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed entities to form an alliance with a lender to form a PB.

iv. The idea is that PBs would tap unbanked areas and such an alliance would help.  Puri said HDFC Bank was capable of tapping far-flung areas on its own. Nor does he think they pose a worry on competition.

v. “There is enough for everyone to do. There is space for payment banks, small banks, regional rural banks and large banks to exist,” he said.

6.    NRAI chief Raninder becomes first elected Indian in ISSF committee

i. National Rifle Association of India President Raninder Singh has created history by becoming the first Indian to become an elected member of the all-powerful International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)'s Executive Committee.

ii. Contesting his first election, Raninder garnered 22 out of 25 votes in the General Assembly meeting held at Munich,Germany.

iii. It is the first time in its 107-year history that an Indian has been elected as the member of the global body representing the sport of Shooting. He was also elected as the member of the Administrative Council of ISSF with 145 out of 293 votes.

7.    Private entity cannot hold more than 26% in coal venture

i. A private sector entity cannot own more than 26 per cent stake in public-private joint ventures for coal block allocations. However, if it is more than one private sector entity, the structure should be such that its stake does not exceed 49 per cent.

ii. “This will ensure that the private party cannot veto board decisions,” a senior Coal Ministry official said.

iii. This will also enable Government entities to retain the majority stake. In seeking the Cabinet’s nod for the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 to replace the ordinance, the Government has proposed this change.

iv. A total of 92 blocks are being offered under the first round.

8.    Hockey Champions Trophy begins in Odisha

i. The Hockey Champions Trophy has been inaugurated at the Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

ii. All the eight Captains of the participating teams were present during the inauguration of the Trophy being organized by Federation of International Hockey (FIH).
iii. The Tournament matches are starting from tomorrow as every team will play three league matches.

iv. India will play Germany, Argentina and Netherlands on 6th, 7th and 9th this month. Australia, Belgium, England and Pakistan are also participating in the Champions Trophy.

9.    Air India, NBCC sign MoU for development of land parcels 

i. Air India and National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited, NBCC, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU for development of land parcels of Air India at various locations on joint venture basis.

ii. The MoU was signed in the presence of Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju.

iii. Partnering with NBCC will help both parties unlock more value from Air India’s land, totalling nearly 8 million square feet spread across the country. It will benefit from the government’s recent move to hike the floor area ratio of a building's constructed area to the size of land.