Daily GK Potion – 31st December 2014

  1. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has been renamed as ‘Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’.
  2. Union Government signed 75 million dollar loan deal with ADB for KIUWMIP
    • Union Government signed a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 75 million dollar and 1.8 million dollar grant for Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program (KIUWMIP).
    • This loan from the ADB has a 25 year term including a grace period of five years.
  3. Government Appoints MD & CEO of Four Nationalised Banks
    • Based on the recommendations of Appointments Board chaired by the Governor, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India announced the appointment of MD & CEO of four Nationalised Banks.
    • The appointments includes: Shri R. Koteeswaran – Indian Overseas Bank, Shri Animesh Chauhan – Oriental Bank of Commerce, Shri Kishore Kumar Sansi – Vijaya Bank, Shri P. Srinivas – United Bank of India.
  4. UN Security Council rejects Palestinian resolution
    • The UN Security Council has rejected a resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories within three years.
    • Jordan submitted the motion after it had been agreed upon by 22 Arab states and the Palestinian Authority.
    • Eight members of the 15-strong Security Council voted for it while the US and Australia voted against. Eight members who favored it were Russia, China, France, Argentina, Chad, Chile, Jordan and Luxembourg. The UK, Lithuania, Nigeria, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda abstained it.
    • The document called for Israel to fully withdraw from all occupied Palestinian territories by the end of 2017 and for a comprehensive peace deal to be reached within a year.
  5.  ADB approved $60 million loan to improve J&K’s urban transport infrastructure.
  6. Govt sets up committee on NATGRID
    • A high-level committee, headed by the Union Home Secretary, has been set up to allay apprehension of data sharing by various government agencies with Natgrid (National Intelligence Grid), the proposed real-time intelligence sharing set up.
    • The committee will discuss with various stakeholders of Natgrid like IB, R&AW, CBI, CBDT and remove their apprehension on breach of security and misuse of information.