Daily GK Potion – 3rd February 2015

  1. New Italian President Sergio Mattarella sworn in
    • Italy’s new president, Sergio Mattarella, has officially taken office.
  2. France wins record fifth handball world title
    • France became the first team in handball history to win five world championships.
    • It was the country`s first world title since 2011.
    • They have beaten surprise finalists Qatar 25-22.
  3. Madhya Pradesh won the 10th National Award for excellent work in MGNREGA
    • Madhya Pradesh has won the 10th National Award for excellent work in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA).
    • The award was given to Madhya Pradesh for convergence of MGNREGA and other schemes for construction of permanent assets and for excellent work in providing opportunities for earning permanent income.
    • As many as 179 crore 11 lakh man days of employment have been created. Out of these, 77 crore 36 lakh man days of employment have been provided to female labourers.
  4. RBI announces Sixth RBI Bi Monthly Policy Review
    • RBI issued its (6th) sixth bi monthly monetary policy review on 3rd February for the financial year 2014-15.
    • The highlights are:
      CRR – 4% (unchanged)
      SLR – 21.5% (reduced by 50 basis points)
      Repo Rate – 7.75% (unchanged)
      Reverse Repo Rate – 6.75% (unchanged)
      Bank Rate – 8.75% (unchanged)
      MSF Rate – 8.75% (unchanged)
    • RBI increased the eligibility limit for foreign exchange remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to USD 250000 per person from USD 125000 last year.
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