Current Affairs 10-11th Mar, 2015

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1. Lok Sabha cleared the contentious land acquisition Bill, along with nine amendments proposed by the government. The amendments included specifying only land up to one km on either side of a railway line or highway can be acquired for industrial corridors. The list of exempted categories omitted social infrastructure.

2. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari launched a web portal to facilitate cement procurement and delivery. INAM-PRO, which stands for platform for infrastructure and materials providers, will monitor the supply of cement and hasten the process of orders by prospective users and agencies with the respective cement manufacturers.

3. The world's first completely solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse, has started its round-the-world trip. It flew from Abu Dhabi to Muscat on the first day. It is expected to land on Ahmedabad after flying nearly 1,465 km over the Arabian Sea.

4. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) proposing an increase between 14 and 108 per cent in the Motor third-party (TP) insurance premium from April 1.

5. State Bank of India (SBI) will hold a record online auction auction which will be the biggest nationwide online sale to date and a rare public move to turn distressed loans into ready cash.

Current Affairs 10th Mar, 2015

1. Government is set to surpass its revenue estimates from the spectrum auction, as the assured revenue from the spectrum sale on the fifth day reached Rs 94,000 crore. The most aggressive bidding has happened in the 900-MHz band, which is used for offering voice services and 3G mobile services.

2. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in the Budget that 150 countries would be offered the visa on arrival facility in phases. Around 53 countries are being shortlisted by the tourism ministry for a second round of approvals for tourist visas on arrival. Canada, France, the UK, Spain, China, Greece, Iran, Turkey and Kuwait are likely to be on this list.

3. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) is considering newer options for the open architecture of bancassurance (the selling of insurance products through banks). These include tying up with more than one insurer in the life, non-life and standalone health insurance segments.

4. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to adopt a zero tolerance policy on Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) norms. The regulator is currently looking at a proposal to increase the quantum of penalties for such violations.

5. In the latest 'world reputation ranking' by Times Higher Education, none of the Indian universities could make it to the list of the top 100 global universities. The rankings for 2015 placed Harvard at the top followed by University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.