Current Affairs - 28th Feb 2014

First electric passenger bus of India

First electric bus of the country was inaugurated in Bangalore. This is the first bus of the country to run with electricity with zero emission level. It is a joint effort of Bangalore transport centre and Utopia.

The bus can run for 6 to 8 hours if fully charged and as of now one such bus is being put to use in the city. The bus is a full A.C. coach and 8 more bus will be included if this works out.

Zero discrimination Day on March 1st

UNAIDS notified March 1 as zero discrimination Day with a message that everyone has the right to live with dignity. The symbol for Zero Discrimination is the butterfly, widely recognized as a sign of transformation.

New tiger reserve in U.P.

The UP govt. is planning for the 3rd tiger reserve in the state after Dudhwa and Amangarh. This time the govt. has approved the plans of Pilibhit Tiger reserve. The National Tiger conservation authority has approved for the reserve in 2008. As of now Pilibhit is a reserve forest area of 73024.98 hectares.

India’s first Post Office savings bank ATM

India’s first Post Office Savings Bank ATM was inaugurated by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at Chennai. The ATM was inaugurated at Thiyagaraya Nagar Head Post Office in Chennai. This is a part of the government’s Rs. 4,909 crore IT modernization scheme for the Department of Posts specified in the interim budget for 2014-15.

Nabard to fund small infrastructure projects in villages

National bank for agricultural and rural Development (NABARD) which is the monitoring authority of RRBs and which insures the rural credit flow is planning to fund small infrastructure projects in villages.

Nabard could support the ‘gram panchayat’ (a local self-government institution at the village level) to develop micro-infrastructure projects in villages in areas such as bore-wells, sanitation, electrification (solar/ biogas/ windmill), warehouse to store farm produce, and farm equipment — power-tillers etc.

ebay invests $100 million in Snapdeal

The US based online shopping firm ebay pumped in $133.79 million in its existing share in Snapdeal. This investment will help it face the competition with online shopping giants like Flipkart, Myntra, and Jabong. With this round, Snapdeal has so far raised $200 million from investors in the last few months.