Daily Current Affairs Updates: 31 March 2015

1) Daniel Vettori announced retirement from international cricket:

--> New Zealand cricketer and former captain Daniel Vettori has announced his retirement from international cricket.

--> He made this announcement after playing last match in ICC World Cup 2015 Final against Australia.

--> Earlier in 2011, he had retired from Tests and Twenty-20s cricket format.

--> In his 18-year-old career, the 36-year-old played 113 tests and 295 ODIs.

2) Snapdeal acquired majority stake in RupeePower:

--> Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates online marketplace Snapdeal.com, has picked up a majority stake in digital financial services platform RupeePower.com as part of its plans to create a financial services marketplace.

3) Govt announced interest rates for various Small Savings Schemes:

--> Investments in Sukanya Samriddhi Account, the special deposit scheme for girl child, will earn higher interest rate of 9.2 per cent, while the rate on popular tax saving Public Provident Fund has been retained at 8.7 per cent for 2015-16.

--> At the same time, rate for senior citizens savings scheme (SCSS) has been enhanced to 9.3 per cent from existing 9.2 per cent. The above rates will be effective from 1 April 2015," a finance ministry statement said.

--> Kisan Vikas Patra interest earning has also been retained at 8.7 per cent.

--> Savings Deposit will continue to earn 4% interest.

4) 18-hour-old baby becomes India's youngest patient to undergo an open heart surgery:

--> An 18 hour-old baby from Mathura defied all odds and emerged as the youngest patient in India to undergo an open heart surgery.

--> Mayank was born in Mathura and within minutes of his birth was declared to have severe breathing difficulty, TAPVC, a critical heart condition, which stops the normal flow of blood from lungs to the heart.

--> The local doctors unable to treat the baby advised the family to rush the child to a multi-super specialty hospital in Delhi.

--> The challenge was immense but the doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute accepted it and performed an extremely difficult surgery. 

5) Muhammadu Buhari elected as President of Nigeria:

--> Former military ruler Genral Muhammadu Buhari won the Presidential election in Nigeria.

--> He defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan by more than two million votes.

--> With this historic win, Buhari became the first opposition candidate in history of Nigeria to win a presidential election.

6) India launched Operation Raahat to evacuate Indian nationals from Yemen:

--> India launched a massive air and sea operation named Operation Raahat to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from Yemen.

--> The operation started after India got permission to dock its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra at the Aden harbor of Yemen.

--> The complete rescue operation was overseen by Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd.) VK Singh.

7) Kotak Mahindra-ING Vysya merger gets RBI approval:

--> Kotak Mahindra Bank has received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval for acquiring ING Vysya Bank, making Kotak the fourth largest private lender in the country.

--> Happy to share that the RBI has approved merger of ING Vysya Bank with Kotak Mahindra Bank effective April 1, 2015,” Uday Kotak, Executive Vice-chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Group said.

--> An RBI statement said, “All the branches of ING Vysya Bank will function as branches of Kotak Mahindra Bank with effect from April 1, 2015.”

8) Rajasthan govt. opened mother’s milk bank:

--> Rajasthan’s first State-run human milk bank, “Jeevan Dhara”, was inaugurated by Health Minister Rajendra Rathore at the Mahila Chikitsalaya.

--> The first mother’s milk bank in the State was started by a non-governmental organisation in a government hospital in Udaipur.

9) Gujarat assembly passed controversial anti-terrorism and organized crime bill:

--> Gujarat assembly on 31 March 2015 passed by a majority vote the controversial Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill (GCTOC) which allows police to intercept and record telephonic conversations and submit them in court as evidence.

--> The bill, which was earlier returned by the President thrice to the state government for reconsideration when Narendra Modi was CM, was passed by a majority vote amid stiff resistance from opposition Congress, which walked out of the House over its controversial provisions.

--> The state government re-introduced the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill in the assembly after renaming it.