gk4banking: General Knowledge for SBI Associates IBPS RRB Bank Clerk PO Exams

The home of bank job aspirants(SBI, Associate banks, IBPS,RRB PO and clerk): The current affairs is updated everyday for exam preparation. Visit regularly to improve your awareness in banking and finance to score good in SBI & associate banks, IBPS, & RRB exams. Regular updation of general knowledge, current affairs, banking and finance terms, Model question papers & tips for appearing bank exams for IBPS, SBI & associate banks, RRB & other banks is available.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

2016 SASTRA-Ramanujan award

Maksym Radziwill of McGill University, Canada, and Kaisa Matomaki of University of Turku, Finland has jointly won 2016 SASTRA-Ramanujan award for mathematics for their ‘revolutionary’ collaborative work on short intervals in number theory. In number theory, understanding behaviour in short intervals is very important and also it is very difficult to prove this result. It is what Matomaki and Radziwill have achieved which was basically a shocking result. They were presented with this prestigious award at inauguration of International Conference on Number Theory at SASTRA University at Kumbakonam.

64th National Film Awards

64th National Film Awards were announced

Best Feature Film: Kasaav (Marathi)
Best Direction: Rajesh Mapuskar for Ventilator(Marathi)
Best Actor: Akshay Kumar for Rustom (Hindi)
Best Actress: Surabhi C.M for Minnaminungu – the Firefly (Malayalam)
Best Supporting Actor: Manoj Joshi for Dashakriya (Marathi)
Best Supporting Actress: Zaira Wasim for Dangal (Hindi)
Best Child Artist: Adish Praveen for Kunju Daivam (Malayalam), Nur Islam and Samiul Alam for Sahaj Pather Gappo (Bengali), Manohara. K for Railway Children (Kannada)
Best Male Playback Singer: Sundharayyar for song Jasmie E from film Joker (Tamil)
Best Female Playback Singer: Iman Chakraborty for song Tumi Jaake Bhalo Basho from film Praktan (Bengali)
Best Cinematography: S. Thirunavukarasu for 24 (Tamil)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Screenplay writer (original): Syam Pushkaran for Maheshinte Prathikooram (Malayalam)
Screenplay Writer (Adapted): Sanjay Krishnaji Patil for Dashakriya (Marathi)
Dialogues: Tarun Bhascker for Peli Chuplu (Telugu)

BEST AUDIOGRAPHY
Sound Designer: Jayadevan Chakka Dath for Kaadu Pookkunna Neram (Malayalam)
Re-recordist of the final mixed track: Alok De for Ventilator (Marathi)
Best Editing: Rameshwar for Ventilator (Marathi)
Best Production Design: Subrata Chakraborthy, Shreyas Khedekar and Amit Ray for 24 (Tamil)
Best Costume Designer: Sachin Lovalekar for Cycle (Marathi)
Best Make-up Artist: NK Ramakrishna for Allama (Kannada)
Best Music Direction (Songs /Background Score): Bapu Padmanabha for Allama (Kannada)
Best Lyrics: Vairamuthu for song Entha Pakkam from film Dharma Durai (Tamil), Anupam Roy for Tumi Jaake Bhalo Basho from Praktan(Bengali)
Special Jury Award: Mohan Lal
Best Choreography: Raju Sundaram for Janatha Garrage(Telugu)
Best Special Effect: Naveen Paul for Shivaay (Hindi)

SPECIAL MENTION
Sonam Kapoor for Neerja (Hindi)
Adil Hussain for Mukti Bhawan (Hindi) and Maj Rati Keteki (Assamese) Producer Red Carper Moving Pictures and director Shubhashish
Bhutiani for Mukti Bhawan (Hindi) Producer Eleeanora Images Private Ltd and director Nila
Madhab Panda for Kadvi Hawa (Hindi)

Best Feature Film in each of the language specified in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution
Best Assamese Film: Maj Rati Keteki
Best Bengali Film: Bisorjon
Best Hindi Film: Neerja
Best Kannada Film: Reservation
Best Konkani Film: K Sera Sera –Ghodpachen Ghoddtelem
Best Malayalam Film: Maheshinte Prathikaaram
Best Marathi Film: Dashakriya
Best Telegu Film: Peli Chuplu
Best Gujarati Film: Wrong Side Raju
Best Tamil Film: Joker
Best Feature Film in each of the languages other than those specified in Schedule VIII of the Constitution
Best Moran Film: Haanduk
Best Tulu Film: Madipu

NON-FEATURE FILMS
Best Non Feature Film: Fireflies In The Abyss
Best Debut Film of a Director: Soz…A Ballad of Maladies by Tushar Madhav
Best Biographical/ Historical Reconstruction: Zikr Us
Parivashka: Begum Akhtar
Best Arts/Cultural Film: In The Shadow of Time and The Lord of The Universe
Best Environment Film including Agriculture: The Tiger Who Crossed The Line
Best Film on Social Issues: I Am Jeeja and Sanath
Best Educational Film: The Waterfall
Best Exploration/Adventure Film: Matitle Kusti
Best Investigative Film: Placebo
Best Animation Film: Hum Chitra Banate Hain
Special Jury Award: The Cinema Travellers
Best Short Fiction Film: Aaba
Best Film on Family Values: Little Magician
Best Direction: Aaba Aiktaay Naa?
Best Cinematography: Kalpvriksha” and Adnyat
Best Audiography: In Return Just A Book
Best Editing: Gudh
Best Music: Leeches
Best Narration/Voice Over: Makino

SPECIAL MENTION
Director Amitabh Parashar for The Eyes of Darkness
Director Ramen Borah and Sibanu Borah for Sikar Aru Sitkar
Director Soumya Sadanandan for Chembai-Descoperire A Mea Unei Legend

BEST WRITING ON CINEMA
Best Book on Cinema: Lata : Sur Gatha by Yatindra Mishra
Best Film Critic: G. Dhananjayan

Most Film Friendly State Award: State of Uttar Pradesh

Special Mention: State of Jharkhand

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Current Affairs: November 2016

November 2016 Current affairs summary for competitive exams... IBPS SBI CGL CHSL aspirants must go through this... Open each news to read in detail...

Friday, April 7, 2017

National Mathematics Day

In India, the day 'December 22' has been declared as the National Mathematics Day. The Declaration was made by Dr Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India. To celebrate birth anniversary of great Indian autodidact Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. This year, it will be the 130th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan. In 2011, Union Government had declared 22nd December as ‘National Mathematics Day’ to celebrate Ramanujan’s 125th birth anniversary. Government also had declared year 2012 as National Mathematics Year.

Agni 5

Surface-to-Surface nuclear capable ballistic missile 'Agni-5' has been successfully launched by India. The state-of-the-art surface-to-surface missile was test fired successfully from the launch complex 4 of the Integrated Test Range from the Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. It was the fourth developmental and second canisterised trial of the missile.

About Agni-5 missile:

Agni 5 is three-stage solid propellant ICBM indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO).

Unlike other missiles of Agni series, Agni-5 is the most advanced having new technologies incorporated with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine.

It is about 17 metre long, 2 metre wide and has launch weight of around 50 tonnes. It is capable of striking a target more than 5,000 kilometres with nuclear warhead carrying capacity of more than 1 tonne.

Thus, it can hit most northern parts of China and other parts of Asia, Europe and Africa. It has not yet inducted into the Services.

It carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV) payloads. A single MIRV equipped missile that can deliver multiple warheads at different targets.

It is also incorporates advanced technologies involving ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer for navigation and guidance.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Payment of wages(Amendment) Act 2017

Industrial units and other establishments have to pay wages either through cheques or by electronically transferring into workers' bank accounts, as per a new law passed by President Pranab Mukherjee. It will allow industries to pay wages to workers earning up to Rs. 18,000 per month, without taking their explicit consent as required under present Act. The new law has amended the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, which mandated payment of all wages either in coin or currency notes, or both. Before introduction of a bill to amend the 1936 Act on February 3, an Ordinance was promulgated by the President on December 28, 2016. The Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on February 7 and in Rajya Sabha on February 8.

Jnanpith 2016

Eminent modern Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh was chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the year 2016. He is the 52nd recipient of Jnanpith Award. He is sixth Bengali litterateur to bag this prestigious literary award after Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1966), Bishnu Dey (1971), Ashapoorna Devi (1976), Subhash Mukhopadhyay (1991) and Mahasweta Devi (1966).

About Jnanpith Award:

Jnanpith Award is India’s highest literary honour. Its name has been taken from Sanskrit words Jnana and Pitha which means knowledge-seat.

It was instituted in 1961 by Bharatiya Jnanpith trust founded by the Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain family that owns the Times of India newspaper group.

The award carries cash prize of 11 lakh rupees, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge and wisdom

Swachh Swasth Sarvatra

To strengthen health centres in open defecation-free (ODF) blocks Union Govenment has launched Swachh Swasth Sarvatra. The objective of this initiative is to strengthen community health centres in 708 ODF blocks across the country to enable them to achieve higher levels of cleanliness and hygiene. It is a part of the Union Government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission and is focused on the twin objectives of constructing toilets and enabling behavioral change. It is joint initiative of Ministry of Health and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to achieve better health outcomes through improved sanitation and increase awareness on healthy lifestyles. Apart from launching Swachh Swasth Sarvatra initative, J P Nadda,Union Health Minister and Prakash Javadekar,Union Minister of Human Resource Development also releasd the Operational Guidelines of Swachh Swasth Sarvatra along with the Swasth Bacche Swasth Bharat Booklet. The Booklet is prepared by Central Health Education Bureau(CHEB). It aims at educating the children and youth about healthy living habits and activities.

RBI Monetary policy

Urjit Patel- RBI Governor

The Reserve Bank of India today kept the repo rate(rate at which RBI loans short term funds to banks) unchanged at 6.25 percent and hiked the reverse repo rate(rate at which RBI borrows from banks) by 25 basis points to 6 percent. Inflation seen averaging 4.5 percent in the first half of this year and 5 percent in the second half. This is above the 4 percent which the RBI is targeting. Economy estimated to grow 7.4 percent this year, versus an estimated 6.7 percent last year. The RBI will shortly come out with a comprehensive plan to fix the bad loan problem, and also revive credit growth. At higher reverse repo, the central bank would suck cash from the system to control demand and cool prices. It will also encourage banks to park excess funds(they got from the deposit of outlawed old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes between November 8 and December 30, 2016.) with the RBI that will fetch higher returns.

Current rates:

Policy rates

Repo rate 6.25%

Reverse repo rate 6.00%

Marginal Standing Facility(MSF) 6.50%

Bank Rate 6.50%

Reserve ratios

Cash Reserve Ratio(CRR) 4.00%

Statutory Liquidity ratio(SLR) 20.50%

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

B N Srikrishna committee for institutionalisation of arbitration mechanism in India

Union Govenment has costituted a High-Level Committee(HLC) to review institutionalisation of arbitration mechanism in India. The committee will be headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, the retired Judge of Supreme Court.It will also examine specific issues and prepare roadmap required to make “India a robust centre for international and domestic arbitration. The committee will review the resources,facilities,funding and manpower of existing Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) institutions. Review working of the institutions that is funded by the Union Government arbitration purposes. The committee have to submit its report within a period of 90-days.

BHIM launched

PM Narendra Modi has launched a mobile app Bharat Interface for Mobile (BHIM) which is a Unified Payment Intreface(UPI) application. Launch was held at the Digi Dhan Mela held in Talkatora stadium, New Delhi. It is Aadhaar-based payments app which easily allows transferring money or making a payment from your bank account using only phone number. It can work even on basic phones as it supports USSD payments. It has mobile wallet facility in which money can be loaded. Using it anyone can directly connect their phone to bank account like a debit card.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The government met the 1.5 crore target for LPG connections to be added in this financial year under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and so has increased LPG coverage across the country to 70 per cent as of December 1. Since the launch of the PMUY, the LPG coverage across the country has increased to 70% as of December 1, 2016 from earlier 61% as of January 1, 2016. Top five States with highest number of LPG connections are: Uttar Pradesh (46 lakh), West Bengal (19 lakh), Bihar (19 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (17 lakh) and Rajasthan (14 lakh). These states constitute nearly 75% of the total connections released.The households belonging to SC/ST constitute the large chunk of beneficiaries of this scheme with 35% of the connections being released to them.

About Pradhan Manthri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY):

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a welfare program of the government of India, launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016. The stated objective of the program is providing 50,000,000 LPG connections to women from families below the poverty line. As of 3 April 2017, twenty million LPG connections had been completed. It is guided by a strong commitment to bring in changes in lives of poor women. The tagline of scheme is Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan. It seeks to empower women and protect their health by shifting them from traditional cooking based on unclean cooking fuels or fossil fuels to clean cooking gas.

Monday, April 3, 2017

October 2016: Current affairs

A complete list of current affairs for the month of October 2016 foor all competitive exams...

Sunday, April 2, 2017

National Women Premier Chess Championship

International chess master Padmini Rout won the National Women Premier Chess Championship for the third time. She was representing Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and to secure a hat-trick of title wins after hard fought draw with her PSPB teammate Eesha Karavade.

S Vijayalakshmi of Air India won silver medal.

Eesha Karavade of PSPB bagged bronze medal.

The victory has ensured that Padmini will be a part of the Indian women team in the next World team chess championship. The other two confirmed members of the team are Grandmasters Koneru Humpy and D Harika.

New INTERPOL President

Meng Hongwei, a politician of People’s Republic of China, has been elected as the new President of International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). With this, he becomes first Chinese citizen to hold the four-year post. He was elected at the INTERPOL’s 85th annual general assembly held in Bali, Indonesia and succeeds Mireille “Ballen” Ballestrazzi.

INTERPOL:

Interpol is the 2nd-largest international organization after the United Nations in terms of international representation. The headquartered of INTERPOL is located at Lyon, France. Its work focuses on public safety and battling terrorism, crimes against humanity, environmental crime, genocide, war crimes, etc.

National Student Startup Policy

To promote technology-driven student start-ups President Pranab Mukherjee launched the National Student Startup Policy (NSSP) during the second Visitor’s Conference.

About NSSP:

The National Student Start-up Policy has been formulated by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to propel Indian youth to contribute to the nation’s socio-economic progress. It aims to achieve this by promoting technology-driven student start-ups.

It envisages to create 1 lakh technology based student start-ups and a million employment opportunities in the next 10 years.

By developing an ideal entrepreneurial ecosystem, the policy aims to lend crucial soft skills such as decision-making in the students. Apart from this, it aims to promote strong inter-institutional partnerships among technical institutions.

Japan has signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal with India

Japan has signed a historic civil nuclear cooperation deal with India, opening the door for collaboration between their industries in the field even as the countries signed nine other agreements in various areas to bolster bilateral ties. With this, India has become the first non-NPT country with which Japan has signed a Civil Nuclear Agreement. The civil nuclear agreement between the two countries was not realized so far manly because India did not fit into Japan’s ‘Hikaku San Gensoku’ or three non-nuclear principles. These principles adopted in a resolution by Japanese parliament provide that Japan would neither possess nor manufacture nuclear weapons, nor shall it permit their introduction into Japanese territory.

End of cards is near Amitabh Kant

Nowadays,all transactions are done digitally through credit and debit cards. Digital transactions and ATMs were set to disappear,said by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant. Digital transaction through cards would disappear around by three to four years and it would move to mobile wallet and biometric modes. “Technology will be a key driver of India’s growth,” Kant said . “India believes in globalisation and it will continue to globalise and shall never talk of protectionism. As a result, it will emerge as an economy that would attract investments and growth and make India a hub of economic engagements par excellence". "Around 1500 companies have located their innovation centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore. India is the centre of frugal engineering"said Amitabh Kant.

‘Kalidas Samman’ 2015-16

Renowned theatre personality and Padma Shri, Prof Raj Bisaria has selected for the prestigious ‘Kalidas Samman’ national award for 2015-16. He will be bestowed with the prestigious award for achievement in theatre in a ceremony to be held in Ujjain.

About Award:

It is an annual award constituted by Madhya Pradesh in 1980. It is bestowed upon personalities in the four fields of classical music, classical dance, theatre and arts. Some of the previous recipients are Pandit Ravi Shankar, MF Husain, Pandit Jasraj, Shambhu Mitra, Habib Tanvir, Ebrahim Alkazi etc.

2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance

'Maharatna' firm, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has won the prestigious 2016 Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance. The award was received by Ashwini Kumar, CEO of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) on behalf of SAIL during the 16th London Global Convention on Corporate Governance and Sustainability in London, UK. SAIL was presented the award on account of its exemplary performance in the field of corporate governance that is for balancing the interests of all the stakeholders of the company -- shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community.

About Golden Peacock Award:

Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by the Institute Of Directors (IOD), India in 1991, are now regarded as a benchmark of Corporate Excellence worldwide.

Golden Peacock Awards, established now for over 25 years, excel. Golden Peacock Awards for Corporate Leadership and Institutional Excellence, over the time, have become a hallmark of excellence, both locally and globally. No award has achieved such respectability and admiration from the industry as the ‘Golden Peacock Awards’, which today receives around 1000 applications for various Awards each year. This is largely due to its transparent and 3-Tier evaluation process, based on internationally recognized criteria. Besides recognition & Award, mere preparation of information and compilation of data required for ‘Self-Appraisal Report’, helps to align & inspire the entire workforce and rapidly accelerates the pace of systems improvement in an organization. Award winners are eligible to use the Golden Peacock Awards Logo with year on all printed and promotional materials, which evidences the highest accolade received by the organisation.

First on-site huamanoid (robot) in India

First on-site huamanoid (robot) in India, was launched by the Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank (CUB) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Humanoid named 'Lakshmi' is India’s first banking robot.Currently, CUB has readied only one version of huamanoid banker and but is planning to deploy 25-30 robots at key branches by end of year if Lakshmi proves a hit with customers.

Features:

Lakshmi is artificial intelligence powered robot. It can speak English, gesture and engage in a life-like manner in conversations.

The robot can interact with customers on more than 125 subjects including account balance and interest rates on loans.

It will not voice the sensitive financial information like account details rather display it discreetly on its screen.

World Science Day

To raise awareness of benefits of science in our daily life,10 November 2016 is observed as World Science Day for Peace and Development.

2016 Theme:

“Celebrating Science Centres and Science Museums”. It highlights the importance of science centres and museums for capacity building and to send strong messages about the importance of science for sustainable development. To mark the day, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had organised special campaigns, visits to science museums for school children, etc.

Director-General(DG) of the International Labour Organisation

Guy Ryder was re-elected as the Director-General(DG) of the International Labour Organisation(ILO)for another five term. He was elected by the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and received 54 of the 56 votes. Ryder is the 10th DG of ILO and was elected for the first time in May 2012. He has some 35 years of experience in the world of work.

About ILO:

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a United Nations Agency dealing with Labour Issues. It has 187 state members. In 1969,the organisation received the Nobel Peace Prize for improving peace among classes,pursuing decent work and justice for workers and proving technical assistance to other developing countries. The ILO register complaints against entities that are violating international rules.

APEC meeting

Peru is scheduled to host the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting,from November 19 to 20, 2016. The theme of the summit is “Quality Growth and Human Development” and the official logo is the architecture of the ancient city of Caral. It will be the second time Peru hosting to the APEC Summit, previously it had hosted the event in 2008. The 2016 summit will gather leaders from the world’s 21 most important member economies, as well as over 1,500 investors and entrepreneurs.

Agenda

Four priority areas were laid out as topics to be discussed for the 2016 APEC summit. These are Human Capital Development, Upgrading SMEs, Regional Food Market, and Regional Economic Integration Agenda. These subjects were chosen to build upon on the discussions from the previous APEC summit in the Philippines.

Smart India Hackathon 2017

World’s largest digital national building initiative “Smart India Hackathon 2017” was inaugrated by Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar. Smart India Hackathon 2017, will enable the HRD ministry to reach out to all technology institutions in India and challenge students to work out innovative solutions to some of the difficult problems faced by the nation.

25 different ministries and government departments have come together for supporting this massive initiative. Some of the ministries and departments participating in the Hackathon include Railways, External Affairs, Defence, Civil Aviation, Indian Space Research Organization, Department of Atomic Energy, etc. The HRD minister announced the first set of 250 problem statements that was received from various ministries. The students will be required to solve these problem statements during the Hackathon that will take place in early 2017.

‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’

The Smart India Hackathon 2017 will focus on finding digital solutions to problems in the areas concerning: power, education, health, water, finance, agriculture, energy, urban & rural development, aviation & shipping, transport, sanitation, sports, law & justice, skill development & entrepreneurship, defence, textiles, tourism, etc. This initiative will help in harnessing the creativity and skills among youth for nation-building.

Friday, March 31, 2017

Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana

To boost up an ecosystem of entrepreneurship for youngsters,Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched of Pradhan Mantri Yuva Yojana (PMYY).

Highlights:

The scheme was launched for the time period of 5 years(2016-17 to 2020-21) with a project cost of 499.94 crore rupees.

It will offer entrepreneurship and training to 7 lakhs students in 5 years through 3050 institutes.

It will also offer easy access to information and mentor network,credit and advocacy to built a way-out for the youngsters

Institutes will carry out the training through Massive Open Online Courses(MOOCs).

Donald Trump, new American president

Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of United States. He will be the first President of USA without political experience since Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th President). Besides, he is the oldest first term President of USA. He will succeed Barack Obama and is scheduled to take office as the President of the USA on 20 January 2017. In the 2016 Presidential elections, Donald Trump gained 48% of the votes and 279 votes in the Electoral College to defeat Democrat Party opponent Hillary Clinton who gained 47% votes. Hillary Clinton had created history in this election by becoming the first woman to top the presidential ticket of a major US political party.

Trump who addressed the nation from the US capitol has promised to rebuilt the nation. He also promised to bring back their dreams wherein America First will be the key to his governance.

Surya Kiran-X

Indo-Nepal Joint Military Exercise Surya Kiran-X commenced at Army Battle School, Saljhandi, Nepal. It is the tenth in the series of such exercise between the two nations and is scheduled from 31 October to 13 November 16. The Surya Kiran series of Exercises are being conducted annually, alternatively in Nepal and India. Notably in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries, Surya Kiran series with Nepal is the largest in terms of troop’s participation.

Indian Army is represented by the elite Kumaon Regt, while Jabar Jung Battalion of Nepal Army is participating in this edition of the joint exercise on behalf of Nepal Army. The aim of this exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on Counter Terrorism in mountainous terrain. Aspects of Disaster Management have also been included in the exercise.

The Joint Battalion Level Exercise will enhance defence co-operation and relations between the two nations. It is an ideal platform for the contingent of both nations to share their experience and gain mutually. The Exercise will be yet another step towards taking traditional friendship between the two nations to greater heights.

New CERSAI chief

The Union Government has appointed Praveen Kumar Sharma as the Central Registrar (CR), Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI). The Appointments Committeee of Cabinet has approved his appointment for 3 years. Prior to this appointment sharma was General Manager,State Bank of India.

About CERSAI:

CERSAI is a central online security interest registry of India. It is a Government company licensed under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. Its headquarters is in New Delhi.

It was primarily created to check frauds in lending against equitable mortgages, in which people would take multiple loans on the same asset from different banks.

CERSAI provides the platform for filing registrations of transactions of securitization, asset reconstruction and security interest by the banks and financial institutions.

Any person can also search and inspect the records maintained by the registry on payment of prescribed fees.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

BTP Amendment Act

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 (BTP Amendment Act), will come into force from 1st November 2016, notified by Income Tax Department. This Act is designed to curb black money. The new law amended the Benami Transactions Act, 1988 and renamed as the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988. The Act defines benami transactions and also provides imprisonment upto seven years and fine for violation of the Act. The official notification says,‘The PBPT Act prohibits recovery of the property held benami from benamidar by the real owner. Properties held benami are liable for confiscation by the government without payment of compensation'.

National Data Registry (NDR)

The Union Government is developing a National Data Registry (NDR) to compile and serve metadata of different agencies and re-engineer the feature data sets for improving their use. The registry will also serve as a source of authenticated information. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will be the nodal coordinating agency of the NDR. NDR will require all agencies state, private and academic, collecting and storing geospatial data to provide details of data they store.

Purpose:

The registry aims to create a catalogue that will prevent duplication of data sets and to help users locate the right agencies to source information.

It will be a ‘meta-data’ repository to only inform about the nature of the data a service provider has. It is not actually be a source of geospatial data.

It can operate across a wide range of formats and can source information automatically.

Thus, Survey of India can vet it for accuracy and see whether it contains information that contravenes national security.

Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railway

Founder of Sulabh International Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak,appointed as a Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railway. Indian Railways had tied up with Sulabh International to clean some important railway stations across the country as part of the mission with an aim to promote cleanliness at rail premises. As a pilot project, Sulabh International had started cleaning and maintenance of five important railway stations Gorakhpur, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Gwalior from September 2016.

Sulabh International: It is a social service organization which works to promote environmental sanitation, human rights, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education.

Paris agreement

The Paris agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. The agreement deals with greenhouse gases mitigation,adaption and finance. The Paris Agreement to combat climate change officially entered into force after 55 parties to the convention accounting for at least 55% of total GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions ratified it. At present, 94 parties have ratified the convention,India was 62nd country to ratify it.

About Paris Agreement:

It is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC). It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 in a ceremony in New York city. As on November 2016, 193 UNFCCC members has signed the treaty,97 of which had ratified it.

Objectives(Agreement on Climate Change):

It is an international climate deal to combat climate change. It facilitates enforcement of global GHGs reduction measures in the post-2020 i.e. in post Kyoto Protocol scenario. Under it, all countries must pursue to keep global temperature rising below 2°C by 2100 above pre-industrial levels with an ideal target of keeping temperature rise below 1.5°C. It forces developed countries to provide 100 billion dollars annually to the developing counterparts beginning in 2020 to deal with climate change. It empowers countries to determine how to cut their emissions but mandates that they report transparently on those efforts.

National Food Security Act

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), which envisages supply of subsidised foodgrains, has been implemented across the country said Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. With this, now NFSA has been implemented in all States and Union Territories. The NFSA aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).

As a result, 81.34 crore persons will get subsidised wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and rice at Rs. 3 per kg.

SAMPRITI 2016

As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise SAMPRITI 2016 is being conducted at Tangail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from 05 to 18 November 2016. Exercise SAMPRITI is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the sixth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.

The joint exercise SAMPRITI 2016 will simulate a scenario where both nations are working together in a Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment under the UN Charter. The exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants will initially get familiar with each other’s organizational structure and tactical drills. Subsequently, the training will advance to joint tactical exercises wherein the battle drills of both the armies will be practiced. The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both armies will jointly practice a Counter Terrorist Operation in a controlled and simulated environment.

Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals. The national programme aims to provide pregnant ladies free ante-natal services (ANC) and required treatment for free on 9th of every month. The scheme is applicable only for the pregnant women in their pregnancy period of 3 to 6 months. It will provide all kinds of medical checkups completely free to pregnant women.

Objectives of the scheme are (i) Provide healthy life to the pregnant women. (ii) Lowering the maternity mortality rate. (iii) Making pregnant women aware of their health issues and diseases. (iv) Making sure safe delivery and healthy life of the baby.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

2016 Asian Champions Trophy

Indian Women’s hockey team has won the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy by defeating China by 2-1 goals.Hockey tournament was held in singapore. The first goal for India was scored by Deep Grace Ekka in the 13th minute which was equalised by China’s Zhong Mengling in the 44th minute. The second and winning goal was scored by Deepika Thakur that gave the India formidable lead to win the tournatment.

National Milk Day

India's National Milk Day celebrated on November 26. This day mark birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien, father of the White Revolution in India. This year it was 95th birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien. It was established in 2014. The idea of observing National Milk Day was first mooted by Indian Dairy Association (IDA) in 2014 on the lines of World Milk Day (observed every year on June 1) under the aegis of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In addition, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand of milk and dairy products printed 150 million milk pouches with the National Milk Day logo featuring Dr. Kurien’s picture with the National Milk Day logo on it.

Bitcoins and other virtual currencies is not authorised by the RBI

Use of virtual currencies like Bitcoins is not authorised by the RBI and could result in breach of anti-money laundering provision said by Government. The Reserve Bank of India advises that it has not given any licence or authorisation to any company to operate such schemes or deal with bitcoin or any virtual currency. "The Reserve Bank is presently examining the issues associated with the usage, holding and trading of virtual currencies under the extant legal and regulatory framework of the country, including foreign exchange and payment systems laws and regulations,". RBI had warned that any user, holder, investor and trader dealing with virtual currencies would be doing so at his/her own risk.

ICICI Bank and Truecaller announces partnership

ICICI Bank announced a partnership with mobile app firm Truecaller for a new Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based mobile payment service. This feature will allow users of the app to instantly create a UPI ID, send money to any UPI ID or a mobile number registered with the BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app. It will also enable users to recharge their mobile number from within the Truecaller app itself. The partnership makes the Truecaller and ICICI Bank platform among India's largest mobile payment platform with 150 million customers of the app gaining access to UPI-based payments.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

AIBA Youth World Boxing Championship

Rising boxer Sachin Singh,won gold medal in the finals of AIBA Youth World Boxing Championship in St. Petersburg. With this he became the third Indian boxer ever to win gold medal in the AIBA Youth World Championships. Others are Thokchom Nanao Singh (2008) and Vikas Krishan (2010). India won with one gold medal and a bronze medal, marking improvement from the solitary bronze medal won in the 2014 edition. Naman Tanwar had to settle for a bronze medal after losing in the semifinal in the 91 kg category.

UNCITRAL golden jubilee celebrations

India hosted the golden jubilee 50th anniversary celebrations of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in New Delhi. President Pranab Mukherjee gave the opening address. UNCITRAL was established by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 1966 to promote the progressive unification and harmonisation of international trade law. India is a founding member of UNCITRAL. India is only one of eight countries which have been a member of UNCITRAL since its inception. It has a membership of 60 States selected from among States Members of the UN. In 2015, India was re-elected for a term of six years (2016-2022). Out of total 60 members, 14 are Asian states, 14 are African, 10 Latin American & Caribbean states, 8 Eastern European and 14 Western European and other States.

First digital village

Akodara village in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat has earned the title of becoming first digital village in india. The village with a total population of 1,191 people and 250 households uses a various cashless system for payments of goods and services. All transactions in the village are carried out through digital modes like SMS, net-banking or debit cards. The project was launched in January 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar to mark 60-year-celebration of the ICICI group’s existence. All households in village have savings account in local ICICI Bank branch. The bank has provided training to villagers to embrace digital technology to reduce dependence on cash.It can be said that this village has become prime example of how e-banking can be practically implemented in Indian villages without much difficulty to make India cashless economy.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Fidel Castro passed away

Former president Fidel Castro who led a rebel army to improvable victory in cuba passed away due to old age. He was 90. Under his leadership, Cuba became a one-party communist state, industry and business were nationalized and state socialist reforms implemented throughout society. He was commander in chief of the 1959 Cuban revolution 1959 and had successfully built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States during Cold War. He had ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century (from 1976 to 2008) before handing over the powers to his brother Raul Castro in 2008 due to ill health.His greatest legacy is free healthcare and education, which have given Cuba some of the region’s best human development statistics. In 2008, he stepped down as President of Cuba due to health issues. He was in office from 1976 to 2008. He world’s third longest-serving head of state, after Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and the King of Thailand.

National Constitution Day

Constitution Day, also known as Samvidhan Divas, is celebrated in India on 26 November every year to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India. On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, and it came into effect on 26 January 1950. The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) is the nodal Ministry for the celebration of Constitution Day. This year it is second edition of the Constitution Day. On this occasion Prime Minister Narendra has released two books on Constitution ‘Making of Constitution’ and ‘New Version of Constitution of India‘

In October 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared 26 November as Constitution Day as part of year-long nationwide celebrations of 125th birth Anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly.

First live payments bank

Airtel has launched India's first live payments bank,which would provide an interest of 7.25% per annum on deposits offering services in Rajasthan in a limited scale. The payments bank is testing systems and processes ahead of a full scale, pan-Indian launch, the company said in a statement. The pilot will run at 10,000 Airtel retail outlets where basic banking services will be provided. Airtel Payments Bank is planning to expand its merchant network in Rajasthan to 100,000 by the end of the year. Customers can open bank accounts by using Aadhaar based e-KYC. Airtel subscriber’s mobile number will function as a bank account number. The bank will accept deposits not exceeding Rs 1 lakh. It cannot perform lending activities, except while giving loans to its employees on approval of the board.

Global wealth report

The total quantum of wealth in India is rising but disparity between rich and poor is also rising as per a report on global wealth published by Credit Suisse. The uneven growth has left 96 per cent of the adult population in India at the base of the wealth pyramid. Further, wealth in India is dominated by property and other real estate that make up 86 per cent of its estimated household assets, according to the global financial services major. However, a small fraction of the adult population (0.3%) has net worth of more than $100,000.

Indian Scenario: The wealth in India is mostly dominated by property and other real estate. It makes up 86% of its estimated household assets. The wealth in India in local currency terms increased 5.1% in 2016 but due to adverse currency exchange movements. India’s household wealth fell by 0.8% to $3 trillion in dollar terms. The annual growth of wealth per adult in rupees has averaged 6% between 2000 and 2016. The number of millionaires remained flat at 1.78 lakh with $973 billion in wealth. Among these, ultra high-networth individuals increased by 5.2% to 2,260, including 1,040 with more than $100 million. The number of millionaires in India is projected to increase by 9.5% in the next five years to 2.8 lakh in 2021. Meanwhile, the personal debts are estimated to be 9% of gross assets in India which is much lower than in most developed countries.

Global Scenario:Overall growth in wealth remained limited in 2016. It is continuing the trend that had emerged in 2013 and is contrasting sharply with the double-digit growth rates witnessed before the global financial crisis of 2008. The total global wealth in 2016 edged up by 1.4% or $3.5 trillion to a total of $256 trillion, a rise in line with the increase in the world’s adult population.

Monday, March 20, 2017

FICCI president

Chairman and managing director of Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Pankaj Patel has been elected president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) for 2017. At present Pankaj Patel is Chief Managing Director of Zydus Cadila. He is actively involved in various educational institutions and is on advisory committees and academic councils of several educational institutions such as IISER (Kolkata), IIM Ahmedabad etc. He is also the Vice President, Executive Chairman and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, one of the largest of its kind regional Cancer Centre in India.

Balamuralikrishna passed away

Singer-composer Mangalamapalli Balamuralikrishna, who caught the nation’s attention in Doordarshan’s iconic music video ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ in the eighties, passed away. He was considered as doyen of classical music. During his long musical career he had excelled as a prominent Carnatic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer and actor. He had innovated the whole Carnatic music system by keeping its rich tradition untouched. The ragas like Ganapathi, Sarvashri, Mahati, Lavangi etc. were credited to him. He also had composed over 400 compositions in various languages including in his native tongu, Telugu and in Kannada, Tamil, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. His compositions range from Devotional to Varnams, Krithis, Javalis and Thillans, in all the fundamental 72 melakartha ragas to film music. He made his acting debut with Bhakta Prahlada (1967) as Narada and also has acted in various films including in Kananda.

IMO award for Exceptional Bravery

Captain Radhika Menon became first woman in the world to receive the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. She was presented with this award for saving lives of seven fishermen from sinking fishing boat in Bay of Bengal. Captain Menon was nominated for the award by the Government of India, for her great determination and courage in leading the difficult rescue operation to save all seven fishermen from the fishing boat Durgamma. The boat was adrift following engine failure and loss of anchor in severe weather. Food and water had been washed away and they were surviving on ice from the cold storage.

IMO:It UN’s specialised agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea: It is an annual Award established by IMO. It seeks to provide international recognition for those who perform acts of exceptional bravery at the risk of losing their own life.

India in CERN

India became an associate member of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the world’s largest nuclear and particle physics laboratory. The agreement was signed by Dr. Sekhar Basu, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and CERN Director General Dr. Fabiola Gianotti in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As an associate member, India can take part in meetings of the CERN Council and its committees (Scientific Policy Committee and Finance Committee). However India will not have voting rights on decisions of the council. It will open up new avenues for Indian scientists to engage with their counterparts in front line research in physics and engineering It will help to boost India’s science credentials and give access to high end scientific technology. It will also make Indian scientists eligible for staff appointments in CERN.India will formally become member of CERN around January 2017 after depositing an instrument of ratification.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) has finally been launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in Agra on 20th November 2016. Under PMAY-G Government aims to provide affordable, environmentally safe and secure house to every rural household living below the poverty line by 2022. The beneficiaries for this scheme will be selected through a completely transparent process using the Socio Economic Census 2011 data and validating it through the Gram Sabha. It uses ICT and space technology to further confirm correct selection of beneficiaries and progress of work. The unit cost for houses has been increased with convergence of a minimum support of nearly Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 1.6 lakh to a household is available. If the beneficiary desires, then there is also a provision of Bank loan upto Rs. 70,000. PMAY-G will be also serve as a major step forward in bringing together Skill India, Make In India, IT/DBT Aadhaar platform, Digital India and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

What is inside?