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INDIAN AFFAIRS
- President Pranab Mukherjee visit to Palestine – An overview
- Indian, Chinese army kick off anti-terrorism exercise
PMJDY achieved the feat of crossing Rs. 25KCr
The ambitious scheme of Modi Govt “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana” has now crossed the mark of Rs 25000 crore with zero balance accounts have reduced to less than 40% and the accounts that are having balances has exceed 60%.
- Total deposits collected under PMJDY October 7, 2015 counted to Rs 25,146.97 crore.
Banks that are involved in marking this distinction are
| Bank Name | Deposits under PMJDY (in crores) |
| State Bank of India | Rs 2,989.18 |
| United Bank of India | Rs 2,644.77 |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce | Rs 2,104.70 |
| Bank of Baroda | Rs 1,771.42 |
| UCO Bank | Rs 1,178.17 |
- On August 28, 2014 the scheme was launched aimed to cover all households with at least one bank account.
- 7 Crore accounts have been opened under the scheme.
- Accounts opened under PMJDY are basic savings bank deposit accounts (BSBDA) which can be opened with zero balance.
- Under PMJDY there are no charges levied for text messages by banks.
TN banned drug to save vultures
“Ketoprofen” non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is used for veterinary purposes has got banned by Tamil Nadu Govt in Erode, Coimbatore and The Nilgiris, the areas having endangered vulture population.
Ketoprofen was used as an alternative of veterinary painkiller Diclofenac which was banned by the Central Government as it was proved that presence of Diclofenac in carcasses of the cattle led the vulture population to slow death.
- Now Meloxica is taken as the substitute of Diclofenac and Ketoprofen for treating the animals.
DRDO Missile Complex in Hyderabad to be named after Dr Kalam
The country’s prestigious Missile Complex in Hyderabad will be renamed as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex on 15th October 2015 by the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar at Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
- October 15th is the 84th birth anniversary of Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam.
Shri Parrikar will also be inaugurating two advanced R&D facilities of RCI – Outdoor RCS Test Facility “ORANGE” at Dundigal and Kautilya Advanced Research Centre at RCI, Hyderabad.
Delhi Govt’s “Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao” scheme
Delhi department of trade and taxes has introduced a new scheme named as “Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao” which will encourage customers to buy goods and services from registered dealers and take a receipt of bill/ cash memo/ retail invoice against their purchases.
MINIMUM PURCHASE – purchased goods should have min taxable value of Rs.100
PRIZE AMOUNT – 5 times the taxable value of product purchased and maximum cash prize would be Rs.50, 000
HOW TO CLAIM PRIZE
To make the claim easier and convenient, the government has come up with two options:
- Take a screenshot of the bill and send it on the Department’s assigned number via WhatsApp or can upload the bill on the department’s website.
- The bill has to be uploaded within 7 days of the purchase.
- Bill should include details – Registration number (TIN) of the dealer, Full name of each item purchased, Rate of tax charged against each product, total sale value (Excluding VAT)
- After submission unique ID will be generated which would be sent to uploader via SMS.
Winners will be selected through computerized draw of lots. This scheme will also help to curb tax evasion in National Capital.
Banana’s new family found in Andaman Islands
In the tropical rain forest of Andaman islands Scientists at the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has discovered a new species of banana. It is located 16 km inside the Krishna Nalah forest in the island
- The species is named as Musa indandamanensis and is very edible and sweet.
ABOUT NEW SPECIES
- New species is 11 metres high compared to regular banana species of 3-4 metres high.
- Fruit lux of the new species is about 1metres which is thrice the size of regular species.
- Its flowers are cylindrical whereas in regular their flowers are conical.
- Fruit pulp is orange in colour in comparison with white and yellow colour of regular bananas.
There are 52 banana species in the world out of which 15 are found in India.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Dutch probe confirms MH17 was shot down using BUK missile
The final report on the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 completed on Tuesday The Dutch safety board informed that the Flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian made Buk Missile.
The crash was on july 2014 killed 298 people.
China kicked off its biggest dam on Brahmaputra in Tibet
China activated its biggest hydropower station dubbed as Zam Hydropower Station located on the Yarlung Zangbo River which is known as Brahmaputra in India. It is deemed to be the world’s highest-altitude hydropower station and the largest of its kind.
- It will produce 5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year
- $1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station is the largest in Tibet
- All 6 station’s units were incorporated into the power grid
Yarlung Zangbo or Brahmaputra is major river which flows through Tibet into India and then into Bangladesh. It is also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River.
Roche launches new breast cancer drugs in India
“Perjeta” and “Kadcyla” are the two drugs launched by the swiss pharma company Roche in India that has improved the quality of life of patients suffering from metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.
- Company aims to help women in India live as long as possible
- With its targeted breast cancer medicine Herclon (globally known as Herceptin), Roche has helped transform the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer over the last several years in India
- Roche Products (India) Private Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Switzerland based Roche Group and has products in therapeutic areas such as oncology, virology, transplantation, anemia and rheumatoid arthritis.
Iran’s Parliament gives Pre-approval for Nuclear Deal
Parliament of Iran has given a nod to the Tehran’s nuclear agreement with 6 world powers that will protect the Iran’s nuclear program and lifting of international economic sanctions.
- As per accord Iran is obliged to reduce its number of uranium-enrichment and will be limited to a single facility using first-generation centrifuges for ten years.
- 6 world powers include – United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France, China and German
- 161 lawmakers voted for implementing the nuclear deal, while 59 voted against it and 13 abstained.
- Bill is still to be reviewed by 12 members Guardian Council.
BANKING AND FINANCE
Coming up I-T tool eyeing on PAN Transactions History
Finance Ministry is coming up with its new digital platform dubbed as Income Tax Business Application-Permanent Account Number (ITBA-PAN) which enables taxman to examine the “PAN life cycle summary” of an individual or entity where a PAN number has been quoted and in any part of the country.
Currently this software tool is under final testing and is expected to be activated by the end of October, 2015.
- After the launch of this tool, tax dept. and its intermediary organisations—NSDL* and UTIITSL* will be enable to allocate fresh PAN number and subsequently issue a new card in 48 hours compared to present 15 days.
- Tool will also allow tax dept. to capture occurrences of an assessee like death, liquidation, dissolution, de-merger, merger, acquisition, fake PAN or amalgamation of PAN which can be helpful in tracking black money or tax evasion.
*National Securities Depository Limited & UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Limited
SBI to set up subsidiary to oversee its real estate
Mumbai headquarter SBI bank has received a nod from RBI for setting up of subsidiary that will work on bank’s real estate assets. With the establishment of subsidiary bank can able to purely focus on its core activities.
- KPMG would be the helping hand bank in setting up its subsidiary.
- Currently SBI is having about 44 mn square feet of owned assets and 50 mn square feet of rented properties
- Real estate’s holding of bank is Rs 25000 crore
- Employees engaged in managing SBI’s real estate and engineering activity would move to the subsidiary and use their expertise for the benefit of the parent.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
India tops the list of taking investor confidence
As per the survey conducted by Bank of America Merill Lynch India leads in the list of catching the global investors. The study was taken on 164 market participants.
- RBI and GOI efforts to make India as a big investment hub through liberal policy measures, public sector bank reforms and hiking investment limit for overseas investors led India to this achievement.
- Investors from Asia Pacific ex-Japan region are now more interested in India and consider it as the most preferred investment destination.
- While in Malaysia and Australia investors are losing their interest
Assam’s lady mahout appreciated with lifetime achievement award
Mahout – a person who works with and rides an elephant
During the first Kolkata International Wildlife & Environment Film Festival (KIWEFF) elephant specialist Parbati Barua has been honoured with lifetime achievement award for her stupendous contribution in wildlife conservation.
- She belongs to the royal family of the Baruas of Gauripur, now in Assam’s Goalpara district.
- The “Forest Man of India” Jadav Payeng who created a complete forest in a small island on the river Brahmaputra was honoured with “Desham Save the Tiger Award”
- Industrialist and wildlife filmmaker Navin M Raheja and “Green Oscar” winner Ashwika Kapur also appreciated for their contribution towards wildlife conservation.
Bharti Airtel wins Asia top treasury team award for 2015
The Bharti Airtel has been awarded as the winner of the top treasury team(Asia) awards at the Adam Smith Asia Awards 2015.
Overall winner of the Adam Smith Asia Award 2015 in the first class relationship management category – Bharti Airtel’s Treasury Division.
Weightlifter Punam Yadav wins gold in two categories at Commonwealth Championships
In the 2015 Commonwealth Youth, Junior & Senior weightlifting championships Punam Yadav (63kg) won the gold medals for India in the woman categories of both senior and junior Weightlifting
Also G Lalitha won the silver medal in 63kg Youth Girls section.
Tata steel conferred with Golden peacock award
Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability (GPGAS) 2015 awarded to steel major Tata Steel by the Institute of Directors, India.
- The award was received by Bimlendra Jha (Executive Chairman, Longs Steel UK Limited and Executive Director, Group Strategy and European Supply Chain, Tata Steel Europe)
- Awardee has been chosen by the expert jury of Golden Peacock Awards, under the chairmanship of Justice M N Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India
- After analysing all the parameters marks are given to each application out of 1000
- Cut off marks was 80% on each application
India bags third slot in global startup space
India has overtaken Israel and become the third largest startup after the U.S. and the U.K.India has registered a growth of 40% over last year.
India has also emerged as the yougest startup nation in the world.In India 72% of founders are less than 35 years old.
Bengaluru ranked 15th globally, remains the hot destination for entrepreneurs to launch their business
Yes Bank Selected in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices
Maharashtra headquartered Yes bank has made it mark in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, becoming the only domestic bank to get into the index
The bank was selected from 116 banks from emerging markets that were invited to apply for the index.
Yes bank tagline – Experience our Expertise
Yes bank CEO – Rana Kapoor
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Standards Day 2015
International standards day was observed on 14 October to recognize the efforts of experts to who develop voluntary standards within standards development organizations such as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
THEME – Standards, The World’s Common Language
- This day aimed to raise awareness about standardization among regulators, industry and consumers
- In 1970 first World Standards Day was celebrated
