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Government
splits CMD post in PSU banks, Chairman to be part-time board member
Bank
specific > CMDs
of PSU banks > 31 Dec
Moving away from past
tradition, the government has split the post of Chairman and Managing
Director for PSU banks and named MDs and CEOs of four banks viz.
United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas
Bank and Vijaya Bank. The appointments will be for three years or
till the date of superannuation, whichever is earlier. PSU banks will
now have a non-executive chairman giving operational responsibility
to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The ministry,
however, said the current structure at country's largest lender State
Bank of India which is headed by a Chairman and assisted by several
Managing Directors, will continue. Henceforth, at PSBs other than
SBI, the Chairman will be a part-time Board Member who would preside
over the Board Meetings and will not be an Executive Chairman.
NITI
Aayog replaces Planning Commission
India
> NITI
Aayog > 1 Jan
The socialist-era Planning
Commission was today replaced by a new think-tank called the NITI
Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). The new body
will be headed by the Prime Minister and will have all Chief
Ministers as members in a broad-based Governing Council to involve
states in contributing towards national development goals. The body
will have a Vice Chairperson and a CEO in addition to five full-time
members and two part-time members, while four union ministers would
serve as ex-officio members. Noted economist Arvind Panagariya will
be the first Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog. Regional councils will be
formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more
than one state. The NITI Aayog will also have experts, specialists
and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees
nominated by the Prime Minister. The body will serve as a ‘Think
Tank’ of the government, as “a directional and policy dynamo”
and would provide the central and state governments with strategic
and technical advice on key policy matters including economic issues
of national and international importance.
Kumar
Sangakkara becomes fastest player to get 12, 000 runs in test cricket
Cricket
> Kumar
Sangakkara > 3 Jan
Sri Lankan batsman Kumar
Sangakkara has become the fastest player and only the fifth cricketer
to make 12,000 runs in Test cricket as he reached the landmark in
just 224 innings, 23 fewer than Indian batting legend Sachin
Tendulkar who is in second place now. Sangakkara reached the 12000
mark during Sri Lanka's first innings of the second Test against New
Zealand in Wellington.
Those
born in Nagaland will not get Tatkal passport
Nagaland
> India > 6 Jan
Those
born in Nagaland cannot apply for a Tatkal passport and if they
already have a passport under general category, they will be called
by the Nagaland police to sign some documents.
The
FAQs section of the “Tatkal Passports” states that the Indian
citizens of J&K and Nagaland will require additional processing
time. Additionally, it says J&K residents who have lived outside
the state for five years or more and who have valid migration
certificates can apply under Tatkal. But "Naga origins residing
outside Nagaland" can't get this facility. The chief passport
officer and a senior official in the ministry of external affairs
were not aware of the technical aspects of this rule, when asked for
an explanation for the rule.
Others
ICICI
Bank adopts village in Gujarat to make it digital
Corporate
> ICICI
Bank > 31 Dec
ICICI bank has announced
that it will adopt Akodara village of Sabarkantha district in Gujarat
under its 'Digital Village' pilot project to boost Centre's 'Digital
India' drive. Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel urged ICICI bank
CMD Chanda Kochhar to contribute towards building toilets in villages
and help the government to fight malnutrition as per of CSR. Akodara
village came into limelight when Narendra Modi started Gujarat's
first ever animal hostel in that village.
M
Sathiyavathy replaces Prabhat Kumar as new DGCA
Politics
and government > Director-General
of civil aviation > 1 Jan
The Centre has appointed M
Sathiyavathy as the director-general of civil aviation. She replaces
Prabhat Kumar, who has been removed within 1 year of appointment.
Currently, Sathiyavathy is additional secretary and financial advisor
in the civil aviation ministry. A 1982-batch Indian Administrative
Service (IAS) officer of the Union Territories cadre, she was earlier
chief secretary in the Puducherry government. She is only the second
woman officer to hold the Director General post after Prem Lal who
held the post in early 1980s. Recently, Prabhat had been criticized
for the manner in which he handled the SpiceJet issue. The DGCA had
imposed booking curbs and cancelled 186 slots of SpiceJet. The
decision was however reversed by the civil aviation ministry.
LIC
International launches co-branded credit card with UAE's First Gulf
Bank
Bank
specific > LIC
International > 2 Jan
India's LIC International
and Abu Dhabi -based First Gulf Bank are planning to introduce a
unique co-branded credit card in the United Arab Emirates to address
concerns of insurance policy holders. This is the first time that an
insurance firm has entered into a strategic alliance with a bank in
the gulf country. Insurance payments, persistency and ad hoc
surcharge levied by many insurance companies on premium payments
through cards have been a concern among many policyholders in the
UAE. Through this programme, the bank will provide a payment solution
to these issues in addition to developing a loyalty platform for
their common customers with unique benefits. LIC International,
established in Bahrain in 1989 by LIC of India to facilitate
residents in the gulf region, has over 350 million policyholders
worldwide. FGB, established in 1979, offers a full range of financial
services through its branches spread in many parts of the world.
RBI
eases Know-Your-Customers norms for NBFCs
Bank
specific > KYC >2 Jan
The Reserve Bank has relaxed
the time limit for NBFCs to conduct due diligence regarding KYC norms
of customers. The rules have been eased due to practical difficulties
and constraints in getting Know-Your-Customers (KYC) documents of
customers at frequent intervals. As per earlier norms, NBFCs were
required to undertake KYC once in every 5 years for low risk category
customers and once in two years for high and medium risk categories.
The RBI has now notified that full KYC exercise will be required to
be done at least every 10 years for low risk and at least every 8
years for medium risk individuals and entities. However, the RBI has
said that physical presence of clients may not be insisted at such
periodic updations.
PM
to head National Sagarmala Apex Committee, former PM Vajpayee’s
port-development project
Politics
and Government > National
Sagarmala Apex Committee > 3 Jan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
will be heading a port infrastructure development
initiative-—National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC) which will
oversee a company, Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) with the
shipping minister as its chairman and the shipping secretary as the
co-chairman. This company will assist port-development and linkage
projects in the private sector, public-private participation models
and boost coastal shipping and inland water ways. The Centre is
expected to spend about Rs 12,000 crore for the first phase of the
Sagarmala project and Rs 5,000 crores in the next five years for
setting up 10 Coastal Economic Regions (CER) around clusters of
ports. The Sagarmala project is a 12-year-old idea, first announced
by former PM Vajpayee during his 2003 Independence Day address and
pursued by Manmohan Singh's PMO. However, a draft cabinet note has
been prepared by the present shipping ministry to be submitted to the
cabinet committee on economic affairs in the next couple of weeks for
its final approval.
Sutirtha
Bhattacharya takes charge as Coal India Ltd. CMD
Corporate
> CIL > 4 Jan
Sutirtha Bhattacharya, a
1985 batch IAS officer, took charge as Coal India's full-time
chairman and managing director. Prior to this, Bhattacharya was the
CMD of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company. The post of Coal
India CMD had been lying vacant for the past 6 months since S Narsing
Rao resigned from the post in May, 2014 to join the Telangana
government.
Khadi
will be the theme of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Politics
> India > 4 Jan
13th
edition of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) to be held in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, will focus on Khadi as the theme for the event.
The event will display the life and work of the Father of the Nation,
Mahatma Gandhi, to a crowd of 4,000 global Indians who are expected
to attend the event. The global Indians will be taught to weave khadi
and will be presented with gifts made of the fabric. The event aims
to highlight the importance of India's own fabric in the freedom
struggle. The theme for the event has been conceptualized by Mr.
Narendra Modi.
The
PBD has been celebrated every year since 2003 in memory of Gandhi's
arrival in India from South Africa on January 9, 1915.
Largest
telecom spectrum auction approved by the Cabinet
Corporate
> India > 4 Jan
The
Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the
largest ever telecom spectrum auction. Around 380.75 megahertz of
second generation (2G) spectrum will be sold by the government in
three bands — the premium 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz with a view
to garner at least Rs.64,840 crore from the sale next month. The
auction is focused at providing adequate spectrum, preventing
hoarding as well as fair competition, improving telecom services for
consumers and adequate revenue for government.
In
this year’s auction, a company can bid only if it is holding a
universal service licence to provide telephony services or is
eligible to obtain the same. Proceeds from this year’s auction will
help government reach its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of
GDP.
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