Starred
Articles
Landmark
Motor Vehicles Agreement with 3 SAARC nations gets cabinet approval
Politics
and Government > Motor
Vehicles Agreement
The Union Cabinet gave
nod to the signing of the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) with three
nations, which are a part of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) – Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The pact will
be signed on 15th of June, 2015 in Bhutan and will facilitate an
exchange of passenger, personal and cargo vehicles among the nations.
The agreement will pave the way for a seamless movement of people and
goods across the borders of the four countries and will benefit the
integration among the region along with its economic development. The
agreement was signed by the Union Minister of Road Transport &
Highways and Shipping Mr. Nitin Gadkari, he has also hinted at
another agreement with two other nations Myanmar and Thailand, which
are a part of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
World
Day against Child Labour observed globally
Days
> World
Day against Child Labour
12 June 2015 was
observed as World Day against Child Labour with the theme “NO to
child labour – YES to quality education”. The day is observed
globally to spread awareness against child labour. Started by the
International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002, the Day brings
together governments, employers, workers, organizations, civil
society, as well as millions of people from around the world to
highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help
them.
India
tops World Bank's growth list for the first time
World
> Corporate
Affairs
The World Bank growth
report for the year 2015, has placed India at the first position and
has also predicted that India is poised to overtake China's growth
rate this year. The optimistic report has made its forecasts based on
the booming growth in south Asia, the recovery of the Indian economy,
decline in oil prices, subsidy reforms and easing in monetary
policies. According to the report, all the above mentioned factors
have facilitated towards the growth of business and investor
confidence in India, which will help raise the growth rate to reach
7.5% compared to China's predicted rate of 7.1%.
Blood
bank locator app launched by government
Politics
and Government > Blood
Bank locator app
The government has
launched a mobile application that will provide information regarding
the nearest blood bank in the country. The National Blood Transfusion
Council has made available directory of all 2760 licensed blood banks
at National Health Portal for the application. The app was launched
on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day observed by the National
AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare with the theme “Thank you for saving my life."
Others
ISRO
presented with 2015 Space Pioneer Award for Mars Orbiter Mission
Awards
> ISRO
The Space Pioneer award
for the year 2015 in the Science and Engineering category was given
to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) during the 34th
Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto in
Canada during 20 May- 24 May 2015. The award was presented to ISRO in
acknowledgment of its efforts in completing the Mars Orbiter Mission
in its very first attempt. The award was presented by the National
Space Society.
SBI:
No processing fee for those switching home loans
Banking
and Insurance > SBI
Owing to the slowdown
in demand for loans from corporates, SBI has decided to scrap
processing fee for those who are shifting to it from other lenders.
However, the bank continues to charge legal and valuation fee of
about Rs 8,000 for home loans. With the pre-payment penalty banned by
RBI recently, the customers are seen switching from one bank to
another for better rates on home loans. The new move of SBI along
with its lowest rates on mortgages is expected to intensify the
battle for market share in the home loan market.
Final
guidelines for interest rate futures issued by RBI
Banking
and Insurance > RBI
The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) issued the final guidelines for 6-year and 13-year cash
settled interest rate futures (IRF). For the 6 and 13 year contracts
the underlying shall be a coupon bearing government security of the
face value of Rs. 100. The residual maturity for a 6 year contract
will be between 4 and 8 years on the expiry of futures contract and
that for a 13 year contract will be between 11 and 15 years.
Railways
decide to run Suvidha trains for confirmed and RAC passengers
India
> Railways
Indian Railways has
decided to run Suvidha trains on certain terms and conditions.
Tickets shall be issued only for confirmed and RAC passengers
accommodation. There shall be no provision for waiting list in the
train. No concession shall be applicable on these trains. Full adult
fare shall be changed for all passengers irrespective of their age.
On the basis of demand pattern, Suvidha train services may run during
peak seasons like winter rush, summer rush, Dussehara rush, Holi rush
and on other occasions as jointly decided by COMs and CCMs of the
zonal Railways.
Director
of Indian Statistical Institute Bimal Roy fired
India
> Indian
Statistical Institute
The director of the
illustrious Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) has been removed by
the central government over apprehensions that he might indulge in
alleged indiscipline and irregularities pertaining to financial
frauds. The removal comes barely two months before the end of his
tenure, which was scheduled to end on the 31st of July, 2015.
Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, who is the director-in-waiting, and is
also a faculty member at the ISI, has been asked to discharge all
duties of Roy, and she will hold the post of director from the 1st of
August, 2015.
Hindi
along with three other Indian languages added to Dubai driving test
World
> Indian
language in driving tests
The Roads and Transport
Authority (RTA) of the UAE, which currently conducts driving tests in
three languages - English, Urdu and Arabic, will offer knowledge
tests and lectures in seven more languages including four Indian
languages from September, 2015. The seven new languages are Hindi,
Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali, Chinese, Russian and Persian. Lectures and
knowledge tests are required to obtain a driving licence, and they
need to be passed by every candidate before moving on to the
practical driving classes.
India
and Australia to hold first joint naval exercise this year
Others
> Military
India and Australia are
set to hold their first joint naval exercise later this year with the
possibility of Japan joining the two nations for a trilateral
exercise. The exercise aims at strengthening the ties between the
three nations in all sectors, especially maritime security. The naval
exercise with Japan is likely to anger China as it had reacted
sharply in 2007, when the three nations had carried out such joint
talks with the US. The trio had held their first-ever high-level
trilateral dialogue here last week which was attended by the foreign
ministers of the respective countries.
Free
roaming for BSNL customers
India
> Telecom
Indian state-owned
telecommunications company BSNL has launched free roaming for its
customers that will enable them to receive incoming calls at no cost.
BSNL is putting up 5,000 Base Transceiver Station (BTS) towers across
the country to provide better services to its customers. A statement
from BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava says that BSNL has received
permission both from the Minister of Communications & IT and
telecom regulator TRAI.
World
Blood Donor Day observed on June 14
Days
> World
Blood Donor Day
The 'World Blood Donor
Day' was observed across the world on the 14th of June, 2015. The day
is observed in order to express gratitude to blood donors who save
lives by donating blood. It is also helpful in creating awareness of
the need for safe blood for transfusion and to highlight the
importance of blood donation. The theme for this year was 'thank you
for saving my life'. The day is celebrated in honour of Karl
Landsteiner who is noted for having first distinguished the main
blood groups in the year 1900 and having developed the modern system
of classification of blood groups.
Indian
Railways renames Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express
India
> Railways
The Indian Railways has
decided to rename the Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express. However, no
changes in its timings or composition are expected. The train runs
between Ahmedabad and Haridwar will undergo the name change on the
back of the 'International Yoga Day', which will be celebrated across
the world on the 21st of June this year for the first time.
