Dearness allowance (DA) of government employees hiked by 5%

Shankar School of Banking October 11 , 2019 580

NATIONAL NEWS

Ministry of Tourism launches Audio Guide facility App "Audio Odigos" for 12 sites of India (including Iconic Sites)

  • On the second day of nationwide "Paryatan Parv 2019" Shri Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism in the presence of DG, ASI Smt. Usha Sharma launched the Audio Guide facility Audio Odigos for 12 sites of India (including Iconic Sites).
  • An MoU for Gol Gumbad, Delhi with Government of Delhi and Resbird Technologies was also exchanged for the development of Tourism Amenities during the programme at ParyatanParvNew Delhi, today.
  • 26th MoU under the ‘Adopt a Heritage, Apni Dharohar Apni Pehchan’ scheme of Ministry of Tourism has been exchanged for development of Tourism Amenities.
  • The project aims to develop synergy amongst all stakeholders and involves active participation of local communities / players to promote ‘responsible tourism’.

FACTS

Ministry of State of Tourism Ministry-Prahalad Singh Patel

Govt constitutes panel to suggest measures to augment GST revenue

  • The government has constituted a committee of officers to suggest measures to augment GST revenue collections and administration.
  • The committee should consider a wide range of reforms so that a comprehensive list of suggestions may emerge.
  • The terms of reference of the panel include making suggestions about systemic changes in goods and services tax (GST) including checks and balances to prevent misuse and measures to improve voluntary compliance.
  • Also, it has been tasked to give inputs on measures for the expansion of the tax base.

GEMINI system to aid fishermen

  • To avoid communication blackouts that led to 20 fishermen going missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Okchi in 2017, a slew of government departments, research agencies and private companies have developed GEMINI, a portable receiver linked to ISRO-satellites, that is “fail-proof” and warn fishermen of danger.
  • The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a Hyderabad institute collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a box-shaped receiver that has an antenna and in-built battery that can last three to four days, according to a brochure describing the device.

60 students selected for PM innovative programme 'DHRUV' at ISRO headquarters

  • DHRUV,' the Prime Minister Innovative Learning Programme, will be launched from the ISRO headquarters by HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank.'
  • ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan, Wing Cdr Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to enter space and Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Prof K Vijay Raghavan will be the guests of honour at the launch of the programme.

India’s Vishnu Nandan among 300 researchers to join largest ever Arctic expedition

  • A native of Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, the 32-year-old polar researcher will be the only Indian among 300 scientists from across the world aboard the multidisciplinary drifting observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, which will help the researchers better understand the impact of climate change and aid in improved weather projections.
  • Spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, MOSAiC, the largest ever Arctic expedition in history, will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCE

Dearness allowance (DA) of government employees hiked by 5%

  • In a Diwali gift to Central government employees and pensioners, the Modi government hiked the dearness allowance (DA) by 5%.
  • The decision was approved in a cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • That the government has hiked DA by 5%, which means the dearness allowance has been increased from 12% to 17%.
  • This increase is based on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

Moody’s cuts India GDP growth forecast to 5.8% for FY’20

  • Moody’s Investors Service slashed its 2019-20 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.8 per cent from 6.2 per cent earlier, saying the economy was experiencing a pronounced slowdown which is partly related to long-lasting factors.
  • The projection is lower than 6.1 per cent that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had forecast just last week.

BANKING

RBI approves merger of district co-operative banks to form Kerala Bank

  • The Reserve Bank of India has given the final approval for the merger of district co-operative banks in Kerala. The combined entity will be called the 'Kerala Bank'.
  • Under the arrangement, 13 DCBs will be merged with the Kerala State Co-operative Bank. All DCBs, except the one in Malappuram district controlled by the opposition Congress-led UDF, had approved the state government's proposal in their general body meetings.

FACTS

Chief Minister of Kerala-Pinarayi Vijayan

Governor of Kerala-Arif Mohammad Khan

RBI Rejects Indiabulls-Lakshmi Vilas Bank Merger Plan

  • The proposed merger of private sector lender The Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd. with home financier Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. failed to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of India.
  • The Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank first proposed the merger earlier in April this year, saying that the amalgamated entity would create a large, healthy and diverse asset portfolio, which will benefit from stable low-cost funding in the form of public deposits and a wide distribution franchise.

FACTS

Chairman of Lakshmi vilas Bank-Parthasarathy Mukherjee

Headquarters-Chennai

AWARD

Putin honours US astronaut Nick Hague with prestigious courage award

                                 

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin bestowed a prestigious state award for courage on Nick Hague, the US astronaut who survived a botched space launch last year.
  • A Russian Soyuz rocket bound for the International Space Station malfunctioned two minutes after lift off on Oct. 11, 2018, forcing its two-man crew of Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin to make an emergency landing.
  • They landed unscathed in the Kazakh steppe after plunging 31 miles in a capsule with parachutes slowing their descent.

Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke Awarded Nobel Prizes in Literature

                                                                                            

  • Polish author Olga Tokarczuk and Austria's Peter Handke have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
  • Two winners were named - one for 2019 and one for 2018 - because the prize was not awarded last year.
  • Tokarczuk, who also won the Man Booker International Prize last year, was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize, with this year's Nobel going to Handke.
  • The 76-year-old Austrian playwright, novelist and poet was recognised for "an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience"

IMPORTANT DAY

World Mental Health Day - 10 October

  • World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.
  • The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.
  • The theme selected for this year’s Day-Suicide Prevention.

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