‘Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple gets GI tag

NATIONAL NEWS

‘Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple gets GI tag

• The famous Palani panchamirtham, given as ‘prasadam’ at the Murugan temple there, has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
• This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with the GI tag.
•  The application was filed by the Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer, Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy Thirukkoil, North Giriveethi, Adivaram, Palani.

Inter-State Council reconstituted with PM Modi as chairman

• The Inter-State Council, which is mandated to investigate and advise on disputes between states, has been reconstituted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman and six Union ministers and all chief ministers as members.
• According to a notification, the Union ministers who will be members of the reconstituted council are Amit Shah (Home), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), Rajnath Singh (Defence), Narendra Singh Tomar (Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj).
• Other members are: Thaawar Chand Gehlot (Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment) and Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Civil Aviation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry).
• Chief ministers of all states and Union territories having legislative assemblies and administrators of the Union territories not having a legislative assembly will also be members of the council.

 Chief of Defence Staff will make defence forces more effective: PM Modi

• In a major decision for higher level military reforms and tri-service integration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who will be above the three Service Chiefs. The modalities are expected to be finalised in the next few months.

ECONOMY AND FINANCE

Banks cannot charge for these ATM transactions

• For the benefit of bank account holders, the banking regulator Reserve Bank of India or RBI has come out with clarifications on free ATM transactions.
• The RBI, in a circular, clarified that transactions which fail on account of technical reasons like hardware, software, and communication issues shall not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer.
• Other failed ATM transactions like non-availability of currency notes in the ATM, transaction declines attributable to the bank or service provider will also not be considered as valid ATM transactions for the customer.
• Invalid PIN/validations etc, which result in failed ATM transactions, will also be not counted as valid ATM transactions.
• Non-cash withdrawal transactions at ATMs such as balance enquiry, cheque book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer shall also not be part of the number of free ATM transactions.

AWARDS

ISRO Chairman Sivan gets A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award

• Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K. Sivan, under whose leadership, the organisation launched its Chandrayaan-2 mission, was awarded Tamil Nadu government’s Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award.

OBITUARY

Queen of middle-ground cinema, actor Vidya Sinha passes away

• Veteran Bollywood actress Vidya Sinha, known for her role in Basu Chatterjee's film 'Rajnigandha' (1974), passed away after a brief lung-cum-heart ailment.

Former India cricketer V.B. Chandrasekhar no more

• Former India and Tamil Nadu opener V.B. Chandrasekhar passed away. He was 57. Police said the body of the former cricketer was recovered from his residence.
• After his eventful cricketing career, where he was a part of the last Tamil Nadu team to triumph in the Ranji Trophy in 1988 — he later led the State side and then briefly played for Goa — VB focussed on coaching and commentary.

SPORTS

UEFA (Union of European Football Association) Super Cup 2019: Adrian shootout save helps Liverpool beat Chelsea

• Tammy Abraham allowed Liverpool to beat Chelsea 5-4 on penalties and win the UEFA Super Cup after a richly entertaining match in Istanbul finished 2-2 at the end of extra time.

Wrestling: Deepak Punia becomes 1st Indian junior world champion in 18 years

• Deepak Punia won gold at the Junior World Championships in Talinn, Estonia. Deepak beat Russia's Alik Shebzukov to win the 86kg junior freestyle title which follows the silver he won in the category in 2018.