Daily News

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Fourth Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog Concludes

The fourth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog was held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister at Rashtrapati Bhavan

It was attended by 23 Chief Ministers and the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Apart from them, Union Ministers who are ex-officio members and special invitees also attended the meeting.

The Prime Minister took into consideration States’ concerns over the Terms of Reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

The Prime Minister in his closing remarks said the best manner of showing respect to the Father of the Nation would be to achieve a 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF) status for the country by October 2, 2019, the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Did you Know

The Governing Council of NITI Aayog comprises the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with Legislatures and Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and four Union Ministers as ex-officio members and three Union Ministers as Special Invitee.

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President Kovind in Greece; Addresses Indian Community in Greece

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind visited Greece on the first leg of his 3 - nation State Visit to – Greece, Suriname and Cuba.

He addressed an impressive gathering of Indian community in Athens

Earlier in the day, emphasizing India’s deep respect for the age old civilization of Greece, the President visited the Acropolis as well as the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium and Temple of Zeus.

Did you Know

Greece is a Country in the Balkans, Currency: Euro, Capital: Athens

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Dues of PNB's big wilful defaulters rise to Rs 15,490 crore

Wilful defaulters borrowing Rs 25 lakh and above owed more than Rs 15,490 crore to PNB as of May end, up 2 per cent from the preceding month.

The major defaulters included Kudos Chemie, Kingfisher Airlines, BBF Industries, ICSA (India) Ltd, Arvind Remedies, Indu Projects Ltd.

The Indian banking sector, particularly state-owned lenders, is grappling with mounting non performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans due to a host of scams and frauds.

Did you Know

Wilful defaulters are those who are not paying back their loans despite having the capacity to do so.

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Google to invest $550 mn in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com

Google will invest $550 million in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse JD.com

The internet giant is stepping up its investments across Asia

The partnership will include the promotion of JD.com products on Google's shopping service.

Google will get 27.1 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares as part of the deal. This will give them less than a 1 per cent stake in JD

Did you Know

JD.com, Inc also known as Jingdong and formerly called 360buy, is a Chinese e-commerce company headquartered in Beijing.

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NITI Aayog’s composite water management index (CWMI)

NITI Aayog’s composite water management index (CWMI) was recently released

Rajasthan has improved its ranking by restoring 80 percent of the irrigation potential of identified water bodies, largely through community-managed ponds and tanks

The report highlights how India is suffering from ‘the worst ever water crisis’

Nearly half of country’s population is facing high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people are dying every year due to inadequate access to safe water

Did you Know

CWMI comprises nine areas of assessment with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of groundwater, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy, and governance.

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New health scheme flawed: IMA

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded a review of the Centre’s ambitious National Health Protection Scheme, saying it has “conceptual deficits and operational flaws”.

They claim rates quoted by the government for various procedures are abysmal and impractical and most of them do not cover even 30% of the cost of the procedure.

Did you Know

Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization

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Roger Federer claims 98th career title with victory in Stuttgart

Roger Federer proved too strong for Milos Raonic in the final of the Stuttgart Open, winning in straight sets.

Jimmy Connors is the only player in the history of the men's game to have reached a century of top-level titles.

The Stuttgart Open (Germany) is an ATP World Tour 250 series tennis tournament on the ATP Tour.

Did you Know

Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men's singles tennis.
Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

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Nepal, China to sign pact on Tibet-Kathmandu railway line during PM Oli’s visit

Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will be in China from June 19 to 24.

His first visit to China after re-election

The two countries will sign a number of agreements including one on energy cooperation and construction of a railway line connecting Kerung in Tibet to capital Kathmandu.

Also, plans for an India-Nepal-China economic corridor are expected to be discussed.

Did you Know

India-Nepal-China economic corridor is a trans-Himalayan trilateral economic corridor, an ambitious plan that seeks to connect the three countries.

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MobiKwik invests Rs 2 crore in Pivotchain for fintech offerings

Mobile wallet company Mobikwik invested Rs 2 crore in Pune-based data science company, Pivotchain Solutions.

Pivotchain Solutions is a predictive analytics firm with expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence and has built exclusive AI and deep learning models for Mobikwik

Did you Know

Bipin Preet Singh, is the founder and CEO of MobiKwik.
Artificial Intelligence is the broader concept of machines being able to carry out tasks in a way that we would consider “smart”

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Minister of Railways & Coal reviews the performance of three Zones

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways & Coal reviewed the performance of three Zonal Railways viz North Central Railways, North Eastern Railways & East Central Railways

Key observations:

Punctuality of the trains and safety of passengers needs to be improved.

For real-time monitoring, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology will be used in the locomotives.

Every coach conductor shall be given a hand-held terminal for the optimum occupancy of vacant berth during the journey.

CCTVs will be installed in kitchens of IRCTC so it may be remotely monitored by the concerned officials.

Did you Know

The 17 zones and the 68 divisions in Indian Railways. Each of the divisions is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), who reports to the General Manager (GM) of the zone.