Daily News

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Panel on bad bank to submit report shortly: SBI chief

State Bank chairman Rajnish Kumar, who is a member of the panel formed to give recommendations for setting up a state-run bad bank, is set to submit the report to the finance ministry.

Finance minister Piyush Goyal announced the formation of a committee under the chairmanship of Punjab National Bank non-executive chairman Sunil Mehta and the SBI chairman and Bank of Baroda managing director PS Jayakumar as members.

He gave the panel a fortnight to submit their report on the feasibility of setting up an asset reconstruction company (ARC)/an asset management company (AMC) for faster resolution of bad loans.

Did you Know

State Bank of India is an Indian multinational, public sector banking and financial services company. It is a government-owned corporation headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Arijit Basu-MD of State Bank of India.
Chairman-Rajnish Kumar

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Indian money in Swiss banks surges

According to the official annual data released by Swiss National Bank (SNB)the central banking authority of the Alpine nation,money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50% to Swiss Francs (CHF) 1.01 billion (₹7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year downward trend.

In comparison, the total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks rose about 3% to ₹100 lakh crore in 2017.

The Indian money in Swiss banks had fallen by 45% in 2016, marking their biggest ever yearly plunge, to about ₹4,500 crore — the lowest ever since the European nation began making the data public in 1987.

Did you Know

In 1998, Swiss Bank Corporation merged with Union Bank of Switzerland to form UBS, the largest bank in Europe and the second largest bank in the world. The company's logo, which featured three keys, symbolizing "confidence, security, and discretion", was adopted by UBS after the 1998 merger.

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Mizoram Assembly adopts resolution against Citizenship Bill

The Mizoram Assembly on unanimously adopted an official resolution, expressing opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

According to State Home Minister R. Lalzirlianathe bill seeking to make illegal migrants eligible for Indian citizenship on the basis of religion,was against the principles of secularism and “amounted to patronage of some religions” and

it would be harmful to States like Mizoram where a large number of illegal Buddhist migrants from Bangladesh reside.

All Mizoram NGOs, including the influential Young Mizo Association, and political parties like People's Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM) have strongly opposed the bill, saying it would change the demography of the state.

Did you Know

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act 1955, it proposes to make illegal migrants of six communities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — eligible for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in the country.

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Sabarimala chosen as Swacch Iconic Place

The Union government has selected Sabarimala as a Swachh Iconic Place as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Thirty centres in the country had been selected for conversion to Swacch Iconic Places. The project has already been executed in 20 places. Sabarimala is the only place from Kerala selected for implementation in the third and last phase of the project.

The project envisages making Sabarimala a Swacch Iconic Place by introducing sanitation and waste disposal facilities of international standards at the pilgrimage centre.

Did you Know

The Swachh Iconic Places is an initiative under the Swachh Bharat Mission. It is a special clean-up initiative focused on select iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country. The initiative is being coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and the concerned State governments.

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Rising temperature to cut living standards of 600 million Indians

According to an analysis by the World Bank, 600 million Indians could see a dip in living standards by 2050 if temperatures continue to rise at their current pace,

Seven of the 10 severest or most vulnerable ‘hotspots’ in India would be located in Maharashtra; the rest would be in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In the absence of major climate mitigation, nearly 148 million Indians will be living in these severe hotspots in 2050.

India’s average annual temperatures are expected to rise by 1°C to 2°C by 2050, even if preventive measures are taken along the lines of those recommended by the Paris climate change agreement of 2015. If no measures are taken, average temperatures in India are predicted to increase by 1.5°C to 3°C.

Did you Know

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital projects.
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.,United States
President: Jim Yong Kim
CEO: Kristalina Georgieva.
Membership:189 countries (IBRD) & 173 countries (IDA)

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Hyderabad may house first government blockchain centre

The Centre is considering a proposal to set up a Centre of Excellence for blockchain technology in Hyderabad to drive innovation.

The proposal has been submitted by C-DAC Hyderabad, along with the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) and Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai.

"The Centre of Excellence, proposed to come up at C-DAC’s Hyderabad unit, will be the first one by the government for blockchain technology,”

According to officials ,IDRBT will work on and develop use cases and applications for finance sector. VJTI will work on IoT capabilities.

IT firms such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Cognizant had made significant investments in blockchain technology, while banks had already started using the technology,

Did you Know

A Block Chain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography.
ICICI Bank successfully executed its first two transactions using Blockchain technology in October 2016. Yes Bank has implemented a multi-nodal Blockchain transaction in January 2017 to provide efficient services to customers.

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Indian shooters finish on top in Germany

Indian shooters collected 26 medals in all including 15 gold, two silver and nine bronze medals at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl,Germany.They picked up eight medals, including five gold, on the concluding day of the tournament.

Their successful campaign saw them finish on top of the medal standings among 61 participating countries.

India’s gold medals came in the 10m air pistol mixed team, 25m standard pistol men junior individual and team and 25m standard pistol women junior individual and team events respectively.

The Indian contingent in the process overturned the result in their favour over powerhouses China, who had topped the charts in the year’s first Junior World Cup in Sydney, where India had finished second.

Did you Know

The International Shooting Sport Federation(ISSF) is the governing body of the Olympic Shooting events in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun disciplines, and of several non-Olympic Shooting sport events.
Headquarters: Munich, Germany

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Pakistan team to attend SAARC meet in India

A business delegation from Pakistan will leave for India to participate in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Development Fund Partnership Conclave.

The three-day conclave will commence from July 1 and is aimed at strategic growth in the South Asia region through project collaboration and regional integration.The delegation will be led by Vice President of SAARC Chamber’s Pakistan chapter Iftikhar Ali Malik.

Did you Know

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. SAARC comprises of eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu on 17 January 1987.

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Endangered species listing considered for rare Nevada toad

U.S. wildlife officials are set to consider Endangered Species Act protection for a rare toad in northern Nevada’s high desert where one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in the nation wants to build a power plant.

The conservationists have presented substantial scientific information suggesting the Dixie Valley toad could be at risk of extinction. Its 12-month review will include examining the extent to which any conservation efforts have reduced the threats.

It’s only found in an area covering less than 3 square miles (7 square kilometers) in the marshy remnant of the lakebed east of Reno, Nevada.

Did you Know

An endangered species is a type of organism that is threatened by extinction. Species become endangered for two main reasons: loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation.
Nevada toad is a 2-inch-long (5-centimeters) toad with flecks of gold on its olive-colored body and was discovered in 2007 in thick underbrush of a spring-fed marsh in the Dixie Valley, where an ancient lake once covered 190,000 square miles.

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Statistics Day: Professor P. C. Mahalanobis 125th birth anniversary to be celebrated.

Every year 29th June is celebrated as the “Statistics Day” in the category of Special Days at the National level to mark the notable contributions made by Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of statistics, statistical system and economic planning.

This year Venkaiah Naidu will release Rs 125 Coin on Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis's Birth Anniversary.

The objective of celebration of this Day is to create public awareness about the importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation, to acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Mahalanobis, and to pay homage to him.

The theme selected for the Statistics Day this year is ‘‘Quality Assurance in Official Statistics’. The theme has been chosen to underscore the importance of compliance with essential parameters of quality in statistical systems and products.

Did you Know

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis pioneered the study of statistics in India by establishing the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), and laid the foundations of the Indian statistical system through the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) and the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).