SINCE 1993 - bsc4success 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute ... (`100 cr); Dena Bank (`600 cr); IDBI Bank (`1,900 cr); Indian Overseas Bank ... charges on other services,

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mySINCE 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Economy

SINCE 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Banking Coming in support of weak and non-performing public

sector banks (PSBs), the Finance Ministry has chalkedout a turnaround-linked ̀ 8,586-cr capital infusion planfor 10 PSBs. The 10 banks identified are Allahabad Bank(`418 cr); Andhra Bank (`1,100 cr); Bank of India (`1,500cr); Bank of Maharashtra (`300 cr); Central Bank of India(`100 cr); Dena Bank (`600 cr); IDBI Bank (`1,900 cr);Indian Overseas Bank (`1,100 cr); UCO Bank (`1,150 cr)and United Bank of India (`418 cr). As per theIndradhanush roadmap announced in Aug 2015, the govthad promised to infuse ̀ 70,000 cr in public sector banksover four years. At the same time, they will have to raisefurther ̀ 1.1 lakh cr from the markets to meet their capitalrequirement under Basel-III norms.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified thatcurrency notes with scribbles are legal tender. Whilescribbled-on notes continue to be legal tender, there areexceptions. According to a Jul 2013 RBI notification, anynote with slogans and messages of a political naturecease to be legal tender. According to the RBI circular, ifany bank branch refuses to exchange soiled notes fromany member of the public, the bank has to pay a penaltyof `10,000.

The Union Finance Ministry has agreed in principle toallow public sector banks to offer stock options to theiremployees from next fiscal — a move aimed at retainingexperienced hands with better incentives. The EmployeeStock Option Plans (ESOPs) could be given by thosebanks which have not only earned substantial profit but

also made remarkable improvement in managing NPAs.This is based on the suggestion of Banks Board Bureau(BBB) headed by Vinod Rai.

HDFC Bank on 5 Mar announced the launch of anelectronic virtual assistant (EVA), an artificialintelligence-driven chatbot, for customer services.

As Non-performing Assets (NPAs) of public sector bankssoared to a staggering ̀ 6.8 lakh cr, the chairman of a keyParliamentary panel on 5 Mar favoured naming andshaming corporate houses which default on repaymentof bank loans. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chiefKV Thomas hopes “naming and shaming” suchcorporate houses may help financial institutions get backtheir money.

After a gap of five years, State Bank of India (SBI) hasdecided to reintroduce penalty on non-maintenance ofminimum balance in accounts from Apr 1, and revisedcharges on other services, including ATMs.

Highlights The country’s largest bank will permit savings bank

account holders to deposit cash three times a monthfree of charges and levy `50 plus service tax onevery transaction beyond that.

In case of current account, the levy could go ashigh as ̀ 20,000.

As per the list of revised charges of SBI, failure tomaintain Monthly Average Balance (MAB) inaccounts will attract penalty of up to `100 plusservice tax.

In metropolitan areas, there will be a charge of ̀ 100

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plus service tax, if the balance falls below 75 percent of the MAB of ̀ 5,000.

If the shortfall is 50 per cent or less of the MAB,then the bank will charge ̀ 50 plus service tax.

The bank had suspended levying charges on breachof minimum balance requirements in 2012 to acquirenew customers.

Withdrawal of cash from ATMs will attract a chargeof up to `20 if the number of transactions exceedsthree from other bank’s ATMs in a month and `10for more than five withdrawals from SBI ATMs.

However, SBI will not levy any charge on withdrawalsfrom its own ATMs if the balance exceeds ̀ 25,000.

In case of other banks’ ATMs there will be no chargeif the balance exceeds ̀ 1 lakh.

SBI will charge ̀ 15 for SMS alerts per quarter fromdebit card holders who maintain average quarterlybalance of up to `25,000 during the three monthsperiod.

There will be no charge for UPI/ USSD transactionsof up to ̀ 1000.

The IDFC Aadhaar Pay, the country’s first Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution, was officiallylaunched on 7 Mar, following successful pilots across16 States. Individuals with Aadhaar-seeded savingsaccounts in any bank can transact on IDFC Aadhaar Payusing fingerprint as digital identity to make cashlesspayments at merchant points.

The Reserve Bank of India has sharply brought downthe threshold above which non-banking financecompanies (NBFCs) can disburse loans against goldonly by cheque. The central bank said with immediateeffect such loans amounting to `20,000 and above canbe disbursed only by cheque as against the earlierthreshold of `1 lakh and above.

Amid growing concerns over security of financial dataon digital wallet platforms, the ministry of electronicsand IT has put together draft rules aimed at safeguardingconsumer interest. The draft Information Technology(Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules 2017thrusts upon wallet companies protection of consumer’sfinancial data along with introducing a strong grievanceredressal system at these companies to address theseissues. Companies like Paytm, Mobikwik and Freechargeprovide digital wallet services in India.

IndusInd Bank has entered into an agreement withInfrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd

(IL&FS) to acquire 100 per cent stake in IL&FS SecuritiesServices Ltd (ISSL).

The State Bank of India (SBI) on 14 Mar announced aone-time farm loan settlement scheme worth `6,000 crprimarily for tractors.

The World Bank has agreed to provide loan to developinternal transmission arrangements of the upcoming RewaUltra Mega Solar project in Madhya Pradesh. It willprovide 25 per cent of the loan amount under its CleanTechnology Fund (CTF), where the money will beprovided at an interest rate of only 0.25 per cent.

The US central bank Federal Reserve has raised itsbenchmark interest rate by 0.25 per cent for only thethird time in a decade. The central bank voted to raise itskey rate target to a range of 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent.

HDFC Bank on 15 Mar launched an instant digital loanagainst securities (LAS) facility in collaboration withthe National Securities Depository (NSDL).

The State Bank of India (SBI) and real estate developers’body CREDAI have signed a memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) to jointly conduct variousinitiatives towards development of the realty sector.CREDAI is the largest real-estate association in thecountry with over 11,500 members.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been authorised toconduct field trials for printing plastic notes of `10denomination. The RBI for long has been planning tolaunch plastic currency notes after field trials. Kochi,Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar are the fivecities where the plastic notes would be introduced in afield trial.

The State Bank of India (SBI) on 11 Mar said it hadincorporated SBI Infra Management Solutions Pvt Ltd(SBIIMS Pvt Ltd) as a wholly owned subsidiary tomanage premises and estate-related matters of the bank.

The World Bank has approved $175 mn for India’sNational Hydrology Project, which will strengthen thecapacity of existing institutions to assess the watersituation and equip them with real-time flood forecastsystems across the country.

Dena Bank has introduced Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID)-enabled banking cards whereby abranch/relationship manager can identify a valued cliententering a branch with the card.


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India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signedUSD 375-mn pact for loans and grants to develop 800 -km Visakhapatnam - Chennai Industrial Corridor, whichis the first phase of a planned 2,500-km East CoastEconomic Corridor.

An expert committee set up by SIDBI has sanctioned`300 cr to fund managers who would invest in startups,taking the total sanctions so far this fiscal to over ̀ 1,100cr. To promote startups, the Cabinet had last yearapproved the setting up of a ‘Fund of Funds for Startups’with a corpus of `10,000 cr at SIDBI (Small IndustriesDevelopment Bank).

The global leader in payment solutions American Expresson 27 Feb announced the launch of Buyer InitiatedPayments (BIP), an electronic payment platform linkedto corporate card that reduces processing costs and offersextended payment terms compared to traditional invoicepayments.

The lender to small industries Small IndustriesDevelopment Bank of India (SIDBI) on 27 Feb signed anagreement whereby it will handhold the Capital SmallFinance Bank (CSFB) to enable it to provide loans at aconcessional rate to MSMEs.

The World Bank has announced an assistanceprogramme of over $1 bn in the areas of urban transportand climate-resilient agriculture in Maharashtra, overthe next 2-3 years.

Capital Market The BSE has tied up with Sentifi, a Swiss company and

leader in algorithmic-based analysis, for social mediaupdates of 40,000 globally listed stocks.

Committees The RBI has announced setting up of an inter-

disciplinary standing committee on cyber security toreview the threats inherent in the existing and emergingtechnology.

Corporate Two Indian companies, Tata Steel and Wipro, have been

named in the list of world’s most ethical companies byAmerican think tank Ethisphere Institute.

The social networking site Facebook on 1 Mar launched

a new initiative, SheLeadsTech, to support women-founded or co-founded startups.

Disinvestment The govt has approved outright sale of state-owned

SAIL’s three special steel units, including Salem andAlloy Steel plants. SAIL has now sought advisors,including legal and merchant bankers, to carry out thestrategic sale along with transfer of management controlin the three steel plants — Alloy Steels Plant (ASP),Salem Steel Plant (SSP) and Visvesvaraya Iron and SteelPlant (VISP). The govt has budgeted to raise `15,000cr from strategic disinvestment in 2017-18.

Energy India’s oil imports from Iran rose nearly 17 per cent in

Feb from a month earlier as refiners received less crudefrom key OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and Iraq after anOPEC deal to cut output. The jump meant Iran replacedregional rival Iraq as India’s second-biggest oil supplier.Saudi Arabia remains the biggest oil supplier to India.

Inflation India’s wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation flared

up to a two-and-a-half-year high of 6.55% in Feb from5.25% in Jan mainly due to a spurt in mineral and fuelprices while food prices started rising following rapidremonetisation.

The retail inflation rose to a four-month high of 3.65 percent in Feb mainly due to surge in price of food items likefruits, sugar and confectionery.

Infrastructure The govt has launched a new scheme — Trade

Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) — fordeveloping export- linked infrastructure in states with aview to promoting outbound shipments. The scheme, tobe implemented from Apr 1, would have a budgetaryallocation of `600 cr for three years with an annualoutlay of `200 cr.

Manufacturing Tata Steel said on 28 Feb it had commenced ferro chrome

production at its recently commissioned unit at Gopalpur,in south Odisha.

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The growth of eight core sectors slowed down to a five-month low of 3.4% in Jan, mainly due to contraction inoutput of refinery products, fertiliser and cement. Thegrowth rate of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crudeoil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel,cement and electricity was 5.7 per cent in Jan 2016.Infrastructure sectors’ expansion in Jan this year is thelowest since Aug 2016, when the segments had recordeda growth of 3.2%. It is also lower than that of 5.6% seenin Dec 2016. The core sectors, which contribute 38% tothe total industrial production, expanded 4.8% in Apr-Jan this financial year, compared to 2.9% growth in thesame period the previous financial year, according todata released by the commerce and industry ministry on28 Feb.

Power The power equipment maker BHEL has commenced

commercial operations of its first 800-MW unit, asupercritical thermal plant. It also marks the company’sforay as a developer into the field of power generation.

India’s largest power generator NTPC Ltd on 8 Mar saidit had commissioned another 45 Megwatt of its Bhadlasolar power plant in Rajasthan and with this thecompany’s total installed capacity has become 48,188MW.

Taxation The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on 17 Mar

cleared four Bills — state GST (SGST), Union TerritoryGST, changes to the central GST and integrated GST andcompensation legislation — which would be taken tothe Cabinet expeditiously. Then, these would bepresented in Parliament. SGST Bill would be taken up bythe respective state Cabinets and assemblies so that theGST could be rolled out from Jul 1. All steps by the GSTCouncil so far indicate they are moving towards a Jul 1rollout. The Council also cleared a Union commercedepartment proposal for the nil rate to be applied forgoods and services going to special economic zones.Now, the Council will work out rules on composition,valuation, tax collected at source and transitions. In thenext meeting on Mar 31, the Council will take up the ruleson four categories and any changes to the already clearedrules on five issues. The Council has already approvedfour rates — 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent — besides the nilrate. Kerala has achieved the maximum number of

registrations under the Goods and Services Tax (GST)regime with at least 60 per cent of an estimated 2.5 lakhtraders migrating to the new platform.

Telecom The boards of Idea Cellular Ltd and Vodafone India Ltd

have approved their merger (excluding the latter’s 42%stake in Indus Towers) in a $23-bn deal. The merger willcreate the world’s second largest and India’s largesttelco, overtaking Bharti Airtel Ltd. It will have almost400 mn customers with 35% customer and 41% revenuemarket share. It will have revenue of ̀ 81,600 cr and anoperating profit of ̀ 24,400 cr. The merger is expected tobe completed in 2018. The name of the combined listedfirm will be changed. KM Birla will be the chairman ofthe new entity while the appointments of the chiefexecutive officer (CEO) and chief operating officer (COO)will require approval of the boards of both firms whileVodafone will have the right to appoint the chief financialofficer (CFO). In the beginning, Vodafone will be adominant partner with 45.1% stake after it transfers4.9% to the Aditya Birla Group for ̀ 3,874 cr. The AdityaBirla group will own a 26% stake but have the right toacquire up to 9.5% from Vodafone.

The Reliance Communications Ltd has received approvalfrom the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),BSE Ltd (BSE) and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd(NSE) for the proposed Scheme of Arrangement fordemerger of the wireless division of the company intoAircel Ltd and Dishnet Wireless Ltd.The merger will create the country’s third-largest mobile

operator by subscriber base.

Others The global rating agency Fitch on 7 Mar said Indian

economy would grow by 7.1% in the current fiscal (2016-17) before stepping up to 7.7% in the next two financialyears (2017-18 and 2018-19). The US-based agency,however, termed the 7% GDP growth for the Oct-Decquarter as “surprising”, a tad lower than 7.4% in theprevious quarter.

The Paris-based Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) on 28 Feb cut itsgrowth projection for India in 2016-17 to 7 per cent fromthe 7.4 per cent it had projected last year.This is more than double the current global growth figure,

and four times the OECD average.


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CSO releases second advance GDP estimate: The CSO has pegged advance GDP growth estimate

for 2016-17 at 7.1 per cent. India’s Dec quarter GDP stands at 7 per cent in the

demonetisation period from Oct to Dec last year. The projection of GDP at 7.1 per cent is due to the

growth in Agriculture, Mining and Manufacturingas compared to the 1st Advance estimates.

The Real GDP in 2016-17 is likely to attain a level of

`121.65 lakh cr as against the first revised estimateof ̀ 113.58 lakh cr of 2015-16.

The growth of Real Gross Value Added (GVA) atbasic prices in 2016-17 is estimated at 6.7 per centagainst 7.8 per cent in 2015-16.

The per capita net national income at current priceduring 2016-17 is estimated to be ̀ 1.03 lakh showinga rise of 10.2 per cent compared to 94,178 rupeesduring 2015-16.

Nation Reducing premature mortality from cardiovascular

diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratorydiseases by 25% by 2025

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi recently has given approvals to thefollowing: The MoUs with Indonesia and Kyrgyz Republic

which envisage organising Youth ExchangeProgrammes with the two countries and cooperationin other youth-and sports-related matters.International Youth Exchange programmes promoteexchange of ideas, values and culture amongst youthand help in developing international perspectiveamong the youth.

The signing of an MoU on Aids to Navigationbetween the Directorate General of Lighthouses &Lightships (DGLL), Ministry of Shipping, Govt ofIndia and the Department of Shipping, Govt ofBangladesh.

Fifty new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) will beestablished across the country to provide qualityeducation to around 50,000 students with theCabinet giving a go-ahead to the project. There areat present 1,142 functional Kendriya Vidyalayasunder the KVS, including three abroad at Moscow,Kathmandu and Tehran.

The signing of agreement between India and UNWomen to strengthen gender equality in governanceinstitutions which seeks to provide technical supportto the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to improve theopportunities for gender equality through legislation,policies and programmes in ministry’s institutions.

Centre The National Health Policy 2017 has been approved by

the Union Cabinet.Highlights

The NHP would aim at increasing life expectancy to70 years from 67.5 and reduce fertility rate to 2.1 by2025.

ree diagnostics and drugs at all public hospitals Yoga would be introduced much more widely in

schools and work places as part of promotion ofgood health.

The policy proposes raising public healthexpenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time-boundmanner from way below 2% GDP expenditure on thesector at present.

Reducing Under-Five Mortality to 23 by 2025 andMaternal Mortality Rate to 100 by 2020.

Reducing infant mortality rate to 28 by 2019 andneo-natal mortality to 16 and still-birth rate to singledigit by 2025.

Elimination of leprosy by 2018, kala-azar by 2017and lymphatic filariasis in endemic pockets by 2017.

The policy seeks to achieve ‘90:90:90’ global targetby 2020, implying that 90% of all people living withHIV know their HIV status, 90% of those diagnosedwith HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviraltherapy and 90% of those receiving antiretroviraltherapy will have viral suppression.

Seeks to reduce the prevalence of blindness to 0.25per 1,000 persons by 2025 and the disease burdenby one-third from the current levels.

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The MoU between India’s National ProductivityCouncil and UAE’s Al Etihad Energy Services forvarious services in the field of energy managementand conservation under which the NPC will provideenergy assessment services, training andcertification of energy auditors and demand sidemanagement.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) onrenewable energy between India and Portugal whichaims to promote bilateral technical cooperation onnew and renewable issues.

Recognising the potential and possibilities in thefisheries sector, Govt of India has envisaged a programmenamed “Blue Revolution’’ to unlock the country’s latentpotential through an integrated approach. Thisprogramme with a total expenditure of about `52,000lakh will facilitate the establishment of hatcheries andFingerling-rearing pond to ensure the fish production of426 cr fish fingerling, 25.50 cr Post Larvae of shrimp andcrab in the country.

India has announced a new hydrocarbon explorationlicensing policy which offers single licence to exploreconventional and unconventional oil and gas resources,as the country seeks to propel investment in the energysector.

The govt has shifted the responsibility of promotingdigital transactions in the country to the Ministry of ITand Electronics (MEITY) from NITI Aayog.

The Clean India mission has become a mass movementand over 100 districts across the country have becomeopen defecation free (ODF), Prime Minister NarendraModi said on 8 Mar. There are three ODF states, 101such districts and 1,67,226 such villages in the country.The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched on Oct 2,2014 by the Prime Minister with an aim to eradicate opendefecation by 2019. The ambitious mission is dividedinto two categories — Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

With an aim to free India from cataract by 2022, the govthas approved a `756-cr scheme to treat over 700 lakhsuch patients in the next five years. The scheme wouldrender `2,000 as financial assistance for each operation,including cost of lenses.

Students will now be required to have an Aadhaar numberfor getting their midday meals across the country. TheHRD ministry issued a notification in this regard on 28

Feb. Cook-cum-helpers working under the midday mealscheme will also have to furnish Aadhaar number. Thisrule will be applicable across the country, except Jammuand Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam.

States The Gujarat govt has entered into an agreement with a

global cloud-based solutions provider cloudBuy.comto develop a B2B marketplace for small and large businessunits in the state.

The Centre on 15 Mar approved financial assistance forbifurcated Andhra Pradesh by way of specialdispensation in funding of externally aided projects(EAPs) and also the irrigation component of Polavaramproject.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on 8Mar launched a mobile app to help skilled and semi-skilled workers find jobs. The mobile app and websitetitled ‘Mera Hunar HP’ or ‘My Talent’ will directly connectprospective employers with job aspirants as the latter’sresume will contain addresses and contact numbers.

Focusing on women welfare and newborn, TelanganaChief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has come out withan innovative scheme – KCR Kit. The scheme is designedto address complications during the time of pregnancyand aimed at reducing infant mortality rate andencouraging institutional deliveries.

Karnataka has announced an Idea2POC (Proof ofConcept) fund of ̀ 10 cr for women entrepreneurs. Underthis (Idea2POC) scheme, the Karnataka Department ofIT, BT and S&T will fund up to ̀ 50 lakh for any womaninnovator looking for funds for Proof of Conceptvalidation, certification, and cover costs in manufacturingof pilot devices.

The AIADMK IT Wing has launched the first-of-its-kindwomen safety application in Tamil Nadu. The app iscalled ‘Ammavin Aran’ meaning ‘mother’s fortress.’ Theapp will give the user details about the nearest policestation and hospital along with map details and phonenumber.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated a 24X7 toll-free helpline number 181 for distressed women on theoccasion of International Women’s Day on 8 Mar.

The Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launchedPratibimba, which will help people across the state and


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the country get a detailed information regarding the stepstaken by us in fulfilling the govt’s promise of transparent,responsible and people-friendly governance.

The week-long tribal festival ‘Bhagoria’, in whichcolourful markets are put up in western Madhya Pradesh,was celebrated starting 15 Mar.

The West Bengal Assembly on 23 Mar passed a Billaimed at overhauling private healthcare and takingstringent measures against health institutions indulgingin medical negligence and corrupt practices, The WestBengal Clinical Establishments (Registration,Regulation and Transparency) Bill 2017 was passedby voice vote.

In a cabinet decision taken on 7 Mar, the Assam govt ledby Sarbananda Sonowal decided to make Sanskrit alongwith computer education a permanent subject in the stateschools.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 25 Febinaugurated a medical project Rajasthan Heart AttackTreatment programme (RAHAT). The project has beenlaunched by Eternal Heart Care Centre Hospital, a privatehospital based in capital city Jaipur.

The Himachal Pradesh cabinet on 2 Mar approved aproposal to make Dharamshala as the second capital ofthe state.

The Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 3Mar announced that the state govt had prepared a TirthaDarshan scheme under which senior citizens above 60years of age and of Haryana domicile would be able togo on a pilgrimage within the country at govt expense.

Tripura would supply an additional 60 MW of electricityto Bangladesh, over the 100 MW of power the state isproviding to that country.

Bills The Govt on 14 Mar introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha

that would pave the way for the setting up of a singlestanding tribunal to resolve water-related disputesbetween states. As of now, there are multiple tribunalsthat more often than not end up delaying the process ofdispute resolution. Union water resources minister UmaBharti introduced the Inter-State River Water Disputes(Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Lok Sabha. The billproposes to streamline the adjudication of inter-stateriver water disputes and make the present legal and

institutional architecture robust. The bill bats for a singlestanding tribunal which will be headed by a chairpersonwith a five-year term.

The Commerce and Industry Minister NirmalaSitharaman introduced the Footwear Design andDevelopment Institute Bill 2017 on Mar 14 in the LokSabha. Apart from declaring FDDI an institution ofnational importance, the proposed legislation aims tofacilitate and promote teaching, training and research inall disciplines relating to design and development offootwear and leather products.

The Lok Sabha has passed the Admiralty (Jurisdictionand Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016. The Billaims to establish a legal framework to consolidate theexisting laws relating to admiralty jurisdiction of courts,admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, arrest ofvessels and related issues.

Parliament approved on 9 Mar a bill granting womenworking in the organised sector paid maternity leave of26 weeks, up from 12 weeks. The law will apply to allestablishments employing 10 or more people and theentitlement will be for the first two children. For the thirdchild, the entitlement will be 12 weeks. With this, Indiabecomes the country with the third highest maternityleave. Canada and Norway grant 50 weeks and 44 weeksrespectively as paid maternity leave. The MaternityBenefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by LokSabha on 9 Mar. Rajya Sabha had passed it in Aug 2016.

Successors of those who migrated to Pakistan and Chinaduring partition will have no claim over the propertiesleft behind in India, with Parliament on 14 Mar passing abill to amend a 49-year-old law. The Enemy Property(Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amendsthe Enemy Property Act, 1968, was passed by voice votein the Lok Sabha, incorporating the amendments madeby the Rajya Sabha earlier. According to the bill, “Enemyproperty” refers to any property belonging to, held ormanaged on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or anenemy firm.

Defence INS Tillanchang, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft

(WJFAC), was on 6 Mar commissioned into the IndianNavy at Karwar naval base in Karnataka. INS Tillanchangis the third ship of four WJFACs built by the GardenReach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.

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The joint military exercise ‘Surya Kiran-Xi’ betweenIndia and Nepal was conducted in Pithoragarh area ofUttarakhand.

A `17,000-cr deal has been cleared by the govt for jointlydeveloping with Israel a medium-range surface-to-airmissile (MR-SAM) for the army, reflecting India’s fast-growing defence ties with the Jewish nation. The projectwill be implemented by the DRDO (Defence Researchand Development Organisation) and Israeli AircraftIndustry (IAI).

India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield got afurther fillip with the successful test of an interceptormissile conducted by the Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) on 1 Mar. TheAdvanced Area Defence (AAD) endo-atmospheric missilecapable of intercepting incoming target missiles at analtitude of 15 to 25 km range was tested. It was launchedfrom the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast to stop anincoming enemy missile which was launched from theIntegrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar presented the RakshaMantri’s Trophy and Citation for the best ServiceHospital in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS)for the year 2016 to INHS Asvini, Mumbai.

The world’s oldest aircraft carrier in active service, INSViraat, was decommissioned on 6 Mar after serving theIndian Navy for nearly 30 years.

Highlights INS Viraat (R-22) was commissioned by the British

Royal Navy as HMS Hermes (R-12) on Nov 18, 1959. It is the last of the conventional Centaur-class

aircraft carriers.

It was decommissioned after serving 27 years in theRoyal Navy in 1984.

India chose to induct HMS Hermes into her fleet,bought it for $465 million and rechristened it as INSViraat.

The operational aircraft on the carrier were SeaHarrier (White Tigers – fighter aircraft), Speaking42B (Harpoons – Anti-Submarine helicopters) &Speaking 42C (Commando Carrier helicopters) andChetak (Angles – SAR helicopter).

At 57, it had already passed the service life of theoldest serving aircraft carrier in the US Naval fleetUSS Enterprise (CVN-65), which is 50 years old.

Viraat’s first major operation was Operation Jupiterin 1989. It followed the breakdown of the Indian-SriLanka accord of 1986. The carrier was sent as part ofIndia Peace Keeping Operations in Sri Lanka.

The joint training exercise of the Indian Army and theRoyal Army of Oman concluded on 19 Mar in theDhauladhar Ranges at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.

Judiciary In a landmark judgement, the Uttarakhand High Court

on 20 Mar accorded the status of “living human entities”to the Ganga and Yamuna, two of India’s most sacredrivers. Giving the legal status of living humans to theholy rivers, the court ordered that the Director, NamamiGange project for cleaning and rejuvenating the river,the Chief Secretary and the Advocate General ofUttarakhand will act as the legal parents of the holy riversand work as the human face to protect, conserve andpreserve them and their tributaries.


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India and Russia on 17 Mar signed two long-term supportagreements for the Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraftfleet, which is the mainstay of the Indian Air Force (IAF).Pacts were also signed for maintenance and life-cyclesupport for other Russian-origin platforms, such as Mi-17 helicopters, MiG-29K aircraft, INS Vikramaditya andT-90 tanks.

A world ranking of the number of women parliamentarianshas placed India at number 148. The rankings of all 193United Nations member countries was released on 15Mar by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNWomen. Rwanda ranked first in the number of womenparliamentarians with 61.3 per cent in the lower house,followed by Bolivia with 53.1 per cent and Cuba 48.9 percent.

Taking forward the spirit of the Goa Declaration at the8th BRICS Summit, outcomes of the meetings of BRICSLabour & Employment Ministers held on 9 Jun 2016 inGeneva and on 27-28 Sep 2016 in New Delhi, India andBrazil on 16 Mar initialled the text of the Social SecurityAgreement in Brasilia. As per the agreed text, detachedworkers of the two countries are exempted from makingsocial security contributions in either countries so longas they were making such contributions in their respectivecountries.

India on 16 Mar signed a ‘call for action’ and pledged toscale up measures to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030.India reports 2.8 mn new TB cases annually and nearlyhalf a million deaths due to the disease. Six of the region’scountries — Bangladesh, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia,Myanmar and Thailand — are among the 30 high TBburden nations globally.

India’s contribution to the United Nations rose 55 percent to `244 cr in 2015-16 compared with the previousfinancial year. The country contributed `244 cr to theUN in compared with ̀ 157 cr in 2014-15.

Pakistan is conducting its first national census in 19years, which began on 15 Mar with the assistance ofover 200,000 troops and is being conducted in twophases which will be completed on May 25.

Britain’s Parliament has passed the ‘Brexit bill’ pavingthe way for Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger

negotiations for the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The Scottish govt wants to hold a second referendum inthe autumn of 2018 or the spring of the following year.The UK is currently expected to leave the EuropeanUnion on 29 Mar 2019.

Vice President Hamid Ansari attended the Summit of theIndian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) on Mar 7 inJakarta, Indonesia where the 21– nation groupingdiscussed ways to strengthen maritime cooperation andfight against violent extremism.

India had the highest bribery rate among the 16 AsiaPacific countries surveyed by TransparencyInternational. Nearly seven in 10 Indians who hadaccessed public services had paid a bribe. Contrast tothis with the least corrupt country - Japan, where only0.2% of the respondents reported paying a bribe.

The Central Board of Direct Taxation on 9 Mar announcedsigning of a protocol between India and Belgiumamending the existing Agreement and Protocol betweenthe two countries for avoidance of double taxation andprevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes onincome.

China’s banking system is now the biggest in the worldas per a new analysis. The country’s banks have moreassets than those of the eurozone for the first time, theFinancial Times has found. China’s GDP surpassed thatof the EU’s economic bloc in 2011. Three of the world’sfour largest banks by assets are now Chinese. The totalassets of the country’s banking system were $33 tn atthe end of 2016; more than the eurozone’s $31 tn for theeurozone and more than double the US’ $16 tn.

Somalia’s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire hasannounced the deaths of at least 110 people due tohunger and diarrhoea in the country amid a drought inthe Bay region, the southwest part of the country. TheSomalian govt has already declared the drought as anational disaster.

Pakistan hosted the 13th Economic CooperationOrganisation (ECO) Summit in Islamabad recently. Thetheme of the ECO summit was “Connectivity forRegional Prosperity”. The goal of ECO is to promote

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sustainable economic development of its 10 memberstates through trade and economic cooperation as wellas mutual assistance in social, cultural, technical andscientific fields. The headquarters of ECO is located inTehran. The member nations of ECO are: Pakistan, Iran,Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan,Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan

Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic willuse the Russian rouble as its official currency. The roublewould be used in the pro-Russian territory as the basicunit of currency. The use of the rouble, which is alreadyused informally in the pro-Russian territory along withthe Ukrainian hryvnia, serves to stabilise the volatileeconomic situation in the region.

South Korean and US troops held large-scale jointmilitary exercise recently which they conduct annuallyto test their defence-readiness against the threat fromNorth Korea, which routinely characterises the drills as

preparation for war against it. The exercise, called FoalEagle, came amid heightened tension following the latesttest launch of a ballistic missile by the North Korea. Theexercise last year involved about 17,000 American troopsand more than 300,000 South Koreans.

European Union member states on 27 Feb approved visa-free travel for Georgia, after agreeing to safeguards toprevent any upsurge in arrivals from the former Sovietsatellite. Georgia, along with much larger Ukraine, hasbeen urging the EU to grant visa-free travel so as toshow its citizens that close ties with Europe can deliverconcrete benefits.

Developing economies of Asia and the Pacific regionwill need infrastructure investments worth $26 tn fromnow until 2030, according to an Asian Development Bank(ADB) report issued on 28 Feb. The report by the Manila-based bank argued that the region would need multipleinvestments to maintain its current growth momentum.

SportsIOC Athletes’ Commission soon after the Rio Olympicslast year.

Cricket The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has

announced that mobile-manufacturing company OppoMobiles India Private Limited will be the new teamsponsor of the Indian cricket team from Apr 1, 2017 for aperiod of five years. The team sponsorship rights includethe title of official team sponsor and the right to displaya commercial logo in the kits of the India men’s, women’s,A and Under-19 teams.

Tamil Nadu became a five-time winner and spoilt Bengal’sbid for the third time in the title clash of the Vijay HazareTrophy 2016-17.

Football The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 1 Mar

appointed Portugal’s Luis Norton de Matos as the headcoach of the India U-17 World Cup team for theforthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

Badminton Leee Chong Wei of Malaysia has lifted the men’s singles

crown at the 2017 All England Open Badmintonchampionship. In the final in Birmingham, the 34-year-old world number one defeated Shi Yuqi of China. Topseed Tai Tzu won the women’s singles title.

Top-seeded Indian shuttler duo Tarun Kona and AlwinFrancis won the men’s doubles title at the 2017 UgandaInternational Series by defeating Aatish Lubah andGeorges Julien Paul of Mauritius in Kampala.

The men’s doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Alwin Francisemerged victorious at the 2017 Uganda InternationalSeries in Kampala, beating the second-seeded combineof Aatish Lubah and Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius.

Adding another feather in her cap, star shuttler SainaNehwal, who was appointed a member of the InternationalOlympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission (AC) in 2016,would be representing the panel in the Badminton WorldFederation (BWF). In a rare honour for an Indiansportsperson, Saina was appointed as a member of the


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Golf SSP Chawrasia clinched his fourth European Tour title

on 12 Mar when he won the Indian Open for the secondsuccessive year with a seven-shot victory overMalaysia’s Gavin Green. SSP Chawrasia clinched a seven-stroke win to become the second Indian golfer to defendthe Indian Open title after Jyoti Randhawa.

Hockey Olympic silver medallist John-John Dohmen of Belgium

and retiring Netherlands star Naomi Van As have beennamed the male and female Players of the Year for 2016,respectively, by the International Hockey Federation(FIH). Britain’s Olympic gold medallist Maddie Hinchwas adjudged the female Goalkeeper of the Year whileDavid Harte of Ireland was crowned the best goalkeeperin the world for the second year in a row among the men.Maria Granatto from Argentina picked up the title of the

female Rising Star of the Year.

Rugby The Indian men’s Rugby team defeated Pakistan to

secure the 7th rank at the Asia Men’s Rugby SevensTrophy. The two-day championship was held in Doha,Qatar. Philippines won the Asia Men’s Rugby SevensTrophy and secured a place in the Asia Rugby SevensSeries.

Shooting India ended their campaign in the International Shooting

Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) with five medals, including one Gold, two Silverand two Bronze. The home side finished at the fifth placein the medals tally behind table toppers China, Italy,Australia and Japan.

Tennis Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas has won his third straight Brazil

Open tennis title by defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas ofSpain in final.

The unseeded American Sam Querrey has won the ATPMexico Open hardcourt tennis tournament. In the finalat Acapulco in Mexico, Querrey stunned second-seededRafael Nadal in straight sets. The women’s singles titlewas won by Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine defeatingKristina Mladenovic of France.

Andy Murray defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco towin the men’s singles title of the 2017 Dubai Duty FreeTennis Championships.

India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Polish partner MarcinMatkowski lost their men’s doubles final match in theDubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to fourth-seeded duo of Romanian Tecau Horia and DutchmanRojer Jean-Julien.

The second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeatedFrenchman Lucas Pouille to win the 2017 Open 13, whichis a men’s tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts.

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Shantha Rangaswamy BCCI special award: VV Kumar, Late Ramakant

Desai Polly Umrigar Award: Virat Kohli Dilip Sardesai award: Ravichandran Ashwin Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in the

Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Jalaj Saxena (MadhyaPradesh)

Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder indomestic limited-overs competitions, 2015-16: AxarPatel (Gujarat)

Madhavrao Scindia Award (Highest scorer in theRanji Trophy 2015-16): Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai)

Madhavrao Scindia Award (Highest wicket-taker inthe Ranji Trophy 2015-16): Shahbaz Nadeem(Jharkhand)

Jagmohan Dalmiya Award (Best Woman cricketer(Sr) of 2015-16): Mithali Raj (Railways)

Jagmohan Dalmiya Award (Best Woman cricketer(Jr.) of 2015-16): Deepti Sharma (Uttar Pradesh)

Best Umpire in Domestic Cricket in 2015-16: NitinMenon

Best performance in BCCI Domestic tournaments of2015-16: Mumbai Cricket Association

The eminent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail hasbeen honoured with the Saraswati Samman 2016 for hisnovel Hawthan. The 74-year-old’s novel was shortlistedout of 22 books written in as many languages.

DATRI, the largest unrelated blood stem cell donors’registry in India, has received the Global NGO ExcellenceAward under the Best Healthcare NGO category. Theaward was presented at the 6th World Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) Day in Mumbai on Feb 18.

The eminent Malayalam author and journalist MPVeerendra Kumar was on 14 Mar presented the 30thMoortidevi award by Bharatiya Jnanpith. Kumar waschosen for the prestigious award for his Malayalamtravelogue Hymavathabhoovil, which dwells uponancient trails of Indian culture, myth, literature and peoplestrewn in the plains, valleys and mountains of India.

Public sector Canara Bank has won a number of medalsin the Collateral Awards Category at the 11th GlobalCommunication Conclave held in Bengaluru by the Public

List of winners for the 89th annual Academy Awardspresented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts andSciences: Picture: Moonlight Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land) Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences) Directing: Damien Chazelle (La La Land) Foreign Language Film: The Salesman (Iran) Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight, screenplay by

Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan

(Manchester by the Sea) Cinematography: Linus Sandgren (La La Land) Original Score: La La Land (Justin Hurwitz) Original Song: “City of Stars” from La La Land,

music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Ben Pasek andJustin Paul

Costume Design: Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beastsand Where to Find Them)

Documentary Feature: OJ: Made in America (EzraEdelman and Caroline Waterlow)

Film Editing: Hacksaw Ridge (John Gilbert) Makeup and Hairstyling: Suicide Squad

(Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini andChristopher Nelson)

Animated Feature Film: Zootopia (Byron Howard,Rich Moore and Clark Spencer)

Animated Short Film: Piper (Alan Barillaro and MarcSondheimer)

Visual Effects: The Jungle Book, Robert Legato,Adam Valdez, Andrew R Jones and Dan Lemmon

Central Bank of India has been awarded first prize in theimplementation of Official Language Policy in the westernregion for the year 2015-16. Sudhir Pathak, Chief Manager,Central Bank of India, received the trophy and certificatefrom Kalyan Singh, Governor of Rajasthan, at the OfficialLanguage Conference of Central and Western Regionsin Udaipur recently.

BCCI Annual Award 2017: Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award:

Rajinder Goel, Padmakar Shivalkar BCCI Lifetime Achievement award for women:

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Relations Council of India (PRCI). The bank won a goldmedal for a radio jingle and silver medals for CorporateFilm and Brochure.

Vivek Chaand Sehgal of Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd(MSSL) has been awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year2016 award by assurance, tax, transaction and advisoryservices firm EY. Infosys Co-founder Nandan Nilekaniwas honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award forhis contribution to the Unique Identification Authorityof India (UIDAI) — the Aadhaar initiative.

The second highest peacetime gallantry award ‘KirtiChakra’ went to a young officer, Major Rohit Suri, whowas part of the surgical strikes last year. The EasternArmy Commander Praveen Bakshi was awarded the‘Param Vishisht Seva Medal’, the highest DistinguishedService Medal. Another member of the surgical strikesteam Nb Sub Vijay Kumar was conferred the ‘ShauryaChakra.’

Miscellanya robot, Chintu, which would assist senior citizens intheir everyday tasks. Chintu, under-2ft tall robot, wasdeveloped after MIT Pune received a grant of `10 lakhfrom IBM. It is powered by the US-based company’scognitive assistant, IBM Watson. Chintu can move hishands and read books to an audience. Drawing fromWatson’s domain knowledge, Chintu will assist seniorcitizens in conducting everyday tasks such as readingthe newspaper/book and generate reminders on theirdaily medication.

A team of researchers at IBM has created the world’ssmallest magnet using a single atom which can store onebit of data on it. Currently, hard disk drives use about100,000 atoms to store a single bit. The IBM scientistsused a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to buildand measure isolated single-atom bits using the holmiumatoms. Then, they used an electrical current to write andread binary data (1s and 0s) on the atom

India on 6 Mar launched the second stage of its plans tophase out the Ozone-depleting HCFCs by 2030, asrequired under the Montreal Protocol. While launchingthe HCFC Phase-out Management Plans (HPMPs)-II,Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave calledfor research in developing environment-friendlytechnologies. The govt has launched a collaborative R&Dprogramme to develop non-HCFC alternative to meetthe targets India has set.

Kurukh, an endangered tribal language of the Dravidianfamily, is set to get a new lease of life in West Bengal. Itis spoken by the Oraon tribal community. The state istaking steps for the recognition of the Kurukh language

Singapore’s Changi Airport has been named “world’sbest airport” at the annual Skytrax World Airport Awards.The awards, announced during a ceremony in Amsterdamon Mar 14, are based on millions of internationalpassenger surveys.

IISc (Indian Institute of Science) Bangalore has beenranked eighth in the Times Higher Education or THERankings for the year 2017, making it a proud moment forthe Indian education sector. This is for the first time anIndian university has featured in the list of top 10universities of the world. However, besides IISc, no otherIndian university has managed to grab any position underthe top 20 ranking.

A Railway research centre in Australia has entered intoan agreement with the Indian Railways to support futureresearch and technology development related to criticalinfrastructure in India. Representatives from MonashUniversity Institute of Railway Technology (IRT) andIndian Ministry of Railways corporation DFCCIL(Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited)signed an agreement in New Delhi. IRT with partnersBalaji Railroad Systems Ltd (BARSYL), leading railwayconsultants in India, PwC, and Indian Institute ofTechnology Bombay (IITB) was selected as the preferredsupplier from a competitive global selection process.They will provide guidance on the establishment of anew applied research and development institute in Indiaknown as SRESTHA (Special Railway Establishmentfor Strategic Technology & Holistic Advancement).

The students of Maharashtra Institute of Technology(MIT), Pune and technology giant IBM have developed

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of the Oraon community who live in Dooars (in northBengal). The language was given official status in theState recently. Jharkhand has recognised Kurukh as alanguage, and students can write their school finalexamination in its script.

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on 2 Mar approvedproposals to rename the Vijayawada Airport and theTirupati Airport. Vijayawada Airport in Gannavaram hasbeen renamed as ‘Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao-Amaravati Airport’ after the legendary actor and founderof the ruling Telugu Desam Party, and the new capital ofAndhra Pradesh. The Tirupati Airport has been renamedas ‘Sri Venkateswara Airport’ after Lord Venkateswaraof the temple town.

After several global studies failed to find a link betweenmobile radiation and brain tumour, an All India Instituteof Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-led research on the subjecthas found patterns that establish a link between the two,even as industry-funded research tends to underminethe risk of extended use of cell phones. Meta-analysis of

the govt-funded studies shows a consistent increase inthe risk of brain tumour with mobile use of more than 10years.

In a quest to set a new world record, Air India operated aflight around the world with an all-women crew ahead ofInternational Women’s Day on 8 Mar. The flight, whichdeparted from Delhi on Feb 27 for San Francisco, returnedto the Indira Gandhi International airport on 3 Mar afterflying across the globe. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200LR, flew over the Pacific on its journey to SanFrancisco, while the return flight flew over the Atlantic,encircling the globe.

The Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on 28Feb inaugurated the country’s first integrated heliport atRohini in North Delhi. India’s first heliport has beenbuilt by state-owned Pawan Hans.The new facility hascome up at an investment of ̀ 100 cr. The heliport consistsof a terminal building having a capacity of 150passengers, four hangars with the parking capacity of16 helicopters, and nine parking bays.

Documents

SINCE 1993 - bsc4success 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute ... (`100 cr); Dena Bank (`600 cr); IDBI Bank (`1,900 cr); Indian Overseas Bank ... charges on other services,