March-4-2015

>>Telangana Govt  has decided to launch the E-panchayat programme in 18 villages panchayats in Domokonda of Nizamabad district initially.

>> The Lok Sabha passed the Coal Mines(special provisions) Bill,2015 ,to allow e-auction of coal blocks after the Supreme Court cancelled their allocation leading to uncertainty in the coal sector,amid opposition by Left and some other opposition  parties.

·                                       This bill would replace two ordinances issued by the Govt-the first on OCT 21 last year and the other in DEC ,after the apex court cancelled the allocation of 204  blocks.

>>The long-pending controversial Insurance Laws(Amendment) Bill ,2015,a key economic reform legislation providing for raising foreign investment cap to 49%,was today passed by Lok Sabha with the Govt insisting the the measure is crusial for expanding the penetration of insurance in the country.

        This controversial bill seeks to replace an ordinance ,also provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years for selling policies without registration with the regulator IRDA.

Some key provisions of bill

•    Hikes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from present 26 percent.

•  Establishment of Life Insurance Council and the General Insurance Council. They will act as self-regulating bodies for the insurance sector.
•  Allows PSU general insurers to raise funds from the capital market. It also provides for increased penalty to deter multilevel marketing of insurance products.
•  Imprisonment of up to 10 years for selling policies without registration with the insurance regulator. Prohibits an insurer from challenging the life insurance policy on any ground after a period of three years of selling it.

It                It should be noted that the hike in FDI of insurance sector has potential to attract up to 7-8 billion US dollars from overseas foreign investors.

World largest and tallest Indian flag unwinded in Faridabad.

World’s largest and tallest Indian national flag was unwinded at Town Park in Faridabad, Haryana. The flag was unwinded by BJP president Amit Shah, Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and Haryana CM ML Khattar.

The dimension of the flag were 96 feet by 64 feet and weighs 48 kg. Flag was upheaved at the height of 250 feet (75 meters). Thus, making it the world’s largest and the highest hoisted Indian flag in the world. The event was organised by Nav Chetna Trust which is formed to work on social issues like Swachh Bharat Mission and beti Bachao Beti Padhao Campaign.

>>Olympic medalist MC Mary Kom announced that she will quit boxing after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She decided to quit after the Olympic Games as her body would not be able to cope with the demands of the sport any further. She said that after retirement she will concentrate on her boxing academy set up in Manipur.

>>Forbes magazine released Global Billionaire’s 2015 annual list

Co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates topped the global billionaires list of Forbes magazine for the 16th time with worth of 79.2 billion US dollars.

Highlights

•   The United States with 536 rich people is at the top of the list, followed by China at 213 rich people, Germany at 103 rich people and India at 90 rich people.

•   Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico telecommunications mogul worth 77.1 billion US dollars is ranked second and Chief of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Warren Buffet was ranked third with 72.7 billion US dollars

•   Amancio Ortega, founder Inditex SA from Spain with 64.5 billion US dollars ranked fourth and Larry Ellison Chairman of Oracle Corp ranked fifth with 54.3 billion US dollars.
•   Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook for the first time joined the top 20 and is at 16th rank. Michael Jordan joined the annual list for the first time.

>>Renowed ornithologist K.S.Lavkumar Khachar passes away:

Renowned ornithologist and environmentalist K.S. Lavkumar Khachar passed away in Rajkot, Gujarat. He was 84. As environmentalist he had a long association with the environmental conservation intuitions like Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India.

•  He had organized and led several environmental education activities in Gujarat especially conservation work in the Gulf of Kutch islands and Gir forest, famous for Asiatic Lions. In 1984, he had served as director of the Nature Discovery Centre of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE).
•  Book- In 1981, he had authored and produced book Sixty Indian Birds along with RS Dharmakumarsinhji.
•  Awards- For his pioneering work in ornithology and on the Nanda Devi National Park, he has been conferred with prestigious Salim Ali-Loke Wan Tho Lifetime Award for Excellence in Ornithology. In 2004, he was also awarded the Venu Menon Lifetime Achievement Award.

>>Union Govt launches website shipping Samvad

 Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways on 3 March 2015 launched a website Shipping Samvad. It was launched by Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi.

 Website’s objective is to invite innovative ideas and suggestions from general public and experts related to Indian maritime sector for improvements in the ports, shipping and inland waterways sector.

>>RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 March 2015 has cut down repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent, with immediate effect. However, RBI has kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4 percent.

 It is the second change in rates by 25 basis points since January 2015. With this change, RBI is signaling that it was convinced by the fiscal consolidation measures announced in the Budget.

>>Three South Asian Women selected for International Women of Courage Award 2015.

•  Captain Niloofar Rahmani from Afghanistan Air Force.
•  Nadia Sharmeen- Journalist and women’s rights activist from Bangladesh.
•  Tabassum Adnan- founder of Khwendo Jirga from Pakistan.

These women were selected for the award for their demonstrating exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights and gender equality.

They will receive the prestigious award in the presence of US First Lady Michelle Obama in Washington DC on 10 March 2015.

About International Women of Courage Award

• It was establish in 2007 on March 8 i.e. International Women’s Day.

•  Presented by- United States Department of State annually.
•  Presented to- Women around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness and willingness to sacrifice for the others, especially for better promotion of women’s rights.
• Since the inception, 86 women from more than 50 different countries including India have been  honoured with this award.

• Indian recipients- Nirbhaya “fearless” victim of Delhi gang rape (2013), Ms. Laxmi -acid attack victim (2014).

>> The Biggest –ever auction of 2G and 3G spectrum started today and this is likely to fetch the GOVT over Rs.82,000 CR based on the reserve price.

              The Govt is however hopeful of getting aroung Rs.l lakh crore from the sale of radiowaves used for mobile telephony.

>    >>ISRO has postponed the launch of India’s fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D onboard PSLV-C27 due to technical problems.