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Pahal
Scheme acknowledged by Guinness Book of World Records as largest cash
transfer program
World
> Guinness
Book of World Records > 14th August
The
Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged the Union Government's
ambitious Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh (PAHAL) scheme as the world’s
largest cash transfer program (households) by the Guinness Book of
World Records. The scheme was formally launched as Direct Benefit
Transfer Scheme for LPG subsidy in 2013 in 291 districts under the
aegis of Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Later in 2014,
it was named as PAHAL and extended nationwide on 1 January 2015.
AnirbanLahiri
finishes tied fifth at PGA Championship
Sports>Golf
In
a first, an Indian golfer AnirbanLahiri finished at a creditable fifth position
in the PGA Championship - the last Major event of the year. The tournament was
won by Australian Jason Day and Lahiri finished tied fifth with Brooks Koepka
of US after carding a four-day score of 13-under. A fifth-place finish is the
best result by any Indian at the Majors.
UAE onboard with
India against terrorism
Other>UAE
Narendra
Modi’s visit to UAE has borne fruit as UAE took a decisive step of joining
hands with India against terrorism, stepping away from its traditional close
relationship with Paksitan. Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed AI
Nahyan has agreed to cooperate against, radicalism and organized crime. Both
the countries have agreed to "control, regulate and share information on
flow of funds that could have a bearing on radicalization activities and
cooperate in interdicting illegal flows and take action against concerned
individuals and organizations".
Pakistan invites
Kashmiri separatists for talks with Sartaj Aziz
India>J&K
Over
a dozen of Kashmiri separatist leaders have been invited for a dinner with
Pakistani NSA Sartaj Aziz in New Delhi. India was supposed to hold talks
between the foreign secretaries of the two nations on August 23. This was was agreed between PM Sharif and his
counterpart Narendra Modi in Ufa, Russia, last month. India. Aziz is set to
travel to India on August 23 for talks with his counterpart AjitDaval.
Pakistan’s consultation with the separatists is a deliberate attempt to
irritate India according to a government source.
Narendra
Modi becomes first Indian Prime Minister to visit UAE in 34 years
Politics
and Government >
UAE > 17th August
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi visited UAE in order to strengthen ties
between the two nations, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to
visit the country in 34 years. On Day 1, Modi visited an iconic
mosque in Abu Dhabi along with UAE culture minister Sheikh Nahyan bin
Mubarak Al Nahyan and minister of state for foreign affairs Dr Anwar
Gargash and later interacted with 28,000 Indian migrant workers at a
residential camp that is home to some. On day 2, he visited a cricket
stadium in Dubai which was packed with 50,000 Indian diaspora waiting
for his speech which covered a range of topics from terrorism, the
“new-look India”, the warm welcome that he received in the UAE
and initiatives launched by his government for Indian expatriates. On
the eve of Modi's visit, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government
decided to allot land for building a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.
Others
176 flood
forecasting stations to be built across India
India>Weather
In
order to keep the water levels or inflow in major rivers and tributaries in
check, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has set up 176 flood forecasting
stations across the country, said Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti . These
stations give out flood forecasts every year whenever the water level exceeds
the predefined criteria. The Minister said the meteorological inputs based on
remote sensing technology received from India Meteorological Department are
used in rainfall-runoff modeling.
Chief Minister
OommenChandy declares Kerala a ‘complete Digital State’
Other>Kerala
On
the eve of Independence Day, Kerala’s Chief Minister OommenChandy declared
Kerala a ‘complete Digital State’ and announced a new youth programme in the
memory of former President APJ Abdul Kalam. Chandy said that the state has
achieved 100 per cent mobile density, 75 per cent e-literacy, highest digital
banking rate and broadband connection up to panchayat level. The new programme
announced, will enable the youth translate their innovative ideas into
successful business ventures.
Narendra Modi
becomes first Indian Prime Minister to visit UAE in 34 years
Politics
and Government>UAE
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi visited UAE in order to strengthen ties between the two
nations, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country in 34
years. On Day 1, Modi visited an iconic mosque in Abu Dhabi along with UAE
culture minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and minister of state for
foreign affairs Dr Anwar Gargash and later interacted with 28,000 Indian
migrant workers at a residential camp that is home to some. On day 2, he
visited a cricket stadium in Dubai which was packed with 50,000 Indian diaspora
waiting for his speech which covered a range of topics from terrorism, the
“new-look India”, the warm welcome that he received in the UAE and initiatives
launched by his government for Indian expatriates. On the eve of Modi's visit,
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government decided to allot land for building a
Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.
SBI to launch
m-wallet SBI buddy
Banking
and Insurance>M-Wallet
In
a bid to enter the rapidly growing mobile wallet business, State Bank of India
is planning to launch its m-wallet 'SBI Buddy' as a competition to ICICI Bank's
Pocket, HDFC Bank's PayZapp and Paytm. SBI has tied up with several merchants
for end-to-end solution who will be connected with the Buddy, providing its users
access to thousands of merchants including travel, hotel, entertainment and
fashion space.
MobiKwik, StoreKing
tie-up to bring cashless payment to rural areas
Corporate>M-commerce
Now
rural areas can also enjoy the benefit of e-commerce as m-commerce firm
MobiKwik partners with StoreKing to reach out to the small towns and villages
in southern states of the country with its cashless and cardless payment
facility. According to MobiKwik, this partnership aims to introduce the
e-commerce model to the rural users enabling them to to make payments via the
MobiKwik mobile wallet. The retail stores in such areas will be
responsible for helping the users with the operation of the MobiKwik app. Both
the companies, MobiKwik and StoreKing will also provide free Wi-Fi connections
at these stores.
Foxconn and Alibaba
buy into Snapdeal at nearly $5bn value
Corporate>E-commerce
In
a recent round of funding, Alibaba, Foxconn invested a whopping $500 mn in
Snapdeal. According to reports, the funding round ended with investments from
investors valuating Snapdeal at $5 billion at sobering Indian e-commerce
valuations. SoftBank, BlackRock and Temasek are among the existing investors
who also participated in the latest round. Meanwhile, one of the existing
investors of Snapdeal, eBay confirmed it was paring its stake in Snapdeal
raking in a good return on investment, while retaining the remaining shares for
future upside in valuations.
Former Sri Lankan
President MahindaRajapaksa accepts
election defeat publicly
Politics
and Government>Sri
Lanka
As
the final results of the elections came out, former Sri Lankan President
MahindaRajapaksa conceded defeat in the parliamentary elections, putting an end
to his attempts of returning to power. The election has been won by Sri Lanka’s
ruling United National Party(UNP). Rajapaksa led Sril Lanka for a decade before
he was dramatically ousted as President by Mr.Sirisena. Following this,
Rajapaksa had confidently vowed to come to power again after the election.
PM Modi announces
Rs 1.25 lakh package for Bihar prior to election
Politics
and Government>Bihar
Months
before the Bihar election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 1.25 lakh
crore package for the poor state in a bid to prove that he would deliver what
was promised. The package speaks of creating employments and stopping migration
along with development of infrastructures. The move comes as a master stroke
from the NDA as it aims to counter its rivals’ caste-based campaign.
Centre directs
states to speed up on adoption process
India>Government
The
state governments have been instructed by the Women and child development
ministry to quicken the adoption cases and achieve a target of 20,000 adoptions
by next year.The ministry has issued guidelines regarding the same and given a
deadline to the states to strictly comply with them. These guidelines have been
drawn with support from the JJ Act. Strict actions will be taken against those
who adopt illegally through hospitals and unauthorized agencies.
22 killed in
apparent attack on Bangkok shrine
World> Terrorism
A
popular Hindu shrine was attacked by a bomb in central Bangkok that killed at
least 22 people and wounded about 120. The casualties included tourists from
China and Philippines. The mastermind behind the attack is still unknown.
Immediately after the attacks, the security was tightened throughout the city.
The police have released the picture of a suspect behinf the attacks.
Egypt passes a
controversial counter-terrorism law
World>Egypt
A
tough counter terrorism law that allegedly bans the rights to freedom of
expression, peaceful assembly and association has been passed by the Egypt
government. At a time when militants are launching deadly attacks, the
government feels that implementation of such a law is necessary. The law
imposes hefty fines for journalists if their accounts of terrorism-related
cases contradict the official version. The rights groups have criticized this
move by Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as it will restrict the exercise
of fundamental freedoms.
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