- West Bengal’s Nadia district bags UN Public Service Award
- Nadia, which was declared as the first “open defecation free” district in country, has won the United Nations Public Service Award 2015 in the category of improving delivery of public services.
- While Hooghly and Burdwan districts have bagged the second and third positions, Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan also features in the top 10 list of open defecation free districts.
- Nadia has earned praise for making available toilets for all under the programme “Sabar Shouchagar”.
- AK Jyoti, appointed as Election Commissioner
- Achal Kumar Jyoti, a former Gujarat Chief Secretary, was appointed as the Election Commissioner.
- He retired from active service in January, 2013 after serving in various capacities in Gujarat including as Chairman of the Kandla Port Trust between 1999 and 2004 and Managing Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL).
- Jyoti will have a tenure of nearly three years, when he will turn 65, the age at which ECs demit office under the Constitution.
- SBI launches RuPay Platinum debit card
- Country’s largest lender State Bank today launched a RuPay Platinum debit card in association with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).
- The card would be initially issued free to customers maintaining a quarterly balance of Rs 50,000.
- The card offers various benefits like 5 per cent cash back on utility bills, complimentary airport lounge access, personal accident death and permanent total disability insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh, among others.
- NPCI will soon launch international RuPay debit cards allowing its customers to use them outside the country besides issuing RuPay credit cards by January 2016.
- Nepal to provide interest-free loans for rebuilding houses
- Nepal’s Parliament on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution committing to work together in the reconstruction work in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated central and eastern hilly parts of Nepal.
- The earthquake on April 25 and another one the following day — of 7.9 and 6.7 magnitude — have claimed 7,765 lives and have left over 16,000 injured.
- Nepal Rastra Bank, the regulatory authority, announced interest-free loans from the bank of up to NRs 25 lakh in the Kathmandu Valley and NRs 15 lakh for those outside the capital for house reconstruction.
- UK Elections: Conservatives win with clear majority
- David Cameron on Friday is set for a second term as Prime Minister with his Conservative Party winning a majority in the UK’s hotly-contested polls.
- His Modi-style “Phir ek baar Cameron sarkar” slogan seems to have resonated with most of the electorate as the Tories were projected to win 329 in the final tally, three more than the 326 required for a majority in the 650-member House of Commons.
- RBI’s new mechanism for banks to check loan frauds
- The RBI today put in place a new framework to check loan frauds including by way of early warning signals at banks and red flagging of accounts.
- The swindlers will have no access to further banking finance.
- Besides, the central bank will set up a Central Fraud Registry that can be accessed by all banks to identify borrowers having committed frauds with any bank in the past.
- The CBI and the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) will also share their databases with banks.
- An Red Flagged Account (RFA) is one where a suspicion of fraudulent activity is thrown up by the presence of one or more early warning signals (EWS). These signals in a loan account should immediately put the bank on alert regarding a weakness or wrong doing which may ultimately turn out to be fraudulent.
- Jitan Ram Manjhi announces new party as Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM)
- Expelled JD(U) leader and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today announced launching of a new party “Hindustani Awam Morcha” (HAM).
- He said would contest alone all the 243 seats in coming Bihar polls.
- He named former Bihar minister Shakuni Chaudhary as Bihar President of the HAM.
- Jitu Rai wins ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ Award at TOISA
- Ace marksman Jitu Rai was on Thursday declared the Sportsperson of the Year’ at the Times of India Sports Awards.
- ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the ‘Olympian of the century’ and Times Group MD Vineet Jain.
- Young shooter Malaika Goel won the Emerging Players’ Jury Award.
- Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu won the Popular Choice Award.
- Test captain Virat kohli and was named the ‘Best Cricketer’ with Harmanpreet Singh winning it in Women’s section.
- Nehwal was named the ‘Youth Icon of the Year’.
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