National:
Cabinet clears 3 projects to end power outages
The Cabinet has
approved three big power projects of worth 81,000 crore rupees to strengthen
the power distribution and transmission in the Urban and rural areas in the
country. These projects are aimed at to provide 24x7 electricity across India
by 2019. These projects are the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana,
Integrated Power Development Scheme and the North Eastern Region Power System
Improvement Project. The Integrated Power Development Scheme which is designed
for urban areas, entails an expenditure of 32,612 crore rupees. The Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, which is targeted at the rural areas, entails a
total investment of 43,033 crore rupees. For the North Eastern Region Power
System Improvement Project, the government has allocated 5,111 crore rupees to
strengthen the intra-state transmission and distribution system in six north
east states. These states are Assam, Manipur, Meghalay, Mizoram, Tripura and
Nagaland.
Cabinet approves pacts with SAARC
The Cabinet also
approved signing and ratifying SAARC pacts on Railway, Motor Vehicles and
Energy during the forthcoming 18th SAARC summit scheduled to be held at
Kathmandu, Nepal on 26-27 November. The cabinet has approved signing and
ratifying the SAARC Regional Railways Agreement by India, as a member State of
SAARC. The SAARC Regional Railways Agreement will strengthen transport
connectivity in the Region. The Agreement will also enable low cost, energy
efficient and environmentally sustainable transportation in the region and
provide trade and economic links. The Cabinet also cleared a Memorandum of
Understanding between India and Nepal for strengthening cooperation in the
field of Tourism sector.
IFFI starts in Goa with gala opening ceremony
The 45th
International Film Festival of India has started at Panaji in Goa in the
presence of country`s two biggest superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikant.
Inaugural function was held for the first time at the newly-built Dr Shyama
Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium instead of the usual venue. Rajinikanth was conferred
with the special centenary award for Indian film personality by the Union
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley and Amitabh Bachchan.
Gujarat announces Home-Stay scheme for tourists
Gujarat Government
has announced a Home-Stay scheme for tourists visiting the state. Home-Stay
scheme will be effective in all areas across the state. The standards of
services offered to tourists will be divided in two classes - Gold and Silver.
Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited, TCGL will decide and grant particular
category after scrutiny of properties and residents applying to offer Home-stay
facility. Residents registered under Home-stay facility will continue to pay
electricity bill, municipal tax, property tax and water tax at regular domestic
rates. The TCGL will provide short-term training for hospitality and marketing
to the interested residents. Those who want to register for this scheme will
need to get police clearance. The scheme will offer opportunity to stay with
local families, to have experience of local culture and traditions along with
the taste of Gujarati and Indian cuisine.
Mullaperiyar Dam level reaches 142 feet
The Mullaperiyar
Dam level has reached 142 feet this morning. The Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki
district of Kerala is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu as per lease
agreement. This was signed in 1886 between the British administration and
erstwhile Travancore for 999 years and later in 1970 it was renewed. Supreme
Court had allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the dam’s level to 142 feet in May 2014.
Farmers in five districts Theni, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and
Dindigul in Tamil Nadu are delighted that the water level of Mulaperiyar Dam
has reached 142 feet. This will help irrigate more than 2 lakh acres of land in
this region. The water level of Mullaperiyar dam with full capacity of 152 feet
was lowered to 136 feet in 1979 for dam restoration works. Supreme Court had
allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the level of Mullaperiyar Dam in 2006. The water
from Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar river is diverted through subterranean
tunnels to Forebay Dam in Kumili and finally to Vaigai Dam.
New scheme for protection of rivers in Kerala
The Revenue
Department is all set to launch a new scheme titled Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare (From
River to River) for river protection. The scheme will be implemented in 527
acres along the Bharathapuzha between the three-km Kuttipuram-Tirunavaya
stretch in Malappuram district and nine acres along the Achencoil river in
Pathanamthitta.
Award for N. Ram
N. Ram, former
Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu and chairman of Kasturi and Sons, publishers of
The Hindu, has been selected for the first N. Ramachandran Foundation Award.
The former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachaliah, would present the award
on November 25. The award, instituted in memory of N. Ramachandran, a doyen of
Malayalam journalism who passed away earlier this year, carries a purse of Rs.
50,000, a citation and a plaque.
Bengal, Bihar home to most homeless
As many as 4.3
crore families in rural India do not have a house, with West Bengal leading the
table followed by Bihar in yet another evidence of the eastern region's
backwardness. Bengal has as many as 35 lakh
houseless families while Bihar has 34 lakh. Madhya Pradesh occupies the third
slot with 32 lakh houseless families. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most
populous state, has 25 lakh families without houses. The data on
"house-lessness" flows from the ongoing Socio-Economic Caste Census
which is tasked with mapping poverty indicators in rural India to better target
welfare schemes. Other deprived states are Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,
Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
International:
Oscar winning director, Mike Nichols dies at 83
Mike Nichols, who
won an Oscar for directing the 1967 film The Graduate, has died aged 83. The
German born US director was also Oscar nominated for his work on Working Girl,
The Remains of the Day, Silkwood and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Nichols
was one of only 12 winners of all four major US entertainment awards, an Emmy,
Grammy, Oscar and Tony. His last film was 2007's Charlie Wilson's War, starring
Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Nichols died of a cardiac arrest.
President Rajapaksa declares snap Presidential polls in Sri
Lanka
Sri Lankan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced the next Presidential elections, two
years ahead of schedule. President Rajapaksa signed the proclamation this
afternoon and also declared that he would be fighting the elections for an
unprecedented third term. The announcement came soon after his completion of 4
years in office in his second term. The two term limit for Presidency had been
removed by the 18th Constitutional Amendment brought by President Rajapaksa
immediately after he was elected for his second term in 2010. The election can
be held anytime after 45 days of the proclamation.
Obama’s step-grandmother honoured
President Barack
Obama’s step-grandmother is being honoured for her efforts to ensure many in
her Kenyan village got what she never had — the chance to go to school. Sarah
Obama received the inaugural Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Education Pioneer
Award at the United Nations.
China signs its biggest overseas project
China has signed
its largest overseas project with Nigeria to build a 1,402 km railway line
along the African country's coast at an estimated cost of nearly USD 12
billion. The contract is China's single largest overseas project, China Railway
Construction Corp Ltd (CRCC) said. Earlier, CRCC lost a USD 3.7 billion
contract to build a high-speed rail link in Mexico after the country's
legislature raised concerns about the nature of the bidding process. The
coastal 22-stop railway will stretch for 1,402 kms will link Nigeria's economic
capital Lagos in the west with Calabar in the east, state run Xinhua news
agency. Trains will travel at a top speed of 120 km per hour.
Science & Technology:
Low Levels of Vitamin D Linked To Early Death
New study suggests
that having low levels of Vitamin D, because of your genes, may result in early
death. The researchers also noted that, it is not connected to heart related
causes. Vitamin D, popularly known as sunshine vitamin, is necessary to keep
your bones and teeth healthy. That is because it plays an important role in the
absorption of calcium in your body. The most common and main source of Vitamin
D is the sun. Evidence shows that exposure to sun has a positive effect on
one’s body. Secondly nutritionists also believe that foods like fish, eggs, cod
liver oil, soy milk, etc are rich sources of Vitamin D too. A study by Borge
Nordestgaard, MD, of Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital in
Denmark, which was conducted on 95,766 participants of white Danish descent,
showed that there are 3 groups of genetic variants with different levels of
Vitamin D. The levels of Vitamin D differed according to the lifestyle of the
individuals. People who consumed fast food, alcohol, cigarettes and indulged in
less physical activity showed low levels of Vitamin D in their bodies. The 10,
349 participants of the study, that died, showed low level of Vitamin D due to
the above stated factors. Incidentally their deaths were not linked to cardio
vascular reasons. All the participants were followed for mortality from 1976
until 2014.This is the first time that researchers have established a link
between low Vitamin D levels and increased mortality, where the study was based
on genes.
Business & Economy:
RBI asks banks to inform customers of fall in minimum balance
The Reserve Bank of
India has asked banks to inform their customers about fall in the minimum
balance well in advance, and said that penal charges should be levied only to
the extent of shortfall in such balances. The guidelines with
respect to levying of penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance will
come into effect from April 1, 2015. Further, in the event of a default in
maintenance of minimum balance, the bank should notify the customer clearly by
SMS/email/letter, giving them time period of one month to restore the balance
so as to avoid penal charges. In case the minimum balance is not restored
within a reasonable period, which shall not be less than one month from the
date of notice of shortfall, penal charges may be recovered under intimation to
the account holder.
Jignesh Shah resigns as FTIL MD
Jignesh Shah, who
is fighting legal cases in the NSEL’s Rs.5,600-crore scam, has resigned as the
Managing Director of Financial Technologies India Ltd. (FTIL), a company set up
by him, and will become its Chairman-Emeritus. The FTIL board in has appointed
Prashant Desai as new Managing Director and CEO of the firm.
IndiaFirst Life’s social change initiative
IndiaFirst Life
Insurance has launched “Happy India”, a social change initiative for children
in the age group of 11-16 years. Happy India aims to search for young
change-makers and support them in implementing their ‘ideas for change’.
IndiaFirst Life will support 25 best ‘ideas for change’ with a grant of
Rs.50,000 each.
India coming out of economic slowdown
The Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said that India's economy
is coming out of its worst slowdown in 25 years. In its Economic Survey of
India released in New Delhi, the Paris-based think-tank said, implementation of
new reforms will be key to putting the country's economy on a strong and
sustainable growth path of 8 per cent. The OECD said that the country's economy
will expand by 5.4 per cent this fiscal. It said, India's growth rate will grow
by 6.6 per cent in 2015-16, up from its last forecast of 5.7 per cent in May.
The OECD pushed for early implementation of the Goods and Services tax to
improve public finances. It also stressed on the need for India to improve the
quality of its fiscal consolidation both by the Centre and the States.
ING Vysya Bank to merge with Kotak Mahindra Bank
In an all stock
amalgamation, ING Vysya Bank has decided to merge with Kotak Mahindra Bank,
creating the fourth largest private sector bank in the country. ING Vysya
shareholders will receive 725 shares in Kotak for 1,000 shares of ING Vysya.
The share exchange ratio is considered fair and reasonable given the underlying
value of ING Vysya, as also giving shareholders the ability to benefit from the
potential that can be realised upon merging into Kotak.
Sports:
Team India retains top spot in ICC ODI ranking
India has retained
the top place in the ICC ODI ranking. In the latest ICC ODI rankings, Men in
Blue are at the top of the table with 117 points. However, Australia is inching
close with 115 points while South Africa has 114 points. Australia -South
Africa series is on and if Kangaroos win the two remaining ODIs, they will move
into first place with 117 points, edging out India by one-fifth of a ratings
point. Three Indian batsmen Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and M S Dhoni figure in
top ten among the batsmen. AB Deviiliers is at the top followed by Virat Kohli
who is at number two. Shikhar Dhawan has climbed up to fifth place with some
splendid knocks while Skipper Dhoni stays at Seventh place in the ranking.
Saeed Ajmal and Sunil Narain lead the pack of bowlers followed by Dale Steyn.
India’s Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is at eight place in the bowler’s ranking while
Ravindra Jadeja figures at number ten. Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews tops
the list of all rounders followed by Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan and Shakibul
Hasan of Bangladesh.
