1. Interest rate for GPF retained at 8.7% for
current fiscal
i. The government of India retained the rate of interest for General
Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes at 8.7% for the current fiscal.
ii. According to the notification issued by the Finance Ministry; he 8.7 percent interest
will apply on Provident Funds of central government employees, railways and
defence forces. The rate of interest will be effective from 1st April 2015, it
added.
iii. The
interest rate for GPF is in line with the interest rate fixed for Public
Provident Fund (PPF) at 8.7 percent for 2015-16.
iv. The
interest earning for Kisan Vikas Patra has been retained at 8.7 percent.
Note: i. The
government had, however, raised the interest rates for other small saving
schemes.
ii. The interest
rate for senior citizens savings scheme was hiked from 9.2 percent to 9.3
percent and for Sukanya Samriddhi Account, the special deposit scheme for girl
child, the interest rate has been hiked from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent,
respectively.
2. China & Pakistan launch economic corridor link worth $46 bn
i. China and Pakistan launched a
plan for energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan worth $46 billion,
linking their economies and underscoring China’s economic ambitions in Asia and
beyond.
ii. The agreements aimed at establishing a China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor between Pakistan’s southern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea
and China’s western Xinjiang region.
iii. The plan, which would eclipse US spending in Pakistan
over the last decade or so, is part of China’s aim to forge “Silk Road” land
and sea ties to markets in West Asia and Europe.
iv. The corridor, a network of roads, railways and
pipelines, will pass through Pakistan’s poor Baluchistan province, where a
long-running separatist insurgency that the army has vowed to crush will raise
questions about the feasibility of the plan.
v. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the
corridor would transform Pakistan into a regional hub and give China a shorter
and cheaper route for trade with much of Asia, West Asia and Africa.
3.
ICICI
& UAE bank Emirates NBD ties up for instant money transfers
i. ICICI bank has tied up with a leading UAE-based bank to
offer an instant remitting service to Indians residing in the Gulf nation.
ii. The
tie up with Emirates NBD enables customers to transfer funds to account holders
of ICICI bank in India within a minute through the Direct Remit service.
iii. Customers can avail themselves of this service
through internet banking, mobile banking and ATMs of Emirates NBD, a joint
statement released here said.
iv. “Direct
Remit facilitates the convenience of sending money to any beneficiary in India
within a minute.
4. CM J B Patnaik, former CM
of Odisha passed away
i. Former
Odisha Chief Minister and ex-Assam Governor Janaki Ballabh Patnaik passed away
in Tirupati early today. He was 89.
ii. The veteran Congress
leader was admitted to a hospital in the temple town following a chest pain
around mid-night but could not be saved, his family said.
iii. He first became chief minister
of Odisha in 1980 and was in power till 1989.
iv. He returned for a four-year stint in 1995.
He held the post of chief minister of Odisha for the longest time on record
before the incumbent Naveen Patnaik.
5. Mohammad Morsi jailed for 20 years
i. A court in Egypt has sentenced former President Mohammad Mursi to 20
years in prison over the killing of protesters while he was still in power.
ii. It is the first ruling he has faced since his ousting and is one of
several upcoming trials he faces. Mursi was deposed by the army in July 2013
following mass street protests against his rule.
6. NASA to send submarine
to Saturn’s moon Titan
i. NASA is planning to send a nuclear-powered submarine to explore one of
the methane seas located on Saturn’s moon Titan.
ii. The single-ton concept
robot submarine is equipped with a seafloor camera and sampling system.
iii. The
submarine could fit into a space plane such as Boeing X-37 (also known as the
Orbital Test Vehicle), which was recently used for a classified Air Force mission.
iv. The
plane could land on Kraken Mare, the largest known body of liquid on Titan that
consists mostly of liquid methane, or possibly drop the submarine using a
parachute.
v. NASA hopes
to use the submarine to explore the chemistry of Titan’s seafloor and sea
composition, as well as study its tides, weather, shoreline, islands and search
for any type of life.
vi. The
submarine concept was showcased by NASA Glenn’s COMPASS Team and researchers
from Applied Research Lab at the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC)
Symposium in Florida.
7. Moody’s forecast 7.5 % GDP growth for Indian
economy
i. International credit rating agency Moody’s has forecasted India’s
growth to be 7.5 percent for the year 2015.
ii. A Moody’s analyst said low inflation enabled the Reserve Bank of
India to cut interest rates by 50 basis points easing pressure on the private
sector.
iii. He further added that lower rates as well as the government’s
infrastructure and disinvestment programmes should provide a boost to
domestic-oriented industries.
iv. Earlier this week, International Monetary Fund projected that India
will overtake China as the fastest growing emerging economy in 2015-16.
8. Sugarcane fair price hikes to Rs 230 per
quintal for 2015-16
i. The government today hiked the sugarcane has revised the Fair and
Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane for the sugar season 2015-16 to Rs 230
per quintal.
ii. The FRP for the last sugar season was Rs 220 per quintal.
iii. According to the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution “Ram Vilas Paswan” this decision has been taken on the basis of
recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and
after consultations with concerned state governments and other stake holders.
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