Dr Abhay Bang appointed on CAG's audit advisory board
Social worker and director of NGO, Search, Dr Abhay Bang, has been appointed on the audit advisory board of the Comptroller General of India (CAG) recently.
CAG audits and assists the state and central institutions on their accounts and accountability and as per the appointment Dr Bang will suggest the CAG matters like which sector should be given priority, a press release by Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (Search) said today.
Dr Bang, along with his wife Dr Rani, has worked for the healthcare of the poor people and has overseen a programme to reduce infant mortality rates.
He has received several awards including Maharashtra government's 'Maharashtra Bhushan' and also worked on various important government committees, the release said.
One-third of food wasted, costs world economy $750 bn: FAO
One third of the food produced worldwide is wasted,
costing the global economy around $ 750 billion a year, a new report by the UN
food agency said today.
The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
said some 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year, with the Asia
region including China seen as the worst culprit.
The food agency’s director general, Jose Graziano da Silva,
told a press conference that in total, “one third of the food produced today is
lost or wasted... equivalent to the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of
Switzerland.”
This is a big wake up call. We may not even have
captured many of the more indirect impacts of food waste... and the costs which
will be born by our children and grandchildren,” he told the joint
press-conference.
High-income countries waste during the food consumption
phase, while developing countries are losing food during production, the FAO
said
Air France-KLM offers 30% discount to Indian travellers
Air France-KLM today announced a limited-period promotional offer of 30 per cent discount on basic fare for travel between October and mid-December.
The discount offer is valid in all classes for booking starting tomorrow till September 14 and for travel between October one till December 15.
The Air France-KLM offer comes a few weeks after one of its prime competitors, British Airways, announced a similar limited period special offer in August.
SBI not to give car loan if annual income less than
Rs 6 lakh
The eligibility limit for loan issuance for salaried
individual for car purchase has been raised from Rs 2.5 lakh per annum to Rs 6
lakh per annum, as per the recent circular of the bank.
For the SBI account
holder, the limit has been raised to Rs 4.5 lakh per annum.
SBI currently offers car loans at an interest rate of
10.45 percent, as per the bank's website.
Giving the rationale for increase in the eligibility
criteria, a senior bank official said the decision to revise upwards the gross
income limit is taken in view of moderation in economy.
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor cr projects cleared
The projects worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore under the much-hyped Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project of total of nine projects were given a go-ahead by the DMIC Trust on Tuesday, a commerce ministry statement said late Wednesday. '
The projects were announced after a joint review by commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and Japanese minister for economy, trade and industry Toshimitsu Motegi on Wednesday in Delhi.
Japan has committed to invest $4.5 billion in this project. The Union Cabinet had approved an expenditure of Rs 18,500 crore on development of infrastructure for the project. DMIC Trust, which is headed by the department of economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram cleared the projects.
India and Japan agreed to set up Japanese electronics manufacturing township (JEMT) to spur electronic manufacturing.
India extends US$144mn credit line to
Liberia
India on Wednesday extended a US$ 144 million line of
credit to Liberia for development of power transmission and distribution
projects to reduce the gap of power shortage in Liberia.
The two countries also agreed to set up a Joint
Commission for deepening cooperation and economic engagements. Two MOUs were
inked, including one on energy cooperation in oil and gas exploration.
The four pacts were signed after high-level talks
between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Liberian President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf in New Delhi on Wednesday.
New Delhi will also set up an IT Centre, a vocational
training centre, a Farm Science Centre and a training centre for women in the
field of solar energy in Liberia.
ATMs, card terminals to scan UID biometrics
ATMs, card terminals to scan UID biometrics By Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is understood to be preparing such a directive to improve security and promote financial inclusion.
The central bank had been debating between the international 'chip and PIN' and Aadhaar-based authentication to provide additional security for card transactions. Although RBI appears to have reconciled to a combination of 'chip and PIN' authentication for existing customers and biometric checks for hitherto unbanked cardholders, the challenge is in the acceptance devices.
Bankers say that the logic behind having Aadhaar-based authentication for hitherto unbanked customers is that these first-time customers may not understand the importance of password secrecy. Also, generating new passwords may be difficult when customers are dealing only through business correspondents and do not have access to branches.
Hower this month, RBI cleared banks to allow customers to open accounts based on eKYC (electronic compliance of 'know-your-customer' norms).
Under this, banks can establish the identity and address of the customers by accessing the Aadhaar database after the customer provides his biometric identification.
7th India-Laos Joint Commission Meeting
on Bilateral Cooperation
7th India-Lao Joint Commission Meeting on bilateral
cooperation was held in Vientiane on 9 September 2013.
The JMC was held during External Affairs Minister Salman
Khurshid's ongoing visit to Lao PDR (Laos) to participate in the 7th India-Lao
Joint Commission Meeting (JMC) on Bilateral Cooperation.
An Agreement under Line of Credit for four Irrigation
Projects in three provinces in the Lao PDR for 30.94 million US dollars was
signed and conversion of another Line of Credit to substitute the Nam Boun-2
hydro power plant by the extension of transmission lines to Thasala-Laksao
amounting to 35.25 million US dollars was approved.
The two nations identified agriculture, defence, ICT,
culture, education, health, trade and investment promotion, mining as priority
areas of cooperation between the two countries that would give further impetus
to bilateral relations.
Lao has extended financial support to the Nalanda
University, which is being developed as a centre of international excellence.
Lao reiterated its support to India on UN and other multilateral issues.
IKEA may open its first India store
Swedish retailer IKEA may choose Hyderabad for its first store in India. The company will invest at least $100 million (Rs 630 crore) in the city, according to two state government officials who met the company's India head Juvencio Maeztu on Wednesday. Maeztu himself was not available for comment.
Thomas Bach elected President of IOC
Thomas Bach of Germany was elected as the ninth President
of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
He is the successor of Jacques Rogge of Belgium, who
headed the IOC, since 2001 to 10 September 2013. He was the eighth President of
IOC.
He was elected as the President of IOC after two rounds
of votes at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The President is elected by the IOC members by secret
ballot for a term of eight years, with the possibility to stand for re-election
for a second, four-year term. IOC is a 119 years old sport’s governing body.
Bach is the first Olympic Champion to head International Olympics Committee
as its President.
He joined IOC in 1991 and has held many influential roles in the organization and a former executive of Adidas
UltraTech to buy JP’s Gujarat Cement plants for Rs 3,800 crore
India's largest cement company, has agreed to buy the Gujarat cement plants of Delhi-based Jaiprakash Associates (JAL), a move that will help the builder of India's only Formula One race track pare its debt by 15 per cent.
The acquisition of the Gujarat factories, which have a capacity of 4.8 million tonnes, will boost UltraTech's capacity by 9 per cent and raise market share at a time when rivals, including Switzerland's Holcim, are consolidating operations in Asia's third-largest economy.
The Gujarat unit is part of JAL's wholly owned arm, Jaypee Cement Corp.
The enterprise value of the transaction is Rs 3,800 crore.
Of this, as much as Rs 3,650 crore is debt, which the Aditya Birla Group company will inherit from the Jaypee unit that will be demerged from Jaypee Cement Corporation Ltd
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