Current Affairs

RBI notifies amended note refund rules

The Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with the previous sanction of the Centre has notified the amendments to the Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Rules, 2009, on September 5.

Samir Ghosh, General Secretary of All India Reserve Bank Employees Association, has requested the RBI to advise the Department of Currency Management to instruct all its offices and designated branches of banks for quick adjudication and payment of mutilated notes lying with the public, who also may be notified.

According to the amendments notified, the value of a mutilated note of less than Rs 50 (rupees fifty) denomination may be refunded in full if the undivided area of the single largest piece of the note is as specified in column (5) of table 1 below.



US Open 2018: Novak Djokovic beats Juan Martin del Potro to win title

Novak Djokovic produced an impeccable performance to beat Juan Martin del Potro in the US Open final and win his 14th Grand Slam title.

The 31-year-old Serb won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to earn his third triumph in New York and equal American great Pete Sampras' haul of major trophies.

Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in July, will climb to third in the world after back-to-back Grand Slam victories.



Alibaba's Jack Ma to step down in September 2019

Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has said he plans to step down in a year.

The news, in a letter sent by Mr Ma to Alibaba customers and shareholders, follows conflicting reports over the weekend on the timing of his exit.

Mr Ma, one of China's richest men, will hand over the reins to Daniel Zhang, currently chief executive.

Alibaba is one of the world's most valuable companies - its shares nearly doubled in value last year.

Five things about Jack Ma
Mr Zhang, who is 46, developed the company's Singles' Day promotion, which is the world's biggest one-day online retail event.



Aishwarya Rai Bachchan receives Meryl Streep Award for Excellence, Janhvi Kapoor also honoured

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, along with daughter Aaradhya and mother Brinda Rai, attended the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award.

At the ceremony -- established to honour the best female talent in Bollywood and Hollywood -- the actor was bestowed with the inaugural Meryl Streep Award for Excellence. The Fanney Khan star looked stunning in a black-and-golden gown as she accepted the award.

The 44-year-old later took to Instagram to celebrate her win and shared pictures with the trophy in her hand and Aaradhya by her side.



Heritage tag for 2 irrigation facilities in Telangana

A meeting of the International Executive Council, the highest decision making body of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), at Saskatoon in Canada last month has accepted Telangana government’s nomination of Sadarmatt anicut across river Godavari in Nirmal district and Pedda Cheruvu in Kamareddy district in the ICID Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures.

The plaques presented by the council for the two over-century-old irrigation facilities were received by the Member Secretary, Indian National Committee on Surface Water as Indian representative at the meeting. The chairman of the committee has invited irrigation officials from Telangana to take them in New Delhi soon.



Delhi government launches doorstep delivery services

New Delhi: Residents of Delhi can now renew their driving licences or get their marriage registration done from home with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government on Monday launching the ambitious scheme for doorstep delivery of public services.

“Today is a historic day. So far people only got pizzas delivered to their house, but now you can make one phone call to the government and they will send a representative to your house to get your work done. This will change the administrative setup of the government,” Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener, said while launching the service.

Government appointed executives say that the scheme will also help curb corruption.

“You just need to call 1076 and a government official will visit your house. You can set an appointment for up to 10 pm. The form will also be delivered to your house. All for Rs 50,” Kejriwal added.

In the first phase, 40 public services, including the issuance and renewal of driving licences, registration of marriage, new water connection, birth, death and caste certificates will be available. The government plans to include 150 services in this scheme in a phased manner.



The Ocean Cleanup aims to clear Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Engineers set to sea Saturday to deploy a trash collection device to corral plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt to clean up the world’s largest garbage patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean.

The 2,000-foot (600-meter) long floating boom was being towed from San Francisco to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch- an island of trash twice the size of Texas.

The system was created by The Ocean Cleanup, an organization founded by Boyan Slat, a 24-year-old innovator from the Netherlands who first became passionate about cleaning the oceans when he went scuba diving at age 16 in the Mediterranean Sea and saw more plastic bags than fish.



Narendra Modi to unveil Sardar Patel statue on October 31: Vijay Rupani

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a statue of Sardar Patel, described by the Gujarat government as “the world’s tallest”, on the birth anniversary of India’s first Home Minister on October 31, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Sunday.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the BJP’s national executive meeting, he said the statue with a height of 182m will be a symbol of the country’s unity and integrity.

Mr. Rupani said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had collected iron, soil and water from across the country to use them to build the statue, a decision announced by Mr. Modi in 2013 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

In an apparent reference to the issue of Naxalism following the arrest of some activists for allegedly collaborating with Left ultras, Mr. Rupani said the statue will highlight Patel’s works for the country’s unity.

He said that the Opposition had termed it “empty talk” when Mr. Modi announced that his government would build the world’s tallest statue to commemorate Patel. Mr. Rupani said while the Congress had sidelined Patel, Mr. Modi brought him and his works in front of the world.



Treatment of child cancer to be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

The government has said that treatment of childhood cancer will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Talking to AIR, NITI Aayog member Dr Vinod Kumar Paul said the rate in this regard has been fixed. Dr Paul said the scheme will provide health insurance cover of five lakh rupees to poor families. He said BPL and lower-middle-class families will benefit from it.

Dr Paul said, 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres will be opened in the country by 2022 under Ayushman Bharat. He said, these centres will provide comprehensive healthcare against diseases like diabetes, cancer, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.



RRB Group D recruitment 2018: Exam city, date, shift details released at rrbald.gov.in

RRB Group D recruitment 2018: Railway Recruitment Board has released the information regarding the exam city, date and shift of the Group D examination today, September 9. Candidates should note that the intimation will be live from 14.00 hrs of 9th September 2018 for candidates scheduled from September 17 to October 16, 2018. For all the remaining candidates it will be live from 13.09.2018 onward, read the official statement.