24 April: National Panchayati Raj Diwas
Every year April 24 is being observed as National Panchayati Raj (PR) Diwas across India. This day marks the passing of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993. This amendment had led a defining moment in the history of India which helped in decentralization of political power to the grassroots level. In turn it had lead to institutionalization of Panchayati Raj (PR) through the village, Intermediate and District level Panchayats. On this day Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj organises National Conference every year to commemorate the National Panchayati Raj Diwas. Best performing Gram Panchayats are conferred with Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Purskar by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj on this day.
Union Cabinet approves lowering of age of Juveniles from 18 to 16 years for heinous crimes
Union Cabinet has approved lowering of age of juveniles from eighteen to sixteen years for heinous crimes. Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cabinet also approved to introduce Amendment to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014. This amendment will propose and add special provisions to tackle heinous offences like murder and rape committed by juveniles in the age group of 16-18 years. The proposed bill will amend the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The parent Act clearly defines and classifies offences as serious, petty and heinous and defines differentiated processes for each classified category. While the amendments in the bill adds provisions that in case a heinous crime committed by a person between 16 and 18 years, will be examined by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to assess if the crime was committed as a child or as an adult. Then the trial of the case will take place as a juvenile or as an adult on basis of JJBs assessment and decide whether the culprit should be sent to observation home or tried in a regular court.
Railway Ministry launches mobile app for paperless unreserved tickets
The Railway Ministry has launched ‘utsonmobile’, a mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets. The application service was launched by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi. This application will allow its passenger to buy a ticket on the move and to board the train with the ticket secured on his mobile phone in digital format, without any need for printing the ticket. Initially, it has been launched as a pilot project and cover 15 stations in Southern Railway. Later on it will be extended to entire country in phases.
Key facts
Calbuco volcano erupts in Chile
Calbuco volcano in southern Chile erupted on 23 April 2015 for the first time after more than 42 years. It had erupted twice in the space of a few hours which led to billowing of huge ash cloud over a sparsely populated, mountainous area in southern Chile. Chilean Government authorities after the eruption have ordered evacuation of the 1,500 inhabitants of the nearby towns.
Facts about Calbuco Volcano
Russia, Argentina sign agreements on economic & energy co-operation
Russia and Argentina have signed a series of framework agreements on economic and energy co-operation. These agreements were signed following talks between Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her counterpart Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Both leaders hailed their co-operation as a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The signed agreements include
India fourth largest supplier of generic medicines to US: Government
India has emerged as the fourth largest supplier of generic medicines to the United States. It was announced by Minister of State (MoS) for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Ahir gave this information in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question. India’s generic medicines exports have touched over US 4 billion dollars in 2013-14 in spite of stringent regulatory measures imposed by US. Union Government also announced that Indian pharmaceutical companies are already exporting generic medicines to Africa, West Asia and European countries.
Union Government allows EPFO to invest 5% corpus in stock markets
Union Government has allowed Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), India’s retirement fund body to invest five per cent of its corpus in exchange traded funds i.e. in stock markets. In this regard, Union Labour ministry has notified the new investment pattern for the EPFO. The new pattern allows EPFO to invest 5% of its incremental income in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) from the current financial year i.e. 2015-16. This limit will start from 1% with an effect from April 1, 2015 and reach upto 5% by the end of the FY 2015-16. This decision of Union Government will result in an inflow of around 5000 crore rupees into the stock markets during this fiscal. The EPFO has more than 5 crore subscribers across the country and has a corpus of over Rs 6 lakh crore.
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology inks MoU with Snapdeal
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) on 23 April 2015 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with e-commerce giant Snapdeal to roll out digital marketing courses. The MoU aims at helping small and medium enterprises/businesses and artisans who want to take the online route to become entrepreneurs. Snapdeal by being a knowledge partner will provide inputs on the course and will facilitate industry interactions for the participants.
These digital marketing courses will help
Every year April 24 is being observed as National Panchayati Raj (PR) Diwas across India. This day marks the passing of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993. This amendment had led a defining moment in the history of India which helped in decentralization of political power to the grassroots level. In turn it had lead to institutionalization of Panchayati Raj (PR) through the village, Intermediate and District level Panchayats. On this day Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj organises National Conference every year to commemorate the National Panchayati Raj Diwas. Best performing Gram Panchayats are conferred with Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Purskar by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj on this day.
Union Cabinet approves lowering of age of Juveniles from 18 to 16 years for heinous crimes
Union Cabinet has approved lowering of age of juveniles from eighteen to sixteen years for heinous crimes. Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cabinet also approved to introduce Amendment to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014. This amendment will propose and add special provisions to tackle heinous offences like murder and rape committed by juveniles in the age group of 16-18 years. The proposed bill will amend the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. The parent Act clearly defines and classifies offences as serious, petty and heinous and defines differentiated processes for each classified category. While the amendments in the bill adds provisions that in case a heinous crime committed by a person between 16 and 18 years, will be examined by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to assess if the crime was committed as a child or as an adult. Then the trial of the case will take place as a juvenile or as an adult on basis of JJBs assessment and decide whether the culprit should be sent to observation home or tried in a regular court.
Railway Ministry launches mobile app for paperless unreserved tickets
The Railway Ministry has launched ‘utsonmobile’, a mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets. The application service was launched by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi. This application will allow its passenger to buy a ticket on the move and to board the train with the ticket secured on his mobile phone in digital format, without any need for printing the ticket. Initially, it has been launched as a pilot project and cover 15 stations in Southern Railway. Later on it will be extended to entire country in phases.
Key facts
- The application has been developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
- It aims to eliminate the need for printing of unreserved tickets.
- The application provides necessary on-screen alerts to guide the passenger during the booking process. Payment for the ticket will be done through the Railway Wallet, a feature inbuilt in the App.
- Passenger will get ticket confirmation on their mobile screen after booking the ticket which will contain limited information of the ticket.
- This app can be downloaded from Windows Store and Google Play Store.
Calbuco volcano erupts in Chile
Calbuco volcano in southern Chile erupted on 23 April 2015 for the first time after more than 42 years. It had erupted twice in the space of a few hours which led to billowing of huge ash cloud over a sparsely populated, mountainous area in southern Chile. Chilean Government authorities after the eruption have ordered evacuation of the 1,500 inhabitants of the nearby towns.
Facts about Calbuco Volcano
- Calbuco Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes of the Southern Chilean Andes.
- It is 2015 metre high and is capped by 400-500 metre wide summit crater.
- It also considered as one of the top three most potentially dangerous among Chile’s 90 active volcanos.
- It had erupted last time in 1972.
Russia, Argentina sign agreements on economic & energy co-operation
Russia and Argentina have signed a series of framework agreements on economic and energy co-operation. These agreements were signed following talks between Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her counterpart Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Both leaders hailed their co-operation as a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The signed agreements include
- Russian investment in a hydroelectric plant in Argentina’s Neuquen River.
- Russia’s Rosatom nuclear corporation to build a new reactor at Argentina’s Atucha 3 nuclear power plant. Memorandum of co-operation (MoC) on defence between both nations.
- Comment Russia is eager to boost trade and economic relations with Latin American countries to offset the effects of sanctions imposed by the West over the crisis in Ukraine.
- While, Argentina is looking for foreign investment in order to restructure its defaulted debt because of US hedge funds.
India fourth largest supplier of generic medicines to US: Government
India has emerged as the fourth largest supplier of generic medicines to the United States. It was announced by Minister of State (MoS) for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Ahir gave this information in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question. India’s generic medicines exports have touched over US 4 billion dollars in 2013-14 in spite of stringent regulatory measures imposed by US. Union Government also announced that Indian pharmaceutical companies are already exporting generic medicines to Africa, West Asia and European countries.
Union Government allows EPFO to invest 5% corpus in stock markets
Union Government has allowed Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), India’s retirement fund body to invest five per cent of its corpus in exchange traded funds i.e. in stock markets. In this regard, Union Labour ministry has notified the new investment pattern for the EPFO. The new pattern allows EPFO to invest 5% of its incremental income in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) from the current financial year i.e. 2015-16. This limit will start from 1% with an effect from April 1, 2015 and reach upto 5% by the end of the FY 2015-16. This decision of Union Government will result in an inflow of around 5000 crore rupees into the stock markets during this fiscal. The EPFO has more than 5 crore subscribers across the country and has a corpus of over Rs 6 lakh crore.
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology inks MoU with Snapdeal
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) on 23 April 2015 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with e-commerce giant Snapdeal to roll out digital marketing courses. The MoU aims at helping small and medium enterprises/businesses and artisans who want to take the online route to become entrepreneurs. Snapdeal by being a knowledge partner will provide inputs on the course and will facilitate industry interactions for the participants.
These digital marketing courses will help
- To widen participants’ business prospects by teaching them the nuances of using online space to market and sell their products.
- Thus it will indirectly to eliminate the need for middlemen/brokers to sell their products.
- Trainees understand the fundamentals of digital marketing and effectively utilise the online sales channel.
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