Western Railway train schedules via SMS now over a Missed Call
Western Railway’s suburban train network can now check the status of local trains by giving a missed call. In an initiative to communicate the scheduled arrival time of trains to passengers, the Western Railway (WR) has tied up with a private firm.
The commuter would need to dial toll free no. 1800 212 4502 and the call will get disconnected automatically after two rings subsequent to which an SMS will be sent informing the running status of suburban trains.
Information on running of services shall be communicated to the firm by the Railways in a stipulated scheduled time, which in turn will be conveyed to passengers.
Amit Shah, a regular commuter at WR said, “This is a unique initiative by Western Railway. I can use this service whenever I need any information about a train while waiting on the platform.” Commuters can also register themselves with http://www.mobitip.info for daily updates at scheduled times.
Users of any smartphone can avail of this service with no need of any internet connection.What makes the commuters happier is the service is free of cost. Earlier, CR had started a similar service to get information on local train updates
President’s rule to continue in Uttarakhand
The State emergency continued in Uttarakhand as the apex court decided to maintain status quo and not implement the Uttarakhand High Court judgment of April 21, which found the declaration of President’s rule in the State on March 27 as unconstitutional.
The Bench scheduled the case for hearing on May 3 and said its judgment would be pronounced before summer vacations, starting from May 16. This means that the floor test ordered by the High Court to be held on April 29 would not take place.
During the hearing, the Bench questioned Governor K.K. Paul’s authority to seek video and audio recording of the March 18 Assembly proceedings on the passing of the Money Bill.
Is it within the Governor’s jurisdiction to ask for the division of votes on the Money Bill and for video and audio of the Assembly proceedings? The Speaker is the master of the House and is it not his prerogative to decide whether there should be video or audio recording of the proceedings of the House
The Bench suggested that the floor test could even be conducted immediately after temporarily lifting the President’s rule for three days. The results of the floor test could be submitted in court, the Bench proposed.
But this proposal was shot down by Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, for the Centre, who said the Supreme Court should first decide the validity of the proclamation before the holding of a floor test.
Deepika equals world record in Archery World Cup
Indian archer Deepika Kumari equalled the world record in women’s recurve event before helping the country to the mixed pair bronze play-off in the first stage of the Archery World Cup that got underway here.
The former world No.1 and winner of two Commonwealth Games gold medals shot 686 in the 72-arrow ranking round to equal the feat of London Olympics gold-medallist Ki Bo Bae of Korea.
Ki Bo Bae, who had won two gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics in the individual and team competition, had erased an 11-year-old world record when she got past fellow Korean Park Sung-Hyun’s 682 at qualification of the Universiade in Gwangju in 2015.
Deepika set the range ablaze shooting 346 in the first half and needed just 341 to get past the Korean but two 9s in the last end meant the 2015 record remained intact.
The top seed Deepika will now play round three of last 32 directly, while her teammate Laxmirani Majhi who ranked a poor 45 and Rimil Buriuly (75) will start from round one. The women’s team is ranked fourth.
Deepika’s effort also enabled India to get a top ranking in the mixed pair as she partnered 12th ranked Atanu Das (671 points) to defeat Turkey 5-3 in the first round of eight.
In the semifinals, the pair lost to fourth ranked Chinese Taipei 3—5 and will face third—seeded Koreans in the bronze medal playoff.Korea was blanked 0-6 by the second-ranked USA in the other semifinal.
In the men’s recurve qualification, Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia finished among top-20 to hand the team a third place.
Heart of Asia conference begins today in New Delhi
The heart of Asia (HoA) conference begins today in New Delhi. The conference is with the objective of bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan and speeding up its reconstruction with a focus on enhancing investment and connectivity to the country.
The conference to be attended by officials of a number of countries including Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry is likely to deliberate on a host of issues like combating challenge of extremism and terrorism.
India hosted the senior officials Meeting of the Istanbul process in January 2014 in New Delhi and is set to host the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the HoA Process in the last quarter of this year.
Maharashtra government seeks Rs 5000 crore World Bank loan for drought mitigation
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the State government is seeking a loan of 5,000 crore rupees from the World Bank for implementing drought-mitigation steps, from water conservation to changing crop patter.
Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) becomes first e-office among power utilities in India.
The Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited APEPDCL based at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh has became the first e-Office electricity distribution company among all power utilities in India.
Among the 62,291 files created in e-Office in Andhra Pradesh, 50,036 are of APEPDCL’s i.e., 80.32 per cent of the total files created achieving first position.
Government mulls complete ban on FDI in tobacco sector
The government is reportedly planning to completely ban FDI in the tobacco sector.Currently, FDI is allowed in technology collaboration, like licensing for trademark and brand name, while being prohibited in the manufacture of cigarettes and tobacco substitutes.
This follows the government’s decision to make it mandatory for tobacco products to have 85% pictorial health warnings on the package.
Mobile phones will have button for distress from next year
Starting next year, all mobile phones sold in India will come with a dedicated ‘panic button’ that can be used to send out a signal in case of distress.
The Panic button and Global Positioning System facility in all mobile phone handsets Rules, 2016 are aimed at improving the safety of women and ensuring a quick response from security agencies.
The notification says that no handset shall be sold in India from January 1, 2017, without a panic button and all handsets must also have GPS from January 1, 2018.
“Technology is solely meant to make human life better and what better than using it for the security of women,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Once the panic button is pressed, a signal/call will be made to the nearest security agency. However, the details of how the system will work are yet to be finalised.
Shyam Benegal panel submitted report on Censor Board functioning
The Shyam Benegal-headed committee constituted to revamp Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on 26 April 2016 submitted its report to Information & Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley.
The committee has recommended that CBFC should only be a film certification body whose scope should be restricted to categorizing the suitability of the film to audience groups on the basis of age and maturity.
Objective of the Guidelines
Children and adults are protected from potentially harmful or unsuitable content
Audiences, particularly parents are empowered to make informed viewing decisions
Artistic expression and creative freedom are not unduly curbed in the process of classification of films
The process of certification by CBFC is responsive, at all times, to social change
The certification by CBFC keeps within the rights and obligations as laid down in the Indian Constitution.
Certification of Films
The certification of films shall be carried out in accordance with the Guidelines proposed for certification that has been split into three sections, with each section required to be read with the other two – General Guidelines, Issue Related Guidelines, and Category Specific Guidelines.
Recertification of a film for purposes of the telecast on television or for any other purpose should be permitted.
Out-of-turn certification may be permitted for which the applicant would have to pay five times the fee that would have to be paid if the certification were done in the normal course.
ICC suspended Cricket Association of Nepal
International Cricket Council (ICC) in its board meeting on 26 April 2016 suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) in view of government interference in the board.
The suspension would stay in place until such time as the CAN becomes free of government interference and is properly structured to begin exploiting the tremendous cricket talent and opportunities that exist in Nepal.
It will only cut off ICC funding for the CAN but Nepal national teams can continue to feature in ICC events.
ICC management will also work with the Nepalese cricket community, and other stakeholders, in order to assist with the development of a sustainable governance and administration structure for cricket in Nepal.
Nepal’s National Sports Council (NSC) formed an ad-hoc committee to run the CAN in December 2015.
The Chand-led CAN faction then filed a court case, which is still pending, challenging the NSC’s decision.
In light of the ongoing court case involving the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the Ad hoc Committee established by the Nepalese National Sports Council (NSC).
It led to a vacuum of cricket leadership in Nepal, the Board suspended the Membership of CAN for breach of Article 2.9 of the ICC’s Articles of Association, which prohibits government interference and requires free and fair elections.
India bans import of mobile phones, milk, steel products from China
Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha that India has banned the import of these items from China over quality concerns.
Mobile phones not bearing the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number or other security features cannot be imported from China.
“Complete ban of import from any country is not possible now due to WTO rules even if we have problems diplomatically, territorially or militarily,” Sitharaman told the lower house.
The Minister said India’s trade deficit with China stood at USD 48.68 billion during 2015-16 (April-February) and the total bilateral trade was USD 65.16 billion during the period.
“Increasing trade deficit with China can be attributed primarily to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items to meet the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power while India’s exports to China are characterised by primarily and intermediate products,” she said.
Singapore’s DBS bank, India’s first mobile-only bank launched
Singapore’s DBS bank, with branches in major cities of India, has launched the country’s first mobile-only bank.To woo customers can DBS has launched this Digibank service so that they can have a hassle free service by going paperless, signatureless as well as branchless.
Customers can easily open accounts by using their Aadhaar card and completing a biometric authentication.The DBS digit bank doesn’t require any minimum balance and gives customers 7 percent interest for accounts opened. Customers can also make umpteen number of cash withdrawals at over 200,000 ATMs nationwide.
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia. We are headquartered in Singapore, with a growing presence in Greater China, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. As a bank born and bred in Asia, we are well-positioned as your partner to capture opportunities across the region.
DBS is fully committed to effective governance to protect the interests of all our stakeholders and to promote the long-term sustainability of the Group. DBS is honoured to be recognised as the Bank of the Year, Asia by The Banker, a member of the Financial Times Group, and Best Bank in Asia-Pacific by Global Finance. The bank has also been named “Safest Bank in Asia” by Global Finance for seven consecutive years from 2009 to 2015.
