India
Maharashtra
bans junk food in school canteens
The
Maharashtra government has banned the sale of junk food in school canteens.
Based on recommendations the Centre issued over two years ago, the state has
told schools not to sell food `High in Fat, Salt and Sugar' (HFSS) and has
suggested healthy alternatives. The decision has been taken looking at
childhood obesity and related diseases.
The
suggested alternatives include chapatis, rice, vegetables and pulses, rajma,
wheat upma, khichdi, payasam, idli and vada sambar, coconut water, lemonade and
jaljeera.
Though
not many state-affiliated schools have canteens, the education department's government
resolution (GR) banning junk food in schools can be interpreted to include
vendors who sell prepackaged or pre-cooked food on campus during breaks.
Haryana
to start door-to-door survey to collect data of every resident, issue smart IDs
to every house
The
Manohar Lal Khattar government has decided to gather a detailed data of every
resident and issue a sleek identity for every house in Haryana.
The
objective of this two-month long data generating exercise, to be launched on
June 15, is to get details of land holdings and status of facilities such as
social security pension, scholarship, MGNREGA, loans and LPG connection.
During
the survey, address of each house, photo, location, details of owner of the
house, electricity connection, water connection, details of electronic devices,
bank account numbers, IFSC code and Aadhaar and personal details such as mobile
number, e-mail ID, educational qualification, religion and other details will
be gathered.
The
data will be used to make sure that benefits of 150 services of 87 departments
are provided online
This
real time-based survey will be conducted to gather socio-economic data by the
teams of ‘Saksham and e-Numerator’ who will visit houses to feed their GPS
location in their tablets, create smart house IDs online and link each house
with biometric.
DIPP,
WIPO to set up innovation support centres
The
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) have signed an agreement to establish Technology
and Innovation Support Centres (TISC) that would help innovators in developing
countries exploit their potential.
WIPO's
Technology and Innovation Support Centres (TISC) programme provides innovators
in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology
information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative
potential and to create, protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP)
rights.
Services
offered by TISCs include access to online patent and non-patent (scientific and
technical) resources and IP-related publications.
The
support centres would also provide assistance in searching and retrieving
technology information, training in database search, on-demand searches
(novelty, state-of-the-art and infringement), monitoring technology and
competitors.
World
Sohail
Mahmood to replace Abdul Basit as Pakistan’s envoy to India
Amid
the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, the government has approved
the appointment of Sohail Mahmood as Pakistan’s next high commissioner to India
Mahmood
is a top diplomat of Pakistan and will replace the incumbent envoy to India
Abdul Basit this month.
Mahmood
joined Pakistan’s foreign service in 1985
Mahmood
served as Islamabad’s envoy to Turkey from 1991-1994 for the first time. He
served in various Pakistan missions abroad, including Washington, New York
after that. He worked as Pakistans Ambassador to Thailand from 2009-2013.
India
elected president of UN-Habitat
India
has been unanimously elected as the president of the UN-Habitat, an organ of
the United Nations to promote sustainable human settlements across the globe.
Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will chair the four-day
meeting of the 58-member Governing Council (GC) of UN-Habitat
Since
the UN-Habitat came into being in 1978, it is the third time that India has
been elected to lead this organisation after 2007 and 1988.
The
theme of the 26th meeting of the GC is 'Opportunities for effective
implementation of the New Urban Agenda'.
Eager
Lion: Jordan, US launch major military exercises
Jordan
and the United States kicked off annual military exercise known as "Eager
Lion", with about 7,400 troops from more than 20 nations taking part
The
manoeuvres would include border security, cyber defence, and "command and
control" exercises, to bolster coordination in response to threats
including terrorism.
The
highlight of this year's exercise will be that "for the first time ever a
global strike mission" will be conducted by "two US Air Force B-1B
bomber aircraft" – a long-range multi-mission bomber.
Sports
Vikram
Malhotra wins 5th PSA title
India's
Vikram Malhotra won his fifth PSA title after beating Egypt's Youssef Ibrahim
in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open.
The
US-based Indian won 6-11 11-4 11-3 9-11 13-11 against his opponent.
The
top seeded Indian, fresh from the Asian Championship held in Chennai, beat
Hesham Mohamed Aly of Egypt in the first round and then seventh seed Ahmad
Al-Saraj of Jordan in the quarters.
In
the semi-final, he took out Pakistan's Khwaja Adil Maqbool who retired in the
third game after trailing by two games.
The
stiff test then came for him in the title-match where the Egyptian took him to
extra points in the decider.
Grand
Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017: Heena Sidhu wins bronze, India come back with 7
medals
Heena
Sidhu claimed a bronze medal in the women's 10m Air Pistol as India ended the
Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championships with seven medals.
Indians
made it to four more finals with Pooja Ghatkar finishing fourth in Women s 10m
Air Rifle, Gurpreet Singh finishing 6th in the Men s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol
which was won eventually by Germany s Olympic champion Christian Reitz and
Chain Singh finishing seventh in the Men s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final.Gagan
Narang finished 4th in the Men s 50m Rifle Prone event while Sushil Ghaley
representing India finished fifth.
Tejaswini
Sawant also won silver in the 50m Rifle Prone event while Pemba Tamang won
bronze in the Men s 25m Centre Fire Pistol.
Anmol
Jain had won a bronze in Men's 10m Air Pistol event on the first day of the
championship.
Devender
Singh becomes 2nd Indian javelin thrower to qualify for London Worlds
Devender
Singh of Services joined world junior champion Neeraj Chopra by becoming the
second Indian to meet the javelin qualifying mark for the August world
athletics championships
Devender
won the Indian Grand Prix first leg with a throw of 84.57m, meeting the
qualifying mark of 83m.
Neeraj
Chopra, 19, qualified on April 28 when he won silver in the second leg of the
Asian Grand Prix in Jianxing, China.
Chopra
had won the 2016 World U-20 championships in Poland with a throw of 86.48m, a
junior world mark as well as the Indian national record.
Business & Banking
Bank
of India cuts MCLR by 5-10 bps
Bank
of India has cut its marginal cost of funds-based lending rates by 5-10 basis
points for May
The
public sector lender has reduced the rate for three-month loans by 5 bps, and
that of six-month and one-year loans by 10 bps each.
The
revised rates are in the 8.25-8.40 per cent range.
Techmagnate
Acquires BlogX, the Largest Blog Conference in India
Techmagnate,
India’s leading Digital Marketing Agency acquired BlogX, India’s largest blog
conference where bloggers and content managers connect.
The
first BlogX event took place in July 2016 in New Delhi, and since then the
platform has gained heights in terms of popularity. In the event, top bloggers
from across the country share their experiences and stories of journey towards
becoming successful bloggers. The blogger’s meet emphasizes on content,
relationship and brand building.
The
new venture will substantially open doors to new opportunities for Techmagnate
and further give a competitive edge to its growth.
Reserve
Bank of India to soon start picking bad loan cases for action
Armed
with additional legislative powers, the RBI will soon start identifying cases
for resolution of non-performing assets in consultation with IBA for necessary
action, a senior government official said.
The
government will not get into individual cases as it has already given
authorisation to the banking regulator RBI to resolve NPA cases through the
ordinance passed last week
The
Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and the corporate debt restructuring cell
already have information about the NPA cases that have not come to fruition.
The central bank can seek such cases and pass direction to banks on specific
ones
SBI
cuts home loan rates in affordable housing push
State
Bank of India (SBI) on Monday cut rates on home loans of up to Rs30 lakh by 25
basis points for new borrowers as it seeks to capitalize on demand generated by
government efforts to spur affordable housing.
The
rate was reduced to 8.35% from 8.60%—the second time in 2017 that India’s
largest lender has slashed home loan rates after an effective 50 basis point
cut that led other lenders to follow suit.
One
basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
For
loans ranging from Rs30 lakh to Rs75 lakh, the bank has cut rates by 10 basis
points.
Edelweiss
Tokio launches India's first insurance that can be bought at PoS
The
country's first, and perhaps the simplest life insurance product that can be
bought at a point of sale (PoS) has finally been launched.
Edelweiss
Tokio Life Insurance has recently launched PoS Saral Nivesh -- the first
product to be approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India's (IRDAI) guidelines on point of sale-life insurance products.
PoS
Saral Nivesh is a non-linked, non-participating endowment life insurance plan
which offers both protection and saving. The benefits are guaranteed and are
payable in case of maturity or death
Appointments
Indian-American
appointed chief diversity officer at New York college
Baruch
College in downtown Manhattan, a senior college of the City University of New
York, has appointed Indian-American Mona Jha, to a permanent position as Chief
Diversity Officer.
Jha
hopes that her role will help to effectuate change in the staffing and faculty
at the college to reflect the diversity of the student body. Jha told Desi Talk
she found it most gratifying to assist those in need.
Her
position also involves investigating claims brought under the University’s
Non-Discrimination Policies, serveing as Title IX Coordinator, and as the
Section 504/ADA Coordinator to assure compliance with federal and state laws
and regulations concerning persons with disabilities. The CDO is the liaison to
theUniversity Office of Diversity and Recruitment
Venu
Rajamony Appointed Indian Ambassador To Netherlands
IFS
officer Venu Rajamony, Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee, was today
appointed India's Ambassador to the Netherlands.
Venu
Rajamony has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of
the Netherlands.
He
is expected to take up his assignment shortly
A
journalist-turned-career diplomat, Mr Rajamony, an 1986 batch Indian Foreign
Service officer, had been serving in the Rashtrapati Bhawan since August 2012,
where among other achievements, he had increased the popularity of the
President's social media profiles.
Usha
Anathasubramanian appointed as Allahabad Bank MD, CEO
Usha
Ananthasubramanian has been appointed as the MD & CEO of Allahabad Bank.
She took charge from May 6.
Her
term ends on August 13, 2018.
Rakesh
Sethi was previously the Chairman and Managing Director of the Kolkata-based
lender.
Prior
to her joining here, Ananthasubramanian was the MD & CEO of Punjab National
Bank, the lender told in a release to the bourses.
Ananthasubramanian
had joined the industry in 1982 as a specialist officer with Bank of Baroda.
An
industry veteran, she was tasked with setting up of the first women focussed
bank and was part of the core management team constituted by the Finance
Ministry for coordinating the setting up of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
She
also served as CMD of Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) between November 2013 and
August 2015.
Awards & Honours
Emma
Watson bags first ever ‘genderless’ award
Hollywood
actor Emma Watson picked up the first-ever Genderless Acting Award for the Best
Actor category at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.
MTV’s
move to create a genderless award for acting will mean something different to
everyone
IIT-Bombay
professor wins Young Scientist award
A
scientific model that can prove to be a long-term solution for carbon dioxide
emissions in the country has helped a faculty from the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Bombay, win the tag of India’s Young Scientist.
Vikram
Vishal, a 31-year-old assistant professor in the Earth Sciences department of
the institute, received the Young Scientist award from the Indian National
Science Academy, the country’ apex scientific society, for the year 2017.
He
was awarded with a bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000.
The
model proposed by Vishal involves trapping the carbon dioxide emitted by
industries and injecting them in hard rocks within the sub-surface of earth.
While
Vishal is currently focused on carbon dioxide emissions, he has also worked on
studies on pollution levels in Mumbai.
Adil
Hussain’s Mukti Bhawan wins the Best Film award at the New York Indian Film
Festival
“Mukti
Bhawan”, a movie about a man who accompanies his father on a journey to
Varanasi, has won the Best Film at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).
The
makers say this appreciation has multiplied the joy of winning a Special
Mention at the National Film Awards. NYIFF was held in New York April 30-May 7.
NYIFF
been known to support films about India and Indian diaspora since 2001, has
been actively trying to educate America and Americans about India and its
people.
NDTV
Wins Media For Sanitation Award For Banega Swachh India Campaign At Indian
Sanitation Coalition-FICCI Awards 2017
NDTV
was felicitated with the ‘Media For Sanitation’ award by Railways Minister
Suresh Prabhu at the ISC-FICCI Sanitation Awards & India Sanitation
Conclave for the Banega Swachh India Campaign.
The
awards were jointly organized by FICCI and India Sanitation Coalition (ISC)
This
prestigious award was given to NDTV for its flagship campaign on sanitation in
partnership with Dettol – Banega Swachh India Campaign, which kick-started in
September 2014.
The
aim of the campaign is to work towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan’s goal of an open defecation free India by 2019.
India
bags five Gold medals at Montreux Festival 2017
Indian
companies and creative agencies struck five gold and sixteen finalists at the
Goldenaward Montreux Festival this year in Switzerland. As is their tradition,
Goldenaward Montreux Festival only awards Golds and Finalists with no Silvers
and Bronzes.
PHD
won a Gold and 5 finalists for HUL brands while Viacom 18 won a Gold and 3
Finalists. Jagran Prakashan did well with a Gold and 3 Finalists . Tree Design
and Mathrubhumi won a Gold and Finalist each.
Other
Indian winners were Living Foods channel (two finalists) and Dainik Bhaskar
Publication-one finalist award.
HUL
and PHD won a Gold in Best Use of Mobile for their work “Kheloge toh jeetoge”,
Colors program “ Shakti Ek Astitva” won a Gold in Best Use of Integrated Media,
Tree Design’s Print ad for The Heritage School won a Gold in the Non-Profit
Category, Jagran Prakashan won a Gold in the Best Use of Print Media for “A
newspaper invests in the future of the country” while Mathrubhumi won a Gold
for their Corporate Film “Yatra”.
Veerendra
Kumar awarded K Chandrasekharan Memorial award
Chairman
and Managing Director of Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi M P Veerendra Kumar was
today presented with the seventh K Chandrasekharan Memorial Award for his
contribution to the nation as a socialist.
Former
Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy presented the award, instituted by
Kasargod-based Chandrasekharan Memorial Trust, in memory of socialist leader K
Chandrasekharan.
Chandrasekharan
was a true socialist leader who treated both his supporters as well as
opponents equally and I see his qualities in Veerendra Kumar,".
Chandy
said Kumar is a multi-faceted personality, who has made his contributions to
the nation as a socialist, parliamentarian and administrator.
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