31 July 2016

Centre to hold Make in India Conference in Odisha in December

·        The Central government proposes to organise a ‘Make in India’ conference in Bhubaneswar in December, an official said on Saturday.

·        The conference would be organized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to attract investment to Odisha as well as the country.

·        The Odisha government has requested the ministry to hold the conference in the first week of December.

Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister meets District Nodal Officers of Eastern and North Eastern States; 23 lakhs connections issued so far under PMUY

·        Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan has held meeting with all District Nodal Officers (DNOs) of Eastern States and North Eastern States.

·        Nearly 250 DNOs, Senior Officials of the Ministry and Oil Marketing Companies attended the meeting.

·        The DNO meet was first such meeting providing an opportunity for experience sharing by DNOs in implementing Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) under which LPG connections are given to women of BPL Households.

·        Today (30th July) is the 90th day after launch of the scheme and a total of 23 lakhs connections have been issued so far under PMUY.

ICICI Bank sets up top team to track loans, sound 'NPA' alert

·        ICICI Bank has set up a team to improve monitoring of credit and provide early warning of loans going bad after a sharp rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) in the last fiscal year.

·        The group will be separate from existing loan-monitoring teams and is a result of suggestions by consultant McKinsey.

·        ICICI Bank's net profit plunged 76 per cent in the quarter ended March, the biggest year-on-year drop since inception as it set aside Rs 3,600 crore against bad loans.

·        The bank listed five sectors - iron and steel, power, cement, mining and rigs-for special monitoring in the months ahead.

A collection under Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme reaches a new high

·        The GOI, in consultation with RBI, launched the 4th of SGB.

·        To improve attractiveness of SGB, new product features were introduced this time such as:

-        The minimum subscription limit was reduced from 2 gm to 1 gm.
-        The Capital gain tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual was exempted, in line with    the Budget 2016-17 announcements.
-        The applications were allowed to be routed online and SGB was issued in Demat/ paper form.

Rani Nair set to be new CBDT Chairperson

·        Senior IRS officer Rani Singh Nair is set to be appointed as the new CBDT Chairperson with incumbent Atulesh Jindal retiring today.

·        Nair, a 1979-batch Indian Revenue Service officer of the Income Tax cadre, is presently working as Member (Legislation and Computerisation) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the policy-making body of the I-T department.

·        Officials said the government has issued orders for her to take over as the "acting" chief of CBDT from Jindal and fresh orders by the Prime Minister headed Appointments Committee of Cabinet are expected soon to be out soon for her to take charge in a full capacity.

Praveen dixit retires today; Satish Mathur appointed DGP of Maharashtra

·        Satish Mathur, a 1981-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, has been appointed the new Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra.

·        Mathur will take over from Praveen Dixit, the outgoing DGP who retires on Sunday. The formal handing over of charge is scheduled on the same day.

·        A St Stephen’s alumni, Mathur has many firsts to his credit. He is the first IPS officer in the country who was trained by the National Security Guard (NSG).

·        He was also the first IPS officer to become the Director General, Legal and Technical, after it was created by the state to improve the conviction rate in Maharashtra.

Adman Srinivasan Swamy conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 

·        The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) conferred its Lifetime Achievement Award on famous adman Srinivasan K.Swamy.

·        Mr. Swamy is popularly known as Sundar. He is a veteran in the advertising industry and has almost four decades of rich experience.

·        Swamy is Chairman of R.K. Swamy Hansa, a diversified marketing communications group. He has served as the President of AAAI for three consecutive terms from 2004 to 2007. He is also the Vice Chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and a Board Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations.