Lok Sabha passes NABARD Bill, 2017

The Bill seeks to amend the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981. The 1981 Act provides for the establishment of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). NABARD is responsible for providing and regulating facilities like credit for agricultural and industrial development in the rural areas. 

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Bill, 2017 also seeks to amend certain clauses in the light of reference of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development Act, 2006 in the proposed legislation.

Lok Sabha passes Banking Regulation Bill, 2017

The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Arun Jaitley, on July 24, 2017.  It seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to insert provisions for handling cases related to stressed assets.  Stressed assets are loans where the borrower has defaulted in repayment or where the loan has been restructured (such as by changing the repayment schedule).  It will replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017.

Initiating insolvency proceedings:  The central government may authorise the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks for initiating proceedings in case of a default in loan repayment.  These proceedings would be under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. 

Issuing directions on stressed assets:  The RBI may, from time to time, issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets. 

Committee to advise banks:  The RBI may specify authorities or committees to advise banks on resolution of stressed assets.  The members on such committees will be appointed or approved by the RBI.

Applicability to State Bank of India: The Bill inserts a provision to state that it will also be applicable to the State Bank of India, its subsidiaries, and Regional Rural Banks.

Qatar's Cabinet has approved for permanent residency

Qatar's Cabinet has approved for permanent residency to some non-citizens, marking a partial shift from its reliance on its longstanding visa-sponsorship system.

The energy-rich Gulf nation said in a statement that the residency permits could be granted to children of Qatari women married to foreigners, people who "offered valuable services to the country'' and those with special skills. As in many Arab countries, a Qatari child's citizenship is granted based on the father's nationality.

The residency permit gives holders similar rights as Qataris in terms of property ownership and access to generous education and health care services.

Qatar's native population is far surpassed by foreigners holding fixed-term residency permits typically tied to a sponsoring employer.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launches two portals

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launches two online portals : MahaDBT and MahaVASTU.

Maharashtra is the first state to launch this system to give direct benefits with 'Aadhaar'

authentication

MahaDBT : Through which benefits of all government schemes will be transferred directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries in the state.

MahaDBT portal has been designed on the lines of the central government's direct transfer benefit scheme. Aadhaar will become mandatory to claim benefits through the portal, an official said.

MahaVASTU : MahaVASTU is an Online Building Permission Management System with an electronic workflow for sanctioning building approvals.

It will bring all building permissions online in all municipal councils of the state

Sun’s core rotates 4 times faster than its surface

A team of global astronomers recently found that the Sun's core rotates near four times faster than its surface.

European Space Agency and NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), together, helped the solar scientists find evidence of a type of seismic wave in the Sun.

These waves are known as g-modes and are low-frequency waves. These waves revealed that solar core is actually rotating four times faster than its surface.

The solar physicists used helioseismology to study the Sun's interior structure by tracking the way waves move on the star.

The scientists used over 16 years of data collected by SOHO's GOLF instrument (Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies). The study was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The Sun’s core is important because it may give a clue of how the Sun was formed.

IIIT Amendment Bill 2017 passed in Rajya Sabha

The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was passed in Rajya Sabha.

Human Resource Development (HRD) Union Minister MahendraNath Pandey said that from five Indian IIIT four IIIT have received permission  which are IIT Allahabad, IIT Jabalpur, IIT Gwalior and IIIT Kancheepuram.

It aims to develop new knowledge in information technology and provide manpower of global standards for the information technology industry and provide manpower of global standards for the information technology industry.

the Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament, coming from the fact that their Government has propagated the Bill in 2015 and 2016.

Banking Regulation Amendment Bill and Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Amendment Bill were also passed by the Parliament House.

BRICS nations vow to fight protectionism…

Trade ministers from India and other BRICS countries pledged to rise against protectionism and safeguard the multilateral trade system after concluding their annual meeting in Shanghai 

The member countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are also members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), playing a major part in global economic governance. Safeguarding the multilateral trade system and the rise against protectionism serves the common interests of emerging and developing economies. 

What is BRICS??? 

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G-20 members. Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits. 

The BRIC grouping's first formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009. ............

Government clears proxy vote move for NRIs….

Overseas electors will have to appoint a nominee afresh for each election — one person can act as proxy for only one overseas voter.

The Government approved changes in electoral laws to permit Non-Resident Indians to cast their vote in assembly and Lok Sabha elections from overseas. If the proposal passes political muster in Parliament, NRIs will be able to exercise their voting rights through “proxy”. Currently, only service personnel are permitted to vote through proxy.

However, the facility for NRIs will not be the same as that enjoyed by service personnel. For instance, voters in the armed forces can nominate their relatives as permanent proxy to vote on their behalf. But the Union Cabinet’s approval for proxy voting by NRIs carries a caveat: they cannot nominate one proxy for all polls.

Overseas electors will have to appoint a nominee afresh for each election — one person can act as proxy for only one overseas voter. With the Cabinet’s approval, sources said, suitable rules and guidelines will be framed to make this move effective soon. Currently, voters residing abroad can only cast their votes in their respective constituencies. This regulation is seen as restrictive as only a few thousand Indians living overseas have registered as voters, the maximum being from Kerala. Of these, barely anyone has travelled to the country to exercise his or her franchise.

According to rough estimates, there are about 1 crore Indians settled abroad, of which 60 lakh could be of eligible voting age. They could hold considerable sway in election results, especially in states such as Punjab, Gujarat and Kerala, where a number of expats hail from.