March 14, 2018 Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking dies at 76 Renowned British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking died on March 14. He was 76. Hawking had a rare early-onset slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease or Lou Gehrig's disease that gradually paralysed him over the decades. The diagnosis of his disease came when Hawking was 21 years old, in 1963. The theoretical physicist was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford, England. He attended University College, Oxford, where he studied physics, despite his father's urging to focus on medicine. He wanted to study mathematics but it wasn't available at University College. The theoretical physicist had thirteen honorary degrees, says a biography on his web site. India will eliminate tuberculosis by 2025: Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13th March said India would totally eliminate Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, a good 5 years ahead of the global deadline set for 2030 and has already started working towards achieving this goal. Given the way TB affects people's lives, health of the society and impacts the country's economy and future, it is very essential to get rid of TB within the stipulated time, Modi said while inaugurating the www.talentsprint.com 1
Delhi End TB Summit which is being organised by the Ministry of health and family welfare jointly with WHO s South East Asia Region Office and international coalition Stop TB Partnership. India is also implementing the National Strategic Plan for TB elimination that is backed by a funding of over Rs.12000 crore for the next three years to ensure every TB patient in the country has access to quality diagnosis, treatment, and support, he said. Bidhya Devi Bhandari elected as President of Nepal for a second term Incumbent President Bhandari defeated Nepali Congress leader Kumari Laxmi Rai with an overwhelming majority in the presidential election. Bhandari, 56, won since her nomination was backed by the ruling Left alliance of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum- Nepal and other fringe parties. Bhandari was first elected president on October 28, 2015. The Electoral College for presidential election included 880 voters including 331 lawmakers of the federal parliament and 549 of the provincial assemblies. The votes of federal and provincial lawmakers were given different weightage. India announces $100m line of credit for defence procurement by Mauritius Keeping a steady focus on the Indian Ocean region, President Ram Nath Kovind announced a new $100 million line of credit for defence procurement by Mauritius, in addition to a multipurpose offshore patrol vessel (MPOPV) to build its capacities. www.talentsprint.com 2
According to a statement by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, this would be financed by a grant of $5 million and the new line of credit. Coming after the new strategic vision document on the Indian Ocean between India and France, the President s visit to Mauritius and Madagascar acquires a whole new dimension. Capital: Port Louis Currency: Mauritian rupee RBI bans all Indian banks from issuing LoUs, LoCs The Rs 12,700-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank has prompted the Reserve Bank of India to ban the use of letters of undertaking (LoUs) and letters of comfort (LoCs). LoUs and LoCs are two of the instruments issued by Indian banks to domestic importers to get foreign exchange from banks abroad at a cheaper rate. The RBI issued the directive on LoUs and LoCs on Tuesday, about a month after it was discovered that diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi had misused LoUs issued by PNB to defraud the bank of over $2 billion. A LoU is a type of guarantee between two banks that allows the issuer bank s customer to get foreign exchange from another Indian bank s foreign branch in the form of short-term credit. www.talentsprint.com 3
SBI retains minimum balance limit but cuts penalty charges by 75% State Bank of India had reduced the penalty charges on non-maintenance of average monthly balance by up to 75 percent from April 1 as the measure had faced a public backlash for raking in huge profits by way of penal charges. However, the bank has not lowered the monthly minimum balance requirement which has been retained at Rs 3,000 for metro customers, at Rs 2,000 for semi-urban accounts and at Rs 1,000 for rural accounts. Last April, the nation's largest lender had re-introduced the penal charges on non-maintenance of average monthly balance, after a gap of five years. Later in October, the bank had revised down the charges to some extent. ICICI Bank launches instant overdraft facility for MSME customers ICICI Bank had launched an instant overdraft facility InstaOD for up to Rs 15 lakh for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) customers. The digital offering is being made available to current account customers of the bank for credit without the need to visit a branch or submit physical documents. The facility is available both on internet banking and ICICI mobile application (imobile). ICICI Bank also plans to offer instant overdraft facility to MSME customers of other banks. The overdraft is renewable on an annual basis, depending on the customer's repayment track records. www.talentsprint.com 4
BSNL, Air India, MTNL worst performing PSUs in FY 17 Indian Oil, ONGC and Coal India have emerged as the most profitable PSUs for 2016-17, whereas BSNL, Air India and MTNL incurred the highest losses, according to a government survey tabled in Parliament. The Public Enterprises Survey 2016-17, which mapped the performance of central public sector units, showed that the top ten loss-making state-owned firms accounted for a whopping 83.82 percent of the total losses made by 82 loss-making CPSEs during the year. BSNL, Air India and MTNL incurred 55.66 percent of the total losses suffered by the top ten loss-making CPSEs in 2016-17. The top three performers -- Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Coal India Ltd -- contributed 19.69 percent, 18.45 percent and 14.94 percent, respectively, to the total profit earned by the top ten profit making CPSEs during 2016-17. ISL: Chennaiyin FC Thrash FC Goa to Setup Thrilling Bengaluru Finale Chennaiyin FC outplayed FC Goa 3-0 with a dominant performance in the second leg of the Indian Super League (ISL) semifinal to advance to the final against Bengaluru FC on 4-1 aggregate. Jeje Lalpekhlua, who struck twice, was the star of the match as he scored in the 26th and 90th minutes to guide CFC into its second ISL final. The Chennai side had won the title in 2015. Local lad Dhanapal Ganesh found the back of the net with a superb header in the 29th minute to put the team 2-0 ahead at the Nehru Stadium. Chennaiyin now face Bengaluru FC at the grand finale on March 17 at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. www.talentsprint.com 5