CHHATTISGARH
- Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh plans to give free mobile phones to 55.60 lakh people
- Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh has planned to give free mobile phones to 55 lakh 60 thousand people within two-and-a-half-years in the state.
- Under the Chhattisgarh Communication Revolution Scheme (SKY), the highest priority of Chief Minister Raman Singh, a plan of Rs. 230 crore has been prepared in order to provide free mobile phones to 55 lakh 60 thousand people within two-and-a-half-years in the state.
- Out of this, 50 lakh 80 thousand beneficiaries will be distributed mobile phones in the current financial year 2017-18 and the next financial year 2018-19.
- These will include 5,10,00,000 students of technical and non-technical colleges, including 40 lakh 10 thousand rural beneficiaries and 5 lakh 60 thousand urban poor. In the first phase, it is estimated to cost Rs. 1128 crore.
- The officials said that in the first phase, all the villages having a population of more than one thousand and villages with less than one thousand people will be included in the current fiscal year 2017-18 and in the next financial year 2018-19, where presently mobile phones coverage is available fully or partially.
- Smart phones will be provided to the rural families, urban poor families and college youth.
- In the second phase of the plan, which will be in the year of 2019-20, villages with less than one thousand population will be covered, where mobile phone coverage is not available.
- All the families of these villages will be given smart phones. The women head of each rural family and female head of every urban poor family and college youth will be included in the scheme.
- The main objective of this scheme is to provide government services to the general public through the general service centers, extension of banking services through non availability and access.
- Apart from this, the benefits of government and private services through smart phones can be easily availed by the citizen and their participation in governance is also the purpose of this scheme.
INTERNATIONAL
· Pakistan,Russia begin joint military drills DRUZBA 2017
- The joint exercise DRUZBA 2017between special forces of Pakistan and Russia Armies started in Minralney Vody, Russia.
- Pakistan and Russia are holding two-week long joint military drill focusing on counter-terrorism operations to enhance military ties between the two countries.
- The joint exercise will enhance and further strengthen military ties between the two countries and share Pakistan Army’s experience in the war against terrorism.
- Last year, Russia held its first-ever military exercises with Pakistan and also started selling weapons to Islamabad.
- India third in nuclear power installations
- India is third in the world in the number of nuclear reactors being installed, at six, while China is leading at 20, the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017, released this month, shows.
- The number of nuclear reactor units under construction is, however, declining globally for the fourth year in a row.
NATIONAL
· State Bank of India Eases Minimum Balance Rules On Savings Accounts
- State Bank of India lowered theMinimum Average Monthly Balance (MAB)requirement in a savings account to Rs 3,000 from Rs 5,000 and also revised downwards penalties for not maintaining such a balance.
- From July 1, tax on banking has been revised to 18 percent under Goods and Services Tax (GST), the new indirect tax regime.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to levy charges on non-maintenance of minimum balance in normal savings accounts.
· INS TARASA commissioned into Indian Navy
- INS Tarasa(T94), the fourth and last ship in series of Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) was commissioned into Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard.
- It is an improved variant of Car Nicobar-class high-speed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) built by Kolkata (West Bengal) based Garden Reach Shipbuilder.
- It is named after the picturesque island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in Bay of Bengal.
· ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission completes 3 years in orbit
- Indian Space research Organistaion (ISRO) globally acclaimed Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) also known as Mangalyaan completed three years in Martian orbit.
- On the occasion of completion of three years, ISRO released MOM second-year science data from September 24, 2014, to September 23, 2016.
- The main plan designed built and launched by ISRO in a record period of fewer than two years in Rs.450 crore ($73 million US) budget, making it cheapest inter-planetary.
- Rajnath Singh to launch PENCIL Portal at the National Conference on Child Labour
- PENCIL”: an electronic platform for effective enforcement for no child labour developed by Ministry of Labour and Employment is going to be launched by Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh on 26th September 2017 in the National Conference on Child Labour at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi.
- Nobel Laureate Shri Kailash Satyarthi will be the guest of honour while the Labour and Employment Minister, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar will precide over the conference.
- An 18 year old from Srinagar becomes an ambassador for Swachhata Hi Seva
- Bilal Dar, a young boy from Srinagar has become the brand ambassador for Srinagar Municipal Corporation.
- Dar has been contributing to the ‘Swachhta Abhiyan’ since the age of 12.
- He found a mention in the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s recent Mann Ki Baat.
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