1.BSNL launched free roaming today
i)State-run BSNL will launch free roaming, starting today, which
will allow all its mobile customers across the country to receive incoming
calls at no cost.
“Now BSNL mobile
customers will not need to carry multiple SIMs and handsets during
roaming. ii)They are free
to talk as long as they want without worrying of any charges during incoming
calls.
“In fact, it is
like a dream of ‘One Nation One Number’ coming true,” BSNL CMD Anupam
Shrivastava said in a statement. One June 2, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad had announced that the telco would be launching free roaming scheme from
June 15.
iii)The company also clarified that it has not received any
communication from sectoral regulator TRAI regarding the roaming scheme.
“We have not
received any such communication from TRAI.BSNL has announced this scheme with
the consent of Minister of Communications & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad who
himself had announced it in a press conference held on June 2. TRAI has no
objection to it,” Shrivastava said
2.Ameising Luikham
takes over as New Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises
Shri Ameising
Luikham, IAS (MN:1981) today took over as Secretary, Department of Public
Enterprises in the M/o Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises . Prior to
this he was working as Secretary, North Eastern Council, Ministry of
Development of North Eastern Region.
Shri Luikham's
appointment is vice Shri Kapil Dev Tripathi, IAS (AM:1980) who already have
been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
3.Sheila Kaul, former Governor of Himachal Pradesh,
died
i) Former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, ex-Union Minister and
Congress leader Sheila Kaul died after a brief illness on 14 June 2015. She was
100.
She is now survived
by sons Gautam Kaul, a retired IPS officer, and Vikram Kaul, an international
sports administrator, besides daughter Deepa Kaul, a former Information
Minister in UP.
ii) She was married to renowned botanist Kailash Nath Kaul,
who established the National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow. Kaul,
sister-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru, was oldest surviving former Parliamentarian.
iii) She was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for five
times in 1971, 1980 and 1984 (from Lucknow) and in 1989, 1991 (from Rae
Bareli).
4.Nasscom signs MoU with IESA
i)The National Association of Software and Services Companies
(Nasscom) on Monday signed an MoU with India Electronics and Semiconductor
Association (IESA) to speed up 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' agenda for
electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) and IT.
ii)The aim is to create a common agenda that will guide the
Government and industry to construct policies and an environment leading to the
creation of ESDM and IT products, solutions and brands out of India.
Vinay Shenoy,
Chairman, IESA, said: "By joining forces, we are now better able to
address 'Device-Infrastructure-Application' and the interplay between them.
Initial focus areas are likely to be policy frameworks, enabling capability
build-up, knowledge sharing, eco-system discovery and promotion.''
Under the MoU, both
industry associations will bring key stakeholders and partners from industry,
Government, academia and investment community closer and identify key areas of
investment.
5.FDI in services sector up 46% in 2014-15
i)With the government taking steps to improve ease of doing
business and attracting investments, FDI inflows into the services sector grew
by over 46% to $3.25 billion in 2014-15.
ii)The services sector, which includes banking, insurance,
outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received foreign
direct investment (FDI) worth $2.22 billion in 2013-14.
However, the total
foreign inflow in 2014-15 in the services sector was low as compared to 2012-13
when it was $4.83 billion, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) data.
iii)The government has announced a series of steps such as fixing
timeliness for approvals to improve the ease of doing business in the country
and attracting domestic as well as foreign investments.
In step with the
growth in FDI in important sectors like services, overall foreign inflows in
the country too rose by 27% to $30.93 billion during the previous fiscal. The
amount was $24.29 billion in 2013-14.
6.Wholesale price inflation dips in May
i)Wholesale inflation at (-)2.36 per cent in May as against
(-)2.65 per cent in April.
Inflation remained
in negative territory for the seventh month in May, registering a decline of
2.36 per cent on account of subdued prices of food items, fuel and manufactured
goods.The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was (—) 2.65 per cent in
April.
It has been in the
negative zone since November 2014. Inflation in last May was 6.18 per cent.
ii)The lower inflation comes amid a forecast of deficient monsoon
this year. In contrast to IMD’s forecast of 12 per cent deficient rainfall, the
onset of monsoon has been reasonably strong so far.
Citigroup said that
overall the monsoon is still a risk factor but “we expect CPI (retail
inflation) to undershoot RBI’s Jan-16 projection by 40bps and average 5 per
cent in 2015-16. This is likely to create room for further 25 bps cut in
current fiscal“.
iii)The CPI inflation had inched up marginally in May to over 5 per
cent from 4.87 per cent in the previous month.
7.Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) launched India
Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)
i)The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on 12 June 2015 launched
the India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP).The INIP has become the 27th such
insurance pool in the world as countries such as France, Russia, South Africa
and the U.S. have put in place such similar risk transfer mechanisms.Features
of India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP)
ii)It will cover the risks of liability of nuclear operators and
suppliers under Section 6(2) and Section 17 of the Civil Liability for Nuclear
Damages (CLND) Act, 2010 respectively.
It provides three
types of policies viz., tier 1 policy for operators, tier 2 policy for turn key
suppliers and tier 3 policy for suppliers other than turn key supply
8.Union Government launched website to connect
employers, job seekers
i)Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj
Mishra on 15 June 2015 launched a digital Employment Exchange for Industries
(EEX) portal eex.dcmsme.gov.in which will connect employers and job seekers.
ii)The portal will help in linking Make in India initiative with
Skilled India one.The employers and job seekers can now register at www.eex.dcmsme.gov.in. Nearly, two lakh
job seekers have already registered themselves with the EEX.
iii)There are large units in the country which are dependent on
MSMEs, but the absence of skilled manpower results in non-competitiveness of
MSMEs and Indian industry as a whole.
Until and unless,
the skilled hands do not find the appropriate jobs and the appropriate
employer, it
will lead to
frustration and skepticism to the entire skilling program of this country.
Therefore, it is
utmost important that these skilled hands get a platform where they can find
livelihoods for themselves. This online portal will enable industrial
units in finding suitable manpower and will help job seekers in finding
suitable jobs.