10 Oct
IPCI Info

SEBI Board of Director

Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray has been appointed to the board of capital market regulator, SEBI. Ray, who took charge as Corporate Affairs Secretary in August, replaces his predecessor Anjuly Chib Duggal on the Sebi board.

SEBI: The Preamble of the Securities and Exchange Board of India describes the basic functions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India as
“…to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”

The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) is the chief regulator of commodity futures markets in India. On 28 September 2015, it was merged with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India ).

10 Oct
IPCI Info

E-admit card for Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination (II) 2015.

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has issued e-admit card for Combined Defence Services (CDS) Examination (II) 2015. The candidates who applied for the exam can download the admit card by visiting the official site of UPSC.
The written examination will be conducted on 01 November 2015. The admit card can be downloaded from 09 October 2015 to 01 November 2015.
www.upsconline.nic.in

10 Oct
IPCI Info

India’s GDP to grow at 7.5 percent in 2015: UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) projected that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015.
As per the report, the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.
Highlights of the report with respect to India
• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015 compared to China’s 6.9 as China rebalances the structure of its demand by concentrating more on exports.
• India’s upward growth will be possible because of lowering oil prices in the international market that will ease pressure on current account deficit.
• India’s export growth (by volume) slowed down from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.2 per cent in 2014.
• Public banks, which account for 62 per cent of Indian bank loans, will find it difficult to meet the Basel III capital requirements between 2015 and 2019.
• India has emerged as an important player in extending development assistance to developing and under developed countries as part of south-south cooperation that takes the form of credit, concessional loans and grants.
• India is one of the few countries where the Public Private Partnership investment is high. Almost 60 per cent of the total private participation in projects recorded in developing countries was in China, Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, Mexico and Turkey.
• It identified potential financial role of south-led multilateral banks including New Development Bank of BRICS and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in both of which India has membership.

10 Oct
IPCI Info

Computer Abbreviations

ALGOL –Algorithm language
ALU – Arithmetic Logic Unit
AMD – Advanced Micro Devices
ANSI– American National Standards Institute
APCI– Application Layer Protocol Control Information
ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASP– Active Server pages/ Application Service Provider
AVC –Advance Video Coding
BAL -Basic Assembly Language
BASIC – Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
BIOS – Basic Input- Output System
CAD -Computer Aided Design
CAE- Computer Aided Engineering
CD – Compact Disc.
CDMA– Code Division Multiple Access.
COBOL – Common Business Oriented Language
CD – Compact Disc
CDROM – Compact Disc Read Only Memory
CDRW – Compact Disc Rewritable
CPU- Central Processing Unit
DB – Database
DBA – Data Base Administrator
DBMS – Data Base Management System
DDR – Double Data Rate
DMS – Direct Memory Access
DNS – Domain Name System
DRAM – Dynamic Random Access Memory
DVD – Digital Video Disc/Digital Versatile Disc
DVDR – DVD Recordable
DVDROM – DVD Read Only Memory
DVDRW – DVD Rewritable
DVI – Digital Visual Interface
DVR – Digital Video Recorder
EPROM-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

10 Oct
IPCI Info

Cheque Truncation System(CTS)

Cheque Truncation truncation is the process of stopping the flow of the physical cheque. In its place an electronic image of the cheque is transmitted to the paying branch through the clearing house, along with relevant information like data on the MICR band, date of presentation, presenting bank, etc.

Benefits of Cheque Truncation:
It speeds up the process of collection of cheques resulting in better service to customers,
reduces the scope of loss of instruments in transit,
lowers the cost of collection of cheques, and
Removes reconciliation-related and logistics-related problems, thus benefitting the system as a whole.
CTS 2010 is a cheque truncation system, an image-bound method, for faster clearing of cheques. Truncation means conversion of a physical cheque into electronic form. As per RBI guideline, all banks providing cheque facility to their customers have been advised to issue only ‘CTS-2010’ standard cheques.

10 Oct
IPCI Info

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), a real-time funds transfer mechanism, developed by National Payment Corporation of India. It offers an instant, 24X7, interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones. It is also being extended through other channels such as ATM, Internet Banking, etc. This facility is provided by NPCI through its existing National Financial Switch (NFS).

Objective of IMPS:
• To enable bank customers to use mobile instruments as a channel for accessing their banks accounts and remit funds
• Making payment simpler just with the mobile number of the beneficiary
• To sub-serve the goal of RBI in electronification of retail payments
• To build the foundation for a full range of mobile based Banking services.

Participants in the transaction:
• Remitter (Sender)
• Beneficiary (Receiver)
• Banks
• National Financial Switch – NPCI

Procedure of fund transfer through IMPS:
Registration for Remitter:

Remitter is required to register for mobile banking service with his/her bank and obtain Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) and MPIN from the bank. Download Software (Application) for mobile banking (ensuring compatibility of mobile with the application) or using the SMS facility in the mobile if bank provides IMPS on SMS.
Note: Mobile Money Identification Number (MMID) is a seven digit number of which the first four digits are the unique identification number of the bank offering IMPS.
Registration for Beneficiary:
Beneficiary has to link his/her mobile number to the account in the respective bank and obtain MMID from the bank. There is no need to register for mobile banking service.

Services available under IMPS:
1. Funds Transfer and Remittances: Sending Money and Receiving Money
2. Merchant Payments
• Grocery bills
• Travel & Ticketing
• Credit Card bills
• Utility bills
• Online shopping
• School & College fees
• Mobile top ups & DTH recharge

Benefits of IMPS:
• Instant
• Available 24 x7 (functional even on holidays)
• Safe and secure, easily accessible and cost effective
• Channel Independent can be initiated from Mobile/ Internet / ATM channels
• Debit & Credit Confirmation by SMS

Advantage of IMPS over NEFT and RTGS: No other fund transfer mechanism can match IMPS in terms of swiftness when it comes to remittance and merchant payments.

• IMPS is instant fund transfer, in ideal scenario transaction will be completed in 15-20 seconds i.e. beneficiary will receive the amount in 20 seconds.
• There is no holiday for IMPS like NEFT and RTGS.
• IMPS works 365 days and 24×7.
• Both the remitter as well as Beneficiary will receive the SMS i.e remitter will receive SMS on debit to his account and beneficiary will receive SMS on credit to his account.

Who all are offering IMPS ?

Banks and non-bank entities authorized by RBI are offering IMPS to the customers across India. Pre-Paid instruments Issuer such as Oxigen, GI Tech , Airtel Money, ITZ Cash, UAE Exchange, mRupee & M-Pesa etc are providing IMPS services.

10 Oct
IPCI Info

Bank Punch line

Bank ——————–Punch line
Allahabad Bank———–A Tradition of Trust
Andhra Bank————–Much more to do, with YOU in focus
Bank of Baroda———–India’s International Bank
Bank of India————Relationship beyond Banking
Bank of Maharashtra——One Family, One Bank
Canara Bank of India—–Together we can
Central Bank of India—-Build A Better Life Around US
Corporation Bank———Sarve Jahan Sukhino Bhavantu (Prosperity for all)
Dena bank—————-Trusted family bank
IDBI Bank—————-Aao soche bada
Indian Bank————–Taking banking technology to the common man
Indian Overseas Bank—–Good people to grow with
Oriental Bank of Commerce-Where every individual is committed
Punjab and Sind bank——Where service is a way of life
Punjab national Bank——A name you can bank upon
Syndicate Bank————Your faithful & friendly financial partner
State Bank of India——-Pure Banking Nothing Else
Union Bank of India——-Good people to bank with
United Bank of India——The bank that begin with ‘U’
UCO Bank——————Honours yours trust
Vijaya Bank—————A friend you can bank upon
Bharatiya Mahila Bank —-Empowering women Empowering India

10 Oct
IPCI Info

Tunisian group wins Nobel Peace Prize

NobelpaceThe prize was awarded “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011”.The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize went to the National Dialogue Quartet in Tunisia.

The National Dialogue Quartet consists of four organisations in Tunisian civil society – the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT, Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA, Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH, La Ligue Tunisienne pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers (Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie)

After the Arab Spring in Tunisia in 2010-2011, the Quartet paved the way for a peaceful dialogue between the citizens.

LIST NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS, 2015:
Peace:National Dialogue Quartet
Literature: Svetlana Alexievich
Physiology or Medicine: William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura, Youyou Tu, Paul Modrich
Physics: Arthur McDonald, Takaaki Kajita.
Chemistry: Tomas Lindahl, Aziz Sancar

09 Oct
IPCI Info

BRICS

The seventh BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit was held from 8 to 9 July 2015 in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan. It was held under the theme BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development. The seventh BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit was held from 8 to 9 July 2015 in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan. It was held under the theme BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development.

The summit was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dilma Rousseff, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Jacob Zuma president of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa respectively.

At the end of the summit, Ufa Declaration was released by the leaders that called for enhanced coordinated efforts in responding to emerging challenges, ensuring peace and security, promoting development in a sustainable way among the member countries.

Besides the BRICS summit level meeting, the leaders held a summit with the members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

In a five-year summit cycle, the summit is hosted by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in the order. While the 6th BRICS summit was held at Fortaleza in Brazil in 2014, New Delhi will be hosting the 8th summit in 2016.

Head of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations on 9 July 2015 released the Ufa Declaration. The declaration was released after the 7th BRICS summit held in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan from 8 to 9 July 2015. 7th BRICS Summit was held under the theme ‘BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development’.

The Ufa declaration saw the support for India to host the Eighth BRICS Summit in 2016.

Main highlights

  • Ufa declaration saw the resolve of the BRICS nations to step coordinated efforts in responding to emerging challenges, ensuring peace and security, promoting development in a sustainable way.
  • Highlighting the need to reform UN Security Council (UNSC), China and Russia supported Brazil, India and South Africa aspiration to play a greater role in the UN
  • Expressing the disappointment over United States failure to ratifyIMF 2010 reform package,the BRICS nations called the US to ratify it by mid-September 2015. The IMF 2010 reform package called for increase in the institution’s quota resources and the revision of quotas and voting power in favour of developing countries and emerging markets.
  • Welcoming Kenya’s hosting of the10th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10)in Nairobi on 15-18 December 2015, the member nations for working together to strengthen an open, transparent, non-discriminatory, and rules-based multilateral trading system as embodied in the WTO.
  • In the economic sphere, BRICS nations expressed support for the development of action-oriented economic cooperation and systematic strengthening of economic partnership for the recovery of global economy and resisting protectionism.
  • BRICS financial institutions, viz.,Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), New Development Bank (NDB)that was established during 6th BRICS Summit at Fortaleza was ratified
  • BRICS Inter-Central Bank Agreementthat sets technical parameters of operations within the BRICS CRA was signed.
  • Adoption of Strategy for theBRICS Economic Partnershipto foster trade, economic and investment cooperation between BRICS nations. In this regard, the ministers/sherpas were asked to develop a roadmap for the period until 2020.
  • Looking forward to the sixth session of theConference of State Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)to be held in St. Petersburg in November 2015, the BRICS members decided to create a BRICS Working Group on Anti-Corruption Cooperation.
  • MoU on the Creation of theJoint BRICS Websiteamong our Foreign Ministries was signed 
  • Recognising the urgent need to further strengthen cooperation in the areas of Information, Communication and Technology (ICTs), BRICS nations decided to constitute aBRICS working group on ICT cooperation.
  • First meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Labour and Employment will be held in February 2016, which will focus on the creation of decent jobs and information sharing on labour and employment issues.

10 Steps for the Future proposed by PM Narendra Modi for BRICS countries:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 July 2015 proposed a 10 point initiative named as ‘Dus Kadam: 10 Steps for the Future’ to boost cooperation within the members of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). He proposed the initiative while addressing the 7th BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia.

The 10 steps of the proposed Dus Kadam are: 

1.BRICS Trade Fair (to be held during India’s chairmanship in 2016).

2.BRICS Railway Research Centre.

3.Cooperation among Supreme Audit Institutions.

4.BRICS Digital Initiative.

5.BRICS Agricultural Research Centre.

6.BRICS state/Local Government’s Forum.

7.Cooperation among cities in field of Urbanisation.

8.BRICS Sports Council and Annual BRICS Sports Meet.

9.First Major Project of NDB to be in field of Clean Energy.

10.BRICS Film Festival.

India will be hosting the Eighth BRICS Summit in 2016.

09 Oct
IPCI Info

Protect Cultural Heritage

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) signed an agreement to protect cultural heritage sites with the latest geo-spatial technologies. The agreement was signed at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany.

  • Features of the AgreementIt is part of the UNESCO’s Unite for Heritage framework under which UNESCO enters into agreements with sister UN Agencies to protect cultural heritage sites across the world.
  • It will enable both the organizations to work together during conflict situations and following natural disasters by sharing their respective expertise and collaborating on prevention and capacity development.
  • Under the agreement, complimentary capacities of both the organizations-satellite technology of UNITAR and ground based resources of UNESCO – will be put into best use for protection of heritage sites.
  • Apart from the Geographic Information Systems (GIS), crowd-sourcing application UN-ASIGN, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and advanced web-mapping solutions will be deployed to continuously monitor the status of heritage sites.
  • Both the organizations will jointly explore new and innovative solutions that can further contribute to improved management and protection of cultural heritage sites.
  • The agreement will be operational through the UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT).

Satellite imagery is often the only source of objective information for areas affected by conflict or by natural disasters.  It helps the international community to understand the situation on the ground and plan emergency measures.  For example, a recently-published report on cultural heritage sites in Syria, by UNITAR-UNOSAT revealed the extent of damage to cultural heritage, confirming information obtained through unofficial sources.

The agreement between both the UN organizations was signed against the backdrop of damage occurred to cultural heritage sites due to conflicts and natural calamities in different parts of the world in recent times. For example, the earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April 2015 destroyed the 19th century Dharahara (Bhimsen) tower and Monkey Temple of Swayambhunath that happens to be UNESCO heritage sites. Similarly, damage was done to world heritage sites in Syria and Iraq by the ISIS militant group.