#Daily #current #affairs

Union Cabinet gives nod to introduction of Bureau of Indian Standards Bill,  2015

Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved introduction of Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 in coming session of Parliament. The Bureau will perform its functions through a Governing Council consisting of President and other members.

Mandatory certification regime: Empower government to bring mandatory certification regime for articles, processes or services which it considers necessary.

Simplified conformity assessment schemes: In order to allow ease of doing business, the bill allows multiple types of simplified assessment schemes. It includes Self Declaration of Conformity (SDOC) against any standard which will give multiple simplified options to manufacturers.

Mandatory hallmarking: provisions related to compulsory hallmarking of precious metal articles. Strengthening penal provisions: It will help for better and effective compliance of law and enable compounding of offences for violations.

Odhisa State Co-op Bank launches Bank on Wheels

Intervening directly  the Odisha  State  Co-operative Bank is going to launch the ‘Bank on Wheels’ to help farmers get loans on their doorstep. Twenty vans with ATM facility will move around 20 remote and tribal pockets in Keonjhar, Koraput, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts for the purpose. The Centre has provided Rs 6 crore, at the rate of Rs 30 lakh for each vehicle, to agriculture department for the scheme under Rashtriya Krishi Bikas Yojana. Anyone can withdraw money from the mobile ATMs though the scheme is meant for farmers.

‘Operation DOGA’ to secure Yoga Day Event

Foolproof security arrangements made at the venue of the International Yoga Day event on Rajpath this weekend have been dubbed ‘Operation DOGA’ – a combination of the words, dog and Yoga - in line with the magnitude of the deployment of security dogs for the purpose.  As the venue around India Gate-Rajpath will be visited by close to 40,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi this Sunday, its peripheries and core areas have already been handed over for security checks to an undisclosed number of canine troops.  The ITBP, nominated as the national ‘centre for excellence’ for sniffer and police dogs training, has put on job a special breed of Belgian Shepherd, ‘Malinois’, who gained prominence across the world after they reportedly participated in the strike of the U.S. Navy SEAL commandos on Al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden.

Beno Zephine becomes first 100% blind officer in IFS

The 25-year-old from Chennai was informed by the external affairs ministry on Friday that she has been inducted into the Indian Foreign Service, the first 100 per cent visually-challenged person to gain entry into the 69-year-old service. Former diplomats have hailed the decision to allow 100 per cent visually challenged people into the service. She was working as a probationary officer for state bank of India.

India ranked 143 out of 162 countries on 2015 Global Peace Index

As per recently released Global Peace Index (GPI) for year 2015, India was placed at 143th rank out 162 countries. The report was published by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). India’s rank has remained same compared to previous year global rankings.

Top 10 peaceful countries: Iceland (1st), Denmark (2nd), Austria (3rd), New Zealand (4th), Switzerland (5th), Finland (6th), Canada (7th), Japan (8th), Australia (9th) and Czech Republic (10th).

Top 10 least peaceful countries: North Korea (153rd), Pakistan (154th), Congo (155), Sudan (156), Somalia (157), Central Africa (158th), South Sudan (159th), Afghanistan (160th), Iraq (161st) and Syria (162nd).

India’s neighbours: Bhutan (18th), Nepal (62nd), Bangladesh (84th), Sri Lanka (114th), Pakistan (154th).

Japan passes law to lower voting age to 18 from 20 years

Japan has passed a law lower the voting age to 18 years from its current 20 years. The bill in this regard to revise the public office election law was passed by the upper house after being approved in the lower chamber. With passing of this law, 2.4 million of its population from 18 and 19-year-olds age group will extend the franchise in future elections. This move also has brought Japan in line with other developed countries in terms of voting age. Last time, Japan had lowered the voting age from 25 to 20 years in 1945 after its surrender in World War II.