The union cabinet has approved to restore interest subvention on short term agriculture loans to 1.5% for all financial institutions. Thus, interest subvention of 1.5% will be provided to lending institutions for the financial year 2022-23 to 2024-25 for lending short term agri-loans upto Rs 3 lakh to the farmers.

 

Increase in interest subvention will ensure sustainability of credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as ensure financial health and viability of the lending institutions especially regional rural banks & cooperative banks, ensuring adequate agriculture credit in rural economy.

 

Farmers will continue to avail short term agriculture credit at interest rate of 4% per annum while repaying the loan in time.

 

Under this scheme, short term agriculture loan upto Rs 3 lakh is available to farmers engaged in agriculture and other allied activities including animal husbandry, dairying, poultry, fisheries etc. at the rate of 7% p.a.

 

An additional 3% subvention (Prompt Repayment Incentive - PRI) is also given to the farmers for prompt and timely repayment of loans. Therefore, if a farmer repays his loan on time, he gets credit at the rate of 4% p.a. For enabling this facility to the farmers, Government of India provides Interest Subvention (IS) to the Financial Institutions offering this scheme. This support is 100% funded by the Centre, it is also the second largest scheme of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) as per budget outlay and coverage of beneficiaries.

 

This increase in interest subvention support requires additional budgetary provisions of Rs 34,856 crore for the period of 2022-23 to 2024-25 under the scheme..

Source : Business Standard

Indel Money Limited, the gold loan NBFC, has launched on its mobile app and e-portal a digital personal loan. Initially offered for its existing customers, the service will be completely digitised with faster loan disbursement experience.

 

The roll-out of the digital personal loan marks its foray into the personal loan segment. In the initial phase, it plans to leverage the existing customer base and would gradually open this space for others across varied income segments.

 

This exercise is part of Indel Money’s ongoing digital transformation drive. The company, in the recent past, had launched online gold loan facility in select markets.

 

The loan would be sanctioned based on the average transaction value in the previous 12 months. The rate of interest will be 10-20 per cent based on the individual credit score. The repayment tenure is in the bracket of 3-6 months.

 

The NBFC has launched this product across 225 branches based in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha.

 

Umesh Mohanan, Executive Director and CEO, Indel Money said, “With the launch of our digital personal loan, our near-term goal is to tap the underserved demand for immediate cash among our existing customers to help fulfil their commitments and exigencies..

Source : The Hindu Businessline

Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two day National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference 2022 in New Delhi 17th Aug 2022. The Conference is being attended by 600 officers from across the country,  physically and virtually.

 

Home Ministry has said that on the first day of the Conference, deliberations were held on various aspects of national security, including counter-terrorism, radicalisation, issues pertaining to crypto currencies, counter rogue drone technology and challenges posed by Maoist outfits.

 

During the conference, Mr Shah stressed on the importance of human intelligence towards countering terrorism, underscoring the crucial role of District Level Police officers in identifying emerging terror hotspots. The Home Minister also inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

 

This system will help in quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of centralized finger print database..

Source : News on Air

First time in India, researchers from Hyderabad have successfully 3D-printed an artificial cornea and transplanted it into a rabbit eye.

 

In the major collaborative effort, researchers from L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H), and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), have developed a 3D-printed cornea from the human donor corneal tissue.

 

Developed indigenously through government and philanthropic funding, the product is completely natural, contains no synthetic components, is free of animal residues and is safe to use in patients.

 

Dr Sayan Basu and Dr Vivek Singh, lead researchers from L V Prasad Eye Institute said, “This can be a ground-breaking and disruptive innovation in treating diseases like corneal scarring (where the cornea becomes opaque) or Keratoconus (where the cornea gradually becomes thin with time). 

 

It is a made-in-India product by an Indian clinician-scientist team and the first 3-D printed human cornea that is optically and physically suitable for transplantation. The bio-ink used to make this 3D printed cornea can be sight-saving for army personnel at the site of injury to seal the corneal perforation and prevent infection during war-related injuries or in a remote area with no tertiary eye care facility.”..

Source : Telangana Today

 

* Veer Durgadas Rathore single-handedly preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar (Jodhpur) after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh in the 17th century.

* Durgadas Rathore (13 August 1638 – 22 November 1718) was the Rathore Rajput General of the Kingdom of Marwar. He is credited with having preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar, India, following the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh in the 17th century.

* In doing so he had to defy Aurangzeb, a Mughal emperor. He commanded the Rathore forces during the Rajput War (1679–1707) and played a major role in the Rajput Rebellion (1708–1710) which became one of the main reasons for the decline of the Mughal Empire.

* He was elected as the leader of the revolt along with Raja Jai Singh II of Jaipur. He won a number of victories against the Mughals and forced many Mughal officers to pay tribute to him in the form of Chauth..

Source : The Print

Uma Pemmaraju, an Indian-American news anchor who was on the air when Fox News launched in 1996, died on Monday(8th Aug 2022). She was 64 years old at the time of death.

 

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Uma Pemmaraju, who was one of FOX News Channel’s founding anchors and was on the air the day we launched. Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person, best known for her kindness to everyone she worked with. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her entire family.”

 

Pemmaraju was one of the first Fox News anchors. She had also worked with Bloomberg and WBZ-TV. She had also received multiple Emmy awards for her reporting and investigative journalism.

 

Uma Pemmaraju Early Life and Journalism Career : Uma Devi Pemmaraju was born on March 31, 1958, in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her family then moved to the United States and she grew up in San Antonio, Texas. She graduated from Trinity University in Texas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

 

During the initial stages of her career, Pemmaraju joined KENS-TV and the San Antonio Express-News newspaper as a producer and reporter. She was also the editor of her college newspaper and joined KTVT-11 as a news anchor and correspondent.

To improve the security of passengers, the Indian Railway along with the Railway Protection Force (RPF), have launched a pan-India operation known as Operation "Yatri Suraksha". Under this initiative, several steps are taken to provide round-the-clock security to passengers.

 

Facilities like surveillance through CCTV, checking on active criminals, presence of a person at different stations, escorting the train, providing assistance to identify black spots or crime-prone trains, increasing security threats and planning strategies to reduce crime will be provided.

 

To make sure passengers are safe and secure, regular coordination will be conducted by all the stakeholders and joint action will be taken.

 

To kickstart Operation Yatri Suraksha, the RPF launched a month-long pan-India drive against criminals who loot passengers in July 2022. During the drive, the RPF caught 365 suspects who were handed over to the concerned GRPs for legal action. Of these, 322 cases were under the passenger crimes category - like stealing a passenger’s belongings, robbery, drugs, chain snatching, etc. Property theft worth INR 1 crore has been reported as a result of these cases - either as evidence of possession or during the course of the inquiry into these offences.

 

Under Sewa Hi Sankalp initiative, RPF aims to keep passengers’ security intact via drives, quick responses to queries, or by taking the help of technology and utilising its many benefits..

Source : Outlook India

Sikkim Chief Minister, P S Tamang has launched(15th Aug 2022) two welfare schemes for women - ‘Aama Yojana’ and ‘Vatsalya Yojana’.

* All unemployed mothers in the state will receive Rs 20,000 annually.

* Amount will be deposited in their bank accounts.

 

* An aid of Rs 3 lakh will be provided to childless women for in vitro fertilization treatment.

* The amount will be given in two phases (Rs 1 lakh in the first and Rs two lakh in the last phase).

Source : The Print

In a first, the Border Road Organization (BRO) will take up the construction of a pilot road stretch in Arunachal Pradesh using steel slag, which can withstand heavy rains and adverse climatic conditions. If it’s found successful, this can become a big solution for building durable roads along the strategic areas.

 

The project has been initiated after the success of using 100% steel slag on a port connectivity road in Gujarat, which has longer life and built at low cost. This 1.2 km Hazira port connectivity stretch was a research and development (R&D) project carried out by CSIR-CRRI in collaboration with a major steel manufacturer and steel ministry. 

 

The project was developed with the aim to “convert waste to wealth” and around one lakh tonne of processed steel slag aggregates have been utilized here substituting the natural aggregates, said director of CSIR-CRRI, Dr Ranjana Aggarwal.

 

 

The National Highways Authority India (NHAI) will also use the steel slag for construction of a portion on Mumbai-Goa highway and the Indian Railways has also sanctioned a major R&D project to CSIR-CRRI to explore possible utilization of steel slag aggregate as railway ballast for track construction and maintenance.

 

India is the world’s second largest steel producing country and annually around 195 lakh tonnes of steel slag is generated and this quantity is slated to increase to 600 lakh tonne by 2030..

Source : Times of India

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is organizing its first hackathon – “Bima Manthan 2022” with the theme Innovation in Insurance. The hackathon invites participants to identify and develop solutions that have the potential to make the insurance available to every individual in a seamless and swift manner with the use of technology and protecting the interests of the policyholders.

 

Bima Manthan 2022 invites technology driven innovative ideas/solutions for the following problem areas in the Insurance ecosystem:

 

* Automated Death Claim settlement using technology

 

* Tech-based solution to curtail miss-selling of Insurance products

 

* Tech enabled solution to identify uninsured motor vehicles and ensure issuance of mandatory Motor Third Party Insurance

 

* Technology based distribution of insurance products including micro insurance in “difficult terrains and less penetrable areas”

 

* Fraud mitigation/ prevention in motor insurance by using technology

 

The participants of Bima Manthan 2022 gets an opportunity to exhibit their innovative solutions before an eminent jury and win exciting prizes. Bima Manthan 2022 also provides an opportunity to the Winner for :

 

* direct entry into the IRDAI Regulatory Sandbox regime; or

 

* demo-day in front of Insurers/Intermediaries and other Stakeholders; or

 

* collaboration with Insurer(s) on the winning project/platform.

 

 

Winner : ₹ 20 Lakh

1st Runner-up : ₹ 15 Lakh

2nd Runner-up : ₹ 10 Lakh

Source : IRDAI