Daily GK Update [15 June]

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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

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.