IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Telugus second largest Indian group on Australian campuses

News

• Telugu students are the second largest group from India on Australian university campuses, reveals an internal study by Australian education providers based on the number of visa applications.
• Punjab students make for the biggest group from the country.

Second largest group from India

• A total of 5,161 students from Telangana and 2,299 from Andhra Pradesh have applied for visas this year, according to the study. Punjab region students are said to be 12,644 while those from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh combined are 17,277.
• The actual visa issuance was around 80% of applications for Telugu students while that for Punjab students would be lesser than Telugu students.
• One reason for higher success rate of visa for Telugu students is higher IELTS scores combined with better academic track record.
• Gujarati students were perceived to be the second largest group from India after those from Punjab but Telugu students make for more than twice of Gujarat students as per the internal report shared with education consultants dealing with Australian universities.
• Figures from Uttar Pradesh are higher than that of Tamil Nadu.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Nepal, India launch Kathmandu-Siliguri bus service

News

• A bus service was launched between Kathmandu and Siliguri, the 10th bus service between Nepal and India.

Kathmandu-Siliguri bus service

• The Kathmandu-Kakarbhitta-Siliguri bus service will operate on a daily basis. India will operate buses on the route in the beginning.
• The direct bus service will not only benefit visitors of the two countries but will also help to expand trade links.
• Kathmandu-Siliguri route is an important land route between Nepal and India as it connects eastern Nepal with Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal. This will further strengthen people-to-people links between the two countries.

CVC sets up panel to probe bank fraud

News

• The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has constituted an Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF) to examine bank fraud of over ₹50 crore and recommend action.

Advisory Board for Banking Frauds

• The panel in its previous avatar was called the Advisory Board on Bank, Commercial and Financial Frauds.
• The ABBF, formed in consultation with the RBI, would function as the first level of examination of all large fraud cases before recommendations or references are made to the investigative agencies by the respective public sector banks (PSBs).
• The four-member board’s jurisdiction would be confined to those cases involving the level of officers of General Manager and above in the PSB in respect of an allegation of a fraud in a borrowal account.
• Lenders would refer all large fraud cases above ₹50 crore to the board and on receipt of its recommendation or advice, the bank concerned would take further action in such matter.
• It further said the board would also periodically carry out frauds analysis in the financial system and give inputs for policy formulation related to the fraud to the RBI.
• Headquartered in Delhi, the Reserve Bank of India will provide required secretarial services, logistic and analytical support along with the necessary funding to the board.

CSIR to certify air quality monitoring sensors

News

• The Union Environment Ministry has tasked the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Physical Laboratory (NPL) with certifying air quality monitoring instruments.
• This is in anticipation of a rising demand by States against the backdrop of the National Clean Air Campaign for low cost air quality monitoring instruments that can monitor levels of nitrous oxides, ozone and particulate matter.

Clean Air

• The Centre launched a programme to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20%-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024. An edifice of this initiative is to have a vast monitoring network of sensors that can capture the rapid fluctuations of pollutants, necessary to ascertain how these gases and particles affected health.
• Currently, Delhi leads the numbers of cities, with around 35 air quality sensors maintained by the CPCB, and those maintained by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee as well as those by institutions funded by the Union Earth Sciences Ministry.
• Over the years, several experts have noted that Delhi’s winter pollution woes, which lead it to being considered as among the most toxic cities in the world, had led to inadequate attention to rising pollution levels in other cities.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

RBI board approves transfer of ₹1.76 lakh cr. to government

News

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to transfer ₹1.76 lakh crore in dividend and surplus reserve to the government.

Transfer of excess reserves

• This follows the RBI board accepting the recommendation of a high-level panel on transfer of excess reserves to the government.
• The board of the central bank decided to transfer a sum of ₹1,76,051 crore to the Government of India, comprised of ₹1,23,414 crore of surplus for the year 2018-19 and ₹52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF).

India, Bahrain call on global community to reject use of terrorism against other countries

News

• In a veiled attack on Pakistan, India and Bahrain called on the international community to reject the use of terrorism against other countries as both sides agreed to further enhance cooperation in the field of security, counter-terrorism and the exchange of intelligence and information during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Gulf Kingdom.

Enhance cooperation

• During his two-day visit to Bahrain, the first by an Indian prime minister held bilateral meetings with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and prince and Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
• The two sides exchanged views on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest during the meetings, according to a joint statement.
• India has been pressing Pakistan to end its state policy of backing cross-border terrorism and its support to terror groups on its soil.
• India and Bahrain also discussed ways and means to further promote cooperation in cyber security, including prevention of use of cyber space for terrorism, radicalisation and for disturbing social harmony.
• The two sides agreed to further enhance cooperation in the field of security, counter-terrorism and the exchange of intelligence and information.
• The two countries agreed to focus on enhancing cooperation in energy, covering the areas of joint exploration and training of human resources. They underlined the importance of enhancing high-level political exchanges, defence and higher education cooperation, trade and economic relations and people-to-people linkages.
• The two leaders agreed to enhance cooperation to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf region, vital for the security and safety of sea lanes.
• The two countries also signed MoUs on cultural exchange programme, space technology, solar energy, the statement said.
• An MoU was also signed between BENEFIT, a Bahrain company handling ATM and POS transactions among others, and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for launch of RuPay card in the Gulf Kingdom.

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