Banknotes of the denomination of Rs. 2,000 will be in circulation soon.
- The Reserve Bank of India has very nearly completed preparations for introducing new high-value currency of Rs 2,000
- The notes have already been printed, and their dispatch from the currency printing press in Mysuru has commenced.
- Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited, a subsidiary of RBI prints the notes and has 4 printing press: Mysore (Karnataka), Salboni(West Bengal), Nasik (Maharashtra), Dewas (Madhya Pradesh).
- The highest denomination note printed by the RBI was the Rs. 10,000 note in 1938 and in 1954. They were demonetised in 1946 and 1978, respectively.
- There has been no official word on the introduction of new notes either from the RBI or the government hence the news is not authenticated.
- Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes together accounted for 86.4 per cent of the total value of notes in circulation.
- It costs a little over Rs. 3 to produce a Rs. 1,000 note, the lowest in terms printing costs as a proportion of value.
- As of March 2016, the value of banknotes in circulation was Rs. 16,41,500 lakh crore, an increase of 14.9 percent over the previous year.
Regional air connectivity (RCS) scheme or UDAN
- The Government kick-started the regional air connectivity scheme (RCS) in the name of "Ude Desh ka Aam nagrik" or UDAN.
- The government has invited proposals from operators to fly to airports which do not have regular flights.
- This is a plan to connect small towns by flights whose fares will be capped at Rs 2,500 for a one-hour flight
- This scheme will be funded by levying a fee on aircraft landing at bigger airports.
- For helicopters, half-an-hour ride under the scheme would cost Rs 2,500 and for over one-hour duration, the cap would be Rs 5,000.
- On each RCS route, the minimum frequency of flights would be 3 and a maximum of 7 in a week.
FinMin announces fresh tranche of gold bonds
- SGB- Sovereign Gold Bonds are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They are substitutes for holding physical gold.
- Eligible investors include individuals, HUFs, trusts, universities, charitable institutions, etc.
- Minimum investment in the Bond shall be one gram with a maximum buying limit of 500 grams per person per fiscal year (April – March).
- The Bonds bear interest at the rate of 2.75 per cent per annum on the amount of initial investment.
- Interest will be credited semi-annually (Half yearly) to the bank account of the investor.
- The price of a bond will be fixed in Indian Rupees on the basis of the previous week’s (Monday – Friday) simple average price for gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers’ Association Ltd.
- The issue price will be disseminated by the Reserve Bank of India.
- Though the tenor of the bond is 8 years, early encashment/redemption of the bond is allowed after the fifth year from the date of issue on coupon payment dates.
- The bond will be tradable on Exchanges if held in demat form.
Ashok Leyland unveils India-made e-bus
The Hinduja flagship Ashok Leyland has launched its first locally designed, engineered and produced battery electric bus series called Circuit. (Battery for these buses will be imported from the US).
HDFC raises Rs.500 crore via masala bonds
News: HDFC said it has raised Rs.500 crore through rupee-denominated bonds from overseas investors (Junk)
What are Masala Bonds? They are simply rupee-denominated bonds by Indian companies sold to overseas investors say in USA or Europe to raise money. (Remember for exam)
Duterte declares Philippines’ ‘separation from the U.S.’
- Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte
declared his separation from long-standing ally the United States - The Philippines is a South-east Asian country in the Western Pacific, comprising more than 7,000 islands
- Its capital is Manila
- The Philippine Peso is the currency of Philippines
Meeting on Mahadayi
- Mahadayi river dispute is between Goa, Maharastra and Karnataka.
- The river flows in Goa and Karnataka only, Maharashtra is simply a neighbour.
- The river originates in the Western Ghats in the Belgaum district of Karnataka
- The Mandovi flows through Goa pouring into the Arabian Sea
- The sharing of the waters of this river is a cause of dispute between the governments of Karnataka and Goa
- Karnataka government proposes to divert some water from the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha river and Goa opposes for that.
- The Mahadayi Water Tribunal has to decide on the sharing of this
BRICS meet declaration pledges to fight terror
- 8th BRICS summit Goa ended with Declaration which pledged opposition to terrorism.
- BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- They meet once a year in a summit to discuss the major issues. The summit is being held in the countries in order BRICS, i.e next summit in 2017 would be in China.
New Development Bank
- The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS nations.
- The bank's primary focus of lending will be infrastructure projects.
- President- K.V. Kamath (Former head of ICICI Bank).
- Headquarters of the bank is in Shanghai, China.
BRICS agrees to set up credit rating agency
- BRICS agreed to set up an independent rating agency.
- Why they want a separate rating agency? New Development Bank president K.V. Kamath had expressed concerns over methodologies of the three global agencies (S&P, Fitch, Moody’s) saying that these constrain growth in emerging nations.
- Rating of multilateral banks like the BRICS-promoted NDB by these global agencies were affected by the parent countries’ ratings, despite having deep capital buffers
Experts say Saraswati did exist
- An expert committee of geologists, archaeologists and hydrologists say they have found evidence of the course of the river Saraswati, a mythological river mentioned in the Rigveda.
- The seven-member committee, headed by Professor K.S. Valdiya of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR).
- The Yamuna, Sutlet and Ghagghar were all once part of the Saraswati, the shrinking of which is linked to the decline of the Harrapan civilisation.
- Saraswati originated from Adibadri in the Himalaya to culminate in the Arabian Sea through the Rann of Kutch.
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