- This survey will also provide scientifically validated data on various issues of the elderly. The study will provide valuable data on their health needs, and issues faced by them given the changing social structures, and help us to draw policy tools to address their issues.
- The LASI study will provide guidance to move forward in designing schemes for the elderly. He also informed about the Health Protection Scheme announced in the recent Budget, which has a special component of Rs 30000 for the elderly in the family.
Indian Railways Launched Online ‘Clean My Coach’ Sendee
- Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, launched an online ‘Clean My Coach’ service on March 11, 2016 that allows travellers to get their compartments cleaned by sending an SMS or by using an app or a designated website.
- As per the scheme, for any cleaning requirement in the coach, passengers have to send an SMS on a mobile number 58888. Alternatively, passengers can use the android app or Web page www.cleanmycoach.com for logging the request.
- Once passenger is satisfied with the cleaning work, will disclose the code received during acknowledgement OBHS staff who will send it through SMS to close the complaint. The service was announced by the Railway Minister in his 2016-17 Rail Budget speech.
RBI Signed MoU on ‘Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information’
- The Reserve Bank of India 1 RBI) signed a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the Bank of Israel on March 8, 2016.
- The RBI has entered into Memorandum of Understandings (MoU), Letter for Supervisory Cooperatipn and Statement of Cooperation with supervisors of a few countries to promote greater cooperation and share supervisory information.
- With this, the RBI has signed 32 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Cooperation and one Statement of Cooperation. With this MoU, the RBI is ready for exchange of information pertaining to banking supervision with ‘ bank of Israel.
Railways Formed SPV to Execute Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project
- Indian Railways have formed a new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Co implement the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Bullet Train project on March 7, 2016 in the name of National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited.
- The bullet train is expected to cover the 508 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in about two hours, running at a maximum speed of 350 km/h and operating speed of 320 km/h. Estimated to cost about Rs 97636 crore, 81% of the funding for the project would come by way of a loan from Japan.
- Maharashtra and Gujarat are expected to participate in the equity for the SPV, while the Railways will have 50%. The balance would be contributed by the State governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Banking
ICICI Bank Launched India’s First Contactless Mobile Payment Solution
- ICICI Bank unveiled contactless mobile payment solution on March 15, 2016 to enable its credit and debit customers make in-store contactless payments by just waving their smartphones near an NFC-enabled merchant terminal.
- The mobile payment solution available in the Bank’s ‘Pockets’ app, provides improved convenience of ‘Touch & Pay’ as customers are no longer required to carry physical card or cash to pay in stores.
- ICICI Bank is the first financial institution in the country to leverage the Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology to bring forth this solution. The HCE technology creates ‘virtual’ cards for physical’ credit or debit cards (Visa/MasterCard) of the Bank, as selected by the customer.
- The virtual card resides in the Bank’s secure cloud server. Using the virtual cards, an ICICI Bank customer can initiate electronic payments from NFC enabled smartphones. While the virtual card bears a different card number, the credit limit and expiry date remains same as the original physical card.
ICICI Bank Announced to Let Women Employees Work from Home for One Year
- The ICICI Bank has announced on March 7 & 8, 2016 some initiatives to aid women managers. One of the initiative is women managers with children up to 3 years where the bank will foot the travel and slay cost of their children and the caregivers.
- The hank also announced the ‘iWorkahome’ initiative on the eve of International Women’s Day, where women employees will now be allowed to work from home for a year, which can be extended. The programme has a three-level security protocol which ensures that only the concerned employee is able to access
