 The Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new semi-closed prepaid payment instrument (PPI) which can be used for the transaction of goods and services up to a limit of Rs 10,000. The loading facility of the instrument will be linked only from a bank account. This direction has made under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. PPIs are instruments that facilitate the purchase of goods and services, including financial services, remittance facilities, etc., against the value stored on such instruments. There are currently three kinds of PPIs allowed by RBI: closed system, semi-closed and open PPIs. The PPIs may be issued as cards, wallets, and any such form/instrument which can be used to access the PPI and to use the amount therein. PPIs in the form of paper vouchers shall no longer be issued. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Dr Santosh G Honavar, India’s ophthalmologist is conferred with the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) highest award Life Achievement honour that is given to its members. He is the first Indian chosen for the honour. American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world’s largest association of eye specialists. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Private sector lender Federal Bank has tied up with online real estate platform Magicbricks for listing and e-auctioning of immovable properties repossessed by it in recovery proceedings. The move is aimed at speedy recovery of the bank’s impaired assets while helping customers get the best rate in the market for their properties. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Kotak Mahindra Bank has tied up with Pine Labs to enable debit card facility for their debit cardholders across point-of-sale terminals by Pine Labs. Banks customers can avail EMI facility with a minimum purchase of Rs 8,000 and repay over 3 months to 12 months. Its aim is to provide affordable, flexible and easy EMI options on a range of products so that bank’s customers can break their high-value purchases into affordable instalments at no extra cost. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has announced a loan of $210 million for irrigation and solar energy projects in India. The bank will lend $145 million to improve irrigation services and strengthen flood risk management in West Bengal. The irrigation project in West Bengal is co-financed by the World Bank and is expected to strengthen the management of the Damodar Valley Command Area irrigation scheme. The bank will also lend $65 million for a 250-megawatt (MW) solar project in Rajasthan. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 The American songwriter Allee Willis passed away recently. She penned the iconic “I’ll Be There For You” track for the long-running television show “Friends”. She has several other hits under her name like Earth, Wind and Fire, which was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. She won a Grammy in 1985 for her work on the soundtrack for “Beverly Hills Cop“. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 China’s brilliant storyteller, Da Chen, who created the critically acclaimed memoir “Colours of the Mountain” passed away recently. In “Colours of the Mountain” he recounted the abuses he and his family suffered during the latter years of the country’s Cultural Revolution. The book was published in seven languages. His last book which was published recently was “Girl Under a Red Moon”. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 In Jharkhand, Grand Alliance leader Hemant Soren will take oath as Chief Minister on the 29th of this month. He was formally elected the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislature party leader. He was projected as the chief ministerial candidate by the JMM, Congress and RJD Alliance that gained the majority in the recently concluded Assembly polls. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Good Governance Day is observed in India annually on the 25th of December. In this day nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna and former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honour Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government. In keeping with this principle, the Good Governance Day has been declared to be a working day for the government. Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister of India for three times. His first term was for only 13 days in 1996. He served his second term for a period of thirteen months from March 1998 to April 1999 and then a full term from 1999 to 2004. His first entry into parliament was in 1962 through the Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times. In 2015, Mr Vajpayee was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) which aims to improve groundwater management. During the launch, the strategic tunnel under Rohtang Pass was renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The 8.8 km long tunnel is the world’s longest tunnel above an altitude of 3,000 metres. |
| Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) has been designed with the principal objective of strengthening the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management. It aims to bring behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in seven States. The 7 states includes Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme will promote panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with primary focus on demand side management. The Government has outlaid Rs. 6000 crore for the scheme. Out of the total outlay of Rs. 6000 crore to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25), 50% shall be in the form of World Bank loan, and to be repaid by the Central Government. The remaining 50% shall be through Central Assistance from regular budgetary support. The entire World Bank’s loan component and Central Assistance will be passed on to the States as Grants. |
| Source: The Press Information Bureau |
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