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Wednesday, 19 November 2014

News Roundup - 19 November 2014

  1. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad re-launched the Kisan Vikas Patra investment scheme on Tuesday to tap household savings for funding infrastructure development in the country and to lure them away from ponzi schemes. The savings instrument will be available in the denomination of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5,000, Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 50,000. There will be no upper ceiling on investments. No tax benefits would be available on these investments. Banks will accept these certificates as pledged security for loans. To begin with, the certificates will be available only at post offices. Later, designated branches of nationalised banks will also sell them. The certificates will carry a lock-in period of 2 years and 6 months after which they will become encashable on pre-determined maturity value. Investments made in the certificate will double in 8 years 4 months.
  2. The world’s first zero-gravity 3D printer has been installed by NASA on the International Space Station (ISS), which will help astronauts to experiment with additive manufacturing in microgravity. NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore installed the 3D printer, designed and built by Made In Space for NASA, inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) aboard the ISS.
  3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gifted to his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott Australian lawyer John Lang’s 1854 petition against the East India Company on behalf of Rani Lakshmibai.
  4. Legendary Japanese actor Ken Takakura, a craggy-faced, quiet star known for playing outlaws and stoic heroes in scores of Japanese films, has died of lymphoma.
  5. The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has decided to cancel barytes mining leases issued in Mangampeta, Kadapa district in 2004 and institute an inquiry into their allotment. Fresh leases will be allotted by floating global tenders.
  6. Mankind’s first-ever probe of a comet found traces of organic molecules and a surface much harder than imagined, scientists said on Tuesday of initial sample data from robot lab Philae.
  7. Neha Gupta (18), an Indian-American from Philadelphia, has won the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize for her work to help orphans in India and other vulnerable children. She became the first ever American to be awarded the prize in The Hague, Netherlands. Last year, the winner was Malala Yousufzai, who went on to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Ms. Gupta was awarded the prize on Tuesday by Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu at a ceremony in The Hague. The prize is awarded annually to a child, anywhere in the world, for his or her dedication to children’s rights. 
  8. The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, ruled in favour of the Indian unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc in a multi-million dollar tax dispute, the latest verdict against the tax department, which has been vigorously pursing claims against foreign firms in India.
  9. Infosys co-founders Kris Gopalakrishnan and S. D. Shibulal have joined hands once again to set up business incubator Axilor Ventures to nurture entrepreneurs and early-stage companies.


Credits: The Hindu, Google.



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