Senior citizens to get 8 per cent interest on 10-yr deposits up to Rs 7.5 lakh

In order to protect senior citizens from any decline in interest rates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said they will get a fixed 8 per cent return on 10-year bank deposits of up to Rs 7.5 lakh.

Senior citizens (60 years and above) will get monthly interest under this scheme, Modi said in his address to the nation on the eve of New Year. “We are initiating a scheme for senior citizens. Banks often reduce their deposit rates when they receive a large volume of money. This should not adversely impact senior citizens. “Under the scheme, senior citizens will receive a fixed interest rate of 8 per cent for a period of 10 years, on deposits up to Rs 7.5 lakh. The interest will be paid monthly,” Modi said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed it “great news” for senior citizens. “Great news for senior citizens – assured return on fixed deposits,” Jaitley tweeted. Currently, banks give senior citizens an additional interest of 0.50 per cent over the regular rates on fixed deposits. Country’s largest lender SBI offers 7 per cent interest rate to senior citizens on fixed deposits of 5 to 10 years tenure.

నాన్నకు ప్రేమతో.. అఖిలేశ్‌ ఉద్వేగ ప్రసంగం!

లక్నో:
తండ్రి ములాయం సింగ్‌ యాదవ్‌ తనను ఆరేళ్లపాటు సమాజ్‌వాదీ పార్టీ నుంచి బహిష్కరించిన నేపథ్యంలో యూపీ సీఎం అఖిలేశ్‌ యాదవ్‌ భావోద్వేగంగా స్పందించారు. తాను ఇప్పటికీ నాన్నతోనే ఉన్నానని ఆయన అన్నారు. ఎస్పీలో ముసలం తారాస్థాయికి చేరుకున్న నేపథ్యంలో ఆయన శనివారం తన నివాసంలో మంత్రులు, ఎమ్మెల్యేలు, ఎమ్మెల్సీలతో భేటీ అయ్యారు.

ఈ సందర్భంగా ఒకింత ఉద్వేగంగా మాట్లాడిన ఆయన.. తాను బహిష్కరణకు గురయింది పార్టీ నుంచే కానీ, కుటుంబం నుంచి కాదని ఆయన అన్నారు. రానున్న అసెంబ్లీ ఎన్నికల్లో పార్టీని గెలిపించి.. దానిని నాన్న ములాయంకు బహుమతిగా ఇద్దామని అఖిలేశ్‌ పేర్కొన్నారు. ఈ భేటీ అనంతరం తనకు అండగా నిలిచిన ఎమ్మెల్యేల జాబితాతో తండ్రి ములాయం ఆశీర్వాదం తీసుకునేందుకు ఆయన ఇంటికి అఖిలేశ్‌ బయలుదేరారు. ఎస్పీని చీల్చి సొంతంగా పార్టీ పెట్టే దిశగా అఖిలేశ్‌ సాగుతున్నట్టు తెలుస్తోంది. ఆయన ఎస్పీ నుంచే కాకుండా జాతీయ నేతల మద్దతు కూడా లభిస్తుండటం గమనార్హం. ఇప్పటికే బెంగాల్‌ సీఎం మమతాబెనర్జీ అఖిలేశ్‌ ఫోన్‌ చేసి మాట్లాడగా.. కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీ ఆయనతో పొత్తుకు సై అని సంకేతాలు ఇచ్చింది.

Modi launches mobile payment app BHIM

Modi launches mobile payment app
BHIM App Launched, PM Narendra Modi Says World Will Google For It:
New Delhi:
 In keeping with his push to steer India towards a digital economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched a new e-wallet app, BHIM, named after founding father Dr BR Ambedkar, to make it easier to transact online. The Aadhaar-based mobile payment application will allow people to make digital payments directly from their bank accounts. The PM also reiterated that digital transactions will be rewarded with raffle-like cash prizes from the government.

Rs 4,172 Crore Undisclosed Income Detected, Rs 105 Crore New Notes Seized: Report

New Delhi:
Over Rs 4,172 crore of undisclosed income has been detected while new notes worth Rs 105 crore have been seized by the Income Tax Department as part of its countrywide operations against black money hoarders after the demonetisation of two high value currencies by the government.

Official sources said the taxman carried out a total of 983 search, survey and enquiry operations under the provisions of the Income Tax Act since the note ban was declared on November 8, even as the department has issued 5,027 notices to various entities on charges of tax evasion and hawala-like dealings.

The department, they said, has seized cash and jewellery worth over Rs 549 crore during the same period even as the new currency seized (majority of them Rs 2000 notes) is valued at about Rs 105 crore.

The total cash seizure, out of the total cash and jewellery, is Rs 458 crore, they added.

"The total undisclosed income admitted or detected as part of this action, till December 28, is more than Rs 4,172 crore," they said.

The agency has also referred a total of 477 cases to other agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe other financial crimes like money laundering, disproportionate assets and corruption as part of their legal mandate.

NASA's Curiosity rover discovers purple rocks on Mars

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has captured an up-close image of the red planet's mountainous landscape, with purple-coloured rocks littered across the foreground. The image captured from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Curiosity Mars rover shows purple-hued rocks near the rover's late-2016 location on lower Mount Sharp.

The scene's middle distance includes higher layers that are future destinations for the mission. Variations in colour of the rocks hint at the diversity of their composition on lower Mount Sharp, NASA said. The purple tone of the foreground rocks has been seen in other rocks where Curiosity's Chemical and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument has detected hematite, it said.

Winds and windblown sand in this part of Curiosity's traverse and in this season tend to keep rocks relatively free of dust, which otherwise can cloak rocks' colour. The three frames combined into a mosaic were acquired by the Mastcam's right-eye camera on November 10, during the 1,516th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars.

The scene is presented with a colour adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. Sunlight on Mars is tinged by the dusty atmosphere and this adjustment helps geologists recognise colour patterns they are familiar with on Earth. The view spans about 15 compass degrees, with the left edge towards southeast. The rover's planned direction of travel from its location when the scene was recorded is generally southeastward.

The orange-looking rocks above the purplish foreground ones are in the upper portion of the Murray formation, which is the basal section of Mount Sharp, extending up to a ridge-forming layer called the Hematite Unit.

RBI seeks details of old note deposits from banks today

'The old-high denomination notes cannot form part of banks cash balances from the close of business as on Dec. 31, 2016'.

The Reserve Bank of India BI has asked banks to report details of deposits of old Rs 500/1,000 notes to it after the close of banking hours on Friday, which is the last date to accept the invalid currency.

“With the closure of the facility of exchange of SBNs (defunct notes) as at the close of business on December 30, 2016, all banks should report information on collection of SBNs on December 30, 2016, itself at e-mail,” the central bank said in a notification.

World's Highest Bridge Opens In China, Cost $144 Million

Beijing:
The world's highest bridge has opened to traffic in China, connecting two provinces in the mountainous southwest and reducing travel times by as much as three-quarters, local authorities said on Friday.

The Beipanjiang Bridge soars 565 metres (1,854 feet) above a river and connects the two mountainous provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, the Guizhou provincial transport department said in a statement on its official website.

The bridge cut travel times between Xuanwei in Yunnan to Shuicheng in Guizhou from more than four hours to around one, a truck driver surnamed Duan was quoted by the official news agency Xinhua as saying after the bridge opened Thursday.

It was "very convenient for people who want to travel between these two places", he added.

The 1,341-metre span cost over 1 billion yuan ($144 million) to build, according to local newspaper Guizhou Daily.
It overtook the Si Du River Bridge in the central province of Hubei to become the world's highest bridge, a separate statement by the provincial transport department said earlier.

Several of the world's highest bridges are in China, although the world's tallest bridge -- measured in terms of the height of its own structure, rather than the distance to the ground -- remains France's Millau viaduct at 343 metres.