EC suspends Aadhaar linkage initiative – (Governance)
· Following the Supreme Court’s August 11 orders on Aadhaar, the Election Commission of India issued notices on Thursday suspending “with immediate effect till further orders” all activities to collect and feed Aadhar numbers of voters as part of its National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme. It has also duly withdrawn all publicity activities to collect Aadhaar numbers of citizens for seeding in the electoral database.
Mixed reaction to Modi’s Red Fort address – (Indian polity)
· Start-up, Stand Up India – A campaign to promote entrepreneurship among the under-privileged.
· Quick loan disbursement to aid new ventures.
· Start-Up movement could change the economic landscape.
· New Identity – Ministry of Agriculture is now Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
· Power House – A house and access to basic services like electricity for all by 2022.
Scientific ambitions behind DNA Profiling Bill – (Science and Technology)
· This week, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) uploaded a slightly modified draft of the Human DNA Profiling Bill on its website, opening up the controversial Bill, now tabled in Parliament, for public scrutiny.
· Govt. may use DNA samples to profile people on the basis of caste.
Rupee likely to remain weak despite better economic indicators – (Economics)
· Lot of factors have contributed to the recent fall of the rupee against the dollar. The major reason has been the concerns about an imminent interest rate hike by the U.S. Fed after almost a decade which led the dollar index mounting to a high.
Ethical practices and good corporate governance can boost GDP – (Economics)
· Good ethical practices and corporate governance norms followed by the companies can boost the gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.5-2 per cent much like the potential spinoff benefits of the goods and services tax (GST), a statement of Assocham quoting Union Power Minister, PiyushGoyal said.
· The Centre is looking at extending financial restructuring plan (FRP) for the State Power Distribution Companies as previous FRP schemes have actually not changed the situation on the ground and failed to bring about any significant improvements.
What constitutes Net Neutrality? – (science and Technology)
· In Net Neutrality, differentiation is fine, discrimination is not. You can differentiate based on what kind of content it is, but if you discriminate based on who the content is for that is not fine.
· “Internet service providers or telecom firms should not provide competitive advantage to certain individual apps or services based on either quality of service or pricing. That is what net neutrality is.”
Naga peace deal only a framework: Rijiju – (Security)
· The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) has withdrawn its demand of sovereignty and now wants “a solution within the Constitution of India”, Minister of State for Home Affairs KirenRijiju said on Saturday, days after the Naga “peace accord” was signed at a much-publicised ceremony here. The accord became possible because Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a “big lead”, Mr. Rijiju said, even as he acknowledged that the northeastern states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh were not consulted as the “final solution has not been arrived yet”.
Start-up, stand up’ campaign is Modi’s new route to push growth – (Economics)
· In his second Independence Day address as Prime Minister here on Saturday, Narendra Modi acknowledged that whether it was the goal of ending corruption or electrifying 18,500 more villages in 1,000 days, nothing could be done without the efforts of “Team India”, the 1.25-billion people of the country.
· Demonstrating his felicity for coining catchy titles for government campaigns, the Prime Minister announced the “Start-up India, Stand up India” scheme aimed at promoting entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid.