SBI orders refund of compensation for overtime during demonetization paid to employees The State Bank of India (SBI) has asked its 70,000 officers and employees of the associate banks to return the compensation paid for overtime following demonetization in 2016. The employees and officers include from State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur. An additional payment was made to the employees, officers for overtime, but now the State Bank of India management has asked all employees who have been associated with associate banks to return the money. SBI has written a letter to all its zonal headquarters and asked to withdraw the money given to the employees stating that only ‘its employees’ should be given the money for additional work, not the employees of former Associate Banks. The letter mentions that since the associate banks had not merged with the SBI during demonetization, the respo...

Kerala govt to pay medical bills of Nipah affected patients  The Kerala government on Monday announced that it would pay the medical bills of all the victims that are currently affected by the deadly Nipah Virus. Making the announcement in an all party meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “The state government will bear all the expenses of these patients who underwent treatment for Nipah.” The ruling CPM government also announced It would continue providing free food to 2,500 people in the most affected districts, Kozhikode and Malappuram. The life threatening outbreak that has claimed 16 lives already has reportedly been contained by the concerned authorities as CM Vijayan also assured of no possibility of a second outbreak. ____________ Govt appoints MK Jain as new RBI deputy governor  The government o on Monday declared Mukesh Kumar Jain as the new and fourth deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, who has formerly been the managing director and...

Govt to reward Rs 5 crore for disclosing black money The Income Tax department on Friday in order to encourage informants announced a Benami Transactions Informants Reward Scheme, 2018, under which any person, including foreigners, can inform Joint or Additional Commissioners about benami transactions and properties which can be tried under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. Under the scheme, a person can get a reward of up to Rs one crore for giving specific information to tax officials about benami transactions and properties while the same for undisclosed black money stashed abroad could fetch up to Rs 5 crore. Besides, the ‘Income Tax Informants Reward Scheme’ has also been amended under which a person can get reward up to Rs 50 lakh for giving specific information about substantial evasion of tax on income or assets in India. ____________ Major Visa network crash sparks payment chaos in UK & Europe Millions of people all across the UK and E...

I ndia continues to worsen on Press Freedom Index, placed at 138th The global watchdog of journalism, Reporters Without Borders realeased their list, the Press Freedom Index on Wednesday only to have India slip two points below its rank since last year. Dropping from 136 to 138 the report mentioned that the targeting the media through sharing of hate speeches and ‘trolls on social media’ and the rising violence, are the reasons for the low rank. While India worsened, the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden continued to maintain their ‘press friendly culture' at first and second rank, respectively. The United Kingdom and the USA also saw a decline placed at 40th and 45th, while the report went on to pose the big powers of Russia, China and the US as a ‘threat to democracy.’ ________________ PDP Leader Ghulam Nabi Patel shot dead in Jammu-Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Ghulam Nabi Patel was killed, and two policemen w...

STORY OF THE DAY Three Indian journalists allegedly killed within 12 hours (From L to R): Navin Nischal, Sandeep Sharma Three journalists hailing from states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have lost their lives, within a span of 12 hours as per reports in different sections of the media. Update: Accused arrested in hit-and-run case of MP scribe The Madhya Pradesh police, on late Monday evening nabbed the accused truck driver in the hit and run case of of journalist Sandeep Sharma and has reportedly admitted to being responsible. "He has admitted that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident. Special Investigative Team (SIT) is questioning and doing the investigation," SS Kushwaha of MP police was quoted by  ANI . The move came after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had promised that the 'no culprit will be spared' and had ordered a probe immediately. Sharma who was reportedly investigating a sand mining case was run over by a t...

STORY OF THE DAY Maharashtra Kisan Sabha March: Over 30,000 farmers protest demanding loan waiver Over 30,000 farmers from all over Maharashtra, walked from Nashik in the ‘Kisan Long March’ to Mumbai on Sunday with a series of demands, including complete loan waiver. The farmers, who have covered around 180 km on foot in six days, led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a farmer front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), are protesting against the BJP led state government, in failing to reduce agricultural distress. Perturbed by the chain of events, CM Devendra Fadnavis created a six-member committee to look after the events late night as opponents Shiv Sena and NCP vocally supported the farmers. As of now, the farmers have reached Azad Maidan after an overnight march from Somaiya ground to CST. They are expected to march to the Vidhan Bhavan at 9am today. _________________ Forest fire in Tamil Nadu: 15 people injured, 36 still trapped In a massive fire t...