National
Defence Accounts Department signed a MoU with Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank
⇒ The Defence Accounts Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank, to onboard them as Service Centres under the System for Pension Administration (Raksha) (SPARSH) initiative, across more than 14,000 branches throughout India, on 21 September 2022.
Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said that the objective is to bring 17 Lakh pensioners out of the total 32 lakh defence pensioners on SPARSH by the end of September, 2022 and the remaining pensioners will be brought to SPARSH at the earliest. He said that the average time in pension settlement has come down significantly to about 16 days.
About MoU:
- The MoU will onboard more than 7900 branches of Bank of Baroda and 6300 branches of HDFC Bank as Service Centres to provide last mile connectivity to pensioners; especially those who live in remote areas of the country and those who do not have the means or technical wherewithal to logon to SPARSH.
- For these pensioners, the Service Centers will become an interface for SPARSH and provide an effective medium for pensioners to perform profile update requests, register grievances and seek redressal, digital annual identification, pensioner data verification or also simply fetch detailed information regarding their monthly pension.
- These centres would further augment the existing network of more than 161 DAD offices and nearly 800 Service Centres provided by State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank branches, and 14 branches of the Kotak Mahindra Bank.
- More than 4.5 lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) will also assist Defence Pensioners, as part of the Common Service Centres (CSC) network. The access to these service centers would be provided free of cost to the pensioners, with nominal service charges being borne by the Department.
About SPARSH:
- SPARSH is a web-based system for processing the pension claims and crediting the pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without any external intermediary.
- It has been designed to give Defence Pensioners a transparent view of their pension account, through an online portal. The online portal captures and maintains a complete history of events and entitlements of the pensioner.
- This system is administered by the Defence Accounts Department through the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), Prayagraj and caters to all the three Services and allied organization.
NMDC Wins National Awards For Excellence In CSR And Sustainability
⇒ NMDC, the country’s largest iron ore producer, has been conferred with National Awards for Excellence in CSR and Sustainability bestowed by ET Ascent in Bengaluru on 21 September 2022.
- Company’s Director (Production) Shri Dilip Kumar Mohanty received the accolades presented to NMDC for Sustainable Income Generation and Best Overall CSR Excellence.
Key Points:
- The mining major has invested decades in enhancing the quality of life of its host communities while ensuring that the development is socio-culturally sustainable.
- NMDC’s CSR Focus Areas – Education, Health, Skill Development, Infrastructure, and Safe Drinking Water are creating value and opportunities for people in the hinterlands of India.
- Known as the Eco-Friendly Miners, NMDC’s responsible mine planning has been lauded by the Indian Bureau of Mines with a 5 Star Rating to all its complexes.
International
2022 SCO Summit
⇒ The 2022 SCO summit was the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held on 15-16 September 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Presidency:
The meeting was chaired by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. India takes over Presidency of the SCO for 2023.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan at the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan, Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev on 16 September 2022.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Discussion:
- The two leaders touched upon priority areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly trade, economic cooperation and connectivity.
- The leaders emphasized cooperation in fields like Information Technology, healthcare, higher education etc., based upon India’s developmental experience and expertise.
Key Points:
» Delhi signed off on the Samarkand declaration of the SCO summit which omitted reference to the “UN Charter” while underlining “mutual respect for sovereignty” and “territorial integrity of States”.
Samarkand declaration:
- The Samarkand declaration advocated “commitment to peaceful settlement of differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation”.
- The Member States advocate respect for the right of peoples to independently and democratically choose their political and socio-economic development.
- They stress that the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of States, equality, mutual benefit, non-interference in internal affairs, and non-use or threat of use of force are the basis for sustainable development of international relations.
- They reaffirm their commitment to peaceful settlement of differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation.
» Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital at the 2022 SCO Summit.
Death
Renowned comedian Satya Prakash Srivastav
⇒ Renowned comedian Satya Prakash Srivastav, known professionally as Raju Srivastav passed away on 21 September 2022 in New Delhi. He was 58.
In 1980s he moved to Mumbai, and started his career by doing small roles in Bollywood films.
He had a part in the Rajshri Productions movie Maine Pyar Kiya. He worked as an actor and comedian in the Bollywood movie Tezaab, Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya, Waah! Tera Kya Kehna, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, Baazigar, Bombay to Goa, and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, etc.
In March 2019, he was appointed by the Government of Uttar Pradesh as the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council. He had been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014.