GST returns to be filed monthly: Government

  • The GST Council has moved to change the GST returns norms, with one monthly GST return proposed.
  • The current return filing process, which must be done 3 times a month, will be scrapped.
  • The government will roll out the new mechanism in 6 months.
  • The GST Council also gave its nod to making the GST Network a government entity. Currently, 51% stake is held by private entities.
  • The GST Council is the highest decision making body in the GST regime.

PGCIL inks pact with power ministry for Rs 25,000 crore capex

  • Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) has reached an agreement with the ministry of power to incur capital expenditure of Rs. 25,000 crore for the current fiscal (2018-19).
  • The MoU was signed by Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power and I S Jha, Chairman and and Managing Director.
  • The PGCIL has 236 EHV sub-stations with a transformation capacity of more than 3,22,000 MVA.

Haryana sex ratio at birth steadily improving

  • The sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana has risen to 914 girls for 1,000 boys for the year of 2017.
  • The SRB has seen a stark improvement in recent times, especially because in 2011 the state had the country’s worst SRB, with a paltry 834 girls per 1,000 boys born.
  • In 2015, these numbers were 871 girls for every 1,000 boys born; and in 2016 they stood at 900 girls for 1,000 boys.
  • The state has witnessed a great increase during the last five years - 82 points in sex ratio at birth. In that time, nine districts have improve the SRB by 100 points or more.

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is world’s busiest international route

  • According to an annual report by UK-based firm OAG, the Singapore-to-Kuala Lumpur route is the world’s busiest international route.
  • The travel time on this route is about one hour.
  • Between March 2017 and the end of February 2018, the Singapore-KL route saw 30,537 flights. This is an average of 84 flights per day.
  • The route is covered by many budget airlines including Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, AirAsia, Scoot, Jetstar and Malindo Air.

SEBI puts a hold on HDFC Mutual Fund IPO to probe past lapses

  • SEBI has put on hold HDFC Asset Management Company’s proposed IPO “for examination of past violations.”
  • The fund house had filed its preliminary papers with the SEBI in March in order to float an initial public offering.
  • HDFC AMC operates as a joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Standard Life Investments.
  • According to the draft papers, the proposed IPO offers up to 2.54 crore equity shares, with 85.92 lakh shares by HDFC and up to 1.68 crore shares by Standard Life Investments.

SEBI extends F&O derivative trading till 11.55pm from October

  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved domestic stock exchanges to extend equity derivatives trading till 11.55pm, starting from October 1, 2018.
  • The move is aimed at attracting investors who deal in Indian products on overseas exchanges in Singapore and Dubai.
  • Currently, the timings for both the equity cash and derivatives segments are 9am to 3.30pm.

HRD Ministry launches online training programme for faculty of higher education using SWAYAM

  • The Human Resource Development Ministry has launched a huge initiative of online professional development to improve the quality of teaching in the country.
  • Using the Massive Open Online Courses platform SWAYAM, the government plans to update teaching methodologies of 1.5 million higher education faculty.
  • The focus of the method will be on new and emerging trends.

NITI Aayog to Collaborate with IBM to develop Precision Agriculture using Artificial Intelligence

  • NITI Aayog and IBM will develop a model (or a computer programme) to predict crop yield.
  • The system will make use of Artificial Intelligence (or AI) to provide real time advisory to farmers in Aspirational Districts.
  • This joint effort uses technology to provide insights to farmers to improve crop productivity and soil yield, and to control agricultural inputs with the overarching goal of improving farmers’ incomes.