10 Feb 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

UPSC Exam Preparation: 10 Feb 2018 PIB Summary & Analysis

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to enable Digital Payments in Post Offices

• IPPB will enable more than 17 crore active account-holders of Post Office Savings Bank to make interoperable digital payments including the benefit of NEFT, RTGS, UPI and bill payment services by April 2018.
• IPPB will enable acceptance of digital payments across post offices in the country in line with the digital payments initiative of the government.

India Post Payments Bank

• It is a Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts, with 100% Government of India (GOI) equity. 
• MD & CEO of India Post Payments Bank – Suresh Sethi

Payment Banks

• Nachiket Mor-led committee recommended setting up of payment banks
• The primary objective of the new entities will be to push financial inclusion.
• They can’t offer loans but can raise deposits of upto Rs. 1 lakh, and pay interest on these balances just like a savings bank account does.
• They can offer services such as automatic payments of bills, and purchases in cashless, chequeless transactions through a phone.
• They can issue debit cards and ATM cards usable on ATM networks of all banks.

National Deworming initiative 

• Deworming day is a day dedicated to deworm all the school going children of the country to give them a healthy digestive system. It is a government mission held on 10^thof February aimed to reduce the cases of worm infection among kids all over India.
• To combat the situation of worm infection in India, Indian government (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) launched the National Deworming Day (NDD) in February 2015 as part of the National Health Mission. 
• The aim of this programme is to deworm all the children from 1 to 19 years and improve their well-being.
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India is responsible for providing all States and UTs the benefits of this program.

Unani Day

• February 11, the birthday of Hakim Ajmal Khan is declared as the National Unani Day.
• The Unani System of Medicine has a long and impressive record in India. It was introduced in India by the Arabs and Persians sometime around the eleventh century.
• The Delhi Sultans (rulers) provided patronage to the scholars of Unani System and even enrolled some as state employees and court physicians.

To ace UPSC current affairs section, read more PIB articles here.