Extracts from The Hindu: June 24, 2017

Centre announces 30 more Smart Cities

• 30 more cities from across the country have been added to the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission. 
• Marking the second anniversary of the launch of the Smart Cities Mission, Union Urban Development Ministery announced the new smart cities. 
• It is the third round of the scheme. 
• Now the total number of smart cities increases to 90. 

ISRO puts 31 satellites in space

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched 31 satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. 
• 29 of the satellites belong to foreign countries 
• Rocket Name: PSLV-C38 
• Rocket carried the Cartosat-2 series satellite(a remote sensing satellite), the main payload, weighing 712 kg 
• And another Indian satellite, NIUSAT, an Indian university/academic institute satellite from Noorul Islam University, Kanyakumari 
• The other 29 nano satellites belonged to 14 nations — Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the U.K., and the U.S. 

Vocab from the Article

Cater: provide with what is needed or required.
As used in the Article: “Initially it [PSLV] was designed to put satellites in sun synchronous orbit… we could establish it could *cater* to any type of orbit – Geo Synchronous, Sun Synchronous orbit or low inclination orbit, carrying multiple satellites; Everything has been established. I’m sure this will be a major attraction for foreign customers,” Mr. Jayakumar said.

Premji to get Carnegie Medal for philanthropy

• Wipro Chairman Azim Premji is among the recepients of this year’s Carnegie Medal, for his efforts to reform India’s public school system. 
• Mr. Premji is among the nine recipients recognised “for their outstanding and innovative leadership in philanthropy”. 
• Carnegie Medal is considered the most prestigious prize in philanthropy. 
• The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy was established in 2001 and is awarded every two years. 

Vocab from the Article

Synergy: the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects
As used in the Article: “The foundation’s university and field institutions work *synergistically* toward the goal of creating a more equitable and just India,” the statement said.

Lenders clear $12.8 billion sale of Essar Oil to Rosneft

• A joint lenders forum (JLF) led by State Bank of India and ICICI Bank has approved and authorised the sale of Essar Oil to Russian energy major Rosneft and a consortium of Trafigura and United Capital Partners. 

Panel to oversee progress in UN’s SDG

• The Centre will soon set up a high-level committee to oversee the country's progress towards UN’s Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending poverty, fighting inequalities and tackling climate change. 
• The Committee will be headed by Chief Statistician of India. 
• A dashboard is also being developed with technical support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to “strengthen the mechanism” for monitoring progress on these global goals 

M-banking now under ombudsman’s purview

• The Reserve Bank of India has widened the scope of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006. 
• Now, a customer can lodge a complaint against the bank for non-adherance to instructions related to mobile banking and electronic banking services. 
• Important: The RBI has increased the power of the Banking Ombudsman to pass an award from the existing Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh. 

Vocab from the Article

Pecuniary: relating to or consisting of money.
As used in the Article: The banking regulator also said that the *pecuniary* jurisdiction of the Banking Ombudsman to pass an award has been increased from the existing Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.

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