List of Brand Ambassador 2017

Brand Ambassadors Name	Brand Name	Remarks
Amitabh Bachchan	City Compost Campaign	‘Swachh Bharat Mission’
Narendra Modi	Incredible India
PV Sindhu	Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
John Abraham	Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Ambassador	To promote tourism in Arunachal Pradesh
Nawazuddin Siddiqui	UP farmer’s scheme Samajwadi Kisan Beema Yojna	The scheme provides for cashless treatment up to Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs one Lakh for the organ transplant

Prepaid Wallet (Study Notes)

Articles

'Wallet' which people carry to keep their cash or cards safely during travel or journey. But, now a days it seems to be a forgotten phenomenon as 'Virtual Wallet/e-wallet' is trending out. These virtual wallets are not carried physically but they are in our smartphones. They work as same as normal wallet. Hence, when one require to pay at any point of time one can. 

As the name suggests 'Pre-paid' means the user needs to transfer the money virtually to the wallet from his bank account. The prepaids Instruments can be issued as Mobile Wallet, Internet Wallet, Prepaid cards, smart card, paper cards and few more. Prepaid payment Instruments are defined in the guidelines issued under the Payment and Settlement System Act, 2005.

Classification of Prepaid Payments Instruments in India

• Closed System Payment Instrument 
• Semi-closed System Payment Instrument 
• Open System Payment Instrument 

1. Closed System Payment Instrument: 

These are issued by any entity to by product from it only. Ex- online shopping website(Myntra, Flipkart etc) or Travel portal bonus point or cash backs. Cash withdrawal or redemption is not possible in these Payment Instruments. Hence, RBI approval is not required to issue these Payments Instruments.

2. Semi-closed System Payment Instrument: 

These Payment Instruments can be used for purchase of goods and services at a group of clearly identified merchants/locations/places which have a specific contract with the issuer to accept the Payment Instrument. These Instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder.

• One can send money to other account. 
• They can be recharged or topped up. 
• Money stored in Wallet is actually in the companies account.Example: Paytm, Airtel money, Vodafone mPaisa, Mobikwik etc. 

3. Open System Payment Instrument: 

These Payment system can be used for purchase of goods and services including financial services like fund transfer at any card accepting merchant location( Point of sale terminal) and also permits cash withdrawal at ATM.

• These can be or sometimes can't be recharged or Topped up. 
• Only Banks can issue these Instruments. 
• Cash withdrawal permitted. Example: MasterCard, Rupay(Indian one), Visa etc. 

Who can be an issuer of these Prepaid payment Wallet Instruments?

• Only those companies incorporated in India with minimum paid up capital of 5cr. And positive Net worth of 1 cr. 
• Banks who comply with eligibility criteria of RBI are permitted to issue all kinds of PPIs. However, those banks which are permitted for mobile banking can only issue mobile based Instruments. 
• Non Banking Financial companies (NBFCs) are permitted to issue only semi-closed Payment Instrument. 

Important Books and Authors

1. A Kingdom for his Love
   • Authored by: Vani Mahesh and Shinie Antony
   • Trivia: Published by Amar Chitra Katha, it retells the play ‘Swapnavasavadattam’ by Bhasa.
2. Nathuram Godse – The Story of an Assassin
   • Authored by: Anup Ashok Sardesai
   • Trivia: Released on 30th January, the book narrates the story o Nathuram Godse and the reasons behind him turning into an assasin.
3. The Z Factor- My Journey as the Right Man at the Wrong Time
   • Authored By: Dr. Subhash Chandra
   • Trivia: The autobiography of the promoter of Essel/ Zee Group Subhash Chandra was released by Narendra Modi

New Appointment 2017

Name	Post
Frank Walter Steinmeier	President of Germany
Hassan Ali Khaire	Prime minister Somalia
Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo	President of Somalia
Hassan Saleh	Prime minister of Sudan
Ilir Meta	President of Albania
Socialist Lenin Moreno	President of Ecuador

GST BILL (Detailed Description)

India is notorious for its complex tax system. For new businesses and startups, it becomes impossible to navigate through various direct and indirect taxes. Constant changes to taxes like Service Tax are making things even worst. But now, the things are set to change with new Goods and service tax – commonly known as GST.

Internet of Things (Article for a Transform India)

Imagine a factory machine that predicts when it requires maintenance – then automatically orders the parts needed to fix itself, or a piece of equipment that can manage its own energy consumption. These are just the tip of the iceberg of exciting opportunities promised by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).