Now customers can avail better services than before through online banking. For this, banks are also introducing chatbots powered by artificial intelligence.
If you have an account in a bank, then this news is important for you. Let us tell you that from April 1, 2025, many rules related to banking are going to change across the country. This will clearly affect your savings account, credit card and ATM transactions. If you know about these changes in advance, then you can avoid losses.
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There will be a change in the rules of the bank
The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to increase the ATM interchange fee, due to which any withdrawal or balance check from an ATM outside the home bank network will cost you a little more than before. Earlier you had to pay Rs 17 while withdrawing money from an ATM, but now it has become Rs 19. On the other hand, earlier you had to pay Rs 6 for checking balance from a bank’s ATM, now it has been increased to Rs 7.
Digital Banking
Banks are constantly adding new features to promote digital banking. But now customers can avail better services than before through online banking. For this, banks are also introducing chatbots powered by artificial intelligence. To make digital transactions safe, security like two-factor authentication and biometric verification will be introduced.
Minimum Balance Rules
Let us tell you that the rules related to minimum balance of many banks like SBI, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank have been changed. This balance depends on whether your account is in urban, semi-urban or rural area. At the same time, you may have to pay a penalty for keeping a balance less than the fixed amount.
Changes in interest rates
Many banks are now changing the interest rates on savings accounts and FDs. Now the interest on savings accounts will depend on the account balance. That is, the more the balance, the better the return.
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There is good news for mobile users, as BSNL is ready to launch mobile 5G network. In such a situation, calling and internet data will be made available to the users at a cheaper rate.
The launch of BSNL 5G can give a big blow to private telecom companies, because BSNL has already announced that it will offer 5G network at the cheapest rate. If the senior officer of BSNL is to be believed, then the government telecom company is going to roll out 5G network in the remaining selected cities of the country after Delhi.
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BSNL 5G network will be available in selected cities
BSNL CMD Robert J Ravi said that the company is going to launch its 5G network in Delhi through Network-as-a-Service (NaaS). He said that BSNL is planning to expand it rapidly. Robert J Ravi said that in which cities should BSNL 5G network be launched first? Consideration is being made about this. In such a situation, the company can start 5G in selected cities as soon as possible in the next few months.
5G network reaches 84 percent of the area
BSNL is planning to start 5G service along with 4G on its network, so that the users’ inclination towards private telecom companies can be reduced. If we talk about private companies, then currently 5G network is being offered by Jio and Airtel in India. By the way, 5G service of both is completely free. However, charges can be given in the coming days. If the Union Minister is to be believed, 5G network has reached about 84 percent of the country’s area. In such a situation, if 5G network is rolled out by BSNL, then soon 5G network will reach 100 percent of India.
5G network rollout program will be completed soon
Last year, BSNL ran a pilot program for 5G service based on the indigenous NaaS model in Delhi. A consortium led by Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is setting up 1 lakh sites for BSNL’s commercial 4G service. Along with BSNL, Vodafone-Idea is also rolling out 5G networks. In such a situation, 5G service will be fully rolled out in India soon.
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Pensionable Age Cut: The government has assured that the payment of additional pension is made automatically through banks and pension distribution agencies. Instructions are also issued from time to time to avoid any delay or disturbance in this.
There has been a long standing demand to reduce the existing age limit for additional pension to retired central employees. However, the government has once again clarified its stand on this matter. The central government said that there is no plan to reduce the minimum age eligibility for additional pension to retired central employees.
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There is no approval for reducing the minimum age limit for additional pension The central government has made it clear that the minimum age for additional pension will remain 80 years. In response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha, the government said that there was a proposal to increase this limit to 65 years, but it has not been approved.
An MP asked whether the government was considering reducing the age limit to 65 years as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Pensioners’ Grievances and, if so, sought details about it.
In response to this question, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in the Lok Sabha that on the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission, the government has approved 20% additional pension at the age of 80 years, 30% at the age of 85 years, 40% at the age of 90 years, 50% at the age of 95 years and 100% at the age of 100 years.
He said that as age increases, especially health-related needs also increase, so provision for additional pension has been made. But there is no plan to reduce the minimum age eligibility for additional pension.
Will the rules on additional pension age change for central government employees? The Parliamentary Standing Committee had recommended giving additional pension from the age of 65 in 2021. The government considered it and also submitted its report in 2022. After this, the committee decided not to pursue the issue further. That is, at present the government has no plans to reduce the minimum age eligibility.
How are central government pensioners paid?
The government has assured that the payment of additional pension is done automatically through banks and pension distribution agencies. Instructions are also issued from time to time to avoid any delay or disturbance in this.
How will the impact of rising inflation on pension be reduced?
Dearness Relief (DR) is given to pensioners, which applies to both their basic pension and additional pension. Its rate is the same as that of Dearness Allowance (DA).
Possibility of change in pensionable age in future?
At present, the government does not intend to make any changes in this rule. But in view of the rising inflation and cost of living, the government will keep an eye on this issue. It is clear from this decision of the government that one should not expect to get additional pension before the age of 80 years. At present, Dearness Allowance is the only support for retired central employees, through which they can get some relief.
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UN experts feel many glaciers will not survive this century if melting continues. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash
Glaciers in many regions will not survive the 21st century if they keep melting at the current rate, potentially jeopardising hundreds of millions of people living downstream, UN climate experts said on the first World Day for Glaciers.
Together with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers lock up about 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves. They are striking indicators of climate change as they typically remain about the same size in a stable climate.
But, with rising temperatures and global warming triggered by human-induced climate change, they are melting at unprecedented speed, said Sulagna Mishra, a scientific officer at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Livelihoods at risk
Last year, glaciers in Scandinavia, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and North Asia experienced the largest annual loss of overall mass on record. Glaciologists determine the state of a glacier by measuring how much snow falls on it and how much melt occurs every year, according to UN partner the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) at the University of Zurich.
In the 500-mile-long Hindu Kush mountain range, located in the western Himalayas and stretching from Afghanistan to Pakistan, the livelihoods of more than 120 million farmers are under threat from glacial loss, Mishra explained.
The mountain range has been dubbed the “third pole” because of the extraordinary water resources it holds, she noted.
‘Irreversible’ retreat
Despite these vast freshwater reserves, it may already be too late to save them for future generations.
Large masses of perennial ice are disappearing quickly, with five out of the past six years seeing the most rapid glacier retreat on record, according to WMO.
The period from 2022 to 2024 also experienced the largest-ever three-year loss.
“We are seeing an unprecedented change in the glaciers,” which in many cases may be irreversible, said Mishra.
Ice Melt
WGMS estimates that glaciers, which do not include the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, have lost more than 9,000 billion tonnes of mass since 1975.
“This is equivalent to a huge ice block of the size of Germany with a thickness of 25 metres,” said WGMS director Michael Zemp. The world has lost 273 billion tonnes of ice on average every year since 2000, he added, highlighting the findings of a new international study into glacier mass change.
“To put that into context, 273 billion tonnes of ice lost every year corresponds about to the water intake of the entire [world] population for 30 years,” Zemp said. In central Europe, almost 40 per cent of the remaining ice has melted. If this continues at the current rate, “glaciers will not survive this century in the Alps.”
Echoing those concerns, WMO’s Mishra added that if emissions of warming greenhouse gases are not slowed “and the temperatures are rising at the rate they are at the moment, by the end of 2100, we are going to lose 80 per cent of the small glaciers” across Europe, East Africa, Indonesia and elsewhere.
Large Floods
Glacial melt has immediate, large-scale repercussions for the economy, ecosystems and communities.
The latest data indicates that 25 to 30 per cent of sea level rise comes from glacier melt, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service.
Melting snowcaps are causing sea levels to rise about one millimetre higher every year, a figure that might seem insignificant, yet every millimetre will flood another 200,000 to 300,000 persons every year.
Floods can affect people’s livelihoods and compel them to emigrate from one place to another, WMO’s Mishra continued.
“When you ask me how many people are actually impacted, it’s really everyone,” she stressed.
From a multilateral perspective, “it is really high time that we create awareness, and we change our policies and…we mobilise resources to make sure that we have good, policy frameworks in place, we have good research in place that can help us to mitigate and also adapt to these new changes,” Mishra insisted.
World’s Glaciers
Providing added momentum to this campaign, the World Day for Glaciers on 21 March aims to raise awareness about the critical role that these massive frozen rivers of snow and ice play in the climate system. It coincides with World Water Day.
To mark the occasion, which is one of the highlights of the 2025 International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, global leaders, policymakers, scientists and civil society representatives are due to gather at UN Headquarters in New York to highlight the importance of glaciers and to boost worldwide monitoring of the cryospheric processes of freezing and melting that affect them.
WGMS’s Zemp, who also teaches glaciology at the University of Zurich, is already preparing for a world without glaciers.
“If I think of my children, I am living in a world with maybe no glaciers. That’s actually quite alarming,” he told UN News.
“I really recommend going with your children there and having a look at it because you can see the dramatic changes that are going on, and you will also realise that we are putting a big burden on our next generation.”
Glacier Of Year
This year’s Glacier of the Year 2025 is South Cascade Glacier in the US state of Washington.
The body of ice, which has been continuously monitored since 1952, provides one of the longest uninterrupted records of glaciological mass balance in the western hemisphere.
“South Cascade Glacier exemplifies both the beauty of glaciers and the long-term commitment of dedicated scientists and volunteers who have collected direct field data to quantify glacier mass change for more than six decades,” said Caitlyn Florentine, from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Honorarium Hike: A big decision has been taken in the High Court in the interest of the employees. Actually, now once again the honorarium of the employees will be increased.
Instructions have been given to take a decision within a month regarding the honorarium hike. The process can be started soon after the instructions given by the High Court. The court has ordered the Principal Secretary of Basic Education to submit an affidavit to comply with the order within a month.
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In an important decision, Allahabad High Court has given one month’s time to Uttar Pradesh government to increase the honorarium of Shiksha Mitra. They will have to take a decision on the honorarium increase within 1 month. For this, orders have been given to submit a report of compliance of the order within one month. The registrar has been instructed to send a copy of the order to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh within 24 hours.
Equal pay for equal work
In such a situation, it is believed that a decision to increase the honorarium of Shiksha Mitra may come soon. In Uttar Pradesh, Shiksha Mitra had filed a petition in the High Court demanding equal pay in 2023. They said that equal pay should be given for equal work. The High Court had earlier ordered the state government to form a committee considering the salary of Shiksha Mitra as the minimum.
Instructions to the government to take decision within 1 month
Along with this, they have to be provided with respectable honorarium but no concrete initiative was taken by the state government on this issue. After which a contempt petition was filed in the High Court. Now the hearing of this case was going on in the court of Justice Salim Kumar Rai and while hearing the contempt petition, the High Court has directed the state government to take a decision within 1 month.
Hike in honorarium of Shiksha Mitra
On Monday, the government lawyer told the court that departmental deliberations are still going on and it may take some more time to take a decision on this. After which, the state government has been given an additional month’s time and the next hearing date has been fixed as May 1. With the order to take a decision within one month, it is believed that the honorarium of Shiksha Mitra of Uttar Pradesh will increase soon. Along with this, a big increase will be recorded in their salary.
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If you use UPI apps like Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm, then there is an important update for you. A new rule will come into effect from April 1, 2025, under which mobile numbers linked to bank accounts, which are not active for a long time, will be removed from the UPI system.
This change will affect those users who have an old or closed number linked to their bank account. If you too have linked an old or closed number to the bank, then you may face problems in doing UPI transactions.
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Why was this decision taken?
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has taken this step to prevent cyber fraud and technical glitches. Many times, after a mobile number is closed, telecom companies allot it to another user. In such a situation, the risk of fraud on bank accounts linked to the old number increases. For this reason, NPCI has instructed banks and UPI apps to identify inactive mobile numbers every week and remove them from their system.
There may be a problem in UPI payment
For UPI transactions, it is necessary for your mobile number to be linked to your bank account. If your number has been switched off for a long time or has not been updated after getting a new SIM, then after April 1, you may face failure in UPI payment.
How to avoid this problem?
If you want your UPI payments to continue without any interruption, then you need to follow these important steps:
Check the mobile number linked to your bank account. If the number is closed or old, update it immediately.
Contact your telecom provider (Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL) and confirm that the number is still registered in your name.
If your number has been closed and has been allotted to someone else, then go to the bank and get a new number linked.
Go to UPI app (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm) and update your number and bank details.
NPCI will update the data every week
NPCI has instructed all banks and UPI apps to update the list of inactive numbers every week. This means that if your number is not active for a long time, it can be automatically removed from the bank’s records. So always keep your number active and updated.
Is your number active for UPI or not? Check this way
Log in to your bank’s netbanking or mobile banking app and look for the registered mobile number.
Go to Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm and verify the number linked there.
If the number is closed, then immediately complete the process of linking a new number.
DA Arrear Payment: The central government increases the Dearness Allowance every year in January and July. But in 2020, due to the Covid pandemic, the government stopped the DA hike for 18 months.
During this period, the employees were supposed to get DA in three installments, which is still pending.
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Central government employees and pensioners have been demanding for a long time to pay the Dearness Allowance (DA) which was stopped during Covid-19. The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers has once again raised the issue of long pending demands of central government employees and pensioners.
According to a circular issued by the Confederation, one of their various demands is to pay the arrears of Dearness Allowance (DA) withheld during the Covid pandemic. This DA arrears is from January 2020 to June 2021.
In this circular, the government has been asked to resolve many other issues including the pending DA issue as soon as possible. Let us tell you that in the circular issued on 7 March 2025, the Confederation said that due to the lack of attention of the central government, their legitimate demands have not been met yet. Employee organizations have been agitating for their demands for a long time.
What are the special demands of the Federation?
The organization’s charter of demands includes several demands, such as:
Demand for appointment of committee members including chairman under 8th Pay Commission.
The New Pension Scheme (NPS) should be abolished and the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) should be restored.
The three DA installments withheld during the Covid pandemic should be paid.
The amount deducted from the pension of employees and pensioners should be restored in 12 years (currently this period is 15 years).
The 5% limit on providing jobs on compassionate grounds should be abolished and all eligible applicants should be given appointment.
The vacant posts in all departments should be filled immediately and outsourcing and privatization in government departments should be stopped.
Employees’ organizations should be allowed to work democratically.
Know what is the issue related to DA arrears?
The central government increases the Dearness Allowance every year in January and July. But in 2020, due to the Covid pandemic, the government stopped the DA hike for 18 months. During this period, the employees were to get DA in three installments, which is still pending. The Federation says that the government should pay these pending arrears as it is the right of the employees and pensioners. But the government has not yet accepted their demand.
Will the government pay the DA arrears?
The government has made it clear on several occasions that it will not pay the DA arrears. The government’s argument on this is that it is not financially possible to do so. However, the Federation said in its circular that the employees will continue to raise their demands.
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Indian Railways is constantly setting new records and is busy integrating passenger facilities with modern technology. The country warmly welcomed the ‘Vande Bharat’ train. But now another big change is coming. A new chapter of railways is going to start in the form of bullet train, through which passengers will be able to reach their destination in less time.
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Bullet Train Route and Preparation
National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSC) has released the route chart under the Howrah-Varanasi Bullet Train project. There is a plan to build an elevated track for this high-speed train service, for which ground survey has also started. It is being told that this bullet train will pass through 28 villages of Bihar and connect major cities of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
Speed and major station information
This bullet train will run at a speed of about 350 kmph, due to which the journey from Varanasi to Howrah can be completed in less than two hours. The places through which the train will pass on this route include Dhol Bigha, Tira, Bowri, Norma, Sukyama, Kairoa, Ginji, Sisra, Sharma, Damri, Nandana, Damoa, Bharthu, Samarband, Korman, Shahpur, Bandhuganj, Gandhar, Peuta, Kis Rampur, Mohammadpur, Gandhar, Peuta, Kis Rampur, Mohammadpur, B. and Shadipur.
New speed for Eastern India
This bullet train will connect the major cities of Eastern India, Varanasi, Buxar, Patna, Gaya, Dhanbad and Kolkata. A total of five stations are proposed in Bihar under this project. This total 760 km long route will be constructed in two phases. In the first phase, it will be built from Varanasi to Howrah, after which it will be connected to Delhi.
Passengers waiting for the new facility
will be able to experience convenient and fast travel with this ambitious plan of Indian Railways. There is a lot of curiosity among the common people about this train and everyone is eagerly waiting to see its first glimpse.
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Sunita Williams and other astronauts returning to Earth. Photo Courtesy: NASA HQ Photo X page
The White House on Wednesday said US President Donald Trump kept the ‘promise’ of ensuring the return of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth after remaining stuck in space for nine months.
In its X post, the White House shared the footage of the moment when SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida, bringing back the two astronauts who stayed in space for 286 days, and ending all anxieties over their return.
The White House wrote: “PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months.”
“Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!” the X post said.
Williams, Wilmore return home
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore arrived on Earth on Wednesday after staying nine months in space.
Bringing the astronauts back to Earth, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 completed the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America.
“NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth at 5:57 p.m. EDT,” read a statement issued by NASA.
The capsule made a fiery entry through the Earth’s atmosphere and then four parachutes opened when the four returning astronauts splashdown off the coast of Florida.
Making an interesting visual, a pod of dolphins circled the aircraft after the capsule hit the water. The recovery ships soon took the astronauts away after their safe landing.
The astronauts will now undergo a long recovery process.
286 days in space
Williams and Wilmore travelled 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth.
Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in the International Space Station since June last year after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues.
It was deemed unfit for flying them back to Earth.
Crew-9 mission
The Crew-9 mission was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. It also previously supported NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4, Axiom Mission 2, and Axiom Mission 3. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where teams will inspect the Dragon, analyze data on its performance, and begin processing for its next flight.
The Crew-9 flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and its return to Earth follows on the heels of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch, which docked to the station on March 16, beginning another long-duration science expedition.
Elon Musk’s claim
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has claimed his SpaceX had approached former US President Joe Biden-led government to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from space but the offer was rejected due to ‘political reasons’.
Speaking to Fox News, Elon Musk, who is part of President Donald Trump’s DOGE team, said: “We definitely offered to return the astronauts earlier. There is no question about that. The astronauts were only supposed to be there for eight days and they have been there for almost 10 months.”
If you have a bank account or you use UPI, then it is very important for you to read this news. Because from next month the bank is going to make an important change.
Actually, from April 1, the bank is closing the accounts of those users linked to UPI apps like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm whose mobile number has been inactive for a long time.
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Because of this, banks are taking this decision
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has directed banks and these apps to remove such numbers by March 31. The purpose of this change is to solve the problems caused by inactive or recycled mobile numbers. Inactive or recycled mobile numbers cause problems in transactions.
Let us tell you that if a number is not used for voice calls, SMS or data for 90 days, then it becomes inactive. Such numbers are again given to new users. In such a situation, when these numbers are linked to your bank and other financial services, then it can cause problems.
After April 1, such bank accounts will be deleted every week
Mobile number is necessary for any payment. If there is any problem with your number, the transaction may fail. Many users link multiple numbers to their bank accounts or UPI apps. If any of these numbers remains inactive for months, it will be deleted.
To prevent transaction-related issues, NPCI has mandated that banks and UPI apps update the list of deleted numbers every week. Any inactive or recycled number after April 1 will be removed from the bank’s system immediately. If you want to keep your bank account or UPI ID active, recharge it immediately.
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