India’s Dinesh Sharma elected to board of directors of China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

India’s Dinesh Sharma has been elected to the board of directors of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He has been elected to the 12 member board through a secret ballot. This is the first board of directors of AIIB in which 57 nations are founding members including India. The inaugural meeting of the board of the governors of the AIIB also held in Beijing after its formal launch. The meeting approved by-laws, rules and codes of conduct for the bank. It should be noted that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is the designated governor of the AIIB from India. However he was represented by Mr. Sharma at the meeting. Presently, Dinesh Sharma is serving as Additional Secretary of Union Ministry of Finance.

Comment:

• The election of India to board of directors of the AIIB is expected to provide significant role for it as it is the forum that approves the loans for projects.


• With authorised capital of 100 billion dollars, AIIB is expected to begin loan approvals before the end year 2016.


• It will provide financial support for infrastructure development and regional connectivity in Asia in sectors including energy, transportation, urban construction and logistics as well as education and healthcare.

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India’s Dinesh Sharma elected to board of directors of China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis win WTA 2016 Apia International title of Tennis

Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis have won the WTA 2016 Apia International title in the women’s doubles category. In the final match played at Sydney, the top seeded duo defeated French pair Caroline Garcia ,Kristina Mladenovic by 1–6, 7–5, [10–5] score. Key facts: It was their overall 11th title together from 2015 when they had won 9 titles and 2nd title of season 2016. It was also their 30th match win together in a row.

11 WTA doubles titles are:

Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and the WTA Finals, Brisbane (2016) & Sydney (2016).

Records:

•  Their consecutive 30 match winning streak together also created a new world record.


• They broke previous record held by Gigi Fernandez (Puerto Rico) & Natasha Zvereva (Belarus) who had notched up 28 straight victories in 1994.


• Women’s Single Title Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) has won the WTA 2016 Apia International title in the Women’s Singles Category.


• In the final match she defeated Mónica Puig of Puerto Rico by 6–0, 6–2 score.

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Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis win  WTA 2016 Apia International title of Tennis  

3rd generation Nag anti tank missile successful test fired

Indigenously built 3rd generation anti-tank missile Nag was successfully test fired at Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan. Test During the test, the missile successfully hit the target Four Km away during a night trial validating enhanced capability of Imaging Infrared seeker (IIS). It mainly guides the missile to the target. The main purpose of test to validate Thermal Target System (TTS) was also tested. Thermal Target System had simulated a target similar to an operational tank generating thermal signature. With this successful test Nag missile was now ready for final & pre-induction user trials.

About Nag anti-tank guided missile:

Indigenously developed by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. It is fire & forget antitank missile. HeliNa is a helicopter launched version of Nag missile. Operational range:

500 Meter to 4 KM (Land version), 7 to 10km (Air-launched).
Guidance system:

Incorporated with advance Active Imaging infra red (IIR) seeker. It has been incorporated with HEAT (High explosive anti-tank) warhead also the top-attack all-weather fire & forget system capable of destroying modern tanks with armoured protection by nullifying their ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour).

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3rd generation Nag anti tank missile successful test fired

State Bank of India Launches 1st Dedicated Branch For Startups – SBI InCube

India’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has launched dedicated specialized branch for startups called ‘SBI InCube’ in Bengaluru. It was announced by the BI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya in Bengaluru.
About SBI InCube:

• The ‘SBI InCube’ branch will cater to the specific financial needs by the providing advisory services to the budding entrepreneurs under one roof It will assist startups in cash management, regulations, taxation, mentoring, foreign exchange and remittances & other financial services. InCube in its current form will not fund start-ups i.e. it will not provide loans.

• However it will give them loans when they turn more mature. It will also not help startups to raise funds from equity market as it not part of bank’s mandate. InCube branch in Bengaluru will be headed by an assistant general manager and a team of 3 other officers. Soon State Bank of India will be launching these branches in Pune and delhi NCR.

SBI Exclusif:

State Bank of India also has launched wealth management service ‘Exclusif’ to target the fast growing affluent segment in the country. This service will provide customers a dedicated Relationship Manager(RM) to take care of all their banking & investment needs.

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State Bank of India Launches 1st Dedicated Branch For Startups – SBI InCube

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana approved by the Union Cabinet

Union Cabinet has approved the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, a new crop insurance scheme to boost the farming sector in the country.It is farmers’ welfare scheme that aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claim for the full insured sum.
Highlights of Scheme

• Uniform premium:
  
  Farmers will pay uniform premium of 2% for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.


• In case of annual horticultural & commercial crops, farmers will pay 5% premium. These premium rates are very low.


• Government will pay balance premium to provide the full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.


• Government subsidy:


• There will be no upper limit subsidy given by the Government even if balance premium is 90%. Capping the Premium:


• The provision of capping the premium rate has been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.


• It was removed as it resulted in low claims being paid to farmers and was mainly done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy.


• Use of technology:
  
  Government will encourage use of technology especially Smart phones and remote sensing to a great extent.


• In order to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers, smart phones will be used to capture & upload data of crop cutting.


• To reduce the number of crop cutting experiments remote sensing will be used. Comment The new Crop Insurance Scheme has been formulated in line with One Nation–One Scheme theme.


• It replaces existing 2 schemes viz. National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) by removing their inherent drawbacks and in-corporating the best features of all previous schemes.

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Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana approved by the Union Cabinet

HRD Ministry inaugurates permanent campus of IISER in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

The Union Government has inaugurated the 1st phase of permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Vithura in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It was inaugurated by the Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani in presence of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram is dedicated to scientific research & science education of international standards. It had started functioning in the state in August 2008 with a transit campus at the College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram, kerala.
About the Institutes of Science Education & Research:

• IISERs are a group of most premier statutory science education & research institutes in India of national importance and are intended to be the IITs of basic sciences.


• The institutes were created under The National Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010 (an amendment of the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007).


• Presently there are 6 IISERs in operational namely IISER Kolkata (West Bengal), IISER Pune (Maharashtra), IISER Mohali (Punjab), IISER Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), IISER Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) & IISER Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).


• In 2015 Union Budget, two new IISERs one at Brahmapur (Odisha) and other one in Nagaland have been announced.

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HRD Ministry inaugurates permanent campus of IISER in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Devender Kumar Sikri took oath as the Chairman of CCI

Devender Kumar Sikri, sworn in as the Chairman of Competition Commission of India (CCI). His oath to the office was administered by the Union Finance Minister Aurn Jaitley.

Devender Kumar succeeded Ashok Chawla, who demitted office on 7th January 2016. He will have tenure of about 2 and half years, that is, till he attains the age of 65 years.

About Devender Kumar Sikri:

• Devender Kumar Sikri is a 1975 batch former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Gujarat cadre.

• Devender Kumar Sikri has served in various important positions in the Union Govt as well as in the State Government of Gujarat.

• As Secretary of Department of Justice in the Union Government, Sikri was instrumental in preparing and furthering the agenda of judicial reforms including the changes in the existing procedure for appointment of Judges for greater transparency.

• As Secretary of Ministry of WCD (Women & Child Development), Sikri was principal architect of the legislation on Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2013, preparation of the Bill on Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill 2010 and restructuring of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.

• In the Union Govt, Devender Kumar Sikri also held the positions as Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India and Joint Secretary, Department of Fertilizers.

About the Competition Commission of India (CCI)

• It was established by the Union Govt with effect from October 14, 2003 and consists of a Chairperson and Six Members appointed by the Union Government.

• The Competition Commission of India’s duty is to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

• It is also required to give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.

• It draws its power from the Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007 which prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by the enterprises and regulates combinations which would result in adverse effect on competition within India.

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Devender Kumar Sikri took oath as the Chairman of CCI