Finance/Business/Economy News
1. RBI issued final guidelines for banks to act as Insurance brokers
Reserve Bank of India on 15 January 2015 issued final guidelines for banks to act as insurance brokers.
Earlier, the banks were allowed to undertake insurance business as agents of insurance companies on fee basis with an aim to increase insurance penetration in the country. The banks were allowed to look forward for participation in insurance business in accordance to Union Government’s notification in which it allowed banks to do business of insurance under Section 6(1)(o) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Banks were allowed to undertake referral business through their network of branches on 29 October 2002.
RBI issued guidelines for both types of banks, who are setting JV or are undertaking insurance broking and they are
Banks setting up a subsidiary or joint venture (JV) for undertaking insurance business with risk participation: they will not be allowed to undertake insurance business with risk participation departmentally and may do so only through a subsidiary/JV set up for the purpose. These banks can approach RBI to set JV or subsidiary for undertaking insurance business with risk participation, if in case they satisfy the eligibility criteria as on 31 March 2014.
The criteria is
The net worth of the bank should not be less than 1000 crore rupees
The CRAR of the bank should not be less than 10 percent
The level of net non-performing assets should be not more than 3 percent
The bank should have made a net profit for the last three continuous years
The track record of the performance of the subsidiaries, if any, of the concerned bank should be satisfactory
Banks undertaking insurance broking/corporate agency through a subsidiary or joint venture: they require prior approval of RBI for setting up a subsidiary or JV. Those banks may approach RBI for approval for setting up the subsidiary or JV if in case they satisfy the eligibility criteria as on 31 March 2014.
The criteria is
The net worth of the bank should not be less than 500 crore rupees after investing in the equity of such company
The CRAR of the bank should not be less than 10 percent
The level of net non-performing assets should be not more than 3 percent
The bank should have made a net profit for the last three continuous years
The track record of the performance of the subsidiaries, if any, of the concerned bank should be satisfactory
2. Union Government launched two schemes to support Scheduled Castes
Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 16 January 2015 launched two schemes to support the Scheduled Castes (SC). These schemes are Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes and Green Business scheme.
The scheme was launched by Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes scheme was launched with an initial capital of 200 crore rupees. Under the scheme, financial assistance of 15 Crore rupees for a period of 6 years will be provided to 30 SC entrepreneurs in a year.
It is launched to promote entrepreneurship amongst the Scheduled castes who are oriented towards innovation and growth technologies.
Under Green Business Scheme, loan for unit cost up to 1 lakh rupees at concessional rate of interest will be provided to Scheduled Castes for activities such as e-rickshaw, Solar Pump and Solar energy powered implements, poly house etc.
3. Japan committed 2620 crore rupees Overseas Development Assistance loan to India
Japan committed to provide an Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 2620 crore rupees (50 billion Yen) to India. The notification related to this was released by the Union Ministry of Finance on 16 January 2015.
The loan amount will support infrastructure projects that will be implemented in public-private partnership mode.
The loan will be provided by Japan International Commerce Agency to the India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFC) to support infrastructure projects built on public-private partnership mode.
The commitment to provide the ODA loan was part of pledge made by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-day visit to Japan. Modi visited Japan in August – September 2014.
News Related to India and Indian Polity
4. Baba Ramdev appointed as state brand ambassador of Haryana Government
Baba Ramdev was appointed as state brand ambassador of Haryana Government. Minister of Sports and Health of Haryana, Anil Vij announced the decision on 15 January 2015.
The appointment was a part of government of Haryana’s ambitious plans to promote yoga and ayurveda in Haryana state.
Krishna Ayurvedic college of Haryana will be developed into an Ayurvedic University whereas a yogic centre of international standards will be built in Panchkula.
5. After 32 years, India finally gets LCA Tejas aircraft
After a 32-year wait, the first indigenously-built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was today handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to the Indian Air Force, a red letter day for Indian defence and aerospace sector.
The handover signals the start of the process of induction of the fighters, a 4.5th generation aircraft, being built at home which has cost the exchequer nearly Rs 8,000 crore.
The entire project by the DRDO and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), including the final induction in the Air Force and Navy, is estimated to cost over Rs 30,000 crore.
The LCA, which will replace the ageing MiG21s, is significant for its lighter weight and greater agility and manoeuvrability.
This version of the aircraft lacks the latest electronic warfare suite, which was integrated into one of the LCAs two weeks ago, mid-air refuelling and long-range missiles capabilities, among other things that the FOC-configuration aircraft will have.
The IOC-I was granted to the aircraft, being built by HAL, in January 2011.
6. Noted RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal conferred with Giraffe Hero award 2015
Renowned Indian RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal was on 15 January 2015 conferred with the Giraffe Hero award 2015 by a US-based NGO The Giraffe Heroes Project. The award will be presented to him on 22 January 2015.
Agrawal was awarded for his bravery in utilising the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 for public good despite innumerable challenges. Agrawal also holds the Guinness record of filing highest number of published letters to the editors.
His RTI applications has delivered some important orders in India like declaration of assets by Supreme Court judges, bringing political parties under the RTI act among others.
7. First set of RIC readers handed over to Chiefs of Indian Navy and Coast Guard
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh handed over the first set of Resident Identity Card (RIC) readers to Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan and Coast Guard Director General Vice-Admiral A G Thapliyal on 14 January 2015.
These RIC readers will be used by maritime security agencies to check identity cards of the residents of coastal area issued under RIC Scheme.
As per RIC Scheme under the National Population Registrar, government had issued these identity cards to more than 65 lakh residents of coastal villages. Apart from this, the Union government is also preparing the National Population Registrar (NPR) in 3331 coastal villages under the said scheme.
8. J & K selected for the National Award of e-Governance for Best District Level initiative
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on 16 January 2015 was selected for the National Award for e-Governance for the best district-level initiative in Citizen-Centric Service Delivery through ICT.
The Department of Administrative Reforms, Ministry of Personnel and Prime Minister Office has selected e-Panchayat of Jammu and Kashmir for the award.
J & K for the first time will be awarded since the institution of awards in 1997. The award will be presented by Ministry of Personnel at National Conference on e-governance to be held in Gujarat from 30 January to 31 January 2015.
9. Book on Sonia Gandhi titled The Red Sari written by Javier Moro released in India
The Red Sari, an unauthorized biography of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, was released by Roli Books in India on 16 January 2015. The book has been written by Spanish author Javier Moro.
The book describes about how Sonia Gandhi’s courage, honesty, and dedication have made her a leader in the eyes of one-sixth of humanity that is from her idyllic childhood to her passionate love affair, and from her days as a docile daughter-in-law to her current status of being the only Indian politician to have refused Prime Ministership.
This book also examines the lives of the famous Nehru-Gandhi family set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War, the Emergency, Operation Blue Star, and other events that have shaped modern Indian history.
10. HAL Chairman R K Tyagi conferred with JGBS-Top Rankers’ Excellence Award
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman R.K. Tyagi was on 16 January 2015 conferred with the JGBS-Top Rankers' Excellence Award for CEO of the year 2014.
Tyagi played a key role in 2014 being a successful year for HAL through series of initiatives. The year was dedicated for Integrity, Customer Focus and Quality (ICQ).
The award has been instituted by Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) and Top Rankers’ Management Consultants.
JGBS is part of O P Jindal Global University, Delhi whereas Top Rankers’ Management Consultants is a Delhi based executive search company which provides recruitment and HR solutions to various organizations.
11. Nine Censor Board members resign after Leela steps down
Nine Censor Board members have put in their papers protesting what they claimed was the “cavalier and dismissive manner” in which the Board is treated by the government.
The members said the events that led to the Chairperson Leela Samson resigning from her position were merely the “proverbial last straw”.
Samson, who headed the statutory body under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, resigned amid controversy surrounding the clearance of controversial film “Messenger of God” featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
In a letter, the nine members – Arundhati Nag, Ira Bhaskar, Lora Prabhu, Pankaj Sharma, Rajeev Masand, Sekharbabu Kancherla, Shaji Karun, Shubhra Gupta and T.G Thyagarajan have submitted their resignation from the Censor Board.
The members said that since the time that they first joined the Board, they had been seeking critical changes, which were imperative if the functioning of the CBFC has to be reformed.
12. Tamilmani likely to be interim DRDO chief
K. Tamilmani, Chief Controller of Aeronautics Cluster in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is likely to become the interim head of the organisation, succeeding Avinash Chander, who was asked to step down after the government suddenly ended his contractual term.
Dr. Tamilmani, the senior-most of the seven cluster heads in the DRDO, is the Director of the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), Bangalore.
Government sources indicated on Friday that a proposal to de-link the position of Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister from the Director-General, DRDO, was under consideration as part of a major overhaul of the organisation, which has faced criticism on account of time and huge cost overruns in key defence projects. Currently, the DRDO chief acts as the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.
International News
13. China to launch construction of five new nuclear reactors with total capacity of 5 Gigawatts in 2015
China will launch the construction of at least five new nuclear reactors with a total capacity of more than 5 Gigawatts in 2015. The decision was announced by the Deputy Secretary General of Nuclear Society of China, Shen Lixin on 15 January 2015.
At Present, China has 22 nuclear reactors in operation and 26 under construction. China launched the construction of five nuclear reactors in 2014 and had planned to keep up the pace of construction of nuclear reactors in 2015.
According to the World Nuclear Association, four new reactors started operating in Fujian, Liaoning and Guangdong provinces of China in 2014.
In 2012, State Council of China outlined the current nuclear reactor construction goals and approved the 12th Five-year Plan for Nuclear Safety and Radioactive Pollution Prevention and Vision for 2020. It is aimed to triple China’s atomic energy capacity to at least 58 gigawatts by 2020.
14. Deep Kumar Upadhyay appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India
Nepali Congress leader Deep Kumar Upadhyay was on 16 January 2015 appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India. The post was lying vacant since 2011.
The decision to appoint Deep Kumar Upadhyay was taken at the cabinet meeting headed by Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Kumar Koirala. He is a Central Working Committee member of the Nepali Congress party.
Earlier, Upadhyay has served as an assistant finance minister of Nepal. However, he does not have experience in foreign affairs as he had never served any diplomatic position earlier.
The post was lying vacant for more than 3 years when the Maoist-led government called back its ambassador to India Rukma Shukshere Rana in August 2011. She was called back after she was found serving as the Managing Director of Indian joint venture Dabur Nepal.
15. Year 2014 ranked as Earth's hottest year since 1880
The year 2014 was ranked as the Earth’s hottest year since 1880 as per the two separate analyses done by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The findings of NASA and NOAA were released on 16 January 2015.
Both NASA and NOAA conducted independent analyses based on satellite and ground readings, but they arrived at similar conclusions.
The global average temperature for 2014 was roughly 1.24°F (or 0.69°C) warmer than the 20th-century average that included record heat in the western United States, Europe, Australia, and much of the Pacific Ocean.
16. The US and UK announced cooperative measures in combating cyber threats
The US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced cooperative measures in combating cyber threats. Both the countries announced the measures during the bilateral summit between the two countries held in Washington DC, US on 16 January 2015.
The measures include better threat information sharing and the creation of a new joint cyber task force.
The measure on better threat information sharing will bring together Internet security experts from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and Security Service MI5 of the UK and the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US.
On the other hand, the formation of a joint cyber task force will have a physical presence in both the countries.
17. Japanese PM pledges support for W. Asian countries battling Islamic State
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned on Saturday that the world would suffer an “immeasurable loss’’ if terrorism spreads in West Asia and pledged about $200 million in non-military assistance for countries battling Islamic State.
The threat of Islamist militancy has come into sharp focus outside West Asia after gunmen killed 17 people in three days of violence in Paris that began on January 7 with an attack on the offices of a newspaper that had published satirical images of the Prophet Mohammad.
Islamic State controls large parts of OPEC oil producer Iraq and neighbouring Syria has declared a caliphate and wants to redraw the map of a region vital for Japan’s energy needs.
In addition to the $2.2-billion in assistance Japan pledged for West Asia two years ago, Abe said his government would provide another $2.5 billion in non-military assistance in fields such as humanitarian assistance and infrastructure.
Abe’s tour will also include Jordan, Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Turkey.
Japan will provide Egypt with $360 million in loans for projects, including an airport and a power grid in a country suffering from an energy crisis, Abe said.
Sports News
18. Stephen Constantine appointed as head coach of India's men football team
Stephen Constantine was appointed as the head coach of Indian men’s football team on 16 January 2015. He will supervise both the senior and under-23 football teams.
Constantine of England replaced Wim Koevermans of Netherlands, who resigned in October 2014 after India faced a 3-2 defeat against Palestine in a friendly match. It is expected that he will take charge of the team by first week of February 2015.
This is the second time that 52-year-old Constantine has been appointed as the coach of Indian football team. He served as India’s coach from 2002 to 2005, during which the team achieved its best-ever ranking of 109. During that tenure India won the LG Cup in Vietnam and finished runners-up in the Afro-Asian Games.
Current world ranking of the Indian football team is 171.
19. Andrey Baryshpolets won the 13th Parsvanth International Grandmasters Chess Tournament
Ukrainian Grandmaster Andrey Baryshpolets won the 13th Parsvanth International Grandmasters Chess Tournament on 16 January 2015. He defeated Deepan Chakkravarthy of India in the 10th and final round of the Tournament that was held in New Delhi.
Baryshpolets went home richer by winning 300000 rupees in the 3000000 rupees prize money festival. Baryshpolets was followed by Ivan Popov of Russia who finished second and Alberto David of Italy who finished third. All the three got 8 points each.
Apart from this, the C category of the Tournament was won by Vardan Nagpal who won a cash prize of 1.25 lakhs rupees for his efforts. The second place in this section was won by Rishabh Jain who won 100000 rupees.
20. Sania Mirza, Bethanie Mattek-Sands won women’s doubles title of Sydney International
Sania Mirza and her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US on 16 January 2015 won the women’s doubles title of the Sydney International Tennis Tournament.
The unseeded Indo-American pair defeated top-seeded Americans Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones 6-3, 6-3 in the summit clash played in Sydney. With this win, the duo earned 470 ranking points each and split 39000 US Dollar as prize money.
This was the fifth WTA title for Sania and Bethanie together, while it was the first title of the season for Sania. This was 23rd career title for Sania.
21. Mark Knowles, Ellen Hoog named FIH Player-of-the-year 2014
Australian captain Mark Knowles and midfielder of the Netherland Ellen Hoog on 15 January 2015 were named as the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Player of the Year 2014 in men and women category, respectively.
Other names to be honoured include
Goalkeepers-of-the-year (Men): Jaap Stockmann of the Netherlands
Goalkeepers-of-the-year (Women): Joyce Sombroek of the Netherlands
Rising-stars-of-the-year (Men): Gonzalo Peillat of Argentina
Rising-stars-of-the-year (Women): Florencia Habif of Argentina
Women’s Coach-of-the-year: Argentine Max Caldas, Coach of the Netherlands team
Men’s Coach-of-the-year: Australian Ric Charlesworth, Coach of Australia team
22. Petra Kvitova won women’s single title of Sydney International Tennis tournament
Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic on 16 January 2015 won the women’s single title of Sydney International Tennis tournament. She won the title defeating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic 7-6, 7-6 in the final.
This is the 15th career title won by former Wimbledon Champion and World No 4 Kvitova. She won the Wimbledon Championship twice in 2011 and 2014 respectively.
Pliskova, on the other hand, finished her 2014 season with more aces than any other player apart from Serena Williams of the US. With this win she was ranked 22 and this is the first she was in the top 20.
The Sydney International also called Apia International Sydney is a tune-up event before Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament on the tennis calendar.