DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MARCH 29, 2018

NATIONAL

Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurates Rajasthan’s first mega food park in Ajmer

In Rajasthan, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first mega food park of the state at Roopangarh village near Ajmer.

The Food Park is set up at an investment of Rs 113.57 crore and will benefit around 25 thousand farmers.

The Central Government has given 50 crore rupees subsidy for this project.

Rajasthan is the fourth largest producer of food grains in India and leader in mustard, guar seed, coriander, groundnut, fennel, soybean, gram, and oilseeds.

The constituency of Food Processing Industries Minister: Bathinda, Punjab

CCEA approves continuation of Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved continuation of the Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme.

It also approves for continuation and modification of Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme with a financial outlay of 6,600 crore rupees from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

This will provide education loans to 10 lakh students during this period.

It will be disbursed by banks without seeking any collateral security and third-party guarantee, for a maximum loan amount of Rs 7.5 lakh per student.

India and ADB Sign $80 Million Loan Agreement

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed $80 million loan to help modernize technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and improve the skills ecosystem in the State of Himachal Pradesh.

Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, signed the loan agreement for the Government of India, and Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed on behalf of ADB.

ADB

Headquarters: Manila, Philippines

President: Takehiko Nakao

Motto: Fighting poverty in Asia and the Pacific

RBI imposes Rs 58.9 cr penalty on ICICI Bank

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined ICICI Bank Rs 58.9 crore.

It has been fined for non-compliance with the directions issued by the RBI on direct sale of securities from its Held To Maturity (HTM) portfolio.

This is the highest penalty imposed by RBI on a bank for a single incident.

This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested with the RBI under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Under RBI guidelines banks have to split their holding of government securities into `held-to-maturity’ (HTM) and available for `available-for-sale’ category.

Cabinet approves Rs 4500cr to boost development projects in North-East

The Cabinet approves Rs 4500 crore to boost development projects in North-East.

Cabinet has approved Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC) including continuation of existing Schemes. It will boost the development projects in North-East.

Besides, NEC is also implementing North Eastern Road Sector Development Scheme – Programme Component for upgradation of the important and strategic inter-state roads.

INTERNATIONAL

SoftBank, Saudi Arabia tie up for Massive solar power project     

The SoftBank group corp’s vision fund will invest in creating the world’s biggest solar power project in Saudi Arabia.

The project is expected to have the capacity to produce up to 200 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and it it will eventually total around $200 billion.

The initial phase of the project, for 7.2 GW of solar capacity, will cost $5 billion, with $1 billion coming from SoftBank’s Vision Fund and the rest from project financing.

SoftBank

Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

Chief Executive: Masayoshi Son

Cool EMS Service between India and Japan

The ministry of communications has launched the Cool EMS Service which will come into force from today.

Cool EMS service is one-way service from Japan to India which allows customers in India to import Japanese food items for personal use which is allowed under Indian regulations.

All other features like track and trace, etc of Express Mail Service (EMS) will be available for Cool EMS service.

Japan

Prime minister: Shinzo Abe

Capital: Tokyo

Currency: Japanese yen

Cabinet approves MoU between India and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland   

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland regarding cooperation and Exchange of Information.

It is for the Purposes of Combating International Criminality and Tackling Serious Organised Crime.

Both the countries desire to further strengthen cooperation in fighting international criminality and serious organized crime.

The MoU will reinforce the collaboration in the field of security that will be mutually beneficial.

India, China agree to a roadmap for addressing trade imbalance

The eleventh session of the China-India joint-group on Economic Relations, Trade, Science & Technology was co-chaired by the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and the Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China Zhong Shan.

The two Ministers accepted to take forward the initiatives identified in the Five Year Development Programme for Economic and Trade Cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and India signed in September 2014.

The two sides also reaffirmed their aim to promote bilateral trade in the field of pharmaceuticals including resolution of issues of Indian pharma products exports to Chinese markets.

China

President: Xi Jinping   

Currency: Renminbi

Capital: Beijing

BANKING AND ECONOMY

GIFT, Deloitte Sign MoU to Promote IFSC Operations

GIFT City has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP), which renders consultancy services.GIFT, Deloitte Sign MoU to Promote IFSC Operations

It is for mutual cooperation in areas related to international financial services.

The MoU was signed by Ajay Pandey, Managing Director and Group CEO of GIFT, and Abhay Gupte, Partner, DTTILLP.

GIFT City is a global business district offering a platform for business opportunities in international and domestic business operations.

APPOINTMENTS

American Rosemary DiCarlo becomes first female UN political chief

The Long-serving American diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo has been appointed to become the first woman to head UN political affairs.

It is one of the most high-profile positions at the world body.

UN

Headquarters: New York, United States

Secretary-General: Antonio Guterres

Lt Gen Harpal Singh takes Charge as Director General Border Roads

Lt Gen Harpal Singh, an alumni of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla has been appointed Director General Border Roads.

He was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers on 1982. He later commanded a Border Roads Task Force in Jammu & Kashmir valley.