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Indian Oil signs pact with National Petroleum Authority of Ghana

January 23, 2020

Indian Oil has signed an MoU with Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to offer assistance and technical expertise to the country in implementing its National LPG Promotion Policy.

The purpose of this MoU is to strengthen cooperation between the two parties in the field of petroleum, in particular LPG, in which IOC would support the NPA in the successful implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) of LPG.

Indian Oil will provide support to the NPA in developing Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Standards, a licensing, permit and legal framework, the economics for LPG bottling plants, a pricing structure, and a communication strategy.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou elected as first woman president of Greece

January 23, 2020

Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a high court judge and human rights activist, on Wednesday was elected Greece’s first female president by the country’s Parliament with an overwhelming majority. She will succeed current conservative President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose five-year term expires in March.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Sakellaropoulou, who enjoys broad support across the major political parties in Greece. In her first remarks as president-elect, Sakellaropoulou vowed to pursue the “broadest possible consensus” in carrying out her official duties. In 2018, Sakellaropoulou, 63, become the first woman to serve as president of the Council of State, which is Greece’s top administrative court.

Dr N Kumar, VC of TNAU honoured with ‘Harit Ratna Award 2019’

January 23, 2020

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr) N Kumar has been conferred with National Award for Agriculture sector namely “Harit Ratna Award 2019”. The award was presented by All India Agricultural Students Association (AIASA) during 5th National Youth Convention held at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyala, Raipur on January 20.

The award was conferred to him for dissemination of Rs.30 crore entrepreneurship project for attracting youth in agri business activity and his contribution to increase the impact of Fertigation, precision farming, ultra high density planting system for increasing farmers income and involved in increasing awareness of students and their role for welfare of the society and motivated the students to agriculture sector in Tamil Nadu.

Global Mega Science Exhibition “Vigyan Samagam” inaugurated in New Delhi

January 23, 2020

The Union Minister of State (I/C) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first global Mega Science Exhibition “Vigyan Samagam“. It will be be held from 21 January to 20 March 2020 at National Science Centre, New Delhi.

The exhibition is jointly organized by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology, GoI and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the ageis of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The exhibition aims to highlight the value and impact of fundamental research to a broad cross-section of the audience including students, academician, and industry. The exhibition also aims to further strengthen India’s participation in mega-science Projects.

’12th Democracy Index 2019′ released by Economist Intelligence Unit

January 23, 2020

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the 12th edition of the “Democracy Index 2019: A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest“. Norway topped the Index while North Korea was placed at the bottom of the list. India has been placed at 51st position among 167 countries in the Index and was included in flawed democracy.

Bangladesh has improved its ranking by 8 points and ranked at 80th position compared to 88th position in 2018. However, Bangladesh continues to be placed in the category of hybrid democracies. According to the EIU methodology hybrid regimes are marked by substantial electoral irregularities and government pressure on opposition parties.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s measure of democracy, almost one-half of the world’s population live in a democracy of some sort, although only 5.7% reside in a full democracy. More than one-third of the world’s population live under authoritarian rule, with a large share being in China.

Indian Navy signs MoU with Geological Survey of India for offshore data

January 23, 2020

Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Geological Survey of India (GSI) for ‘Sharing of seabed sediments data, products and expertise for Naval Application in Meteorology and Oceanography’. The MoU was signed on 21 January 2020 between Commodore AA Abhyankar, who heads Indian Navy’s Oceanology and Meteorology Directorate and Shri N Maran, Deputy Director General of GSI.

GSI’s Marine and Coastal survey Division based at Mangaluru has mapped most of India’s 2.1 Million square km Exclusive Economic Zone and has a vast repository of offshore data. This data collected using GSI’s state-of-the-art oceanic research vessels Samudra Manthan, Samudra Kaustubh, Samudra Shaudhikama and Samudra Ratnakar, will now be used by Indian Navy’s rapidly growing blue water fleet for reliable and accurate oceanographic modeling to support their expansive maritime operations in the Indian Ocean region.

ISRO unveils ‘Vyommitra’ robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission

January 23, 2020

‘Vyommitra’ or ‘friend in the sky‘ a female humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission has been unveiled by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). ISRO has planned to execute two unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021, before the Ganganyaan mission. The inaugural session of the “Human Spaceflight and Exploration – Present Challenges and Future Trends” was held in Bengaluru.

ISRO chairman K Sivan stated, the humanoid will simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system, it will check whether the system is right. This will be very useful to simulate, as if a human is flying.

Avadi Ordnance Factory doubles the manufacturing capacity of Battle Tanks

January 23, 2020

The engine manufacturing capacity for the battle tanks in the Indian Ordnance Board’s Engines Factory near Chennai has been more than doubled to 750 per annum to meet the increasing demand of the Indian Army. It was earlier fixed at 350 engines per year, as stated by the Board Chairman, Hari Mohan.

The new system is the first to be installed in any of the Ordnance Factories in the country to help increase productivity. The Engine Factory at Avadi is the only unit in the country dedicated to manufacturing fully indigenized engines for the Army’s Main Battle Tanks.

Rs 4300 cr approved to establish permanent campuses for new NITs

January 23, 2020

Union Cabinet approved the Revised Cost Estimates for establishment of permanent campuses of new National Institutes of Technology, NITs, at a total cost of 4371.90 crore rupees for the period till 2021-2022. These NITs will be fully functional from their permanent campuses by 31st March, 2022.

At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet approved funds for the NITs in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Puducherry and Delhi. It also approved the extension of tenure of the Commission constituted under Article 340 of the Constitution by six months till 31st July 2020, to examine the issue of sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes in the Central List.  

Cabinet has also granted approval to addition of Term of Reference to the existing ToR of the Commission which include studying various Entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommending correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or tranion. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, Daman will be the capital of newly carved out Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. 

Nation pays tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose on his 123rd birth anniversary

January 23, 2020

The nation pays tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 123rd birth anniversary today. It was on this day in 1897, Netaji was born in Cuttack, Odisha. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have paid tributes to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

In West Bengal, Governor Jaghdeep Dhankhar will pay floral tribute at the statue of Netaji in Kolkata. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will pay homage at a function in Darjeeling this afternoon. State Government is organizing Subhash Utsav in each Blocks of the state.

People from all works of life are visiting the house of Netaji in South Kolkata since early morning to pay their homage to the great hero of the freedom movement. Netaji Research Bureau has also organized programmes in Kolkata on the occasion.

India, Tunisia, Papua New Guinea to sign MoU on elections

January 23, 2020

The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval allowing the Election Commission (EC) to sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with its counterparts in Tunisia and Papua New Guinea.

The EC will enter into MoUs with the Independent High Authority for Elections of Tunisia (ISIE) and the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission (PNGEC) for cooperation in the field of electoral management and administration.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for the four agreements between India and Brazil in the field of oil and natural gas, Geology and Mineral Resources, mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and cooperation in the field of early childhood care.

Telangana: Closure of Hindustan Fluorocarbons plant approved

January 23, 2020

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved closure of Hindustan Fluorocarbons Ltd (HFL), a central public sector enterprise with just 88 employees. The decision was taken in a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

HFL has only one plant located at Rudraram, District Sangareddy in Telangana. HFL has been making losses since 2013-14 and has negative net worth. Government granted a interest free loan of over 77 crore rupees to HFL for expenditure exclusively on closure.

Dharmendra Pradhan launches ‘SERVICE’ to promote Philanthropist Activities

January 23, 2020

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched a scheme ‘SERVICE‘ of SAIL to promote Voluntary Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by its employees. 

The scheme called “SAIL Employee Rendering Voluntarism and Initiatives for Community Engagement (SERVICE)” will promote and facilitate philanthropist activities by the employees in a structured manner. 

The Minister also launched “SAIL SERVICE” portal for implementation of this Scheme, it shall act as a platform for enabling faster interaction and communication amongst the various stakeholders.

Brexit divorce law approved by UK Parliament

January 23, 2020

The Brexit divorce deal completed its passage through Parliament on Wednesday evening, ensuring that the U.K. will leave the European Union at the end of the month. After passing the upper and lower parliamentary chambers, the Brexit divorce deal that Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the EU last year now just needs signoff from the queen to become British law.

On the European side, the EU council and commission presidents are due to sign off on the agreement Friday. The European Parliament needs to vote it through next Wednesday, but that step is considered a formality. The passage of the bill through Parliament ends nearly four years of British political paralysis sparked by the vote to leave the EU in 2016.

Mr. Johnson’s commanding majority in Parliament following his December election victory meant that the Brexit deal went through Parliament un-amended. It paves the way for the U.K. to end its 47-year relationship with the EU on the evening of January 31.

Aurobindo Ashram School building inaugurated in Nepal

January 23, 2020

Dr. Ajay Kumar, the Charge d’ Affairs of Embassy of India in Nepal ceremonially inaugurated new building of Aurobindo Ashram School in Thankot, Kathmandu. The programme was attended by Director General, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction of Nepal, Mani Ram Gelal along with political and community leaders.

The three storey building comprises eleven class rooms, three labs, four store rooms, two staff rooms, rooms for – accounts, administration, record, library and principal. It also has examination and multi-purpose hall. The new infrastructure is constructed with the Government of India’s grant assistance of 25 million Nepali rupees.

Decision to declare corona virus outbreak ‘An emergency’

January 23, 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) is holding a crucial emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak in China. The UN body will decide if the outbreak of a new Chinese strain of coronavirus — cousin of the devastating SARS virus — is “a public health emergency of international concern”.

Such a declaration would be significant. It means the WHO thinks immediate and coordinated international action may be needed to contain the infectant, which has caused nine deaths in China and caused hundreds to fall sick across Asia. Cases have been reported in several places outside China, including Japan and the United States. India has already issued a travel warning. Several countries have also started screening travellers from China to detect symptoms of the infection.

National Data and Analytics Platform to be developed by Niti Aayog

January 24, 2020

Government think-tank Niti Aayog will develop a National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) to make all government data accessible to stakeholders in one place powered by a user friendly search engine, seamless navigation and a worldclass user interface.

Data will be provided in a machine-readable format with customisable analytics and will be sourced from different Central and State Ministries and Departments. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be developed to keep data updated.

To provide direction, oversee progress, guide on data sources, and address various inter-ministerial issues on collating data there will be a high powered steering committee under the chairmanship of Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog, Rajiv Kumar.

There will also be a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) consisting of sector and technology experts to provide guidance on the development of the platform, management of data, and aligning the platform for user-needs.

Training launch of nuclear-capable missile ‘Ghaznavi’ in Pakistan

January 24, 2020

Pakistan conducted a successful training launch of nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Ghaznavi‘. The missile is capable of delivering multiple types of warheads upto a range of 290 kilometers. The launch aimed at rehearsing operational readiness procedures during day and night, was a part of Field Training Exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command.

The launch was witnessed by Lt Gen Nadeem Zaki Manj, Director General Strategic Plans Division, Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, senior officers from Strategic Plans Division, Army Strategic Forces Command, Scientists and Engineers of the strategic organisations.

RBI buys Rs 10,000 cr long-term and sells Rs 2,950 cr short-term securities

January 24, 2020

The Reserve Bank of India bought Rs 10,000 crore worth of long-term securities and sold Rs 2,950 crore worth of short-term government bonds in the fourth special open market operation (OMO) auctions.

In the OMO purchase auction, the RBI received bids worth Rs 26,887 crore for two types of securities, 7.32 per cent 2024 and 6.45 percent 2029, but accepted only Rs 10,000 crore of bids. For 7.32 per cent-2024, it got 157 bids and accepted 40 bids.

The RBI offered to sell two government securities, 7.80 per cent 2021 and 7.94 per cent 2021, through the OMO. It received Rs 35,375 crore of bids but accepted Rs 2,950 crore of bids.

All-in-one app with multilingual chat-bot launched by City Union Bank

January 24, 2020

City Union Bank has introduced its multilingual interactive voice based all-in-one mobile app, through which the customers can converse with the chat-bot ‘Ask Lakshmi’ of the app in Tamil, English, Hindi or Telugu. They can converse for the general banking needs including transactions such as balance enquiry, mini statement, fund transfer over voice/ text instructions.

This new app covers all the financial and non-financial transactions such as fund transfer, bill payments, opening & closing of deposits, opening & closing of loan on deposits, balance enquiry, statement of account, stop payment of cheque, set card limit, handle wallet/ UPI and invest in Mutual Funds through simple guided interaction.

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