Cabinet approvesa Cooperation Arrangement between India and Afghanistan for cooperation in the field of food safety and related areas
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of a Cooperation Arrangement between Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation & Livestock (MAIL), Afghanistan for cooperation in the field of Food Safety and related areas.
Cabinet approvesMoU between India and Iran on the establishment of an expert group on trade remedy measures
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Iran on the establishment of an expert group on trade remedy measures to promote cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The MoU was signed on 17thFebruary, 2018 during the visit of the President of Iran.
The MoU will promote cooperation between the two countries in area of trade remedies such as exchange of information, capacity building activities, cooperation in investigations related to anti-dumping and countervailing duty, etc.
Cabinet approves closure of loss making Burn Standard Company Limited – a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE)
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the closure of Burn Standard Company Ltd (BSCL) – a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Ministry of Railways. This decision has been taken in view of the continuous poor physical and financial performance of the company for more than 10 years despite financial assistance and other support provided by government, and low probability of its revival in the future. This measure will save public funds, which are currently being used for loss making BSCL, and can be used for other developmental work.
Government will provide one-time grant of Rs. 417.10 crore towards severance package and for clearing the current liabilities of the company. In addition, outstanding loan of Rs. 35 crore given to the company by Government of India (Ministry of Railways) shall be written off. 508 employees of BSCL will benefit from Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).
Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and Canada to foster cross-border partnerships focused on research excellence and industry-academic collaboration
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of theMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Canada. The MoU was signed on 21st February, 2018 in New Delhi.
The MoU aims at fostering cross-border partnerships focused on research excellence and industry-academic collaboration between India and Canada that brings robust innovation gains to both countries.
Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and United Arab Emirates on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of theMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Federal Transport Authority – Land & Maritime of the United Arab Emirates on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector
Cabinet approves demerger and transfer of surplus land from TCL to HPIL
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the transfer of administrative control of Hemisphere Properties India Ltd. (HPIL), PSU from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) after infusion of equity amounting to Rs. 700 crore and Rs. 51 cr. secured GOI Loan into the Company and implementation of scheme of arrangement for de-merger of surplus land.
Cabinet approves the Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018 for better protection and promotion of human rights in the country.
Salient Features:
- It proposes to include “National Commission for Protection of Child Rights” as deemed Member of the Commission;
- It proposes to add a woman Member in the composition of the Commission;
- It proposes to enlarge the scope of eligibility and scope of selection of Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission as well as the State Human Rights Commission; and
- It proposes to incorporate a mechanism to look after the cases of human rights violation in the Union Territories.
Cabinet approves revised cost estimates of the scheme of updation of National Register of Citizens, 1951 in Assam
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Revised Cost Estimates (RCE) of the scheme of Updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC), 1951 in Assam at a cost of Rs. 1220.93 crore upto 31.12.2018.
The scheme of NRC, 1951 is specific to state of Assam covering about 3.29 crore applicants.
RBI cuts provisioning norm for advances to large accounts now before NCLT
Throwing another lifeline to banks, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the provisioning requirement for large accounts referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) up to March 31, 2018.
This comes on fears that banks may be worse off due to bad loans provisioning when they declare their financial results for FY2018,
Freyr Energy installs 640kW solar rooftop system in Manipur
Freyr Energy has announced the completion of a 640 kW solar rooftop project in Manipur, which includes one of the largest off-grid 100 kW battery-powered systems in the country.
The inverter installed at Manipur’s Central Agricultural University maximises solar power generation and helps stabilise power from the grid.
MobiKwik partners with Microsoft Kaizala
MobiKwik, a leading mobile wallet player, has partnered with Microsoft to power digital payment services on latter’s chat platform – Microsoft Kaizala.
Through this tie-up, Microsoft Kaizala users would be able to make person-to-person (P2P) as well as person-to-merchant (P2M) payments both in one-to-one and group chat conversation via the MobiKwik wallet, without having to leave the Microsoft Kaizala mobile application.
RM’S address at ‘VII Moscow Conference on International Security’
Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, who is on three-day visit to Russia to attend ‘VII Moscow Conference on International Security’ from 03 to 05 April 2018, addressed the II Plenary Session of the Conference on the theme titled ‘Global Security in a Polycentric World’ covering aspects related to current global defence, security and strategic scenario on April 4 in the Russian capital.
SBI Life Appoints Sanjeev Nautiyal As New MD & CEO
SBI Life Insurance appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as its new Managing Director and CEO. He replaces Arijit Basu, who takes over a key role in the State Bank of India Group. Nautiyal started his career with State Bank of India in 1985 as a probationary officer in the bank’s Lucknow Circle.
First Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement Released By RBI
On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0%. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at 5.75%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25%. India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth marginally upward to 6.6% from 6.5% in the first advance estimates. GDP growth in 2017-18 at 6.6 percent was lower than 7.1% in 2016-17. Retail inflation, measured by the year-on-year change in the CPI, fell from a high of 5.1% in January to 4.4% in February due to a decline in inflation in food and fuel. CPI inflation excluding food and fuel remained unchanged at 5.2% for the third consecutive month in February, after rising from its trough in June 2017.
CWG 2018: Mirabai Chanu Wins Indias First Gold Medal
Weightlifter and current world champion Mirabai Chanu has clinched India’s first gold medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mirabai Chanu becomes the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018. After finishing with the best lift of 86 kg in the snatch round, the 23-year-old finished with a total score of 196 points. Chanu is competing in the 48 kg category. The 23-year-old also set Commonwealth Games records in both Snatch (86 kg) and Clean and Jerk (110 kg) categories.
