Online marketplace for spot sugar launched
The Indian Sugar Exim Corporation (ISEC) and NCDEX eMarket Limited (NeML) have joined hands to launch an online platform for spot selling of sugar and allied products.
Called the Indian Sugar eMarket (ISeM), the electronic marketplace was declared open by Food and Public Distribution Secretary Ravikant. The first deal happened within a few minutes when an unknown buyer bought 10 tonnes of sugar from Bulandshahr-based Anamika Sugar Mills.
First tranche of electoral bonds on sale from March 1
The sale of the first tranche of electoral bonds will start from March 1 for a period of 10 days.
“This is the first issue of the scheme, which was originally scheduled for January 2018 for the first quarter of the year,” the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
State-run State Bank of India has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds initially at four of its authorised branches in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
The bonds will be valid for a period of 15 days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any political party if it is deposited after expiry of the validity period, said the Ministry.
CII summit in Vizag from Feb 24
All arrangements are being made to host the third edition of the partnership summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry here for three days from Saturday, according to State HRD Minister G Srinivasa Rao.
Merck to invest €40 million in Mumbai centre
Science and technology company Merck will invest an additional €40 million to build a manufacturing and distribution platform in Asia over two years.
The new manufacturing and distribution centre, located in Mumbai, is expected to be completed in 2019. Occupying 10 acres, the site is more than 12,000 sq m with added capacity to meet the future growth needs, the company said in a statement.
Of this €40 million, €16 million will be in India and the remaining in South Korea and China, according to company officials.
Federal Bank gets board nod to buy 26% stake in Equirus
The board of directors of Federal Bank has approved acquiring a strategic minority stake of 26 per cent in Equirus Capital Pvt Ltd subject to statutory and regulatory approvals and satisfactory completion of financial and legal due diligence.
Avani Chaturvedi Becomes 1st Indian Woman To Fly Fighter Aircraft Solo
Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo. She flew a MiG-21 bison in her first solo flight from Jamnagar base of Indian Air Force (IAF) in Gujarat.
India to host first International Solar Alliance summit
India is going to host first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit in March 2018 in New Delhi. It will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by leaders from over 50 member countries. It will include French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid. During the summit, two new programmes — on scaling solar e-mobility.
India contributes $1 million for Tonga devastated by cyclone Gita
India contributed $1 million aid Tonga for rehabilitation efforts after the island was hit by Tropical Cyclone Gita which had caused massive destruction. Tonga was recently hit by worst Tropical Cyclone Gita. US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had reported it Category 4 cyclone. Wind gusts of the cyclone with intensity between 225 and 279 km/hr had destroyed nation’s parliament and affected about 70% island’s population. Tongatapu. The fund is managed by UNOSSC. The fund prioritizes projects reducing poverty and hunger, improving health, education, and equality. It mainly focuses on transformational sustainable development projects in the least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States.
Khattar launches Parivartan scheme
The Haryana Government launched Parivartan, a scheme designed to address 10 issues, including cleanliness and pollution, in 46 developmental blocks of the state. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The 10 issues include facilitation of financing, making agriculture profitable and sustainable, improving health services, implementing Swachh Bharat, decongesting market areas, engaging the youth, checking air pollution, ensuring availability of identity-related services, effective policing, and ensuring road order and conduct.
India’s forex reserves up by $1.96 billion to $421.720 billion
The foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 1.960 billion to USD 421.720 billion in the week to January 16, due to increase in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said today. In the previous week, the reserves had declined by USD 2.154 billion to USD 419.760 billion.
The reserves had touched a life-time high of USD 421.914 billion on February 9, FY18. It had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8 but has since been fluctuating.
Mizoram to get first regional agricultural centre with Israeli collaboration
Israeli Ambassador to India, Mr. Daniel Carmon stated that a Centre for Agriculture, with the collaboration of Israeli expertise, is going to be inaugurated in Mizoram in March 2018. This will be the first such center in the North East region (NER) of India that is being established with Israeli collaboration. It has been set up at a cost of Rs 8-10 crore. This Centre has been set up with the tripartite collaboration of India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of Israel and State Government of Mizoram and is exclusively for the processing of citrus fruits.
India successfully test fires ‘Dhanush’
India on Friday successfully test-fired nuclear-capable ‘Dhanush’ ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha.
The surface-to-surface missile, with a strike range of 350 km, was test-fired from the ship positioned near Paradip in the Bay of Bengal, said a defence official.
The trial was carried out by the Strategic Force Command (SFC).
Dhanush, a naval variant of the indigenously-developed ‘Prithvi’ missile, is capable of carrying a payload of 500kg and hitting both land and sea-based targets
46th Rose Festival in Chandigarh
Chandigarh’s famous Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, one of Asia’s largest rose gardens, is all set to welcome Indian and international visitors for the 46th Rose Festival. 829 varieties of roses spread across 30 acres of land will be delighting the visitors during the three-day festival that begins today. Apart from alluring roses, helicopter rides are also one of the major attractions of the rose fest. Cultural evenings are also planned at Leisure Valley where singers Kulwinder Billa, Gippy Grewal and Ankit Tiwari will woo the audience in the evenings. Special contests will also be held to keep the visitors hooked. Organised by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore inaugurated the Rose Festival today with BJP MP Kirron Kher as the chief guest. The cost of Chandigarh’s Rose Festival 2018 is expected to come around Rs 55.67 lakhs.
Paytm launches two more firms to enter insurance sector, boost fintech biz
