Pravin Agrawal Appointed BHEL Director
State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) appointed Pravin L. Agrawal as a part-time official director on its board. An Indian Forest Service officer, Agrawal is presently joint secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
MCX Launches India’s 1st Copper Options
India’s Multi Commodity Exchange launched the country’s first copper options contracts. Three contracts with a lot size of 1 tonne were launched. The option contract will provide physical market participants an additional instrument to hedge their risk.
Finance Ministry Ties Up With 40 Companies Under Mudra Scheme
The Union Finance Ministry has tied up with 40 entities including Flipkart, Swiggy, Patanjali, and Amul for extending loans to small entrepreneurs under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). In order to identify people who can be given funds under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), the ministry organized an event in Mumbai to extend loan under the scheme. The CEOs of various Banks, senior officials in the rank of MD or CEO from Oil Companies, Railway Board would be part of the event.
English Translation Of Polish Novel Flights Wins Man Booker Prize
Polish author Olga Tokarczuk won the Man Booker International Prize for her novel ‘Flights’. The novel, translated by Jennifer Croft, interweaves narratives of travel with explorations of the human body. It bagged the 67,000 US dollar prize after topping a shortlist of six titles, with Tokarczuk becoming the first Polish writer to win the award. The awards were announced at a ceremony in London. The head judge of the awards was Lisa Appignanesi.
Bala Prasath Won Formula Junior Racing Series 2018 Championship
Coimbatore racer Bala Prasath won the Formula Junior Racing Series 2018 Championship in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Bala, who was trailing in second place after Round 1 with 91 points, was in his element in Round 2 at the Kari Motor Speedway.
Madhya Pradesh Launches ‘My MP Rojgar Portal’
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched ‘My MP Rojgar Portal’ to provide jobs to youths as per their educational qualification, skills, and interest and ensure availability of able candidates to employers as per the need of their business. The portal was launched as a part of the ‘Ham Chhu Lenge Asman’ Mukhyamantri Career Counselling programme ‘Pahal’ in Model School of Bhopal. It was prepared by the Madhya Pradesh Skill Development and Employment Generation Board under youth empowerment mission.
MobiKwik Launches UPI On Platform, Offers Own VPA Handle
Leading digital financial services platform, MobiKwik, announced the launch of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its platform via its own Virtual payment address (VPA) handle @ikwik. MobiKwik’s users can, by default, use their mobile number as their own VPA which will be ‘@ikwik’. They will also be able to link multiple bank accounts with just one VPA and users can change primary account as per their requirements. MobiKwik is the first in the industry to offer UPI access to a huge base of three million merchants on its app.
Smart Cities India 2018 Expo Underway In New Delhi
A three-day Smart Cities India 2018 Expo, began in New Delhi. The mega event, consisting five expos is being held with a vision to help develop attractive and safe cities that evoke pride, passion and a sense of belonging among citizens. The five expos are Building India Expo, Solar India Expo, Transport India Expo, Smart Cities India Expo and Water India Expo. Over 300 exhibitors from different countries are participating in the 4th edition of this event.
India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of healthcare access: Lancet Study
As per Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease study, India ranked 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index (HAQ Index). However, despite such low rankings, India saw improvements in healthcare access and quality since 1990. The five countries with the highest levels of healthcare access and quality in 2016 were Iceland (97.1 points), Norway (96.6), the Netherlands (96.1), Luxembourg (96.0), and Finland and Australia (each with 95.9). The countries with the lowest scores were – Central African Republic (18.6), Somalia (19.0), Guinea-Bissau (23.4), Chad (25.4), and Afghanistan (25.9).
AB De Villiers Retires from International Cricket
Star South African batsman AB de Villiers announced his decision to retire from international cricket with immediate effect. In his 14-year career, he played 114 Tests, 228 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 78 T20 Internationals. Some of the Phenomenal Records of ABD are: The World Record for the fastest ODI 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls), the second highest individual Test score for South Africa (278*), the highest points (935) by a South African on the ICC Test rankings and has claimed the coveted SA Cricketer of the Year award twice (2014 and 2015).
HD Kumaraswamy took oath as New Karnataka Chief Minister
The JD(S)-Congress coalition government head HD Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the New Chief Minister of Karnataka. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kumaraswamy. Congress Leader G. Parameshwara was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. There are 221 elected members in the Legislative Assembly, and the coalition partners have 117 members, including one BSP and two independents.
Bank Of Baroda Locates Major Operations At GIFT City
Bank of Baroda successfully located most of its operational activities at a shared service center (SSC) at the GIFT City near Ahmedabad. The bank will now offer its services including retail loan processing, deposit account opening, forex and call center from the SSC, which will have a staff strength of 200. The bank will thus become one of the largest employers in the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar region. The bank had taken 20,000 sq, ft of office space in GIFT City, making it the first Indian bank to move several key operations to the smart city.
