NATIONAL NEWS
Govt approves continuation of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for next 5-yearsUnion Cabinet has approved continuation of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for next five years.
- The cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi accorded its approval for stipendiary support of three thousand 54 crore rupees to apprentices who undergo apprenticeship training under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Approximately nine lakhs apprentices will be trained by industry and commercial organisations.
- The apprentices who have completed graduate and diploma programme in Engineering, Humanities, Science and Commerce will be given stipend of nine thousand and eight thousand rupees per month respectively.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for the continuation of the umbrella scheme, Ocean Services, Modelling, Application, Resources and Technology, O-SMART of Ministry of Earth Sciences for implementation during the period from 2021-26 at an overall cost of 2 thousand 177 crore rupees.
- The scheme encompasses seven sub-schemes namely Ocean Technology, Ocean Modelling and Advisory Services (OMAS), Ocean Observation Network (OON), Ocean Non-Living Resources, Marine Living Resources and Ecology (MLRE), Coastal Research and Operation and Maintenance of Research Vessels.
- These sub-schemes are being implemented by autonomous and attached institutes of the Ministry like National Institute of Ocean Technology NIOT Chennai, Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services INCOIS Hyderabad, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research NCPOR Goa, Center for Marine Living Resources and Ecology CMLRE Kochi and National Centre for Coastal Research NCCR Chennai as well as involving other national institutes.
- A fleet of oceanographic and coastal research vessels of the Ministry provide required research support for scheme.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman handed over credit sanction letters of Rs 306 crore to beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir and announced a host of initiatives, including a Rs 200 crore cluster development fund for the Union territory.
- She also virtually laid the foundation of rural self-employment training institute buildings at Shopian and Baramulla districts of the Kashmir Valley.
- She also handed over sanction letters of Rs 306 crore to 145 beneficiaries of different banks and credit-linked schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme, MUDRA Scheme, Self-Help Groups, Joint-Liability Groups, among others.
In Madhya Pradesh ‘Urja Saksharta Abhiyan’ would be launched to make all the citizens aware about energy saving. The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.
- The activities to be included in this campaign are to give information about alternative sources of energy and steps towards energy conservation. Students of schools and colleges will act as volunteers in the campaign.
- Efforts are also being made by state government to increase the share of electricity supply from renewable energy.
NITI Aayog under the Indo-German Cooperation has released the inaugural Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Urban Index and Dashboard 2021-22. In its journey towards localizing the SDGs and instituting robust SDG progress monitoring systems at the national, State and UT and local levels, NITI Aayog has achieved yet another milestone with the launch of the inaugural SDG Urban Index and Dashboard (2021-22).
- The index and dashboard are a result of the NITI Aayog-GIZ and BMZ collaboration focused on driving SDG localization in cities, under the umbrella of Indo-German Development Cooperation.
- Total fifty six urban areas were considered for computation. Shimla tops the Index followed by Coimbatore and Chandigarh. The index and dashboard will further strengthen SDG localization and institute robust SDG monitoring at the city level.
Government has approved the proposals for Construction of three lakh 61 thousand houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). These houses have been approved in the 56th meeting of Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Durga Shanker Mishra.
- With this, the total number of sanctioned houses under the Mission is now one crore 14 lakh. Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry the total investment under the mission is seven lakh 52 thousand crore rupees.
The 1st International Conference on Hydrogen Energy - Policies, Infrastructure Development and Challenges is being organized by Central Board of Irrigation and Power in New Delhi.
- The two day conference aims to bring key stakeholders on the same platform to discuss all facets of Hydrogen Energy in India.
- Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Bhagwanth Khuba hoped that this conference will be able to deliberate future challenges for Hydrogen Energy and find solutions.
- He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized his conviction for decarbonisation of India in COP26. The Minister inspired technologists from IITs and other organizations for maximum research for Hydrogen Energy to culminate the challenge of reducing cost of production for eletrolysers.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 24th edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit, which is being conducted in a hybrid format, will witness participation of over 30 countries.
- For the first time, South Africa, Vietnam and the UAE will participate in the Bengaluru Tech Summit.
- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who virtually attended the summit announced that Australia will soon establish a consulate-general in Bengaluru.
- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also attended the summit virtually and said that India is one of the biggest economies in the world with vast expertise.
Indian Army’s Pune-based Southern Command concluded a four-day multi-agency exercise ‘Sagar Shakti’ involving army, navy, air force, coast guard, Border Security Force and Gujarat state security in Kutchs’s Creek sector.
- The exercise was part of ‘Dakshin Shakti’, being held in the training areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat with a focus on network-centric warfare, which denotes effective use of information technology and computer networking tools to form networks of various force elements in play on the battlefield.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Five-day biennial trilateral exercise Dosti between Maldives, India and Sri Lanka concludesThe 15th edition of the Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka biennial Trilateral Exercise 'Dosti', held in the Maldives is set to concluded. This year marked 30 years since the initiation of the exercise.
- The coast guards of India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka undertook the five-day military exercise to enhance interoperability and cooperation.
- Indian Coast Guard vessels, ICGS Vajra, ICGS Apoorva and, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, SLCGS Suraksha arrived in the Maldives for the exercise.
India and Nepal inked a Memorandum of Understanding for reciprocal recognition of COVID vaccination certificate to significantly ease the travel woes for fully vaccinated people from the two neighboring countries.
- The MoU, between the health ministries of the two countries, is a significant step in easing travel for fully COVID-19 vaccinated travelers of both the countries.
- It "marks another milestone in robust COVID-19 related cooperation and coordination between India and Nepal.
India and United States have agreed on a transitional approach on Equalisation Levy 2020. India and United States have agreed that the same terms that apply under the October 21 Joint Statement shall apply between the two countries with respect to India’s charge of two per cent equalisation levy on e-commerce supply of services and the United States’ trade action regarding the Equalisation Levy.
- However, the interim period that will be applicable will be from 1st of April 2022 till implementation of Pillar One or 31st March 2024, whichever is earlier.
- India and United States will remain in close contact to ensure that there is a common understanding of the respective commitments and endeavor to resolve any further differences of views on this matter through constructive dialogue.
BANKING & FINANCE
India's 112 most under-developed districts becomes credit-worthyAccess to credit in the country’s most under-developed districts has grown rapidly following the introduction of the government’s aspirational district programme with microfinance loan outstanding in these districts rising 2.6-fold in the three-and-a-half years.
- Microfinance portfolio outstanding in 112 of such districts stood at Rs 28,737 crore at the end of June, compared with Rs 11,175 crore as just before the launch of the programme in January 2018, a joint report by Equifax and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) showed.
- Nearly 43% of the loans were given by banks, the data showed. Small finance banks contributed 13% and NBFc-MFIs accounted for 37% of the loans.
Equitas Small Finance Bank had HDFC Bank have partnered for co-branded credit cards.
- The credit cards will be available for Equitas Small Finance Bank’s customers, with an aim to provide them with the facilities of the banking ecosystem.
- The credit card can be availed in two categories. The first category is the ‘Excite Credit Card’ which offers a credit limit from ₹25,000 to ₹2 lakh and the second category is the ‘Elegance Credit Card’ which offers credit limit of over ₹2 lakh.
World Bank will provide USD 250 million loan for a school education project in Andhra Pradesh, which will cover over 50 lakh students in the southern state.
- The project will cover about 40 lakh students (6-14 year age group) in over 45,000 government schools, and over 10 lakh children (3-6 years) enrolled in Anganwadis (Integrated Child Development Centers), and about 1,90,000 teachers, and more than 50,000 Anganwadi workers.
- It will introduce a one-year preschool-level course in 3,500 schools in the tribal blocks. Also, it will help address the issue of low learning levels amongst the tribal community.
- The fund will be utilised for Supporting Andhra's Learning Transformation Project to encourage professional development of teachers; provide remedial learning courses for children impacted by Covid-19 pandemic.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) has once again been named the world's most important bank to the health of the wider financial system, according to the latest annual ranking of top lenders by global regulators.
- The Financial Stability Board (FSB), made up of regulators from G20 countries, published its latest table of the world's 30 most systemic banks.
- The 30 lenders are divided between four "buckets" in order of how systemic, international, interconnected and complex they are, with JPMorgan now in a higher bucket than its nearest peers.BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) were also declared more systemic, both moving up one bucket.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Goldman Sachs pegs India's GDP growth at 9.8% in FY23Indian GDP will grow at 8.5 per cent in 2021-22, and the rate will accelerate further to 9.8 per cent in 2022-23, a foreign brokerage said.
- The GDP had contracted by 7.3 per cent in the pandemic-hit FY21, and is widely expected to grow at a faster pace due to the base effect in 2021-22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects a 9.5 per cent growth in 2021-22, and the same to slow down to 7.8 per cent as things normalise.
APPOINTMENTS
Sweden's first ever female prime minister resignsJust hours after being installed as Sweden’s first ever female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson dramatically resigned after suffering a budget defeat in parliament and then losing her coalition partner in a two-party minority government.
- Ms Andersson said a decision by the Green Party to quit the two-party coalition had forced her to resign, but added that she had told the parliamentary speaker she hoped to be appointed prime minster again as the head of a single-party government.
Kuwait's Emir has reappointed Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid as prime minister and tasked with forming a cabinet that would be the Gulf OPEC oil producer's third this year in a domestic political standoff.
- Sheikh Sabah, prime minister since late 2019, was reappointed by an emiri order issued by Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The government had resigned on Nov. 8 in the standoff with the elected parliament.
AWARDS
Sohan Roy 1st Indian honoured with Knighthood of Parte Guelfa in FlorenceDr S K Sohan Roy from Kerala, CEO, and founder of Aries Group of Companies has become the first Indian to be honoured with the Knighthood of Parte Guelfa for his humanitarian and Environmental protection efforts in business and movies.
- The honorary title of “Knight of Parte Guelfa” has been conferred upon him during the conferring ceremony organized during the Investitures of Parte Guelfa of Annus Domini 2021 and was held at the Basilica of Santa Croce and the Palagio di Parte Guelfa in Florence, Italy.
- Dr Sohan Roy, an Indian entrepreneur based in Sharjah, is a Naval Architect and Marine Engineer, an award-winning director and a poet. Forbes listed him among the top Indian leaders of the Arab World four times in a row between 2015 and 2019.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Fourth Scorpene-class submarine 'INS Vela' commissioned into Indian NavyINS Vela, the fourth Scorpene-class submarine was commissioned into the Indian Navy, a short while ago, in the presence of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, at the naval dockyard in Mumbai.
- The P-75 project represents the growing strategic congruence between the two nations, India and France.
- INS Vela has the ability to undertake an entire spectrum of submarine operations. Admiral Singh said, given today's dynamic and complex security situation, its capability and firepower will play a crucial role in enhancing Navy's ability to protect India's maritime interests.
Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a new mission was launched by NASA to test technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards.
- The DART mission was lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Just one part of NASA's larger planetary defence strategy, DART - built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland - will impact a known asteroid that is not a threat to Earth.
- DART will show that a spacecraft can autonomously navigate to a target asteroid and intentionally collide with it - a method of deflection called kinetic impact. The test will provide important data to help better prepare for an asteroid that might pose an impact hazard to Earth, should one ever be discovered.
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