NATIONAL NEWS
Union Cabinet gives nod to raise women's marriage age to 21The Centre has decided to raise the legal age of marriage of women from 18 to 21 years and is likely to move legislative amendments in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
- The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to bring uniformity in the marriageable age of men and wome, adding that a Bill to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, will be introduced during this session.
The Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren has launched a Sports Action toward Harnessing Aspiration of Youth (SAHAY) scheme aimed at nurturing young sporting talents in Maoist-hit districts of the state.
- The scheme, which was launched in Saraikela-Kharsawan, West Singhbhum, Khunti, Gumla, and Simdega districts, will be replicated in other districts as well. Nineteen of the state’s 24 districts are affected by Left Wing Extremism.
- Under the scheme, boys and girls in the age group of 14-19 from village to ward level will be registered and they will be given an opportunity to showcase their skills in basketball, volleyball, hockey, and athletics.
BANKING & FINANCE
WhatsApp Launches Digital Payments Utsav in IndiaAt the Fuel For India 2021 event WhatsApp announced the Digital Payments Utsav - a pilot program that is going to adopt 500 villages in Karnataka and Maharashtra in an effort to “accelerate financial inclusion”.
- The aim is to empower villagers with access to digital payments via the ‘payments on WhatsApp’.
- This new pilot program is an intervention of sorts for the “new-to-digital” users and Digital Payments Utsav hopes to bring about a “behavioral transformation to digital payments at the grassroots”.
PhonePe said it has become the first payments platform to tokenize cards on Visa, Mastercard and Rupay card networks.
- The tokenization solution PhonePe Safecard will help businesses save time and effort by removing the need to integrate with multiple card networks while complying with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
- The Reserve Bank of India has asked payment aggregators and the merchants onboarded by them to not store actual credit card data. Starting January 1, 2022, no entity in the card transaction or payment chain, other than the card issuers and/or card networks, shall store the actual card data. Instead, cardholders can get digital tokens to complete their online transactions.
Pine Labs, a merchant commerce platform, has partnered with AU Small Finance Bank, the country’s largest small finance bank.
- With this partnership, the bank’s credit cardholders will now be able to avail of equated monthly instalments (EMI) offers at the point of sale and convert their regular purchase into interest-free EMIs across the over 2 lakh merchant base of Pine Labs, pan India.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
PFC enters pact to finance 350 electric buses in Uttar PradeshPFC, India's leading NBFC in the power sector, signed an agreement to lend Rs 275 crore for deployment of 350 electric buses across nine cities of Uttar Pradesh.
- The buses will be deployed in key cities of UP including Agra, Meerut, Aligarh, Bareilly, Ghaziabad & Mathura.
- Government of India has launched FAME-II scheme with an allocation of Rs.3500 crore for promotion of adoption of electric buses. Electric buses offer sustainable mobility solutions by tackling challenges of poor air quality and also reducing carbon footprints of the nation.
Global debt rose to a record $226 trillion in 2020 as the world was hit by the raging Covid-19 pandemic and a deep recession, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced.
- Global debt rose by 28 percentage points to 256 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, the largest one-year debt surge since World War II, Vitor Gaspar, director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, wrote in a blog with his colleagues, citing figures from the IMF's latest Global Debt Database.
- Debt increases are particularly striking in advanced economies, where public debt rose from around 70 per cent of GDP in 2007 to 124 per cent of GDP in 2020.
India's TVS Motor Company (TVSM.NS) said it will develop electric vehicles (EV) with BMW's motorcycle brand in India, joining a host of Indian automakers that have sought to expand their clean mobility offering.
- The tie-up comes at a time when new-age start-ups like Ola Electric and Ather are ramping up investment in electric scooters, forcing legacy two-wheeler makers like TVS and Bajaj Auto to follow suit.
SPORTS
Lewis Hamilton receives knighthood at Windsor CastleLewis Hamilton, who missed a record eighth Formula 1 world championship title by a whisker, has been honoured with knighthood for services to motorsport . The Mercedes driver was made a Knight Bachelor by Prince of Wales Charles, during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in Windsor.
- Hamilton holds the record for most race wins with 103, while he is tied with German great Michael Schumacher on seven drivers' championships.
- Hamilton is the fourth F1 driver to be knighted after the late Australian Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and triple champion Jackie Stewart, and the only one to have received the award while still racing.
AWARDS
Kumar Mangalam Birla receives Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award from TiEAditya Birla Group’s chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla received the Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award- Business Transformation from The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) based out of Silicon Valley.
- Birla is the first Indian Industrialist to receive the award for global entrepreneurship along with top global business leaders Satya Nadella, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos.Birla dedicated the award to the employees of his organisation.
- In addition, awards were given out to Techstars for Best Global Accelerator for Startups, MIT for Global University Promoting Student Entrepreneurship and Accel as Best Global VC Fund.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ranked 8th on the list of the world's top 20 most admired men, in a survey carried out by data analytics company YouGov. The list has been compiled taking feedback from 42,000 people in 38 countries, the survey company said.
- Apart from PM Modi, the other Indian men who, according to the survey, were the most admired in 2021 include Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Virat Kohli.
- Former US President Barack Obama has retained the top spot on the list, with American businessman Bill Gates on the second spot.The third, fourth, and fifth positions on the list have been secured by Chinese President Xi Jinping, football player Cristiano Ronaldo, and legendary actor Jackie Chan, respectively. Other personalities on the list are Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Chinese businessman Jack Ma and ex-US President Donald Trump.
- Among women, Angelina Jolie and UK’s Queen Elizabeth have followed Michelle Obama in rankings. Women’s list has been dominated by actresses and singers. After Jolie, Scarlett Johansson is at number 5, followed by Emma Watson and Taylor Swift. Germany’s former chancellor Angela Merkel is in 8th spot. Priyanka Chopra is at number 10. Chopra and Afghan activist Malala Yousafzai have climbed the farthest in the list
BOOKS & AUTHORS
"Rewinding the first 25 years of MeitY!" book by SS OberoiThe book titled ‘Rewinding of First 25 years of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’ authored by S S Oberoi, the former adviser at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) was launched by Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary of MeitY.
- The book consists of life experience, challenges working as an advisor under the MeitY. He was the first head of the Software Development Agency and the first adviser of Information Technology.
The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled ‘Gandhitopi Governor’ written by Shri Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad has been released recently.
- Venkaiah Naidu called for an objective re-evaluation of Indian history through better fact-based research. Suggesting that the colonial perspective of India's past has distorted facts, he called for a fresh approach to Indian history, with more books on Indian freedom fighters and leaders.
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