09 March 2016 Current Affairs
Anand Mahindra conferred France’s Knight of the Legion of Honour
Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Group Anand G Mahindra was on 5 March 2016 conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour). The honour was conferred upon by François Richier, Ambassador of France to India, at the Residence of France in New Delhi. Anand Mahindra was chosen for the highest French civilian distinction in recognition of his outstanding national and international achievements and initiatives at the helm of the Mahindra Group. The National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur) is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 May 1802. In the past, personalities such as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Amitabh Bachchan, Manish Arora and JRD Tata were honoured with the prestigious award.
ICICI Bank launched iWork@home for women employees
ICICI Bank has launched iWork@home, an initiative that allows women employees to work from home for up to a year. Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive officer, ICICI Bank, explained this could be extended for more than one year based on the requirements of the employee. This initiative allows women employees to have access to their required operating systems in a safe and secure manner, creating a seamless office-like environment. The technology platform for this programme has been developed in-house by ICICI Bank in partnership with students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. The bank has also launched an initiative which aids women managers who travel on business, by covering the travel and stay of young children and their caregivers. This would ensure that when a young mother of a child up to three years travels for an official purpose on an overnight trip, the child is also allowed to travel with her. ICICI Bank has also introduced new benefits under its “Advantage Woman Savings Account”. These include unlimited free ATM usage at all banks, cash back subject to a maximum of Rs 750 per month on usage of debit card at departmental stores; it also provides 30 per cent discount on first-year locker rentals.
57 countries to take part in first-ever Maritime India Summit 2016
57 countries are going to take part in the first Maritime India Summit 2016 scheduled to be held in April 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was announced by the Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on the sidelines of media launch of the Maritime India Summit 2016.
IMF to set up data sharing centre in India
In a first for Asia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will set up a knowledge sharing centre in India, to provide technical support and assistance here and to five other South Asian nations. Their team will extend expertise in core macro economic and financial management areas. An agreement is likely to be signed here on Saturday by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new IMF centre, being set up amid the global economic uncertainty, will provide assistance to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bhutan.South Korea and Japan are likely to be donors in the initiative. IMF had similar regional centres for southern Africa and west Asia. For the first time, four emerging market (EM) countries of the BRICS bloc -Brazil, China, India and Russia -will be among the 10 largest members of IMF. Others in the top 10 are America, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Britain.