05 August 2017 Current Affairs
Kotak Bank’s New Forex Service
Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched Kotak Remit – an Aadhaar-based integrated outward forex remittance solution for both customers and non-customers. The 24×7 forex remittance service offers a completely paperless process that enables users to register online using Aadhaar and PAN numbers, and initiate remittances instantly.
L&T bags Rs 3375-crore Mauritius metro order
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Tourbo in August 2017 has announced Rs 3375 crore (18.8 Bn MUR) worth metro order from the Mauritius government to design and build an Integrated Light Rail-based Urban Transit System in the African island nation. The projects will be fully funded through a grant by Union Government and line of credit.
Maharashtra govt launches online portals MahaDBT, MahaVASTU
Maharashtra Government has launched MahaDBT and MahaVASTU, two line portals to streamline the process of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The portals were launched with an aim to bring more transparency in construction sector and to provide direct benefits with ‘Aadhaar’ authentication. MahaDBT portal is an Aadhaar-aunthenticated electronic mechanism that will enable direct transfer of benefits for over 40 schemes currently implemented by state’s various departments. MahaVASTU is an Online Building Permission Management System with an electronic workflow for sanctioning building approvals with full transparency.
MobiKwik Partners Bajaj Finance for Larger Financial Services Pie
Mobile wallet major MobiKwik has entered into a strategic partnership with Bajaj Finance to transform itself into a financial services app from a payments app at present. Under this partnership, Bajaj Finance has picked up 10.83 per cent equity stake in MobiKwik for about Rs 225 crore and offer its lending (purchase finance, credit card, mortgage loans and personal loans) and insurance products to be sold through the MobiKwik app.
India, AIIB sign 329 mln USD loan for Gujarat Road Project
India signed a loan agreement with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for providing loan of 329 million U.S. dollars to improve rural road connectivity in western state of Gujarat. The objective of the project is to improve the rural road connectivity and accessibility to 1,060 villages in all the 33 districts in Gujarat state benefiting about 8 million people. The project will also benefit the service providers such as public transport operators, educational institutions, hospitals, local markets and traders.
Prem Nazir Award for actor Sharada
Veteran actress and national award winner Sharada has been selected for this year’s Prem Nazir Award. The award, carrying a purse of Rs 75,000, a statuette and a citation, was instituted by people of Chirayankeezhu, Nazirs home town in the district, in memory of Keralas evergreen actor. It will be presented to Sharada by state Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran at a function at Chirayankeezhu on August 15. Sharada had won three national awards with the first being for her performance in 1968 tragedy film “Thulabharam”, which was remade in Tamil also. She has acted in several Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films.
JK Rowling named World’s Highest Paid Author by Forbes
Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has been named the world’s most highly-paid author with earnings of £72.2m ($95m). It is the first time that Rowling has topped Forbes’ list of the 10 highest earners in the global industry for the first time in almost 10 years. Other authors included in the list were Paula Hawkins and EL James.
AIFF Special Committee names Banerjee as Chairman
The AIFF has appointed senior advocate Ushanath Banerjee as the chairman of a special committeethat will be dealing with players’ transfer disputes. The Committee entrusted the Chairman to make a detailed and reasoned paper based on the review of the rules and regulations as mentioned above for consideration of the members for a decision thereafter.
India’s First Private Missile Production Facility Unveiled
India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, a joint venture between the $2.5 billion Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., was inaugurated near Hyderabad. The Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant will make anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Spike. Besides supplying to the Indian Army, the plan is to export to South East Asian countries. Formed in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Centre and the policy to encourage private sector participation in defence production, the 51:49 joint venture will develop a wide range of advanced capabilities.
Prabhat Kumar as the Next Ambassador to The Republic of Kazakhstan
Shri Prabhat Kumar, (IFS 1991), presently Ambassador of India to Colombia has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Kazakhstan. Prabhat Kumar was Director General, in-charge of the Energy Security and Investment and Technology Promotion Division in the Ministry of External Affairs Kumar was earlier posted to the Permanent Mission of India to the conference of disarmament in Geneva. He also served in the Indian Embassies of Nepal, Croatia and Spain.
Mughalsarai railway station renamed after Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
The Centre recently approved the Adityanath-led UP government’s proposal to rename the Mughalsarai railway station after the Jan Sangh leader as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) station. This comes as the part of the state government’s attempt to revive the legacy of Upadhyaya who died in 1968. The UP government in its proposal pointed to the mysterious death of Upadhyaya at the Mughalsarai station as one of the primary reasons to rename the station.
Delhi Police ties up with Uber to enhance Women Safety
Passengers can now access the Delhi Police’s women safety mobile application ‘Himmat’ via cab aggregator Uber’s application while travelling in taxis. This is Delhi Police’s first partnership with a technology company to intensify its focus on the safety of women in the city. With this partnership, Himmat will now be accessible to lakhs of women riders in one go. Uber also aims to act as a force multiplier and expand its access to all of its women riders. In the first phase of the partnership, Uber will develop a permanent in-app access for Himmat app, including a link to download it from the app store. The second phase will allow users to directly access the Himmat app from within the Uber app.
Akshay Kumar is Brand Ambassador for Swachh Bharat Mission in UP
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced the appointment of Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state. The chief minister also announced to make the film tax-free in the state. The chief minister also released the film’s toilet anthem, ‘Karle Toilet Ka Jugar’, which has been sung by the actor himself. The movie stresses on the importance of building toilets and ending open defecation in the country.
Venkaiah Naidu is 13th Vice President of India
Venkaiah Naidu is going to succeed Hamid Ansari as the new Vice-President of India. Naidu’s victory was a foregone conclusion, the NDA candidate having the support of a majority of MPs who ally with the BJP. According to the Election Commission, 771 votes were polled, of which 760 were valid and 11 were invalid. Venkaiah Naidu secured 516 and Gopalkrishna Gandhi 241 votes. This means, that Venkaiha Naidu will become the 13th Vice President of India.