06 July 2017 Current Affairs
South Indian Bank tie up with Peregrine Financial Group Forex
South Indian Bank has tied up with Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) Forex for remittance facility for the benefit of Indian expatriates from Australia. The new facility will leverage the bank to reach the Indian diaspora. Under this arrangement, NRIs can enjoy cost-effective and fast remittance services using SIB’s Express facility. NRIs can visit the PFG Forex outlets across Australia for remittances to India. SIB is already having correspondent banking arrangement with National Australia Bank and Fly World Money Exchange for remittances to India.
Tata Global Beverages appoints N. Chandrasekaran as chairman
Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) appointed Natarajan Chandrasekaran as the Chairman of its board with immediate effect. The Board has also appointed Siraj Azmat Chaudhry as Non-Executive Independent Director. On November 15, 2016 ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry was voted out as chairman by the board of the Tata Global Beverages and Harish Bhat was appointed in his place.
5th Meeting of BRICS Education Ministers held in Beijing, China
Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education was held in Beijing, China. The Indian delegation was led by Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar. The delegation of all the five BRICS countries participated in the two-day deliberations. Javadekar highlighted some of the initiatives of the Govt. of India in education. He specifically spoke about the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), SWAYAM platform which has already hosted over 480 courses online, research initiative IMPRINT and Smart India Hackathon. He also appreciated the creation of institutional mechanism in the form of BRICS Network University and BRICS Think Tank Council. Under BRICS Network University proposal, 12 universities from each of the 5 countries will engage with each other in education research and innovation. The 5 areas of cooperation which have been prioritised are–Communication and IT, Economics, Climate Change, Water Resources and Pollution, and BRICS study.
Pradeep Kumar Rawat appointed as the next Ambassador to Indonesia
Pradeep Kumar Rawat presently a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Indonesia. Rawat, an Indian ForeignService (IFS) officer of the 1990 batch, is expected to take up his assignment shortly. Indonesia officially the Republic of Indonesia is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacificoceans, it is the world’s largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands.
Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the 9th edition Delhi Dialogue
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has inaugurated the 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue. Under this program, the premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Delhi. The theme for Delhi Dialogue 9 is ‘India-ASEAN relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years’.
10th Session of the India- Jordan Trade and Economic Joint Committee held in New Delhi
The 10th India-Jordan Trade and Economic Joint Committee (TEJC) Meeting was held in New Delhi under the co-chairs of Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry, (India) and Mr. Yarub Qudah, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply (Jordan). The two leaders also inked the revised Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement between India and Jordan, aiming at boosting and diversifying bilateral trade relations, in addition to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation based on the principle of equity, non-discrimination. On the sidelines of the TEJC, business federations from both sides also met and discussed the roadmap for the promotion of trade and investment through a B2B mechanism.
J&K Assembly passes resolution to implement GST in the state
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly adopted a resolution to implement the goods and services tax (GST), bringing the state’s indirect taxation into the new unified tax regime that the rest of the country adopted on 1 July at a landmark ceremony in Parliament. The resolution moved by state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, was adopted through a presidential order calling on the Centre to safeguard the special status and exclusive taxation powers of the state. With this Jammu and Kashmir has become the last state to pass the GST bill in the state.
Trilateral Malabar Naval exercise 2017 to kick off on July 10
The Malabar naval exercise involving Indian, American and Japanese navies will kick start on July 10 in the Bay of Bengal, amid Chinas growing military assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea. A sizeable number of aircraft, naval ships and nuclear submarines of the navies of the three countries will be part of the annual exercise, considered a major war game in the region. The aim of the Malabar exercise is to achieve deeper military ties and greater interoperability among the three navies in the strategically-important Indo-Pacific region. India and the US have regularly conducted the annual exercise since 1992.
AIIB approves USD 329 mn loan to build roads in Gujarat
China based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved USD 329 million loan to build access roads to 4,000 villages in Gujarat. The funds have been approved to construct road linkages for last-mile connectivity to schools and tribal areas in 33 districts of the state. This project will construct and upgrade district and farm-to-market roads for the villagers and provide approaches to educational institutions, schools and hospitals.
India and Israel sign 7 Agreements
India and Israel have signed 7 agreements on areas including space, tech and agriculture during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit marks the 25 years of establishment of diplomatic relationship between India and Israel.
MoUs between India & Israel are:
- MoU for setting up of India-Israel Industrial R&D & Technological Innovation Fund (I4F).
- MoU for conservation of water in India.
- MoU on State Water Utility Reform in India India-Israel Development Cooperation- 3-year work program in Agriculture (2018-2020).
- Plan of cooperation regarding cooperation in atomic clocks.
- MoU regarding cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link.
- MoU regarding cooperation in electric propulsion for small satellites.
Pankaj Advani-led Indian beat Pakistan to win Asian Snooker Championship
India’s leading cueist Pankaj Advani teamed up with Laxman Rawat to demolish Pakistan in the final of the Asian Team Snooker Championship in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Advani drew first blood by putting on a sterling performance against Mohammad Bilal. After the Pakistani scored the first solitary point and benefited from a foul from Advani, the Indian bounced back to piece together a brilliant break of 83 to seal the first tie of the best-of-five final. To complete a whitewash, the Indian pair maintained their superlative performance in the doubles tie. Advani remained the only player not to lose a single individual match in the team event. This title brings up Advani’s second Asian title this season and 8th overall while it was a first major first international title for Rawat.