LIC board approves majority stake buy in IDBI Bank
The board of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has approved the insurer’s acquisition of a majority stake in IDBI Bank.
It will be likely via a preferential allotment of shares.
It aims to infuse capital into the bank, which is facing a severe challenge in the form of mounting bad debt.
LIC will own 51 percent in IDBI Bank after the deal and will be the bank’s largest shareholder.
The deal will be completed in 3-5 months.
LIC will help the bank reduce its bad assets.
As per insurance laws, an insurer can only hold 15 percent stake in a single investee company.
LIC will be an exeption to this and hence had to seek special permission from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for the process.
IRDAI had earlier approved the deal on the condition that the life insurer will gradually bring its stake in the bank down after a few years.
The deal will need to be approved by the Union Cabinet, capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Reserve Bank of India.
SBI and Nabard tie-up
State Bank of India and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development have joined hands to provide collateral-free credit through Joint Liability Groups in Telangana.
Both have signed an MoU, along with seven NGOs from Nizamabad, Medak and Warangal districts, for the promotion and credit linkage of 2,000 JLGs during the current year.
Home minister inaugurated the world’s largest state-of-the-art visa centre in Dhaka
Union home minister, Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the world’s largest state-of-the-art visa centre in Dhaka with modern facilities, promising shorter waiting times for applicants.
This Integrated centre at Jamuna Future Park (JFP), Dhaka is the largest Indian visa centre in the world with 18,500 square feet commercial area.
Sushma Swaraj co-chairs joint commission meet in Bahrain
Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chairs the second joint commission meeting with her Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa in Bahrain.
The External affairs minister jointly inaugurated impressive Embassy of India Complex in Manama along with Foreign Minister of Bahrain Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmad bin Khalifa.
The new embassy complex is equipped with State-of-the-art Facilities to cater the growing need of people of both countries.
President nominates 4 members to Rajya Sabha
President Ram Nath Kovind has nominated 4 Rajya Sabha members viz. Farmer leader and former MP Ram Shakal, sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra, classical dancer Sonal Mansingh and founder of Delhi-based ‘India Policy Foundation’ Rakesh Sinha.
They were nominated as per Article 80(1)(a) of the Constitution, based on the recommendation of Council of Minister headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier, there were eight nominated members in Rajya Sabha.
Ishwar Sharma named ‘British Indian of the Year’
An eight-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy, Ishwar Sharma, who is the under-11 UK national yoga champion has been named the British Indian of the Year for his achievements in the field.
He has won a string of titles in both individual and artistic yoga, most recently a gold medal representing Great Britain at the World Student Games 2018 in Winnipeg, Canada, in June.
He was named British Indian of the Year in the Young Achiever category at the sixth annual awards ceremony held in Birmingham earlier this week.
Bihar to get world’s cheapest clean drinking water
Bihar will get the cheapest drinking water in the world.
The first of such a water project has been launched in Bihar’s Darbhanga district, Haribol Pond.
Sulabh International introduced the concept of ‘Sulabh Sauchalya’ in India, which is cost-effective innovative water project to provide the cheapest drinking water in the world, only in 50paisa/litre.
The ‘Sulabh Jal’ project converts contaminated pond and river water into safe drinking water.
The founder of Sulabh International Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak laid the foundation of the project at Haribol Pond in Darbhanga Nagar Nigam premises.
The water purification process has a capacity to purify 8,000 litres of water per day at nominal cost.
The water purification process has a capacity to purify 8,000 litres of water per day at nominal cost.
The total cost of installing this project would cost around Rs 20 lakhs.
University of Houston signs MoU with Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy
University of Houston has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) to build scientific and technical knowledge through joint research.
It was signed by IIPE founding director VSRK Prasad, IIPE administrative liaison Sudarsan Neogi, Elizabeth D Rockwell Dean of the Cullen College of Engineering at UH, Joseph W Tedesco and UH vice provost for global strategies and studies, Jaime Ortiz.
IFFCO rolls out e-commerce platform for farmers
Fertiliser major IFFCO launched an mobile application and web portal, IFFCO iMandi to address all needs of the farming community associated with it.
IFFCO has partnered with Singapore-based technology firm iMandi.
Through this e-commerce platform, IFFCO is targeting to reach GMV (gross merchandise value) of $5 billion in the next two years by catering needs of 5.5 crore farmers already associated with it.
The e-commerce platform is one stop shop for agri inputs and produce, FMCG, electronics, loans, insurance etc.
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), headquartered in New Delhi, is large scale fertiliser cooperative federation in India which is registered as Multistatte Cooperative Society.
Haryana tops state in per capita revenue collection under GST
Haryana has topped other states in per capita revenue collection under GST, and is also the fourth highest generator of e-way bills in the country.
It has been announced by state Finance Minister Abhimanyu.
Haryana has widened the tax base by 82.22 per cent and logged 19 per cent hike in revenue collections.
The introduction of One Nation One Tax GST in Haryana has been very smooth with the relatively small state with geographical size 1.4 per cent and 21st in size in the country, collecting the 5th highest gross GST in the country.
Haryana’s per capital revenue collection under GST is the highest in the country at Rs 1,876.
Integrated Indian visa application centre inaugurated
A new integrated state-of-the-art integrated Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) has been jointly inaugurated by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan at Dhaka’s Jamuna Future Park.
The High Commission of India in Dhaka, the new IVAC in Jamuna Future Park replaced the existing IVACs in Motijheel and Uttara.
The new IVAC in Jamuna Future Park will be a model visa centre.
Haryana launches ‘I am not afraid of English’ initiative
Haryana has launched ‘I am not afraid of English’ initiative to make primary school students fluent in English.
The initiative aimed at capacity building of teachers to enable them help students to read, write and speak in English right from class 1.
Under the programme, one Junior Basic Training teacher and a Block Resource Person per block has been trained to make students learn one sentence every day (minimum 20 per month for 10 months) in each class.
UN members elected Iceland to take a seat on UNHRC
The UN members unanimously elected Iceland to take a seat on the world body’s 47-member Human Rights Council.
Earlier, US had left the UNHRC in Jun, 2018 calling it a cesspool of political bias for its criticism of Israeli regime’s crimes against Palestinians.
UN finalizes Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
United Nations for the first time finalized Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to better manage international migration, address its challenges, strengthen migrant rights and contribute to sustainable development.
The compact is the first intergovernmental agreement to cover wide-ranging dimensions of international migration in holistic and comprehensive manner, agreed upon by all the UN member states minus the United States. It is not legally binding.
ISRO successfully conducts ground test of Vikas Engine
ISRO successfully conducted ground test of its high thrust version of Vikas Engine at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri, Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu for duration of 195 seconds.
The tests meet all its propulsion parameters and were found satisfactory and closely matched the predictions.
Vikas Engine belongs to family of liquid fuelled rocket engines conceptualized and designed by ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in the 1970s.
Haryana Governor gets additional charge of Himachal
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki has been given the additional charge of Himachal Pradesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.
According to an official communique, he would discharge ‘the functions of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, in addition to his own duties’ during the absence of Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat, who is on leave.
Bhushan Steel appoints TV Narendran as chairman
The board of directors of Bhushan Steel has approved the appointment of TV Narendran as chairman and non-executive additional director of the company.
A new management team has been put into place at Bhushan Steel Ltd after it was acquired by Tata Steel Ltd through India’s new insolvency and bankruptcy process.
Aruna Sairam selected for 2018 Sangita Kalanidhi award
Renowned Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam has been selected for 2018 Sangita Kalanidhi award of Music Academy for her contribution to Carnatic music.
She will, now, preside over 92nd annual conference to be held between Dec 15, 2018 and Jan 1, 2019.
The award will be conferred to her on Jan 1, 2019 the day of Sadas of the conference.
Sangita Kala Acharya award: Mridhangist Thanjavur R. Ramadoss and vocalist K. Oman Kutty.
T.K. Awards: Veena player Kalyani Ganesan and nagaswaram player S.R.G. Rajanna.
Mohammad Kaif announces retirement from competitive cricket
Mohammad Kaif, a cricketer who could earn a spot in the team on the strength of his fielding alone, chose a landmark day to announce his retirement from all forms of the game.
Sixteen years after he played a crucial part in India’s successful chase of 326, recovering from a precarious 146 for five to win the NatWest Trophy final against England, Kaif opted to walk into history after figuring in 13 Tests and 125 ODIs — 10229 runs in 186 First Class matches.
France wins 2018 FIFA World Cup Football title
France won 2018 FIFA World Cup Football by defeating Croatia by 4-2 goals in the final match held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.
It was France’s second World Cup crown after it had own it in 1998 (by defeating Brazil) on home soil.
With this victory, France joins Uruguay and Argentina in winning World Cup for a second time.
Golden Ball award: Luka Modric (Croatia)
Golden Boot award: Harry Kane (England captain) for scoring six goals across six games
Golden Glove award: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
FIFA Young Player award: 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe (France)
FIFA Fair Play Award: Spain for superb disciplinary record.
Qatar will be hosting next FIFA World Cup in 2022.
2018 Wimbledon Championships
The 2018 Wimbledon Championships was the 132nd edition of the tennis tournament championships and 51st edition in the Open Era, held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom.
Men’s Singles title: Serbia’s Novak Djokovic won the 2018 Wimbledon title in men’s singles category by defeating Kevin Anderson (South Africa) in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 7-6.
Women’s Singles title: Angelique Kerber (Germany) won the 2018 Wimbledon title in women’s singles category by defeating Serena Williams (United States) in straight sets 6–3, 6–3.
Men’s Doubles: Mike Bryan and Jack Sock pair from United States won the Wimbledon title in men’s doubles by defeating Raven Klaasen (South Africa) and Michael Venus (New Zealand) pair.
Women’s Doubles: Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniakov pair from Czech Republic won the Wimbledon title in women’s doubles by defeating Květa Peschke, 6 (Czech Republic) and Nicole Melichar (United States).
Mixed Doubles: Alexander Peya (Austria) and Nicole Melichar (United States) pair won the Wimbledon title in mixed doubles by defeating Jamie Murray (United Kingdom) and Victoria Azarenka (Belarus).
Kannada poet Vyasa Rao passes away
Noted Kannada poet and film lyricist M.N. Vyasa Rao has passed away in Bengaluru aged 73.
