NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Centre launches Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0: The
Government of India launched the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana on 15 January 2021. The scheme has been rolled out for the current
financial year, ending March 2021, and will be implemented by the Ministry of
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
About Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana-3.0: Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana-3.0, skills
training would be provided in 600 districts across all states, (except four
states including Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal) to 8 lakh
candidates over next three months with an outlay of Rs 948.90 crore with a
focus on Covid-related skills. The training will be imparted through 729
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), empanelled non-PMKK training centres
and more than 200 industrial training institutes (ITIs). Further, a five-year
PMKVY will be launched in 2021-22 with an enhanced target of skilling 1.5 crore
youth.
Note: Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship:
Mahendra Nath Pandey.
2. Piyush Goyal inaugurates the ‘Prarambh: Startup India
International Summit’: The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer
Affairs and Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the
two-day ‘Prarambh’, Startup India International Summit in New Delhi on 15
January 2021. The Summit has been organized by the Department for Promotion of
Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under M/o Commerce & Industry.
About the summit: The inaugural event was participated by the members of
BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation) countries. The ‘Prarambh’ Summit will provide a platform to the
startups and young minds from around the world to come together and collaborate
to work collectively to come with new ideas, innovation and invention. The
focus of the Summit will be on enhancing multilateral cooperation and
engagement with countries from around the globe to collectively develop and
strengthen the startup ecosystems. The Summit marks the fifth anniversary of
the Startup India initiative, launched by the Prime Minister on 16 January
2016.
3. Rajnath Singh unveils India’s 1st indigenously developed
driverless metro car: Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh has unveiled
India’s first ‘Driverless Metro Car’ on 15 January 2021 during a function held
at BEML’s Bangalore Complex. The indigenously designed & developed
state-of-the-art Driverless Metro trains are being manufactured at BEML
Bangaluru manufacturing facility, for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development
Authority (MMRDA). BEML recently opened its Depot office at Charkop Metro
Depot, MMRDA, Mumbai for commissioning, testing and round-the-clock services
for Driverless Metro cars. BEML bagged a total order of 576 cars for Mumbai
Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)’s MRS1 project and the supply
is scheduled progressively up to January 2024.
4. ISRO to adopt 100 Atal Tinkering Labs across country to
promote education: Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO will adopt one
hundred Atal Tinkering Labs across the country to promote education in the
field of Space Education and Space Technology related innovations for school
students. The collaboration between NITI Aayog and Indian Space Research
Organization is one of the prime examples of such effort. An Atal Tinkering Lab
provides a makerspace where young minds can give shape to their ideas through
hands on do-it-yourself mode and learn innovation skills.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Indian-American Garima Verma named digital director in
Office of the First Lady: Incoming First Lady, Jill Biden has named
Indian-American Garima Verma as her digital director and Michael LaRosa press
secretary, the Biden transition team has announced. She served as audience development and content
strategist on the Biden-Harris campaign. Before joining the campaign, Verma was
a volunteer with the content team, designing graphics for distribution to
Biden-Harris volunteers across the country.
About Garima Verma: Verma, who was born in India, grew up in
Ohio and the Central Valley of California. She previously worked in the
entertainment space, marketing films at Paramount Pictures and television shows
at The Walt Disney Company’s ABC Network, and media agency Horizon Media. Verma
has also served as an independent consultant in marketing, design and digital
for a number of small business and non-profit clients.
2. UN Rights Body elects Fiji in First Ever Presidential
Vote: The UN Human Rights Council elected Fiji’s ambassador as its 2021
president in an unprecedented secret ballot after a diplomatic stand-off
blocked the usual consensus decision. Fiji’s ambassador in Geneva, Nazhat
Shameem Khan, who served as the council’s vice president in 2020 and is
considered a rights champion, won with 29 out of 47 votes.
She ran against two other candidates from the UN’s
Asia-Pacific regional group of countries: Bahrain’s ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim
Bucheeri and his counterpart from Uzbekistan, Ulugbek Lapasov, who received 14
and four votes respectively. The president mainly oversees council meetings but
is also in charge of appointing the independent experts who investigate
countries’ alleged rights abuses and can determine how hard to crack down on
cases of state intimidation against those who cooperate with the body.
Note: UN Human Rights Council Founded: 15 March 2006; UN
Human Rights Council Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
3. India and Japan inks MoU to enhance cooperation in ICT:
India and Japan have signed an MoU to enhance cooperation in the field of
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) via videoconferencing. The
MoU was signed between Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT
Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Japanese Minister for Internal Affairs and
Communications Takeda Ryota.
Under the MoU: Both countries will enhance mutual
cooperation in the field of 5G technologies, telecom security, submarine
optical fibre cable system to islands of India, spectrum management, smart
cities, high altitude platform for broadband in unconnected areas, disaster
management and public safety etc.
Note: Japan Capital: Tokyo; Japan Currency: Japanese yen;
Japan Prime minister: Yoshihide Suga.
OTHER UPDATES:
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. YES Bank launches wellness themed credit card: Yes Bank
has announced its partnership with Aditya Birla Wellness Private Limited to
launch the ‘YES BANK Wellness’ and ‘YES BANK Wellness Plus’ Credit Cards –
aimed at the holistic health, self-care and wellness of consumers. This is an
innovative step to encourage and promote self-care, mental and physical
well-being.
About the Initiative: Consumers can now enjoy the bouquet of
complementary health benefits by simply registering on the Aditya Birla
Multiply App. Benefits include reward points, diet plans, consultations etc The
mobile app allows consumers to avail complimentary benefits such as annual
health check-up, round the clock doctor or counsellor helpline, in-studio or
home-based workout sessions, personalized diet plans, among others, right at
their fingertips.
Note: YES bank HQ: Mumbai, Maharashtra; YES bank MD &
CEO: Prashant Kumar.
2. ICICI Bank ties up with fintech Niyo to issue prepaid
cards to MSMEs: ICICI Bank, a leading Indian private sector bank, and Niyo, a
new age fintech company announced a tie-up to issue prepaid cards to Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) workers. MSMEs will now be able to get
‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ powered by Visa, for their blue-collar
workers. Benefits include:
(1) With this, MSMEs can upload the salaries of their workers
on the card, which the workers can then utilise as per their need seamlessly.
(2) These workers are mostly under-banked and are deprived
of banking facilities.
(3) The ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ allows an
individual to receive funds up to Rs 1 lakh into the card account. It offers
convenience and safety of digital banking to the blue-collar workforce while
providing a state-of-the-art salary disbursement solution to the employers.
(4) Any MSME can tie-up with Niyo to avail of the prepaid card.
After the tie-up, cards are issued to the workers at their workplace itself
while their KYC verification is done simultaneously using a biometric device.
(5) Once activated, workers can use the card to withdraw
funds at ATMs, make online transactions on e-commerce portals and make payment
by swiping the card at Point of Sale (PoS) machines.
Note: ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; ICICI
Bank MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi; ICICI Bank Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal
Apka.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. TEPC appoints Sandeep Aggarwal as new Chairman: The
Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) has appointed
Sandeep Aggarwal as the new Chairman. Aggarwal, the Managing Director and
Promoter of Delhi-based Paramount Communications, will take over from Shyamal
Ghosh, ex-Telecom Secretary. TEPC is an independent body set up by the
government to promote and develop the export of telecom equipment and services.
2. CCI approves Manipal Health’s 100% acquisition of
Columbia Asia Hospitals: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) gave its
approval to Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd (MHEPL) for the acquisition of
100% shareholding in Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt Ltd. The development comes
after the Bengaluru-based MEHPL had entered into a share purchase agreement
with the US-based hospital chain in October last year. The deal was valued at
Rs 2,100 crore. The focus is to develop an affordable, high quality healthcare
framework through its multi-specialty and tertiary care delivery spectrum and
further extend it to homecare.
3. Airtel, NSIC partner to digitally transform small
businesses: Telecom major Bharti Airtel announced its partnership with National
Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) to accelerate the digital transformation of
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India. This partnership with
NSIC envisages digital transformation of this critical sector as key to the
Central government’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ for enabling MSMEs to
scale up faster by ways of adopting digital ways of doing business.
OBITUARIES
1. Renowned astrophysicist Professor Shashikumar Madhusudan
Chitre passes away: Renowned astrophysicist Professor Shashikumar Madhusudan
Chitre passed away in Mumbai. He was 84. Prof Chitre’s scientific research is
focused on solar physics, astrophysics and gravitational lensing.He has done
extensive research on the Sun’s magnetic activity cycle, the solar dynamo
theory, and the role of neutrals in the solar atmosphere. A recipient of Padma
Bhushan, he retired as a senior professor from TIFR in Mumbai in 2001. He was
the former president of Astronomical Society of India and was a member of
multiple committees in recent decades which shaped India’s science policy.
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