Nafed's Honey FPO Programs In 5 States

• Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare virtually inaugurated the Honey Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO) Programs of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) under the "Formation & Promotion of 10,000 FPOs" Scheme in 5 states (West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan).

• The areas covered under the Honey FPO programme are, Sundarbans in West Bengal, East Champaran in Bihar, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Morena in Madhya Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

• The NAFED, one of the Implementing Agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, will support the establishment of the Honey FPO programme in the five states.

• The First Honey FPO under National Beekeeping & Honey Mission at Chambal FED Shahad Utpadak Sahakari Samiti, Madhya Pradesh was registered on 11.11.2020 under the Cooperatives Act.

About National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited(NAFED):

• Singh
• Chairman-Dr. Bijender Singh
• Managing Director- Sanjeev Kumar
• Headquarters, New Delhi

About DBS Bank India Ltd. (DBIL):

• DBIL is a wholly owned subsidiary of DBS Bank Ltd, Singapore (“DBS"), which in turn is a subsidiary of Asia's leading financial services group, DBS Group Holdings Limited.

• DBIL has been issued a banking license to operate as a banking company under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949, on October 4, 2018.

• It is incorporated in India under Companies Act, 2013.

• Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Surojit Shome
• Head Quarter- Mumbai, Maharashtra.

NIIF Infrastructure Debt Financing Platform

• As a part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package, the Union Cabinet has approved the infusion of Rs 6,000 crore equity in National Investment and Infrastructure Fund's (NIIF's) Debt Financing platform in the next two years i.e., 2020-21 and 2021-22. This financial aid will help the entity to raise Rs 1.10 lakh crore by 2025 for financing infrastructure development projects in the country.

• It should be noted that NIIF Debt Platform is sponsored by NIIF, set up by NIIF Strategic Opportunities Fund (NIIF SOF) and is comprised of Aseem Infrastructure Finance Limited (AIFL) and NIIF Infrastructure Finance Limited (NIIF IFL).

• NIIF SOF owns a majority position in both the companies and has already invested Rs 1,899 crore across the Platform. This SOF facilitates NIIF investments.

• Out of the proposed amount, only Rs 2,000 crore will be infused in the current financial year i.e. FY2020-2021.

About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NUFL):

• It is a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors set up by Indian Government. It manages over USD 4.3 billion of equity capital commitments across its three funds - Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Opportunities Fund, each with its distinct investment strategy.

• Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Sujoy Bose
• Headquarter- Mumbai, Maharashtra

About Aseem Infrastructure Finance Limited (AIFL):

• It is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) - IFC (Infrastructure Finance Company).

• Headquartered, Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Virender Pankaj

FDI of Rs 2480.92 cr in ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Limited by ATC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the 2,480.92 crore foreign direct investment (FDI) in ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Ltd(ATC India) by M/s ATC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (ATC Singapore).

• This has been approved for acquisition of 12.32% of the equity share capital of ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited by ATC Asia Pacific PTE Limited.

• Now the cumulative FDI of ATC Asia Pacific PTE Limited (ATC Singapore) into ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited (ATC India) will be Rs 5417.2 crore in financial years 2018-19 to 2020-21.

• MoU on Cooperation in Physical Culture and Sport among BRICS Countries

• The Central Government has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries on cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports. It was apprised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) for strengthening of bilateral relations with BRICS member countries.

• This MoU will expand the Cooperation between five countries in expanding knowledge and expertise in the area of sports science, sports medicine, coaching techniques etc.

• This cooperation will further improve the performance of sportspersons in international tournaments.

About Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports (MYAS):

• Minister of State (MoS)-Independent Charge (I/C)- Kiren Rijiju

• About BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa):

• Chairman - Russia (2020), India will assume chairmaship in 2021

• Russia Presidency Theme- BRICS partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth

MoU between ICAI and Vereniging van Registercontrollers (VRC), the Netherlands

• The Union Cabinet also approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (CAI) and the Vereniging van Register controllers(VRC), the Netherlands for strengthening and development of the Accounting, Financial and Audit Knowledge Base between the Netherlands and India.

• This MoU will help in generating greater employment opportunities for Indian Chartered Accountants (CAS).

• Both sides will cooperate in respect of Member Management, Professional Ethics, Technical Research, Continuing Professional Education; Professional Accountancy Training, Education and Examinations, as well as the Institutional Capacity Building of the Accountancy profession.

About Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (CAI):

• President- CA. Atul Kumar Gupta

• Headquarter- New Delhi

About The Netherlands:

• Capital, Amsterdam
• Currency- Euro

7th Meeting of the Joint Trade Committee between India and Myanmar Virtually

• Piyush Goyal, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry along with Dr. Than Myint, Union Minister for Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar co-chaired the 7th Meeting of the Joint Trade Committee between India and Myanmar Virtually. India will host the 2021 Joint Trade Committee meeting between India and Myanmar.

• Both the country examined multiple sector ranging from trade, investment, banking, connectivity, oil, gas, capacity building and upgradation of border infrastructure during the meeting.

About Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Tamu (Phase I):

• Both the countries acknowledged the establishment of a modern Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Tamu (Phase I) which is built with Indian's assistance.

• The Tamu-Phase 1 project would improve the connectivity as well as will enhance the trade between the countries.

The Indian State besides to this Myanmar's ICP Tamu is Manipur.

• About Myanmar:
• Capital - Naypyidaw
• Currency - Kyat
• President - Win Myint

PM Modi releases book on the life of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a book on the life and ideals of Sri Guru Nanak Dev the founder of Sikhism, India's fourth largest religion. The book was written by Chandigarh based writer Kirpal Singh and released on the presence of Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Rajasthan Signed LoU with UN World Food Programme to Achieve Food & Nutritional Security Goals

• The United Nations (UN)'s World Food Programme(WFP) signed a Letter of Understanding (LOU) with the Government of Rajasthan for the proposed participation to achieve food and nutritional security goals.

• Based on the MoU between the Civil Supply Department and the UN WFP, the WFP authorities signed the LoU with various government departments of Rajasthan to develop the partnership with them.

• The WFP signed the LoU with the following departments to achieve the targets of food and nutritional security by taking required support from these departments.

• Women and Child Development,

• School Education, Rural Development

• Tribal Regional Development departments

About World Food Programme(WFP):

• Executive Director- David Beasley

• Headquarters, Rome, Italy United Nations(UN)'s World Food Programme(UNWFP) won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

Elon Musk Becomes World's 2nd richest person: Bloomberg Billionaires Index

• The Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked Elon Musk, co-founder & CEO of Tesla as the world's 2nd richest person with a total net worth of USD 140 Billion after surpassing Bill Gates(USD 129 Billion), co founder of Microsoft. Elon Musk is also the CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). Jeff Bezos is ranked in first position with a net worth of USD 187 Billion. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd(RIL) ranked in 10th position with a net worth of USD 74.4 Billion. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's richest people.

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré - The President of Burkina Faso

• Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of People's Movement for Progress party, won the 2nd term as the President of Burkina Faso by winning the 2020 presidential elections.

• Eddie Komboigo, head of the Congress for Democracy and Progress, the leading candidate received 15% and the other leading opposition candidate Zephirin Diabre, representing Progress and Change Party received around 12% votes.

• About Roch Marc Christian Kaboré:

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, a former banker, became the president of Burkina Faso in 2015.

• About Burkina Faso:

• Capital- Ouagadougou
• Currency, West African CFA franc

New Zealand's Greg Barclay elected as new chairman of International Cricket Council

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named New Zealand's Greg Barclay as its new independent chairman to succeed Shashank Manohar. He defeated Imran Khwaja in the second round of voting.

• Imran Khwaja was serving as the Interim chairman after Shashank Manohar stepped down from the post in July 2020.

• Greg Barclay is the second-ever head of ICC from New Zealand after Alan Isaac president from 2012 14.

• Greg Barclay, a commercial lawyer by trade has served as a director of NZC (New Zealand Cricket) since 2012. He was a director of 2015 Men's World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand.

About International Cricket Council (ICC):

• Chief Executive Officer - Manu Sawhney
• Head Quarter - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

HDFC Ltd to Acquire 19.9% Stake in Renaissance Investment Solutions ARC for Rs 49.8 lakh

• HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Ltd will acquire 19.9% stake in Renaissance Investment Solutions ARC (Asset Reconstruction Company) Private Ltd for Rs 49,87,500.

• In this regard, HDFC Ltd signed agreements with Renaissance Investment Solutions ARC for investments.

• Renaissance Investment has to get the approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to commence the business of asset reconstruction

• Renaissance Investment was incorporated as a private limited company Under the Companies Act, 2013.

About HDFC(Housing Development Finance Corporation) Ltd:

• Managing Director(MD)- Renu Sud Karnad HeadQuarters, Mumbai, Maharashtra

• Indian Railway Launches Digitised Online Human Resource Management System

• Indian Railway has launched a completely digitized online Human Resource Management System (HRMS) to improve the efficiency and productivity of Railway system & also employee satisfaction.

• In this regard, Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman & CEO, Railway Board has launched following modules of HRMS & User depot useful for railway employees and pensioners via video conferencing.

• It enables Railway employees to check their PF balance and apply for PF advance online.

Faqir Chand Kohli, 'Father of Indian IT industry' & founder of TCS dies

• The founder and first CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Faqir Chand Kohli, who is also known as the 'Father of Indian Information Technology (IT) industries' passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was born on March 1924 Peshawar, British India.(Presently Peshawar is presently located in Pakistan).

• Kohli joined Tata Electric company in 1951, later Founded TCS alongside J.R.D Tata and become the Director of the company in 1970.

• He served as the chairman of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) 1994-95 & he served as the President of NASSCOM during 1995-96.

• He was known for transforming the IT industry of the country, for pioneering the Technology revolution in the country to build a $100 billion IT industry in India. As the CEO of TCS he brought IBM to India as part of Tata IBM deal in 1991 for hardware manufacturing.

• He received India's third-highest civilian honor, 'Padma Bhushan Award' in 2002 for his contributions to the Indian software industry.

• He also received the Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Award in 2000.