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Daily Current Affairs 09th Jan 2021

To prepare for any competitive exam, one of the important sections to read and learn is current affairs. Exams like UPSC, Bank, SSC, RRB or any Government

IAF signs MoU with IDSR for Academic Collaboration

  • Indian Air Force (IAF) and Institute of Defence Studies and Research (IDSR), Autonomous Institution of Gujarat University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable IAF officers to enroll for higher studies in the IDSR Institute. The MoU has been signed as part of IAF's Project Akashdeep.
  • Officers will be able to undertake Doctoral Research, Post-Graduate Programme & Post Graduate Diploma in the areas of Defence Studies, Defence Management, National Security, Aerospace & Aviation Science and other areas of Defence Technology.

Akashdeep Program:

  • It is a program for Airmen in IAF.
  • It was launched to recognize the Basic & In-service training which are imparted to Airmen & Non-Combatants Enrolled (NCS (E)) of IAF for award of civil qualifications.
  • Till date, IAF has signed MoUs institutes like Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Jamia Millia Islamia University (Delhi).

About Institute of Defence Studies and Research (IDSR), Gujarat:

  • Director - Dr Shiva Prasad
  • Situated at Ahmedabad, Gujarat

About Indian Air Force:

  • Chief of the Air Staff - Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria
  • Headquarters - New Delhi

CCEA Approved Central Sector Scheme for 17 Years for Industrial Development of J&K

  • Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has approved the Central Sector Scheme (CSS) namely "New Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K IDS, 2021)" for Industrial Development of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
  • The scheme proposed by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been approved with a total outlay of 28,400 crore upto the year 2037
  • The package will remain in force for 17 years i.e. 2020-21 to 2036-37
  • Capital Investment Incentive: It will be provided at the rate of 30% in Zone A and 50% in Zone B on investment made in Plant & Machinery (in manufacturing) or construction of building and other durable physical assets(in service sector)
  • Eligibility- Units with an investment upto Rs 50 crore
  • Maximum Limit- Rs 5 crore in Zone A and Rs 7.5 crore in Zone B.
  • Capital Interest subvention: It will be given at the annual rate of 6% for maximum 7 years on loan amount up to Rs 500 crore
  • GST Linked Incentive: It will be provided at 300% of the eligible value of actual investment made in above mentioned sectors for 10 years. This incentive is on the lines of ease of doing business.
  • Working Capital Interest Incentive: will be provided at an annual rate of 5% for maximum 5 years. With this interest subvention the scheme is likely to give indirect support to about 35,000 persons.
  • Maximum limit- Rs 1 crore.

NHAI set to operationalise India's 1st Government Sponsored InvIT by March, 2021

  • National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to operationalise India's 1st Government Sponsored Infrastructure Investment Trust (InviT) by March, 2021. Around 5-6 Road Projects worth INR 5, 000 crore have been given in principle approval for transfer to the InvIT.
  • The Union Cabinet approved NHAI proposal to float InvIT in December, 2019.
  • InvIT - It is an Collective Investment Scheme through which individuals & institutional investors can invest in Infrastructure projects and earn a small portion of the income as return.

NHAI Appoints B Sriram as Chairman of NHIIMPL:

  • NHAI appointed Veteran Banker B Sriram as Chairman of its Investment manager company National Highways Infra Investment Managers Pvt Ltd (NHIIMPL),
  • Sriram has earlier worked as Managing Director of IDBI Bank Ltd & Managing Director at State Bank of India (SBI).
  • He was selected by a search-cum-selection committee chaired by Deepak Parekh.

About National Highways Authority of India (NHAI):

  • It is an autonomous agency of Government of India & the nodal agency of Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
  • Chairman - Sukhbir Singh Sandhu
  • Headquarters - New Delhi

World's Largest Floating Solar Energy Project at MP set to begin Power Generation by 2022-23

  • The World's Largest Floating 600 Megawatt (MW) Solar Energy Project which is under construction at Omkareshwar dam on Narmada river in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh is set to begin power generation by the year 2022-23.
  • The production of electricity will be in about 2000- hectare water areas and the Floating panels will be installed in the backwaters of Omkareshwar dam.
  • Estimated Investment of the project stands at INR 3, 000 Crore.
  • Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company will purchase 400 MW power from the project.
  • KVIC signs MoU with ITBP for supply of 1,72,000 Cotton Durries every year
  • Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) for supply of 1.72 Lakh Cotton durries every year, which is valued around INR 8.74 crore.

CDSCO Gives Approval to Vaccines of M/s SII & M/s Bharat Biotech

  • The Committee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) gave approval to M/s Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, Maharashtra for Covishield, a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine, it encoded the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein with technology transfer from AstraZeneca/Oxford University and to M/s Bharat Biotech for COVAXIN, Whole Virion Inactivated Coronavirus Vaccine for restricted use in India in emergency situations.
  • M/s Cadila Healthcare has also been granted approval to conduct Phase III clinical trial of Novel Corona Virus-2019-nCov-Vaccine. These approvals are given by CDSCO on recommendations of the Subject Expert CDSCO. SII partners with AstraZeneca to manufacture Covishield, while Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR).

India provides NPR 30.66 Crore for Reconstruction of Earthquake Affected Schools in Nepal

  • India provided a grant assistance of 30.66 Crore Nepalese Rupees (NPR) (INR 19.21 Crore) to Nepal for Reconstruction of Educational Institutions damaged during the 2015 earthquake.
  • In another separate meeting, India also granted NPR 44.13 Million (INR 2.76 crore) to Nepal under Nepal Bharat Maitri Development Partnership.
  • India has committed an grant assistance of USD 50 Million towards Reconstruction Projects of Educational Institutions in Nepal.
  • Around 71 projects are being undertaken by NRA.

India has committed:

  • USD 150 Million for reconstruction of 50, 000 houses in Gorkha & Nuwakot districts
  • USD 50 Million for reconstruction of 147 hospitals/health posts in 10 districts.
  • USD 50 Million for restoration/reconstruction of 28 Cultural heritage sites in 8 districts of Nepal.

Gol, AP Govt and NDB Signs 2 Loan Agreement Worth USD 646 Million

  • Govt of India (Gol), Govt of Andhra Pradesh(AP) and New Development Bank(NDB) signed loan agreement worth USD 646 million(about Rs 4,736 crore) for 2 projects to upgrade State Highway Network and District Road Network in AP. The Loan amount of USD 323 million(about Rs 2,368 crore) for each project will be given by NDB.
  • The 2 projects include Andhra Pradesh Roads and Bridges Reconstruction Project and Andhra Pradesh Mandal Connectivity and Rural Connectivity Improvement Project.
  • The tenor of each loan is 32 years, including a moratorium period of 5 years.

About New Development Bank(NDB):

  • Operational on February 27, 2016.
  • Headquarters- Shanghai, China
  • Formerly referred as- BRICS Development Bank
  • President- Marcos Troyjo

BoB signs MoU with SIDBI to Enable MSMEs Apply Online for One-Time Restructuring

  • Bank of Baroda (BOB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) customers of the former to apply online for one-time restructuring (OTR).
  • With this, the eligible MSME entities can get credit exposure up to Rs 25 crore.
  • The restructuring of the borrower account will be implemented by March 31, 2021.
  • The MSME Customer can now access the web-based portal, 'Asset Restructuring Module for SMES (ARM- MSME)'.
  • This portal enables customers to self-create their restructuring proposal with financial viability projections by entering only the most essential data of their past and projected financials.
  • The MSMEs are affected by financial stress due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to consider OTR proposals from MSMEs with credit exposure up to Rs 25 crore.
  • RBI announced OTR scheme allowing banks to restructure loans of borrowers that were regular in their repayments and did not have more than 30 days overdue as of March 1, 2020, without downgrading their asset classification to a non-performing asset. This was announced as a regulatory measure to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the borrowers.
  • The recommendations for the OTR framework were provided by the Kamath Committee led by Kundapur Vaman Kamath.

About Bank of Baroda (BOB):

  • Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were merged with BoB
  • Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Sanjiv Chadha
  • Headquarters, Vadodara (earlier known as Baroda), Gujarat
  • Tagline- India's International Bank

SMCB Becomes India's 1st Urban Co-operative Bank to Convert into Small Finance Bank

  • The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has issued a scheduled commercial banking license to Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank (SMCB) Ltd to carry on business as a Small Finance Bank(SFB) under its 'Scheme on voluntary transition of Urban Co-operative Bank(UCB) into a Small Finance Bank. It is the 1st UCB in India to transit to SFB under the scheme.

SMCB is renamed as Shivalik Small Finance Bank (SSFB).

  • The bank expects to commence business as a SFB by April 2021.
  • It currently operates in UP, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Uttarakhand with 400,000 customers through its 31 branches and over 250 banking agents.

About Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank (SMCB) Ltd:

  • It was registered as a Co-operative Society under Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1965.
  • In 2010, it acquired Dhar Bank(Madhya Pradesh), which helped the bank to get Multi-state Cooperative Bank status under Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act(MSCS) 2002
  • Head Office- Saharanpur, UP
  • Commenced Operations- September 5, 1998(as Primary Urban Cooperation Bank)
  • MD & CEO Mr. Suveer Kumar Gupta
  • Chairman Yashvir Kumar Gupta

RBI's CoS Fully Operationalized; Dr. Rabi Narayan Mishra Named as its Full-time Director

  • College of Supervisors (CoS), which was set up by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in May 2020, has now been fully operationalized for effective supervision of the regulated entities. It was functioning in a limited way in virtual mode since May 2020.
  • Cos will have a full-time Director, RBI has appointed Rabi Narayan Mishra, its former Executive Director as the Director of CoS.
  • The full-time Director supported by an Academic Advisory Council (AAC).

What is College of Supervisors (Cos)?

  • Cos was set up in May 2020 to further broaden and strengthen the supervisory skills among RBI's regulatory and supervisory staff at entry level and on a continuous basis. It was done by providing training and other developmental inputs to the concerned staff.

What is Academic Advisory Council (AAC)?

  • The AAC will identify areas where skill building/up-skilling is required, plan and develop curricula of all programmes, benchmark the programmes with international standards/best practices, develop appropriate teaching methods, etc. It consists of 1 chairperson and 5 members.
  • Chairperson: NS Viswanathan, former Deputy Governor, RBI

Members:

  • Arijit Basu, former Managing Director, State Bank of India (SBI)
  • Paresh Sukthankar, former Deputy Managing Director (MD), HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited) Bank
  • S Raghunath, Professor, IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Bangalore
  • Tathagata Bandyopadhyay, Professor, IIM Ahmedabad
  • Subrata Sarkar, Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR)

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

  • Formation- 1 April 1935
  • Governor- Shaktikanta Das
  • Headquarters, Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Deputy Governors, 4 (Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, and Rajeswar Rao)

Sanjay Kapoor Elected as President of All India Chess Federation

  • Sanjay Kapoor representing Uttar Pradesh Chess Sports Association, was elected as the president of the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and became the youngest president of the federation. He succeeds PR Venketrama Raja of Tamil Nadu.
  • The election took place on January 4, 2021 in online as per the directives of the Madras High Court(HC).
  • The Madras HC appointed electoral officer Justice (retd) K Kannan, a retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court to supervise the online process.