Current Affairs Current Affairs July 2018

 India and Ghana signed two agreements in an effort to enhance the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar announced that two MOUs on Cultural Exchange Programme and on cooperation between Bureau of Indian Standards and Ghana Standards Authority were signed. 
Source- DD News

 Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IT major, Infosys, signed an MoU with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) for the construction of a station at Konappana Agrahara in Electronics City. The station is under the second phase of Bangalore Metro's expansion plans and the Foundation has committed to maintaining it for the next 30 years. Infosys Foundation would contribute Rs 200 crore to the Bengaluru Metro Rail for the construction of Konappana Agrahara Metro Station and railway track. 
Source- The Firstpost

 An agreement was signed between IIT Delhi and the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) under which projects would be launched that would aim to give “scientific validation” to the ancient medical science and integrate it with technology. The projects would be funded by the Ayush Ministry. Under the MoU, the faculties of IIT Delhi and AIIA will work together in the projects to look at ways to integrate technology with Ayurveda. 
Source- The Hindu Business Line

 US State Department has announced that the inaugural ‘two-plus-two dialogue’ between India and the United States will be held in New Delhi in September 2018. Recently, the US had postponed the dialogue due to ‘unavoidable reasons’.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis will travel to India for the dialogue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.  
Source- The Livemint

 Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced a Chhattisgarh Online Pension Management System (OPMS). E-payment to e-procurement to provide internet to every village has been done. It is under e-governance, fulfilling the dream of Digital India plan of India and Digital Chhattisgarh. The Chhattisgarh OPMS has launched an app called “Abhar aapki sewa ka”. Through this application, 80,000 pensioners of the state will now get all the information related to pension and payment online. 
Source- ANI News

 India and Japan held the fourth round of Maritime Affairs Dialogue in New Delhi. During the dialogue, key issues related to the Indo-Pacific region and maritime security were discussed. The Indian delegation at the dialogue was led by Pankaj Sharma, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) in the External Affairs Ministry, while the Japanese side was led by Ambassador Kansuke Nagaoka, Policy Planning and International Security Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

 Repco Micro Finance Ltd, a non-banking finance company promoted by Repco Bank, received Nabard 2018 award for its service to self-help group (SHG) linkage in Tamil Nadu for the fiscal year 2017-18.  Since its inception, the NBFC has disbursed loans amounting to Rs2,500 crore to over 10 lakh beneficiaries through 50,000 SHGs. 
Source- The Hindu Business Line

 Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has approved exiting its helicopter service provider Pawan Hans by selling its entire 49% stake. The move will cut debt and consolidate resources in this core oil and gas business. ONGC wants its interest to be clubbed with the 51% government stake that is already on offer for sale. 
Source- AIR World Service

 The 10th edition of Delhi Dialogue (DD X) was held in New Delhi and was hosted by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The theme for this edition was “Strengthening India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation”. This was the first major event organised after ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, which was held in New Delhi in January 2018. DD X was organised by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). It saw participation of political leadership, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think-tanks and academicians from India and ASEAN member states. Chief ministers from North-Eastern states were also invited to participate in the event. DD X comprised of six plenary and four parallel sessions, with each session followed by open discussions.
  • Delhi Dialogue
Delhi Dialogue is premier annual event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It has been held annually since 2009 and political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, think tanks and academicians from both sides participate in the discussions pertaining to ASEAN-India relations. It is aimed at finding a common ground and expanding the scope of cooperation between India and ASEAN nations. The theme of ninth edition of dialogue was “ASEAN-India Relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years”. It had marked the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-India Partnership.

 Union Finance Ministry is planning to infuse additional capital close to Rs 11,336 crore in 5 more public sector banks (PSBs) by September 2018-end. These five state-owned banks are Punjab National Bank (PNB), Corporation Bank, Andhra Bank, Allahabad Bank and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).
  • Key Facts
This round of capital infusion will be done through issuance of recapitalisation bonds and not directly from Budget. This additional capital will help these banks to meet minimum regulatory capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and enable them to make interest payments on certain bonds on time. Within capital infusion plan of these five PSBs, PNB is expected to get highest amount of Rs 2,816 crore. Corporation Bank is will get Rs 2,555 crore followed by Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 2157 crore), Andhra Bank (Rs 2,019 crore) and Allahabad Bank (Rs 1,790 crore). This capital infusion by Government will be only for purpose of meeting minimum regulatory requirement and will be not growth capital which will be provided in second half of current fiscal year. The growth capital will only be given to those banks which meet performance targets and modalities set by Finance Ministry as per agreement signed with each bank.
  • Background
The latest round capital infusion in these 5 PSBs will be part of remaining Rs 65,000 crore out of Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion announced by Union Government for two financial years. In October 2017, Union Government had announced Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion programme, under which PSBs were to get Rs 1.35 lakh crore through recapitalisation bonds, and balance Rs 58,000 crore through raising of capital from market and remaining through budgetary support. The government has already infused Rs 80,000 crore out of Rs 1.35 lakh crore through recapitalisation bonds in PSBs  and balance will be done during this financial year (2018-19).


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