Daily News

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Government plans to pass Bill on National Commission for Backward Classes

The monsoon session of Parliament will be held from July 18 to August 10.

The government plans to pass the Constitution (123rd) Amendment Bill, 2017 that seeks to accord constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

Other important Bills, including the Triple Talaq bill and the Transgender Bill, among others, will be brought in Parliament for passing them.

Did you Know

Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Headquarters: New Delhi
Founded: 1949
Parliamentary Affairs Minister: Ananth Kumar

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India, Seychelles talk of ‘mutual welfare’ on Assumption Island project

India and Seychelles will ensure mutually beneficial steps regarding stalled plans for a military base at the island of Assumption.

India has been planning to build the naval base on the island of Assumption to provide a foot- hold in the western Indian Ocean.

PM Modi declares a $100 million Line of Credit for Seychelles that it can use to buy military hardware from India for building its maritime capacity.

India also gifted a Dornier aircraft to Seychelles.

Both sides sealed six agreements including one that will twin Panjim in Goa with Victoria of Seychelles.

Did you Know

The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa.
Capital: Victoria
Currency: Seychellois rupee
President: Danny Faure

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AIIB conclave 2018: PM Modi to inaugurate 3rd annual meet

The third annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Department of Economic Affairs are jointly hosting the two-day meet.

The theme for this year’s meeting is ‘Mobilising Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration’.

Did you Know

AIIB: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.
Headquarter: Beijing, China
Formation: January 2016
Membership: 86 members

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Tata to raise Bhushan steel stake to 75%, to acquire additional 2.5%

Tata Steel plans to buy an additional 2.5 per cent stake in Bhushan Steel from lenders, taking its stake from 72.65 per cent to over 75 per cent.

This would make merger with Bhushan Steel easier.

Did you Know

Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company.
Founder: Jamsetji Tata
Founded: 1868
Headquarter: Mumbai

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Director of Airtel Business Ashok Ganapathy resigns

Ashok Ganapathy, director and CEO of Airtel Business has resigned.

Ganapathy had joined Airtel in 2013 as the Hub CEO for Mumbai, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat circles and was appointed as director of Airtel Business in July 2016.

Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO of global voice and data business will replace Ganapathy.

Airtel also announced the appointment of Pankaj Miglani as CEO - Global Business.

Did you Know

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.
Airtel business provides a broad portfolio of services to large Enterprise, Government, Small & Medium businesses and carrier customers.

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$4.5 trillion investment needed for infra: FM

India will need more than $4.5 trillion in investments over a decade to create infrastructure but the cost of such investments will be a challenge.

AIIB approved an equity investment of $100 million in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s (NIIF) and is considering a further investment of $100 million in the future.

Did you Know

NIIF is jointly-owned by the Government of India (49%) and certain domestic and international investors (51%).
NIIF was proposed to be set up as a Trust, to raise debt to invest in the equity of infrastructure finance companies such as Indian Rail Finance Corporation (IRFC) and National Housing Bank (NHB).
Financial Times (London) had adjudged NIIF as the Most Innovative structure in Asia Pacific under Finance category.
CEO of NIIF: Sujoy Bose

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Policybazaar joins unicorn club with $200 million funding

Policybazaar, which raised more than $200 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund is the latest Indian start-up to achieve the unicorn status.

The online financial services portal run by EtechAces Marketing and Consulting Pvt. Ltd has been valued at more than a billion dollars.

EtechAces, which runs PolicyBazaar and Paisabazaar.com, counts Temasek, Tiger Global Management, True North, Premji Invest as existing investors.

Did you Know

Policybazaar founded in 2008 is a Gurugram-based online services for consumers to compare and purchase insurance policies.
It currently accounts for nearly 25% of India’s life cover, and over 7% of India’s retail health insurance business.

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ED signs MoU with Gujarat Forensic Science University

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat Forensic Science University to strengthen its cyber and digital forensic operations.

As part of its modernisation drive, the ED had last year initiated a project to set up six state of the art cyber forensic laboratories two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Chennai and a master server in Delhi that will be connected with all the zonal offices across the country for digitally storing records and evidences gathered during searches.

The agreement with the Gujarat forensic university will give the agency an added expertise.

Did you Know

The Directorate of Enforcement is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.
Headquarters: New Delhi, India
Director of Enforcement: Karnal Singh
There are five Regional offices at Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi.

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Government proposes to set up 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras

The government has proposed to set up 3,000 Van Dhan Kendras involving 30,000 self-help groups across the country under a scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for providing skill up-gradation and capacity building training for value addition of forest produce.

PM had launched the Van Dhan Scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED on April 14 during the celebrations of B R Ambedkar's birth anniversary in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur.

Under the Van Dhan scheme, 10 self-help groups with each having 30 tribal gatherers were constituted at Bijapur.

Did you Know

Van Dhan Mission is an initiative for targeting livelihood generation for tribals by harnessing non-timber forest produces, the true wealth of forest i.e. Van Dhan with an estimated value of Rs 2 Lakh crore per year.

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International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, 26 June

General Assembly decided to observe 26 June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The theme for 2018 is: "Listen First - Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe."

It is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities.

Did you Know

The end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909) coincided with the closing of the UNGASS decade (launched in 1998 by a General Assembly Special Session on Drugs).
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA): Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations.
The General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations.
It comprises of 193 Members of the United Nations.