Solar Energy Corporation of India and NTPC will sign an agreement with the Rajasthan government for setting up two 5,000-MW renewable energy parks. This arrangement would mark first phase of 25,000 MW Ultra Mega RE Park proposed in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
25,000-MW RE park in Khavada, Gujarat was also decided.
The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector grew about 9 per cent to reach ₹1.82 trillion ($25.7 billion) in 2019, and, with an annual 10 per cent growth, it is expected to cross ₹2.4 trillion ($34 billion) by 2022, according to a FICCI-EY report.
TV and print remained as the two largest segments.
Japanese government funding agency JICA has signed agreements totalling Rs 15,295 Cr with the Indian government for three mega rail infrastructure projects. Under these agreements, JICA has granted Rs 8,553 Cr for phase-1 of the Dedicated Freight Corridor.
Rs 4,262 crore is given for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Project.
The country's foreign exchange reserves fell by a whopping $11.98-b to $469.909-b in the week to March 20 as the RBI continued to supply dollars into the market to stem fall in the rupee. The rupee hit an all-time low of 76.15 against the USD on March 23.
Foreign Currency Assets declined by USD 10.256-b.
Facebook named the U.S. Treasury's former deputy secretary, Robert Kimmitt, to its board as lead independent director, effective immediately. Jeffrey Zients, CEO of Cranemere Group Ltd, will not stand for re-election at the annual meeting of stockholders.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer- Mark Zuckerberg.
The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers as members of CBDT. 1984 batch IRS officer, Krishan Mohan Prasad and 1984-batch IRS officer Satish Kumar Gupta were appointed as CBDT members.
Gupta is current posted as PCCIT of I-T in Mumbai.
High-Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah has approved additional Central assistance of over Rs 5,751 Cr under National Disaster Response Fund to 8 States which were affected by floods, landslides, cyclone & drought last year.
Centre has already released over Rs 10,937 Cr during 2019-20.
Ministry of DoNER & North Eastern Council would provide Rs.25 Cr to North Eastern States for gap funding to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. This fund would be in the nature of untied fund, which can be utilized on any activity relating to COVID-19 Pandemic.
Minister of Development of North Eastern Region- Jitendra Singh.
Nagpur Municipal corporation with the support of HLL Lifecare developed Covid-19 App for the benefit of the symptomatic citizens having problem of cough, fever & difficulty in breathing. Citizens can fill the information about their symptoms on the app.
App is only for the Symptomatic people.
As a relief to the Covid 19-affected customers, Indian bank will provide extra funding of up to 10% of the working capital limits with a maximum limit of Rs 100 Cr. Large corporates & medium enterprises that are in the standard category would be eligible.
The loan tenure will be for 36 months.
Government is to launch CoWin-20 to track individuals by their smartphone locations & curb the community spread of COVID-19. It aims to trace the personal travel histories of individuals & figure out how many people might they have come in contact with.
CoWin-20 app is now in beta testing for both iOS and Android.
The IMF recently launched the ‘IMF Policy Tracker’. The platform will provide all the key economic responses launched by Governments all over the world to fight against Corona Virus. The initial policy tracker includes the G20 and European Institutions.
IMF Managing Director- Kristalina Georgieva.
United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying a $1.4-b Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite for US Space Force. This was the 6th & final satellite of AEHF.
This was ULA’s 138th launch.
Veteran actress Nimmi aka Nawab Banoo passed away. She was 87. The ‘Sazaa’ actress, who achieved stardom in the 1950s and early 1960s, passed away after a prolonged illness. Nimmi aka Nawab Banoo made her Hindi films debut with the movie ‘Barsaat’.
Other films are Uran Khatola, Aan & Bhai-Bhai.
Veteran photographer Nemai Ghosh, who had a long association with director Satyajit Ray, passed away. He was 86. Nemai debuted with ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ (1969) & was with Satyajit Ray till his last film ‘Agantuk’ (1991). He is a Padma Shri recipient.
He served as a jury member at the 2007 National Film Awards.
Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL), a joint venture between Tata Power, Norway’s Clean Energy Invest (CEI) and International Finance Corporation (IFC), has started commercial operation of the 178 MW Shuakhevi Hydro Power Project located in southwest Georgia.
Tata Power holds 40 per cent stake in the joint venture.
Rajyogini Dadi Janki, Chief of Brahmakumaris Sansthan, the world’s largest spiritual organisation run by women, passed away at the age of 104 due to illness. In 1970s, she moved to western countries to establish Indian philosophy, Raj Yoga & human values.
She toiled to bring positive difference in the lives of others.
Artist and architect Satish Gujral, renowned for his versatility across different mediums, has passed away at the age of 94 in New Delhi. Gujral, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, was an architect, painter, muralist, sculptor and graphic artist.
He designed the Belgian Embassy in Delhi.
India is set to start antibody tests for the coronavirus to confirm whether a person had previously been infected with the virus, a move that will help understand the epidemiology of Covid-19 in the nation. Methodology adopted by India is 1st in the world.
It is a serological test.
Odisha Government announced that it is readying to set up the largest Covid-19 hospital in India due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the country. The state-level hospitals will have 1000 beds in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and will be functional in a fortnight.
Odisha signed 2 agreements with KIMS & SUM Medical College.
India’s economic growth may fall sharply to 2.6% in 2020-21 due to lockdown amid the COVI-19 pandemic, SBI Ecowrap said. GDP growth for 2019-20 could also see a downward revision from 5% to 4.5%, with growth in Q4 of the current financial year at 2.5%.
The total cost of lockdown is at least Rs 8.03 lakh crore.
Savita Chhabra, Chairperson of HRIPL (Hygienic Research Institute Private Limited)- beauty care company- and an award-winning businessperson, has authored and launched her first book titled ‘Legacy of Learning’ -selected verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita.
The book offers relatable interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita.
RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) cut the repo rate, the rate at which banks borrow from RBI, by 75 basis points (bps) to 4.40%. With this rate cut, RBI has reduced policy rates by 210bps since February 2019. Revised reverse repo rate is 4%.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) lowered by 100 basis points to 3%.
