On 6 February 2023, to underline the importance of tourism resilience, the United Nations designated 17 February as the annual Global Tourism Resilience Day. Aim of GTRD is to create greater consciousness about tourism resilience. The first GTRD was observed on 17 February 2023. It is also a call for action for Member States to develop national strategies to improve tourism
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed his 500th Test wicket in the first innings of the third Test match against England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. The 37-year-old achieved this monumental feat in his 98th Test Match. Ashwin dismissed Zak Crawley in the second day to join Anil Kumble as the second Indian to take 500 wickets in Test history.
Ashwin is the ninth bowler in Test history to reach 500 wickets and Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, and Nathan Lyon are the only spinners who have taken more wickets than him in Test history. Ashwin joins fellow spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka - 800), the late Shane Warne (Australia - 708), Kumble and Nathan Lyon (Australia - 517) in the club.
IRDAI announced the reconstitution of the Expert Committee on the implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards. According to agency press release, the 13-member committee, which will be headed by the Member F&I of IRDAI, will also include the Chairman of the Accounting Standards Board of ICAI, the President of the Institute of Actuaries of India amongst others.
It said that the committee will work on steps that may be taken towards the effective implementation of the Indian Accounting Standards, along with giving phase-wise time-lines. It added that the panel members will also give recommendations on proforma financial statements, suggestions on financial disclosures in compliance with the Indian Accounting Standards.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the deadline for Paytm Payments Bank services to March 15, from the previous February 29. In a press release issued, the apex bank said that the decision was taken keeping in a view of larger public interest including the merchants.
It clarified that the customers can make deposits, credit transactions, prepaid services, wallets, FASTags, National Common Mobility Cards till March 15, 2024. The central bank added that it had put certain business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, operated by One97 Communications, in exercise of its powers under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
India and Colombia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of Sharing Successful Digital Solutions Implemented at Population Scale for Digital Transformation. It was signed between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia.
These infrastructures constitute a set of shared digital systems that are secure and interoperable. They can be built on open standards to deliver and provide equitable access to public and private services. India Stack Solutions are DPIs developed and implemented by India at population scale to provide access and delivery of public services.
One97 Communications, which operates the brand Paytm, announced it has shifted its nodal account to Axis Bank from Paytm Payments Bank to ensure continuity & seamless merchant settlements after the RBI ordered its termination by Feb 29. A nodal account is a bank account opened by intermediaries and is utilised to hold funds on behalf of customers & vendors.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on announced the launch of a non-participating product – ‘Amritbaal’. The product, designed for children, will be available from February 17, 2024. It is a Non-Linked, Non-Participating, Individual, Savings, Life Insurance Plan. The plan is designed to meet the higher education and other needs of the child.
The minimum entry age is 30 days, with the maximum being 13 years. The age of maturity has to be between 18 years to 25 years at the last age of birthday. The Minimum Policy Term for Limited Premium Payment is 10 years, and for Single Premium Payment, it is 5 years, whereas the Maximum Policy Term for Limited/Single Premium Payment is 25 years.
The Minimum Sum Assured is Rs. 2,00,000, with no limit for the Maximum Basic Sum Assured.
India is the third largest digitalised country in the world, only behind the United States of America and China, according to a recent study released by State of India's Digital Economy Report, 2024, by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.However, at the level of individual users, India is ranked 12th in terms of digitalisation among the G20.
The state of digitalisation in India is better than some developed countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, compared by their aggregate level of digitalisation. The study is based on ‘CHIPS’ framework wherein it has scored countries on five pillars - connect, harness, innovate, protect and sustain.
Using a new approach called the CHIPS (connect-harness-innovate-protect-sustain) framework, the report benchmarked the scale and depth of India's digital transformation with respect to G20 countries as well as for Indian states and UTs. India has the world's second largest internet network with more than 700 million users.
India’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments rose by 25.7 per cent on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis to $2.09 billion in January 2024, compared to over $1.66 billion in January 2023. Sequentially, they declined from $2.5 billion in December 2023, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.
Outbound FDI, expressed as a financial commitment, comprises three components – equity, loans, and guarantees. The equity commitments rose to $760.9 million in January 2024 from $597.4 million in January 2023. It was lower than the $834.7 million recorded in December 2023.
Debt commitments increased to $306.2 million in January 2023 from $215.6 million a year ago.
Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of vehicle sales in October-December 2023, followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. As per data from SIAM, Uttar Pradesh clocked a total sales of 8,22,472 units across passenger and commercial vehicles; and two and three-wheeler categories.
In two-wheeler category, Uttar Pradesh topped the list followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh & Tamil Nadu. In passenger vehicle sales, Maharashtra clocked the highest sales with followed by Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat & Karnataka. In commercial vehicle sales, Maharashtra clocked the highest sales, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat & Karnataka
The Reserve Bank of India said it has directed a card network to stop an unauthorised arrangement for payments through business cards.The central bank did not name the network. The regulator said only one card network has operationalised this arrangement in the country so far.
India currently has five card networks: Visa, Mastercard, RuPay, American Express, and Diner’s Club. Visa had issued a statement on February 14 saying that it had been asked by the RBI to stop any such incremental transactions until further notice.
Under this arrangement, referred to as Business Payment Solution Providers (BPSP), an intermediary accepts commercial card payments from corporates and then remits the funds via IMPS, RTGS, or NEFT to non-card-accepting recipients.
It was observed that this arrangement qualified as a payment system. Under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007, such a payment system requires authorisation under Section 4 of the PSS Act, which has not been obtained in the instant case. The activity was, therefore, without legal sanction.
To strengthen bird conservation initiatives and to address the challenges posed by illegal hunting in the South Asian region, the Bihar government has brought out the 'Patna Declaration' at an international workshop. The 'Patna Declaration' was formulated in the workshop by the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Bombay Natural History Society.
The Patna declaration is aimed at promoting more collaboration between countries and organisations along the Central Asian Flyway and East Asian Australasian Flyway in bird conservation initiatives. Enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species at the grassroots level under the Wildlife Protection Action Act, 1972 is also the aim of declaration.
BOBCARD Limited (formerly known as BOB Financial Solutions Limited, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda), and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the launch of Corporate Credit Card on RuPay Network. IndusInd Bank claims to be the first bank in India to launch a corporate credit card on unified payment interface (UPI) network.
India celebrates the National Women’s Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sarojini Naidu popularly known as the nightingale of India. Every year, on February 13, the country acknowledges her achievements as an extraordinary leader whose potential goes beyond the realm of the Indian political cluster.
In 1925, she became first woman to lead the Indian National Congress as party President.
runachal Pradesh has achieved 100 per cent saturation in 'Har Ghar Jal' scheme under the Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Chief Minister Pema Khandu has said. The state has become the first in the northeast and tenth in the country to achieve a cent per cent saturation under the central government sponsored scheme.
Launched in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households in rural India by 2024.
