The Heavy Industries Ministry has announced the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024 to accelerate the adoption of Electronic Vehicles (EVs) in India. The Ministry said that a total outlay of 500 crore rupees will be implemented for four months under the scheme. It will run from 1st of the next month until July.
It added that only electric two-wheelers (e-2W) and electric three-wheelers (e-3W) will be eligible under the scheme, including registered e-rickshaws, e-carts and L5 automobiles. Furthermore, only EVs fitted with advanced batteries will be subject to incentives to encourage the growth of advanced technologies.
India has signed a 181 million dollars loan with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve urban livability and mobility in Ahmedabad.
The loan will fund development in areas transitioning from rural to urban, called Peri-urban areas. The Project will also support 10 junction improvements along the existing Sardar Patel Ring Road to improve connectivity of peri-urban area
Under the Ahmedabad Peri-urban Livability Improvement Project, 166 km of water distribution network, 126 km of climate-resilient stormwater drainage, 300 km of sewerage systems, and four sewage treatment plants will be constructed.
The Ministry said that this will benefit urban poor, women, and migrant workers through improved urban services and urban governance.
To augment Indian Navy’s anti-submarine operations, two ships ‘Agray’ and ‘Akshay’ were launched on Wednesday nearly five years after the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Kolkata-based PSU GRSE for production of eight such ASW Shallow Water Crafts. Agray and Akshay – named after erstwhile Abhay Class Corvettes Agray and Akshay of Indian Navy – are 5th and 6th SWC.
The ASW SWC ships are 77.6-metre- long and 105-metre wide with a displacement of 900 tonnes and endurance of over 1800 NM.
In the last one year, 3 indigenously built warships/ submarine for Indian Navy have been delivered and a total of 9 warships were launched.
World Kidney Day aims to create awareness about the importance of healthy kidneys and how one can maintain kidney health and prevent kidney-related diseases. This day is observed on the second Thursday of March, every year. This year it falls on March 14. The day The theme for the 2024 campaign is 'Kidney Health For All.'
Fintech-focussed software-as-a-service firm Perfios said it has secured $80 million in funding from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), a late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
With the fresh investment, the company’s new valuation will cross the $1 billion mark, said sources, which makes Perfios the second unicorn of 2024.
A unicorn is a term used to describe startups or companies valued at $1 billion or more.
Following the directions by the RBI private sector lenders Federal Bank and South Indian Bank stopped issuing co-branded credit cards to new customers on account of regulatory deficiencies, according to exchange filings. In a separate exchange filing, Federal Bank informed the that post a letter from the RBI the lender has stopped issuance due to regulatory deficiencies.
South Indian Bank said that it will not onboard new customers on their co-branded credit cards until it is fully compliant with directions under RBI Master Direction on Credit Card and Debit Card issuance. South Indian Bank has one co-branded credit card in partnership with State Bank of India (SBI), which is available in two variants SimplySAVE and Platinum.
On March 7, the RBI released a Master Direction on “Amendment to the Master Direction — Credit Card and Debit Card — Issuance and Conduct Directions, 2022. According to the notification, co-branded cards should explicitly indicate that the card has been issued under a co-branding arrangement with clear mention of the card-issuer.”
India has allowed its central bank to import gold without paying import levies.
Gold importers from the world's second biggest gold consumer need to pay basic customs duty and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC). As of September 2023, the Reserve Bank of India held 800.79 metric tonnes of gold, including gold deposits of 39.89 tonnes.
The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.40 crore on Bank of India for non-compliance with certain directions issued by it on ‘Interest Rate on Deposits’, ‘Customer Service in Banks’, ‘Interest Rate on Advances’, among others. It has also imposed a penalty of Rs 29.55 lakh on private sector lender Bandhan Bank for non-compliance with certain directions
The penalty on Bank of India has been imposed for non-compliance with the RBI's directions related to 'interest rate on deposits', 'customer service in banks', 'interest rate on advances', and contravention of provisions of Credit lnformation Companies Rules, 2006.
RBI also said a penalty of Rs 13.60 lakh has been imposed on Indostar Capital Finance Ltd for non-compliance with the 'Monitoring of Frauds in NBFCs (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016' and with certain provisions of KYC directions.
RBI unveiled draft guidelines on the disclosure framework on climate-related financial risks for regulated entities. These guidelines are set to apply to a wide array of REs, including scheduled commercial banks, Tier IV primary urban co-operative banks, foreign banks operating in India, all Indian financial institutions (AIFIs), and top and upper layer NBFC's.
REs have been requested to furnish their comments and feedback by the end of April. These guidelines aren’t unanticipated, given prior developments, such as the RBI’s joining the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System as a member in April 2021, the release of a paper on climate risk in July 22, and the Monetary Policy Statement in Feb 2023.
The disclosures by REs are expected to cover four thematic pillars: governance, strategy, risk management, metrics, and targets, aligning with the global framework of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Mumbai-based tech company Aurionpro Solutions has secured a Rs 100-crore contract from State Bank of India for the licence, implementation and support of its transaction banking platform, iCashpro+. The company will have to deliver the licence and implementation in phases over 12 months, along with maintenance and support for six years.
Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) has received $24.5 million from Green Climate Fund (GCF) for its maiden anchored project `Avaana Sustainability Fund (ASF)' valued at $120 million.
GCF, a pivotal component of the historic Paris Agreement, is the world's largest climate fund.
As per the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with respect to the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), India aims to cut emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030, from the 2005 level and achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurated India’s first FutureLABS center in C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram. This center, namely, “Centre for Semiconductor Chips & Systems for Strategic Electronics”, will be playing a crucial role in catalyzing an ecosystem for next generation chip design, manufacturing, and research.
Pi Day lies on March 14. The value of Pi was first determined by Mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse. In 1737, Leonhard Euler used the symbol of Pi, paving the way for acknowledgment in the scientific community. Pi is a significant symbol in Mathematics, Statistics and Physics.
The symbol represents the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter, which has a value of 3.14. Pi is used in a wide range of areas, including geometry, astronomy, and physics. It is used to measure the length of a curve and calculate the area under a curve, and it is also used in quantum mechanics.
