IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS & DAILY NEWS UPDATES : 04 - JULY - 2016 |
Monday, 04 July 2016 05:04 | |||
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04- JULY - 2016
SUJOY BOSE APPOINTED AS CEO OF NATIONAL INVESTMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE FUND
Sujoy Bose was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
His appointment was made by the Union Government following his selection by the Selection Committee constituted under Department Of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
About Sujoy Bose
• Bose has extensive international experience in the infrastructure sector, including experience in raising funds from international investors.
• At present, Bose works as the Director and Global Co-Head of infrastructure and natural resources at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank group.
• He has been associated with the IFC for last 24 years.
• He holds an MBA from Rice University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St Xavier's College, Kolkata, India.
About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)
• NIIF is a quasi sovereign wealth fund announced in 2015 budget with a corpus of around 40000 crore rupees.
• NIIF was incorporated as a company under the Companies Act, 2013, duly authorized to act as investment manager.
• It was constituted with an aim to finance the requirements of India’s infrastructure sector, mainly through foreign investment.
• The government has already signed pacts with investors from Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Russia for the NIIF.
SWEDEN INAUGURATES WORLD’S FIRST ELECTRIC ROAD
Sweden inaugurated a test stretch of an electric road. With this, the country has become one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads.
The test was conducted on parts of road E16. It involved a current collector on the roof of the truck cab feeding the current down to a hybrid electric motor in the truck.
Key facts related to the test stretch of the road
• The tests will continue up through 2018.
• They will provide knowledge of how electric roads work in practice.
• It will offer a glimpse on whether the technology can be used in the future.
• The experiment is based on the government’s goal of energy efficiency and a fossil fuel-free vehicle fleet by 2030. It will also contribute to strengthening Sweden’s competitiveness.
Three government agencies are partially funding the project. They are:
• Swedish Transport Administration: It is a government agency responsible for long-term infrastructure planning for all kinds of transport, i.e. road, rail, shipping and aviation. It owns, constructs, operates and maintains all state-owned roads and railways and operates a large number of ferry services.
• Swedish Energy Agency: It works for the use of renewable energy.
• Vinnova: It is the Swedish government agency that administers state funding for research and development.
PM NARENDRA MODI LAUNCHES PROJECTS FOR 20 SMART CITIES IN PUNE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched several projects for 20 Smart Cities in Pune under the Smart City Mission.
The Projects were launched exactly a year after Union Government launched the flagship Smart City Mission in June 2015 by releasing the Mission Guidelines.
Highlights of the Projects
• Projects were launched in 20 cities selected in the first batch of mission through a city challenge competition.
• Pune stood second in the selected cities.
• Projects launched in Pune include slum rehabilitation, street and pedestrian walkway, modern buses with alternative fuels, traffic demand modelling project and city common mobility card.
• Ahmedabad has launched sewage treatment plant, housing project, smart learning in municipal schools.
• Bhubaneswar, which topped the list in the city challenge, has launched a railway multi-modal hub, traffic signalisation project and urban knowledge centre.
• In New Delhi Municipal Council, a mini-sewerage treatment plants, 444 smart class rooms, WiFi, smart LED streetlights, city surveillance, command and control centre were launched.
• The 20 selected cities would be linked through video conferencing.
Other Launches
• PM Modi also inaugurated the Make Your City SMART contest aimed at continuing citizen participation in the planning. Suggestions and designs suggested by the citizens will be incorporated by respective smart cities.
• A Smart Net Portal was also inaugurated to enable the cities under different urban missions to share ideas and source solutions for various issues during the implementation of various missions.
Background
• The mission was allotted a budget of 48000 crore rupees for five years.
RBI PUBLISHES PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS IN INDIA: VISION-2018
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the “Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision-2018”. The vision reiterates the aims of building a “less-cash” society by encouraging greater use of electronic payments by all sections.
The objective is to ensure that a robust payments infrastructure is established in the country to increase accessibility, availability, interoperability and security.
Contours of Vision-2018
The broad contours of Vision-2018 revolve around 5Cs – Coverage, Convenience, Confidence, Convergence and Cost.
Coverage: Enabling wider access to a variety of electronic payment services
Convenience: Enhancing user experience through ease of use and of products and processes
Confidence: Promoting integrity of systems, security of operations and customer protection
Convergence: Ensuring interoperability across service providers
Cost: Making services cost effective for users as well as service providers
Four strategic initiatives to achieve 5Cs
To achieve these, Vision-2018 will focus on four strategic initiatives such as responsive regulation, robust infrastructure, effective supervision and customer centricity.
Responsive Regulation: Involve all stakeholders to promote twin objectives of enhanced coverage with interoperability of the payments system and convenience with security for the end-users in sync with emerging developments and innovations.
Robust Infrastructure: Aim is to increase the accessibility, availability, interoperability and security of the payment systems.
Effective Supervision: Aims to strengthen the resilience of the Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) and System Wide Important Payment Systems (SWIPS) in the country. This also envisages setting up appropriate oversight framework for new systems and augmenting the data reporting and fraud monitoring systems.
Customer Centricity: Envisages streamlining the customer grievance redressal mechanism, focus on building customer awareness and education, and initiate customer protection measures.
Expected Outcomes of Vision 2018
With continued efforts and based on Vision 2015-18, following five outcomes are expected from Vision 2018:
• Continued decrease in the share of paper-based clearing instruments
• Consistent growth in individual segments of retail electronic payment systems viz. NEFT, IMPS, Card transactions, mobile banking, etc.
• Increase in registered customer base for mobile banking
• Significant growth in acceptance infrastructure
• Accelerated use of Aadhaar in payment systems
How it is going to benefit?
With increasing use of technology-based innovative payment products, the strategic initiatives under Vision-2018 are expected to reduce paper-based instruments significantly. It will lead to accelerated growth in mobile banking and other modes of electronic payments.
Background
The RBI has periodically put forth its vision for payment and settlement systems in India, which enunciates the Bank’s objective to migrate to electronic payments and to ensure that the payment systems in India are safe, secure, authorised, efficient and accessible. The previous Vision document covered the period 2012 to 2015.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR ZUBAIDA BAI WINS UN HONOUR FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE
Zubaida Bai, Indian social entrepreneur, was named among the top 10 Local SDG Pioneers for 2016.
The 2016 Local SDG Pioneers is a part of the United Nations Global Compact’s Making Global Goals Local Businesscampaign.
The Local SDG Pioneers programme seeks out individuals who are demonstrating how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can enable business to unlock economic, social and environmental gains for the world.
Other nine 2016 Local SDG Pioneers are:
• Kerry Adler: Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower Global, Canada
• Farzana Chowdhury: Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Green Delta Insurance Company Limited, Bangladesh
• Xiaohui Liang: Chief Researcher, Office for Social Responsibility of China National Textile & Apparel Council, China
• Claus Stig Pedersen: Head of Corporate Sustainability of Novozymes, Denmark
• Dina Sherif: Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder of Ahead of the Curve, Egypt
• Sonia Consiglio Favaretto: Press and Sustainability Managing Director of BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Brazil
• Patrick Ngowi: Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Helvetic Group, Tanzania
• Ulisses Sabará: President of Beraca, Brazil
• Ulysses Smith: Attorney at Linklaters LLP, USA
Who is Zubaida Bai?
• Zubaida Bai is an Indian social entrepreneur and engineer.
• She founded ayzh, a social enterprise which provides technology solutions to rural women.
• In 2009, she was named a TED Fellow.
• In 2011, her design for JANMA, a clean birth kit, was selected by INDEX Awards as one of 61 products globally designed to improve life.
About United Nations Global Compact
• The United Nations Global Compact is an initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies.
• It is a principle-based framework for businesses. It states ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.
• The UN Global Compact was announced by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an address to the World Economic Forum on 31 January 1999.
• It was officially launched at UN Headquarters in New York on 26 July 2000.
INDIA GETS HUGE HELP FROM WB FOR SOLAR PROJECT
MHA AGAINST PROPOSAL OF BUSINESS VISITORS TO GET VISA-FREE ENTRY
‘STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN’ REPORT FOR 2016 RELEASED BY UNICEF
COUNTRIES URGED SRI LANKA TO DO MUCH MORE FOR RECONCILIATION
CHINA BLAMES US FOR TRYING TO DRIVE WEDGE BETWEEN REGIONAL COUNTRIES
CORE SECTOR GREW BY 2.8 PERCENT
MONEY HELD BY INDIANS IN SWISS BANKS HAS FALLEN BY NEARLY ONE-THIRD
IMF SAYS BREXIT IS TOPMOST GLOBAL RISK
LCA TEJAS TO FINALLY JOIN AIR FORCE
NASA’S HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE HAS CAPTURED A SPECTACULAR FIREWORKS DISPLAY
THE SHOOTING WORLD CUP FINALS HAS BEEN ALLOTTED TO INDIA FOR 2017
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 July 2016 03:30 |