- Indian-origin man named best central banker in Asia-Pacific
An Indian-origin banker in Singapore has been named as the best central bank governor in Asia-Pacific for 2018.
Ravi Menon, managing director of Singapore’s central bank Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), was recognised by the leading UK-based magazine ‘The Banker’ for his contribution in the makeover of Singapore’s financial system.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, stands out for its cutting-edge regulatory approach to fintech while maintaining macroeconomic stability.
- Centre has approved West Bengal logo designed by Mamata Banerjee
The Centre has approved a logo designed and conceptualised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the state’s symbol.
The logo highlighting the “Biswa Bangla” theme with Ashoka Pillars on it was sent to the Centre in May for its approval to allow it as a state symbol.
- Meghalaya CM inaugurates 40 mw Umtru hydro-electric project
Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma inaugurated the 40 mw Umtru hydro-electric project at Dehal in Ri Bhoi district.
Inaugurating the Rs 629 crore project the state has various potential areas for power generation and called on the local indigenous people to participate in the process of state building.
Power sector is the most important sector. It not only provides power to consumers but also helps sustain our livelihood and augment revenue of the state.
- Gurugram-based digital wallet PayUMoney shuts operations
Digital Wallet player PayUMoney is shutting down operations by the end of January. Several users using, or those who have used PayUMoney in the past received emails this morning informing them the same.
Jitendra Gupta, MD of PayUMoney confirmed the news, clarifying that the company is only shutting down PayU wallet and will continue operating Citrus mobile wallet, which it acquired in 2016.
When PayU acquired Citrus in 2016, Citrus gave up its wallet licence as per the Reserve Bank of India’s latest list of entities holding prepaid payment instrument (PPI) licences.
The business was then transferred to PayU and the company was running both wallets, while the PayUMoney wallet was being run in partnership with RBL Bank.
- Programme to celebrate India, France ties
‘Bonjour India 2017-18’, a four-month voyage to celebrate the cultural ties between India and France will reach West Bengal tomorrow with a conservation project at Chandernagore, a former French colony about 35 km from the city.
French Consul General in Kolkata Damien Syed as part of ‘Bonjour India’ a project ‘Know your French Heritage’ would be undertaken to restore French heritage buildings by involving local population.
- International yoga festival on Jan 4
An international yoga festival would be held Puducherry on January four. The Directorate of Tourism of Puducherry government is holding the festival for the 24th year in succession.
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy would inaugurate the festival. Yoga festival is the first event in the calendar of festivals conducted by the directorate every year in Puducherry.
- China to build AI development park worth over ₹13,400 crore
Beijing is planning to build a 13.8 billion yuan ($2.12 billion) artificial intelligence development park in the city’s west as China pushes ahead to fulfill its ambition to become a world leader in AI by 2025.
The AI park will house up to 400 enterprises and have an estimated annual output of 50 billion yuan, Xinhua said, citing a report from authorities in Beijing’s Mentougou district.
Zhongguancun Development Group, the developer of the project, will look to partner with foreign universities and build a “national-level” AI lab in the area
- China develops new underwater surveillance network
China’s underwater glider has successfully ended its mission to the Indian Ocean and South China Sea amid reports that the country has developed a new underwater surveillance network to help its submarines lock on to targets.
China’s independently-developed underwater glider, Haiyi, which means “sea wings” in Chinese, has successfully completed a scientific observation in the Indian Ocean, marking the first time that the country’s indigenous underwater glider was used in this ocean.
- NASA to launch two missions to explore Earth-space boundary
NASA has announced that it would launch two missions to explore the little-understood area of 96 km above Earth’s surface.
The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission will be launched in January 2018, and the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) will be launched later this year.
GOLD and ICON will team up to explore the ionosphere, a boundary area between Earth and the space where particles have been cooked into a sea of electrically-charged electrons and ions by the Sun’s radiation.
- Delhi Daredevils appoint Ponting as head coach for IPL 2018
Indian Premier League (IPL) side Delhi Daredevils has appointed former Australian captain Ricky Ponting as their new head coach for the 2018 season. Ponting replaces South African coach Paddy Upton, with whom the franchise parted ways last year at the end of his two-year contract.
Ponting, who announced his retirement from international cricket in 2012, guided Mumbai Indians to their second IPL title in 2015 during his two-year coaching stint with the franchise. The 43-year-old was also named the assistant coach of Australia for the Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka last year.
