Current Affairs Daily Digest – March 18 2020
1. RBI to use swap transactions, LTRO to infuse liquidity
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that, in the wake of the epidemic Covid-19, the central bank would use Forex swap and long-term repo operations (LTROs) to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 on the Indian Economy.
LTRO-
The LTRO is Long Term Repo Operations. The LTRO were deployed during 2008 financial crisis and were huge success. LTRO is a tool with which the apex bank offers loans to banks in the country for a period of one to three years at the prevailing repo rate.
2. Prachi Salve, Pradeep Dwivedi won 2019 Road Safety Media Fellowship award
Prachi Salve of IndiaSpend and Pradeep Dwivedi of DainikJagran jointly won the top prize in the Road Safety Media Fellowship 2019. The award recognized their contribution towards reporting on road safety by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS). The awardees were selected by a three-member jury.
3. INST Scientists develops calcium-modified carboxymethyl-starch to stop rapid blood loss during accidents
Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) have developed a starch-based ‘hemostat’ material, named calcium-modified carboxymethyl-starch, that can stop life-threatening bleeding after a serious injury.
The Hemostat material is a biodegradable microparticles. It concentrates the natural clotting factors in blood by physically absorbing excess fluid. The microparticles were prepared by modifying some of the chemical hydroxyl groups on starch to carboxymethyl groups and incorporating the beneficial calcium ions.
This combination increases the aggregation of red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets and speeds up the activation to generate the fibrin protein network that forms a stable blood clot.
4. More the Rs.20 crore has been sanctioned under the Stand Up India Scheme
Ministry of Finance reported that more than Rs.20,466.94 crores of loans had been sanctioned under Stand Up India Scheme to over 91,000 accounts up to 10 March 2020. The information was shared by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs.
Stand Up India Scheme:
Stand Up India Scheme was launched by the Government of India on 5 April 2016 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is a part of the Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) to promote entrepreneurial projects.
5. Around 1.5 lakh SSAs covered with at least one bank branch under PMJDY
Ministry of Finance reported that all villages were mapped by banks into 1.59 lakh Sub-Service Areas (SSAs) under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). One SSA caters to 1,000 to 1,500 households. The report was submitted by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in Rajya Sabha.
6. HSBC Appoints Noel Quinn as Permanent CEO
HSBC Holdings plc (LON:HSBA) today announced the appointment of Noel Quinn as Group Chief Executive Officer. The appointment is effective immediately. Let’s note that, as FinanceFeeds has reported, Mr Quinn has led the bank as interim CEO for the past months, following the departure of John Flint.
7. Agreement between India & Brunei for Exchange of Information notified
The Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Brunei Darussalam for the exchange of information and assistance in collection with respect of taxes (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement), was signed in New Delhi, India on 28th of February, 2019. The Agreement has been notified in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) on 9th of March 2020.
8. Salesforce names former SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya as India CEO
The move comes as the software company becomes aggressive in the country, a market that is increasingly adopting digital technologies. Bhattacharya who previously headed the State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, is one of India’s most known faces in banking.
She was the first woman to lead the more than 200-year-old bank. She retired from SBI in 2017 after spending four decades in various roles. In her role, she also stepped up investments in technology, hiring a chief technology officer from global rival Barclays, to help prepare SBI to compete with smaller and agile tech-focused banks and fintech firms.
9. Bihar govt. declares COVID-19 an epidemic
It issued the Bihar Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulation 2020 which gives legal powers to government officials to conduct mass screening of suspected patients. The Bihar government has declared COVID-19 as an epidemic and issued the Bihar Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulation 2020.
10. Sports sponsorship crosses Rs 9000 cr mark in 2019 driven by media, on-ground spends: Report
ESP Properties– the entertainment and sports division of GroupM India, today released the 2020 report on sports sponsorship in India. Overall sports sponsorship grew 17% to cross the Rs 9000 crore mark in 2019 driven by media spends and on-ground sponsorship.
Cricket continued to drive the sports sponsorship market in 2019 with IPL and ICC World Cup giving a big push to on-ground sponsorship and media spends. Sports sponsorship added Rs 1347 crore to the total value with media spends contributing a whopping Rs 800 crore.
11. Prime Minister Pays Tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his 100th Birth Anniversary
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today paid tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his 100th Birth Anniversary. In a tweet, the Prime Minister said that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is remembered for his courage and indelible contribution to Bangladesh’s progress.
12. Microsoft India, NASSCOM Foundation launch initiative to empower people with disabilities
Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation on Tuesday launched the Innovate for Accessible India campaign aimed at empowering people with disabilities with the technology and tools required for better integration into society and access to equal opportunities.
