India’s Economic Growth Rate To Grow At 7.4% in 2018-19: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India has released its annual report in Mumbai. It was mentioned in the report that due to the evolving economic conditions, real GDP growth for 2018-19 is expected to increase to 7.4% from 6.7% in the previous year.
The RBI stated that its monetary policy will continue to be guided by the objective of achieving medium-term target for retail inflation of 4%.
ISRO To Outsource Production Of PSLVs and SSLVs To Private Industries
India's space agency will outsource the manufacture of two navigation satellites, Navic to a consortium of private firms, its first major attempt to share its expertise in satellite making technology that would potentially allow the country to emerge as a major global hub for producing satellites.
So far, firms such as Avasara Technologies, L&T and Godrej have supplied components and systems for the satellites that Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) builds to hurl into space.
Cabinet Approves Earth Sciences Ministry’s Umbrella Scheme ‘O-SMART’
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for implementation of an umbrella scheme ‘Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART)’.
The CCEA approved the scheme for implementation during the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at an overall cost of Rs 1623 crore. The scheme covers a total of 16 sub-projects, which address ocean development activities such as services, technology, resources, observations and science.
India and ADB Sign $375 Million Loan to Improve Irrigation Efficiency in Madhya Pradesh
MoU Signed Between Department of Biotechnology and International Energy Agency
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) signed an MoU on Enhancing Innovation for Clean Energy Transition.
The MoU seeks to deepen co-operation in support of clean energy innovations to accelerate the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of clean energy technologies in India and will help support the generation of data for policymaking and improve knowledge of good policy practices for innovation in India and around the world.
Google Unveils New Platform Named 'Navlekha' For Indian Publishers
Google announced Project Navlekha at its 4th edition of Google for India Event held in New Delhi. Project Navlekha has been launched to enable Indian publishers of regional languages to publish their content online, without facing the trouble of selling printed copies.
The official website of Navlekha can be easily interpreted by users. Users can also obtain help from experts to set up their publication website.
4th BIMSTEC Summit 2018 Starts in Kathmandu
The 4th BIMSTEC Summit began in Kathmandu, Nepal. The two-day Summit will be held with the main focus on countering terrorism, enhancing regional connectivity and boosting trade.
The theme of the summit is 'Towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Bay of Bengal region'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with leaders of BIMSTEC countries on the sidelines of the summit.
Arpinder Singh Wins Gold In Triple Jump
Arpinder Singh clinched India’s first men’s triple jump gold in 48 years, with a jump of 16.77m in the Asian Games on Wednesday.
Arpinder, who has been without a medal in multi-sporting events since winning a bronze in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, produced a best jump of 16.77m, which he came up with in his third attempt.
Swapna Barman, 1st Indian Heptathlete To Win Gold In Asian Games
Swapna Barman on Wednesday created history by becoming the first Indian heptathlete to win an Asian Games gold here, a feat she achieved despite a toothache.
The 21-year-old Barman logged 6026 points from the seven events competed for two days. En route to the title, she won the high jump (1003 points) and javelin throw (872 points) events and finished second-best in shot put (707 points) and long jump (865 points).
National Sports Day: 29 August
The National Sports Day is celebrated every year on August 29 on the birth anniversary of Indian hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his tributes to one of the greatest field hockey players of all time and urged people to give priorities to sports and fitness related activities.
India And World Bank Sign 300 million dollar Loan Agreements
The Central government and the World Bank have signed 300 million dollar loan agreements for India Energy Efficiency Scale up Programme. They signed 220 million dollar Loan Agreement and an 80 million Guarantee Agreement for the Efficiency Scale-Up Program.
The Program, to be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), will help scale-up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL’s institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.
World Bank To Provide $250 million Loan To Rajasthan
The World Bank will provide a $250 million loan facility to Rajasthan for improving the performance of its electricity distribution sector, the Union Finance Ministry said today.
An agreement was signed here among the Government of India, the Government of Rajasthan and the World Bank.
Important Cabinet Approvals: 29th August 2018
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the following set of approvals. The important Cabinet Approvals are given as follows-
The Cabinet has approved-
1. Signing of MoU between India and Bulgaria in the field of tourism,
2. Apprised of the MoU between India and Republic of Korea on the cooperation in the field of railways.
3rd Edition of World’s Biggest Open Innovation Model ‘Smart India Hackathon- 2019’ Launched
This year’s Smart India Hackathon which will see over one lakh students from around 3000 institutions working on challenges faces by ministries and public sector organizations besides also taking up, for the first time, problems faced by the private industry and NGOs.
Government Constitutes New Science And Technology Council To Advise PM
The Prime Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Council (PM-STIAC) includes noted mathematician and Princeton University professor Manjul Bharghava; and Major General Madhuri Kanitkar, the first woman dean of Army Forces Medical College, Pune; said K Vijay Raghavan, the Principal scientific adviser to the Government of India.
1st SAARC Agri Cooperative Business Forum Begins In Kathmandu
The First South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Agri Cooperative Business Forum has begun in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The theme of three-day Forum is the ‘Organizing and Strengthening Family Farmers’ Cooperatives to attain the Sustainable-Development-Goals-1 and 2 in South Asia’.
Satya S Tripathi Appointed Assistant Secretary-General & Head of New York Office of UNEP
He was previously the Director and Executive Head of the UN Office for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries
UN Secretary General Guterres has appointed veteran Indian development economist and UN official Satya S Tripathi as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Asian Games 2018: Manjit Singh Wins Gold In 800m Race
Manjit Singh upstaged pre-race favourite compatriot Jinson Johnson to win gold in men’s 800m in a 1-2 finish for India in the event here today.
The 28-year-old Manjit ran his personal best time of 1 minute and 46.15 seconds to win his maiden major international medal.
ISRO To Send 1st Indian Into Space By 2022
India’s first manned space flight — Gaganyaan — will send three human beings into space for five to seven days and the spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 k m from the earth’s surface. As part of his Independence Day speech earlier this month, PM Narendra Modi had vowed to put an Indian in space by 2022.
While Modi had said that India’s first human space flight to be launched before its 75th Independence Day could be led by a man or even a woman, Minister of State, Space and Atomic Energy, Dr Jitender Singh said the process of finalising those who will be part of the mission is still underway. "There are several factors to be taken into consideration - expertise, physical and biological conditions being a few," he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Centre Signs MoU With 6 States For Lakhwar Yamuna Basin Project
Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here with six states for the construction of the Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the upper Yamuna basin to deal with water crisis.
Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh (Yogi Adityanath), Rajasthan (Vasundhara Raje Scindia), Uttarakhand (Trivendra Singh Rawat), Himachal Pradesh (Jai Ram Thakur), Haryana (Manohar Lal Khattar) and (Delhi Arvind Kejriwal) signed the MoU .
MoU Signed For Skill Development Of Arogyamitras Under PMJAY
An MoU was signed between the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and National Health Agency (NHA), to provide capacity building for Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) to ensure effective rollout and continued quality implementation.
The MoU was signed by Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO, NHA and Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC. As per the MoU, NSDC will ensure quality training of Arogyamitra through its network of Skill Development Centres functioning under PMKVY and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK).
G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting Held in Argentina
The G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting was held in Salta, Argentina. It took place as part of Sherpa Track for 2018 G20 Leaders’ Summit, which is to be hosted by Argentina by end of 2018. The theme of the meeting was 'Building consensus for fair and sustainable development'.
Its three key issues for the agenda were future of work, infrastructure for development, and sustainable food future.
Tez Rebranded As Google Pay To Offer Instant Bank Loans
Google on Tuesday rebranded its UPI-based payment platform Tez as Google Pay. The rebranding will allows its users to make payments to retail stores and conduct online transactions across apps as well as various Google products.
Tez was launched in India last September as Google’s first digital payment platform for the country.
DBS Named World's Best Bank In Nod To Its Digital Innovation
DBS Bank has been named the world's best bank by Global Finance magazine, in a reflection of its ability to invest in digital innovation while still maintaining stable operations for its customers.
DBS is the first Asian bank to receive the accolade from the New York-based publication, which last year gave the title to ING Bank.
PNB Gets Top Rank In Digital Transaction
Punjab National Bank (PNBNSE 0.66 %) today said a Department of Financial Services report has rated it as number one state-owned bank in terms of digital transactions.
The Nirav Modi scam-hit bank is also rated as the sixth overall amongst all banks in India for digital performance, PNB said in a statement.