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  • Current Affairs 14th February 2019

    Updated : 14-Feb-2019

    Current Affairs 14th February 2019 - Important Points

    • Siddhartha Lal Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 – India
    • National Cancer Institute Inaugurated in Haryana
    • Indian Army holds annual ‘Exercise Topchi’
    • Defence Ministry begins process of procurement of 111 Naval Helicopters for Indian Navy
    • NITI Aayog signs agreement to document systemic transformation in education
    • Reserve Bank of India penalises seven banks for violating numerous norms
    • India’s first Aqua Mega Food Park commissioned in Andhra Pradesh

    Current Affairs 14th February 2019 - Details

    Siddhartha Lal Named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 – India

    The CEO & MD Eicher Motors, Siddhartha Lal has been nominated the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2018 on 12th February 2019 in Mumbai. He was accountable for a huge improvement of the Eicher Motors after he had taken over the gearshifts in 2006. In this process he has also resuscitated the motorcycle brand Royal Enfield in India. The Chairman of Wipro Mr. Azim Premji was presented Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution in the Indian IT industry & his philanthropic works.

    About EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018

    This year was the 20th year of Entrepreneur of the Year India Awards programme. Mr. Lal will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo from 6th to 8th June 2019.  There were 7 other categories of EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 winners including

    • Byju Raveendran, founder & CEO, Think & Learn in start-up.
    • Kishore Biyani, founder & CEO, Future Group in Business Transformation.
    • Nirmal K Minda, CMD, Minda Industries in manufacturing.
    • Ritesh Agarwal, founder & CEO, OYO Hotels & Homes in services.
    • Sanjay Agarwal, MD & CEO, AU Small Finance Bank in financial services.
    • Binish Chudgar, vice CMD, Intas Pharmaceuticals in Life Sciences & Healthcare.
    • Rajesh Mehra, promoter & director, Jaquar group in consumer products & retails.
    • Titan Company Limited MD Bhaskar Bhat secured the Entrepreneurial CEO award.
    • The winners were selected by an 8-member jury led by Uday Kotak.
    • The winners having unicorns & market disruptors have a revenue of above Rs. 128000 crore & employ more than 250000 people around the world.
    • National Cancer Institute Inaugurated in Haryana

    PM, Narendra Modi initiated National Cancer Institute at Badhsa in Jhajjar district, Haryana. It is the 1st Employees’ State Insurance Corporation- ESIC Medical College & hospital in North India. It has 510 beds with the facilities of surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, anaesthesia, palliative care, & nuclear medicine. There are six existing Employees’ State Insurance Corporation medical colleges at Kolkata, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, & Gulbarga

    About Employees’ State Insurance Corporation

    It was established by the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 (ESI Act), Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India. It is a self-governing organization.

    It manages the funds of all employees receiving Rupees 21000 or less/month.

    ESI includes self-financing social security & health insurance plan for Indian workers.

    Employees’ State Insurance Corporation is managing numerous medical, dental, nursing & paramedical schools in India.

    ESIC Hospital

    Workers are usually exposed to sickness linked to their job; they may even suffer from temporary/permanent impairment, that results in loss of their wages. Institutions like ESIC refute the resulting physical/financial distress in such contingencies & support human dignity in times of crises.

    Indian Army holds annual ‘Exercise Topchi’

    Indian Army on 12 February 2019 displayed its artillery firepower by using ultra-light Howitzers & indigenous Swathi weapon-finding radar at the yearly ‘Exercise Topchi’. The exercise was organised at Deolali Camp near Nashik. The aviation & surveillance capabilities were also demonstrated.

    Exercise Topchi 2019

    There was a display of rockets, missiles, surveillance & target acquisition radars, remotely directed aircraft & hi-tech equipment’s other than gun fire. The exactness exhibited while delivering the explosives in the target area shocked all those present including Lt.Gen YVK Mohan, Commandant of Defence Service Staff College, Wellington; Lt.Gen R.S.Salaria, Commandant, School of Artillery & Colonel Commandant Regiment of Artillery & other Army delegates. 

    Ultra-Light Howitzer M777

    It is a towed 155mm artillery piece that is utilised by the ground forces of Australia, Canada, India & Saudi Arabia. It is built by BAE Systems’ Global Combat Systems division London, England. It was welcomed in the Indian Army on November 9th, 2018.

    Swathi Weapon Locating Radar

    Swathi Weapon Locating Radar is a mobile artillery finding phased array radar produced by India. It is a counter-battery radar designed to locate & track incoming artillery & rocket fire to regulate the point of origin for Counter-battery fire. It has been introduced by DRDO’s Bangalore based laboratory, LRDE & the Government owned Bharat Electronics Limited.

    Defence Ministry begins process of procurement of 111 Naval Helicopters for Indian Navy

    The Defence Ministry on February 12th, 2019 published EOI to shortlist potential Indian strategic partners & foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers for the gaining of 111 Naval Utility Helicopters for the Indian Navy at an appraised cost of more than Rupees 21000 crore.

    EOI for Indian firms & OEMS

    The Request for the EOI from Indian private firms for taking part in the project was hosted on the Indian Navy website on February 12th, 2019. 

    However, the request from overseas Original Equipment Manufacturers has been forwarded to firms that participated in the Request for Information in August 2017 for procurement of 111 utility & 123 multi-role helicopters. 

    While Indian firms have been issued 2 months’ time to respond to the EOI, the overseas Original Equipment Manufacturers have been issued 3 months’ time due to the nature of inputs needed.

    Grounded on the responses, the Indian Navy would release a detailed Request for Proposal by March 2019 to shortlisted Indian firms.

    NITI Aayog signs agreement to document systemic transformation in education

    The NITI Aayog on February 12th, 2019 inked a Statement of Intent with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to codify, document & share best practices to upgrade learning outcomes in public school education via systemic reforms, based on their collective experiences of working with numerous state governments in India.

    The Statement of Intent was signed in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, by Alok Kumar, Adviser (HRD), NITI Aayog & Barun Mohanty, MD (International), Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

    Important Highlights 

    • Under the SOI, NITI Aayog & the MSDF will document the reforms pursued by numerous state governments that have initiated systemic reforms in education & have started to see improved learning outcomes over the last few years. 
    • A combined team comprising state leaders, consultants, research groups & educators shall work collectively to develop a “theory of change” based on the learnings from the states & will note the influence on ground by commissioning 3rd-party studies to assess the impact of systemic reforms in education.
    • Improving learning results at scale will need a co-ordinated & simultaneous effort with both academic & governance reforms.
    • The important findings of the exercise will then be disseminated to applicable decision-makers & policymakers in other states following a consultative process of validating the same. This will be accomplished via workshops & publications in the forthcoming months.

    Reserve Bank of India penalises seven banks for violating numerous norms

    The RBI in the 1st week of February 2019 levied monetary penalty on 7 banks for non-compliance with numerous guidelines published by the Reserve Bank of India on monitoring of end usage of funds, exchange of data with other banks, KYC guidelines, etc. 

    The penalties were levied in exercise of powers under the provisions of Section 47A (1) (c) & Section 46 (4) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the catastrophe of banks in adhering to the guidelines published by Reserve Bank of India.

    Know Your Customer- KYC norms & Anti-Money Laundering standards

    HDFC Bank Limited

    IDBI Bank Limited

    Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited were penalised with Rupees 2 million each.

    Allahabad Bank (Rupees 15 million), Andhra Bank (Rupees 10 million), Bank of Maharashtra (Rupees 15 million), Indian Overseas Bank (Rupees 15 million) penalty each.

    Earlier in January 2019, the RBI had levied monetary penalty on Axis Bank, Syndicate Bank, & UCO Bank for their non-compliance with guidelines confined in circulars of the Reserve Bank of India.

    India’s first Aqua Mega Food Park commissioned in Andhra Pradesh

    Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal on February 12th, 2019 initiated Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park at Tundurru Village in Bhimavaram Mandal, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh via video conferencing. 

    The Food processing park is encouraged by Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park Pvt. Ltd. It will be the 1st Mega Aqua Food Park operationalised entirely for fish & marine products processing in the Andhra Pradesh.

    Important Highlights

    The Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park Pvt. Ltd has been formed in 57.81 acre of land at a cost of Rupee 122.60 crores. 

    The services shaped by the developer at Central Processing Centre of this mega food park include pre-processing line for fish and shrimp of 1.5 TPH, freezing of fish and shrimp of 1.5 TPH, cold storage for fish and shrimp both of 1000 MT, ice plant, food testing laboratory besides state of art enabling infrastructure.

    The Food processing park also has a common administrative building for office & other purposes by the businesspersons & 2 PPCs at Amalapuram EG-District & Karlapalem, Guntur District having services for primary processing & storage near the farms in the catchment area to profit farmers. 

    This mega food park will profit the people of West Godavari-District and nearby Districts of East Godavari, Krishna of Andhra Pradesh & nearby districts of Telangana.