BIHAR

• Bihar cabinet clears setting up education finance corporation to disburse education loans

 

• The Bihar Cabinet  gave its nod for setting up of a ‘Bihar State Education Finance Corporation’ in order to disburse loans for Student’s Credit Card (SCC) scheme in view of banks’ reluctance in doing it.
  The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave green signal to proposal of Finance Department to set up the corporation in order to disburse education loan among students.
• The corporation will come into effect from April 1, 2018, Pandey said adding a total of 131 posts have been created for the corporation. It will be headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

 

• Notably, the Bihar government launched the SCC scheme on October 3, 2016. Under the scheme, students are able to get education loan of upto Rs 4 lakh for pursuing higher education after completing 10+2.

 

• The idea behind launching the SCC is to help increase gross enrolment ratio from current 13 per cent to 30 to 35 per cent in few years.

 

• Banks have received 17,500 applications which have been routed through the government for SCC loans so far since its launch and the banks have sanctioned loans for 14,500 applications, bank sources said.

INTERNATIONAL

 

 

• China’s Qingdao to host SCO summit in June

 

• East China’s Qingdao City will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in June this year.

 

• Shandong is the birthplace of many ancient Chinese thinkers, including Confucius. In 2017, its GDP exceeded 7.2 trillion yuan.

 

• The summit has China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan as full members.

 

• India’s defence budget breaks into world’s top 5: UK report

 

• India’s defence budget broke into the world’s top five, beating the UK for the first time, a new report by a London-based global think-tank has said.

 

• India overtook the UK as the fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017 at $52.5 billion, up from $51.1 billion in 2016, according to the ‘Military Balance 2018’ report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

 

• In contrast, the UK’s defence budget fell from $52.5 billion in 2016 to $50.7 billion last year.

 

• World’s top five defence spenders are the US, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and India.

·        India and Iran signed 9 MoUs To Boost Bilateral Ties

 

• India and Iran signed nine agreements in order to further the bilateral cooperation between the two sides.
• The pacts were signed after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Iran President Hassan Rouhani at New Delhi’s Hyderabad house.
• The two countries inked pacts to enhance cooperation in the areas of taxation, maritime cooperation, health and medicine, trade, agriculture and postal cooperation.

 

·        Saudi Arabia allows women to start business without male permission

 

• Women in Saudi Arabiacan now open their own businesses without the consent of a husband or male relative.
• The policy change, announced by the Saudi government also marks a major step away from the strict guardianship system that has ruled the country for decades.
• The Country’s Ministry of Commerce and investment said on its website that women can now launch their own businesses and benefit from governmental e-services without having to prove consent from a guardian.

 

 

NATIONAL

 

• Modi govt to set up 562 more Ekalavya schools

 

• The government will set up 562 more Ekalavya Model Residential School (EMRS) in tribal areas across the country that will be on par with the Navodaya Vidyalayas, Tribal Affairs minister Jual Oram said.

 

• Detailing about the budgetary provisions for budget 2018-19, Oram said 271 EMRSs have already been sanctioned out of which 190 are currently operational.

 

• The EMRS are planned under a government scheme for model residential school for Indian tribals (Scheduled Tribes) across India.

 

 

• National Banana Festival, 2018 held in Thiruvananthapuram

 

• The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addressed at the National Banana Festival, 2018 held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

 

• India is the largest producer of banana in the world with 29.7 million tonnes from an area of 0.88 million hectares with a productivity of 37 MT/ha.

 

• Although India accounts for only 15.5per cent in area, its contribution in the world’s production is 25.58per cent.

 

• PM to Inaugurate the Fourth Container Terminal of JNPT
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Fourth Container Terminal (FCT) of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai.

 

• With this, JNPT will  nearly double its container handling capacity .

 

• The new FCT will add a capacity of 24 lakh containers per year in Phase-I and after completion of Phase-II in 2022, the capacity of JNPT will be 100 lakh containers per year.

 

• The Fourth Container Terminal has been developed on Design, Built, Fund, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for a concession period of 30 years at an estimated cost of Rs. 7915 Crore.

 

• The project is being implemented in two Phases. i.e. Phase –I and Phase –II. The indicative cost of the project for Phase – I is Rs 4719 Crore. The foundation stone for the project was laid by  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi  in October 2015, and Phase I has been completed in record time.

 

 

• Magnetic Maharashtra investors summit inaugurated

 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Global Investors’ Summit at “Magnetic Maharashtra: Convergence 2018 at the MMRDA grounds at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex.

 

• This summit is Maharashtra’s first Global Investors Summit and is said to be on the lines of Make In India initiative by PM Modi.

 

• PM will next inaugurate the Wadhwani Institute for Artifical Intelligence at the University of Mumbai.

 

·        Reserve bank of India directs all banks to accept denomination coins from public

 

• The Apex bankissued a notification in Mumbai, saying such denial of service causes inconvenience to the public at large as shopkeepers and traders refuse to accept coins for payment of goods and services.
• The branches to accept coins of all denominations tendered at their counters either for exchange or for deposit in accounts
• Also, RBI advised all banks to accept coins, particularly in one and two rupee denominations by weightment or sachets of 100 coins each.

·        Ola ‘Auto Unnati’ launched to ensure healthy ecosystem for Auto driver

 

• Ola successfully launched ‘Auto Unnati’ program to assist its auto driver partners through the firm’s ‘Chalo Befikar’ insurance program, family welfare initiatives.
• The aim is to create an inclusive environment in which driver partners can operate and thrive. ‘Auto Unnati’ is a milestone program in the same direction that will offer better financial and emotional stability for thousands of auto drivers in Bengaluru.
• The program is aimed to enhance business assurance plan to ensure a healthy professional ecosystem for Auto driver partners and for those hoping to target high business profits with ease.

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