BIHAR
New Patna-Bettiah NH gets approval
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has notified Patna-Bettiah road as National Highway 139W, setting the state for construction of a high-quality four-lane road between the two towns that would reduce the distance between them to 167 kilometres from the current 200-odd km and travel time to around 2.5 hours from the current five hours, officials familiar with the matter said.
The NHAI is also likely to build a four-lane bridge over the river Ganga, parallel to JP Setu, which would also ease traffic load on the proposed outer ring road in the state capital. The road construction department (RCD) has already submitted the detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed bridge, estimated to cost ₹1,900 crore.
INTERNATIONAL
India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue
The Financial Market Dialogue between India and the United Kingdom was conducted virtually.
Highlights:
The dialogue was established at the 10th Economic and Financial Dialogue in October 2020 to strengthen the bilateral financial relationship between the United Kingdom and India.
The discussion revolved around four main topics:
♦ GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), India’s premier international financial centre
♦ Banking and payment systems
♦ Insurance
♦ Capital markets
NATIONAL
India Industrial Land Bank – IILB
The Industrial Land Bank of India is a GIS-based portal that contains all information related to industrial infrastructure, such as connectivity, infrastructure, natural resources and topography, plot-level information about open spaces, activity lines, and contact information.
♦ It serves as a one-stop shop for all industrial infrastructure-related data.
♦ It acts as a decision-support system for investors scouting land remotely.
♦ It is currently integrated with industry-based GIS systems from 17 states, allowing details on the portal to be updated in real time.
♦ The IILB has planned about 4,000 industrial parks on 550,000 hectares of land and is expected to achieve pan-Indian integration by December 2021.
♦ It is administered by the Department of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund – Central Sector Scheme
Union Cabinet has approved changes to the Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’.
Highlights:
♦ State Agencies/APMCs, National and State Federations of Cooperatives, Federations of Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs), and Federations of Self-Help Groups are now eligible (SHGs).
♦ Currently, the scheme allows for interest subventions on loans of up to Rs. 2 crore in a single location.
♦ If an eligible entity other than a private sector entity (i.e., state agencies, national and state federations of cooperatives, federations of FPOs, and federations of SHGs) establishes projects in multiple locations, all such projects will now be eligible for interest subsidies of up to Rs. 2 crore.
♦ However, a private sector entity will be limited to a maximum of 25 such projects.
♦ For APMCs, an interest subvention of up to Rs. 2 crore will be provided for each project of different infrastructure types, such as cold storage, sorting, grading, and assaying units, silos, and so on, within the same market yard.
INS Tabar Exercises was Held
The INS Tabar exercise was held with the Italian Navy near Naples, Italy, as part of a continuous deployment to the Mediterranean
Highlights:
♦ The exercise covered a broad range of naval operations, such as air defence procedures and communication drills.
♦ The exercise benefited both parties by improving interoperability and consolidating combined operations against maritime threats.
Major Indian Maritime Exercises:
♦ SLINEX – Sri Lanka
♦ Bongosagar and IN-BN CORPAT – Bangladesh
♦ JIMEX – Japan
♦ Naseem-Al-Bahr – Oman
♦ Indra – Russia
♦ Za’ir-Al-Bahr – Qatar
♦ Samudra Shakti – Indonesia
♦ Indo-Thai CORPAT – Thailand
♦ IMCOR – Malaysia
♦ SIMBEX – Singapore
♦ AUSINDEX – Australia
♦ Malabar Exercise – Japan, and the USA