1. Cairn Oil and Gas to price its Rajasthan crude oil sales on the basis of Platts Dated Brent crude oil benchmark
- Cairn Oil and Gas has started to price its Rajasthan crude oil sales on the basis of Platts Dated Brent crude oil benchmark in contracts from April 2020.
- The use of Platts Dated Brent crude oil benchmark by Cairn Oil and Gas to decide price of its Rajasthan crude oil sales is the first time that the price of a grade of indigenously produced crude in India are being decided on the basis of global oil benchmark.
- Platts provides marketing services for the oil. It is a division of S&P Global, which provides financial information and analytics.
- Cairn Oil and Gas is a unit of India-based mining company, Vedanta Ltd.
- Platts Dated Brent is a global benchmark assessment of the price of crude oil.
2. Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020 and two other bills introduced in Lok Sabha
- Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020, Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020 and Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill 2020 have been introduced in Lok Sabha.
- Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020 will replace Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, which was issued by government on 26 June 2020 to amend Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
- If the bill will become act, it will amend section 45 of Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and RBI will be able to prepare reconstruction scheme for banks without first imposing moratorium on withdrawal of deposits.
- The bill will bring urban cooperative banks (UCBs) and multi-state cooperative banks (MSCBs) under RBI’s regulations, which apply to commercial banks.
- The bill does not bring any changes to regulation of cooperative banks by state cooperative laws.
- Currently, urban cooperative banks are facing losses, not meeting minimum regulatory capital requirements and having negative net worth.
- Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020 will amend Factoring Regulation Act 2011 and allows certain non-banking financial companies participate in factoring business and as a financier in Trade Receivables electronic Discount System (TReDS) platform.
- Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill 2020 aims to provide enforceability of bilateral netting of qualified financial contracts.
- In bilateral netting, two counterparties in a contract can offset claims against and decide a single net payment obligation due to be exchanged between them.
3. GEAC approves confined field trials of GM rubber
- Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has approved confined field trials of GM rubber, which has been developed by Rubber Research Institute of India under Rubber Board.
- GM rubber shows better productivity and less occurrence of tapping panel dryness syndrome (patta marappu) that lowers latex production by rubber plants.
- It contains extra copy of MnSOD (Manganese Superoxide Dimutase) and is tolerant to stressful climatic conditions such as drought, high temperature, cold etc.
- Out of different state governments approached by Rubber board, Assam government has given no objection certificate to Rubber Board for confined filed trials. The field trials will take 10-15 years.
- GM rubber contains antibiotic resistant genes from bacteria. It was developed by Rubber Board in 2003.
- GEAC is statutory body consisting of 24 members and coming under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- Rubber Board is a statutory body. It comes under Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Its head office is located at Kottayam, Kerala.
4. Hyderabad chapter of FICCI FLO and CIE, IIT Hyderabad partner
- Hyderabad chapter of FLO, women wing of FICCI and Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) of IIT Hyderabad has partnered.
- Partnership is to establish FLO incubator at CIE, IIT Hyderabad in order to empower women entrepreneurs and startups led by women.
- During 2020-21, all 17 chapters of FLO has taken initiative of launching the FLO Incubation Cell.
- FLO is the women wing of FICCI. It has 17 chapters. It was established in 1983.
- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI):
- It is the largest, oldest and highest trading organization in India.
- It was founded in 1927 by GD Birla and Purushottamdas Thakurdas on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi.
5. ACC approves appointment of new executive directors to World Bank and ADB
- Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved appointment of Rajesh Khullar and Sameer Kumar Khare as Executive Director to World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), respectively.
- Both of them are IAS officers and will have three year tenure abroad.
- Rajesh Khullar will represent India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka at the World Bank.
- Sameer Kumar Khare will represent India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan at ADB.
- Headquartered in Washington, D.C and having 189 member countries, World Bank aims to end extreme poverty and promote shared growth.
- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) together make up the World Bank. David Malpass is its President.
6. Paytm First Games (PFG) makes Sachin Tendulkar its brand ambassador
- Paytm First Games (PFG), a subsidiary of Paytm, has made Sachin Tendulkar its brand ambassador.
- Sachin Tendulkar would promote Paytm First Games (PFG) platform and its virtual sporting events.
- Paytm is the official umpire partner for IPL till 2022. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Paytm.
7. TRAI gives its recommendations on Regulatory Framework for OTT Communication Services
- TRAI has given its recommendations on Regulatory Framework for OTT Communication Services.
- TRAI has recommended that over the top (OTT) communication services do not need regulatory framework as of now.
- TRAI has recommended monitoring of developments in the field of OTT communication and regulatory intervention at appropriate time.
- TRAI has also recommended that no regulatory interventions are needed about the issues of privacy and security of OTT services.
- In March 2016, Department of Telecommunications has asked TRAI to give recommendations on net neutrality and OTT services.
- TRAI:
- It is a statutory body.
- It was founded in 1997.
- It is headquartered in New Delhi.
- It can have maximum two full-time members and two part-time members.
- Ram Sewak Sharma is currently Chairman of TRAI.
8. Wipro Limited and ProcessMaker sign agreement
- Wipro Limited and US-based ProcessMaker have signed agreement to deliver work flow management solutions.
- The work flow management solution will be delivered to Wipro Limited’s customers in Latin America.
- iCaaS (Intelligent Content as a Service) platform of Wipro and Workflow automation platform of ProcessMaker will be used to deliver Cognitive Content Automation solutions to Wipro’s customers.
- The solutions will allow paperless and efficient processing of documents and automate processes such as KYC verification.
- Wipro Limited is Indian company based in Bengaluru and owned by Azim Premji. Its CEO is Thierry Delaporte.
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