Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 18 and 19 June 2020

1. FSDC sub-committee's 24^th meeting

• Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) sub-committee's 24^th meeting was recently chaired by RBI governor.
• During the meeting, major developments in the economy (both global and domestic) and in financial markets were reviewed.
• Several other proposals and issues that were discussed during the meeting are briefly given below.
  • Proposal to form an Inter Regulatory Technical Group on Fintech (IRTG-Fintech).
  • Proposal to form a National Strategy on Financial Education (NSFE) 2020-2025.
  • Functioning of credit rating agencies.
  • Developments under IBC, 2016 and its status.
• FSDC and FSDC sub-committee:
  • RBI governor is the chairman of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) sub-committee.
  • Finance Minister is the chairman of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC).
  • Both of them have same members. Their members are RBI governor, chairmen of SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA, IBBI and secretaries of some departments and ministries.

2. Roche Pharma's new cluster strategy

• As part of its cluster strategy, Roche Pharma has mapped India as 10 clusters for focusing on differing needs of its customers.
• The company will implement its strategy in next three months. The strategy is visible in Roche Pharma's partnership with Cipla and Entero Healthcare for supplying cancer and nephrology medicines.
• Under the partnership, Cipla will supply Roche Pharma's key cancer medicines.
• Similarly, Entero Healthcare Solutions will promote and supply the company's nephrology medicines in India.
• In February 2018, Roche Pharma signed an agreement for supply of Tocilizumab (Actemra), used now for COVID-19 treatment.   

3. Minerals business of Metso Oyj (Metso) to be acquired by Outotec Oyj (Outotec)

• As per the approval granted by Competition Commission of India, Outotec Oyj (Outotec) will acquire minerals business of Metso Oyj (Metso).
• The acquisition has been approved under Section 31 (1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
• As part of the acquisition plan, Outotec will get Metso Minerals, which will be demerged from Metso and shareholders of Metso will get shares in Outotec.
• Outotec and Metso are public limited liability companies registered under laws of Finland.  
• Competition Commission of India:
  • CCI was formed on 14 October 2003 under the Competition Commission Act,2002.
  • It aims to eliminate practices that affects competition in Indian market and protect the interests of the consumers.
  • Current Chairperson: Ashok Kumar Gupta

4. Qualcomm launches Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform

• Qualcomm Technologies Inc. has launched Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, a new 5G, AI-powered robotics platform.
• The new platform will help in development of high-compute, low-power robots and drones.
• The platform supports both 4G and 5G connectivity speeds. It has following important components.
  • Qualcomm QRB5165 processor
  • 5th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, which delivers 15 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS)
  • Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator (HTA)
  • Various softwares such as Linux, Ubuntu and Robot Operating System (ROS) 2.0 are supported by the platform.
• Qualcomm Technologies Inc. is an American company headquartered in San Diego, California.

5. Rs. 11,367 crore raised by Jio Platforms

• Jio Platforms has collected Rs 11,367 crore from Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
• The investment in Jio Platforms is single largest investment made in India by PIF, a sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
• Jio Platforms is Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)'s subsidiary.
• In past nine months, Jio Platforms has sold stake for the 11th time.
• Since April, Jio Platforms have collected ₹1,15,693.95 crore (₹1.15 lakh crore) from Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton.

6. Project to make Neera and Palm jaggery started by KVIC

• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has started project to make Neera and Palm jaggery.
• The project to make Neera has been started in Palghar district of Maharashtra.
• It aims to promote Neera as replacement of soft drinks and provide self-employment to Adivasis.
• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC):
  • It was formed in 1957 under an act of the Parliament. So, it is a statutory body.
  • It is headquartered in Mumbai. It has six regional offices. Its chairperson is Vinai Kumar Saxena.
  • Its purpose is development of khadi and village industries.
  • It is under jurisdiction of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

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