Topic: Indian Economy
1. India to be one of fastest growing emerging market economies.
- India will be one of the fastest growing emerging market economies with a 10% growth in the fiscal year 2021-22.
- Standard & Poor’s Director, Sovereign & International Public Finance Ratings, Andrew Wood made this estimate in a webinar on India’s outlook for 2021.
- As per Andrew Wood, forecast for India in 2021 is very good. He said that forecasts shows that economic activity is returning to normalization. As per S&P, India’s economy has stabilized in recent months.
- S&P is an American credit rating agency. S&P, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings are known as Big Three credit-rating agencies.
Topic: Miscellaneous
2. Government releases guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial data.
- On 15 February 2021, the government released guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial data.
- These guidelines would also apply to acquiring and producing of Geospatial Data Services, including Maps.
- These guidelines have provisions for the liberalisation of acquisition and production of geospatial data and geospatial data services, including maps.
- In the guidelines released by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), government has highlighted the importance of the availability of Geospatial data for the blue economy and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- Fisheries, deep-sea mining and offshore oil and gas come under the blue economy.
- Guidelines will apply to Geospatial Data Services, maps and products provided by government agencies, private organizations and individuals.
- Autonomous bodies, academic and research institutions and NGOs offering these services will also be required to follow the guidelines.
- As per the guidelines, political maps published by the Survey of India would be taken as standard and private entities should adhere to these standards when publishing such maps.
- Digital Maps/Geospatial Data with accuracy greater than the threshold value can be stored on the domestic cloud or servers physically located within the territory of India.
- As per the guidelines, DST would constitute the Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee for the promotion of activities related to Geospatial Data.
- The guidelines say that only Indian Entities would get access to Indian ground stations for real-time positioning and their data.
- Only Indian Entities would be allowed to carry Terrestrial Mobile Mapping Survey, Street view surveys. Similarly, only Indian entities would be allowed to survey in Indian territorial waters.
Topic: Corporates/Companies
3. NRGene collaborates with Foragen Seeds to transfer technology for production of better varieties of maize, rice and chili pepper.
- NRGene has collaborated with Foragen Seeds to transfer technology for the production of better varieties of maize, rice and chili pepper.
- Under the collaboration, Foragen Seeds will get license to their germplasm. It will get access to technology from NR Gene.
- Foragen Seeds is planning to expand its offerings in fodder seed market.
- NRGene has used genomics artificial intelligence to develop DNA markers for complex traits in the breeding population.
- NRGene is a genomics big data company based in Israel. Foragen Seeds is a seed genetics start-up based in Hyderabad.
- DNA markers are DNA sequences that help in the identification of individuals and species.
Topic: Banking System
4. Indian Bank and Society for Innovation and Development (SID) signs an MoU for providing credit facility to start-ups and MSMEs.
- Indian Bank and Society for Innovation and Development (SID) has signed an MoU for providing credit facilities to start-ups and MSMEs.
- Under the MoU, start-ups and MSMEs would be identified by SID and then referred to Indian Bank.
- Indian Bank will provide loans up to Rs 50 crore to start-ups identified and referred by Society for Innovation and Development (SID). SID is an initiative of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
- The initiative comes under Ind Spring Board for financing Start-ups scheme of Indian Bank. MSME Prerana programme has also been launched by Indian Bank.
- MSME Prerana programme has been launched to empower MSME entrepreneurs through skill development.
- It has also been launched to empower them through capacity-building workshops in local languages.
- Indian Bank was founded in 1907. Its headquarters are in Chennai. Ms. Padmaja Chunduru is its MD & CEO. From 1 April 2020, Allahabad bank has been merged with Indian Bank.
Topic: Appointments
5. K Sailendra becomes Executive Director - Regional Services of IndianOil Southern Region.
- K Sailendra has become Executive Director - Regional Services of IndianOil Southern Region.
- He has earlier served as LPG group of IndianOil in Karnataka. He has served as regional level coordinator for oil and gas industry in five states.
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited is one of the Maharatna public sector companies. It is the largest commercial oil company in India. Its headquarters is located in New Delhi.
Topic: Appointments
6. Amrit Singh appointed as Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President, Strategy of Max Life Insurance.
- Amrit Singh has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President, Strategy of Max Life Insurance.
- In 2013, Amrit Singh joined Max Life. He had earlier worked with Infosys and other companies.
- Max Life Insurance is the largest non-bank private-sector life insurer in India.
Topic: Corporates/Companies
7. TIGER uncrewed Ultimate Mobility Vehicle concept introduced by Hyundai.
- It is Hyundai’s first uncrewed Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) concept. TIGER stands for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot. TIGER is Hyundai’s second Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV).
- The UMV can transform itself into a four-legged walking machine from a four-wheeler. It can use its walking ability to travel over difficult terrain.
- It uses robotic and wheeled locomotion technologies. It can connect to drones.
- It can be used for 360-degree surface evaluation in areas affected or damaged by sudden natural disasters. It can also be used as a mobile exploration platform in extreme, remote locations.
- Hyundai Motor Group’s New Horizons Studio is developing the UMV in collaboration with Autodesk and Sundberg-Ferar. X-1 is the first version of TIGER.
- Elevate was Hyundai Motor Group’s first-ever UMV concept. Hyundai is a South Korean automotive manufacturer.
Previous 
Comments