Current Affairs Update – 5-6 October, 2016

• In a major deal for India’s
  private defence industry, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group and Rafale maker
  Dassault Aviation on 3 October 2016 announced a joint venture in India.
• The companies in a joint
  statements said, the entity will be a key player in execution of offset
  contract worth about 22000 crore rupees as part of the fighter jet deal.
  Purpose of the Joint Venture is to focus on promoting Research and development
  projects under the IDDM program (Indigenously Designed, Developed and
  Manufactured), a new initiative of India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
• This new joint venture called
  Dassault Reliance Aerospace will develop major Indian programs with high levels
  of technology transfer to benefit the entire aerospace sector. The Joint
  Venture was announced by Dassault Reliance Aerospace within days of India and
  France signed agreement for 36 Rafale fighter jets value of 59,000 crore rupees
  (7.87 billion Euros). The agreement on Rafale jets was inked on 23 September
  2016.
• The agreement includes a 50 per
  cent offset obligation, the largest-ever offset contract in the history of
  India.
• The main point of the offset
  agreement is 74 per cent of it has to be imported from India, which means
  direct business worth around 22000 crore rupees. There is also a
  technology-sharing component, which is being discussed with the Defence
  Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

• Domestic handset maker Intex has
  partnered with mRUPEE, a Tata Teleservices subsidiary, to launch mobile wallet
  ‘Intex MyWallet’.
• The wallet will offer easy and
  quick integrated payment functionalities and conveniences within the device
  related to recharge, money transfer, shopping, booking train, movie, bus
  tickets and more in just one click, Intex said in a statement.
• Intex’s larger rival, Micromax,
  also has a mobile wallet service ‘Udio’ in partnership with TranServ and Visa.
• As part of its tie-up, Intex will
  also launch a white labelled retailer portal, wherein Intex retailers will be
  able to offer retail-assisted services of recharges, bill payments, utilities
  and money transfer.
• Intex wallet customers will be
  rewarded for accessing content and other utilities by offering loyalty bonus
  that can be redeemed for talk time and recharges.

• The Union Cabinet on 5 October
  2016 approved setting up of a Medical Devices Manufacturing Park (Medipark) at
  Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu through a special purpose
  Vehicle.
• For this purpose, HLL Lifecare
  Ltd, a Mini Ratna PSU under Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, will
  sub-lease 330.10 acres of land at Chengalpattu. The shareholding of HLL in the
  project will be above 50 percent.
• The Medipark project will boost
  the local manufacturing of hi-end products at a significantly lower cost,
  resulting in affordable healthcare delivery to a large section of people.
• It will contribute to the
  development of medical devices and technology sector and allied disciplines in
  the country.
• HLL will sublease the land to
  investors, through a transparent bidding process to investors desirous to set
  up manufacturing units for Medical equipment and devices.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic
  Affairs (CCEA) on 5 October 2016 gave its approval to an acquisition by ONGC
  Videsh Ltd (OVL) for 11% stake in JSC Vankorneft from Rosneft Oil Company
  (Rosneft), Russia’s national oil company.
• The OVL will pay 930 million US
  dollar for acquiring 11 per cent in Vankorneft.
• The acquisition is in line with
  ONGC’s stated objective of adding high quality international assets to India’s
  exploration and production portfolio.
• Earlier in May 2016, OVL
  completed the formalities for acquisition of 15% stake in Vankorneft at a cost
  of 1.284 billion US dollar, which gave OVL 4.11 MMTOE.
• Benefits
• The acquisition of stake in
  Vankorneft will provide 3.2 Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE) to OVL by 2017.
• It will also provide an
  opportunity to the Indian public sector oil and gas companies to acquire new
  technologies from Rosneft.

• To make sure that the bridges
  across India remains safe, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways
  and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on 4 October 2016 launched the Indian Bridge
  Management System (IBMS) in New Delhi.
• IBMS is being developed to create
  an inventory of all bridges in the country and rate their structural condition
  so that timely repair and rehabilitation work can be carried out based on the
  criticality of the structure.
• IBMS is the largest platform in
  the world owned by a single owner, with database that could exceed one lakh
  fifty thousand bridge structures.
• So far one lakh and fifteen
  thousand bridges have been intventorized, of which eighty five thousands are
  culverts and the rest are bridges.
• At the time of creation, each
  bridge was assigned with a unique identification number or National Identity
  Number based on the state, RTO zone and whether it is situated on a National
  Highway, State Highway or is a district road.

• Oil India Limited (OIL) on 5
  October 2016 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of
  Houston (USA), one of the leading universities on oil and gas of the world.
• The MoU was signed by OIL with an
  intent of augmenting its reserves base and maximising recovery from its aging
  oilfields.

• It is focused to collaborate in
  the fields of Improved Oil Recovery & Enhanced Oil Recovery for production
  enhancement from matured fields & reservoir characterisation studies.
• It will help OIL to further
  consolidate and upgrade the various initiatives the Company has undertaken to
  improve production and contribute significantly to the energy security of the
  country.
• It will also contribute towards
  national obligation as set by Prime Minister to reduce import dependency of oil
  and gas by 10% by 2022.

• Union Finance Ministry on 4
  October constituted a Public Debt Management Cell (PDMC). The cell was created
  to streamline government borrowings and better cash management with the overall
  objective of deepening bond markets.
• The Joint Secretary (Budget),
  Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance would be the overall
  in-charge of the ODMC.
• As an interim arrangement, the
  PDMC will be housed at the RBI’s Delhi office. In about two years, the PDMC
  will be upgraded to a statutory Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA).

• The interim arrangement will
  allow separation of debt management functions from RBI to PDMA in a gradual and
  seamless manner, without causing market disruptions.
• It will have only advisory
  functions to avoid any conflict with the statutory functions of RBI.
• It has been tasked to plan
  government borrowings, including market borrowings and other borrowings, like
  Sovereign Gold Bond issuance.
• It will also advise government on
  matters related to investment, capital market operations, administration of
  interest rates on small savings among others.

• The Union Cabinet on 5 October
  2016 approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India
  and the African Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) for capacity
  building programmes in the field of rural development.
• Under this MoU, capacity building
  programmes for AARDO member countries will be organized every year at various
  Institutions of Excellence in India such as National Institute of Rural
  Development & Panchayati Raj, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Indian
  Institute of Management and others.
• The duration of each training
  programme shall be of two to three weeks. The Post Graduate Diploma in Rural
  Development Management Course at NIRD & PR under this scheme will be for
  one year.

• The Union Cabinet on 5 October
  2016 approved the signing of MoU between India and European Union in the field
  of water resources.
• The MoU envisages strengthening
  the technological, scientific and management capabilities of India and the
  European Union in the field of water management on the basis of equality, reciprocity
  and mutual benefit.

• It provides technical exchange on
  water issues, including on integrated water resource management plans within
  river basins and through study visits.
• It aims to identify key
  environmental issues and approaches to sustainable development where exchange
  of experiences could be beneficial to develop cooperation in the field of water
  management.
• It envisions a more sustainable
  management of water resources in India with an objective of tackling the
  challenges posed by water management in the context of growing population,
  competing water demands and a changing climate.
• A Joint Working Group shall be
  formed to monitor the activities to be carried out in fulfillment of the MoU.

• India and Singapore on 4 October
  2016 signed three Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) agreements during the
  visit of Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong to India.

• MoU on collaboration in the field
  of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Signed between – National
  Skill Development Corporation and ITEES Singapore.
• MoU on collaboration in the field
  of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Signed between – Government
  of Assam and ITEES Singapore.
• MoU in the field of Industrial
  Property Cooperation. Signed between – DIPP and Intellectual Property Office
  Singapore.

• Former Portuguese Prime Minister
  Antonio Guterres on 5 October 2016 was unanimously selected by the UN Security
  Council as the next UN Secretary-General.
• Guterres will succeed Ban Ki-moon
  on 1 January 2017.
• The 15-nation Security Council’s
  decision will be sent, following the formal approval, to the 193-member General
  Assembly for final formal approval.

• Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty was
  today appointed as the acting chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court even as
  seven new additional judges were appointed to the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
• Justice Mohanty will assume
  charge tomorrow as incumbent Justice Virendra Singh retires today as the chief
  justice.
• After Justice Mohanty assumes
  charge as acting chief justice, three high courts — Andhra Pradesh/Telangana,
  Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand — will have acting chief justices.

• India’s largest mobile payment
  and commerce company Paytm has announced the appointment of Madhur Deora as its
  Chief Financial officer (CFO) and Senior Vice President.
• Formerly with Citigroup
  Investment Banking as Managing Director, Madhur brings experience in
  identifying new opportunities for emerging businesses and contributing to their
  growth.
• At Paytm he will also be responsible
  for building and managing the company’s newly formed financial services
  business.

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