Current Affairs Update – 5th May, 2016

• State Bank of India, the
  country’s largest public sector bank, has launched a mobile payment solution
  that will enable customers to make digital payments at offline stores by
  scanning a QR (quick response) code on their smartphones. The service has been launched
  in Bengaluru with a sizable number of merchants and will soon expand into other
  cities.
• Dubbed mVisa, the solution is a
  card-less way for customers to pay for goods at offline stores, and will be
  available to all SBI credit card, debit card and net banking users. The
  solution which is bank agnostic will be accessible to customers through the
  company’s SBI Anywhere app.
• Merchants too will be able to
  initiate transactions through the SBI mVisa merchant app which will display a
  dynamic QR code that a customer will be able to scan to authenticate the
  transaction. The payment process is completely cashless and enhances security
  as users don’t have to share their card or details with the merchant.
• SBI’s mVisa solution will do away
  with POS (point of sale) systems, effectively reducing the cost for merchants
  to accept digital payments. The solution is aimed at small merchants who will
  be able to utilise the app to view further transaction details etc and keep a
  track on their digital income.

• New Development Bank (NDB),
  headed by K V Kamath, has chosen ICICI Bank, which he used to head, for its
  first tie-up with any bank in India to explore opportunities around bond
  issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources.
• On Thursday, the two lenders
  announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as per
  which they will consider each others as “preferred partners” to work
  in the aforementioned areas.
• The lenders said that this MoU
  will help NDB in exploring bond issuance opportunities in the Indian and
  international bond markets, particularly in the rupee-denominated bonds. NDB,
  won’t be the first multi-lateral funding agency that is looking at tapping the
  rupee-denominated bond market. Recently, IFC, part of the World Bank group also
  raised about Rs 180 crore by issuing rupee-denominated ‘Maharaja’ bonds.
• Apart from this, the two lenders
  will also be working together for funding development projects in the country.
  In fact, in 2014, the leaders of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and
  South Africa) countries had decided to establish NDB with the intention to fund
  infrastructure projects.

• 3D design company Autodesk on
  Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of
  Maharashtra to provide advanced design technology to – local MSMEs from the manufacturing
  sector in the state.
• As per the agreement the company
  will offer Fusion 360, Autodesk’s cloud-based software tool for Computer Aided
  Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) for free to MSMEs
  registered with the Department of Industries, Government of Maharashtra, and
  with annual turnover less than Rs. one crore.
• Additionally for MSMEs in
  Maharashtra with annual turnover over Rs. one crore it will be available at a
  price of Rs. 1,999 (plus taxes) with a two years validity, through the
  Mahaonline portal of the Maharashtra Govt. The cost of the software in open
  market is about Rs. 22,000 per year.
• The Government of Maharashtra
  announced its intention to introduce a dedicated industrial policy for MSMEs,
  providing necessary incentives and facilities for setting up their businesses
  in the state. The MSME sector is a major focus area for the government as it is
  also the largest employment generating sector in the state. Initiatives such as
  this, would help MSMEs in the state to become internationally competitive with
  easy access and availability of proven technology and tools and give a boost to
  Chief Minister’s Make in Maharashtra efforts.

• The Union Cabinet today gave its
  ex-post facto approval to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the
  Reserve Bank and the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation
  on currency swap agreement.
• As per the MoU signed in
  February, RBI and the Central Bank of UAE will consider signing a bilateral
  Currency Swap Agreement on mutually agreed terms and conditions after
  undertaking technical deliberations, subject to concurrence of respective
  governments.
• The MoU will further strengthen
  the close economic relationship and cooperation between India and the UAE, an
  official statement said after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister
  Narendra Modi.
• The swap agreement is also
  expected to facilitate invoicing of bilateral trade in local currencies.

• Piyush Goyal, Minister of State
  (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy on 4 May 2016 launched
  ‘Contract Labour Payment Management System’- a portal of Coal India Limited
  (CIL).
• This web portal will help the
  government to curb problems like corruption and exploitation of contractual
  workers by contractors. It will also help in providing proper and timely wages
  to contractual workers.
• It has been planned to make
  payment to the contractors only after submitting a system generated declaration
  of compliance.
• The web portal is created for
  monitoring compliance of labour payment and other benefits to the contract
  workers under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970.
• It is an integrated system for all
  subsidiaries of CIL.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic
  Affairs on 4 May 2016 gave its approval for development of two laning with
  formation of four lane of Shimla Bypass (Kaithlighat to Shimla section) on
  National Highway-22 in Himachal Pradesh.
• The main objective of the project
  is to expedite the improvement of infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh and also
  in reducing the time and cost of travel for traffic, particularly heavy
  traffic, plying on the Kaithlighat to Shimla section on National Highway-22.
  However, the approval for the project is in Hybrid Annuity Mode.
• The work will be completed under
  the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-III. The total length of
  the road will be approximately 28 kilometres.

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