1.
India successfully test-fired indigenously developed MBRL Pinaka II at Pokhran
i. Amament Research and
Development Establishment (ARDE) in the last week of December 2015 successfully
test-fired Pinaka II multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) System. The three-day
long user assisted trials were conducted at Pokhran in Rajasthan.
ii. Pinaka is an
unguided rocket system and capable of neutralising large areas with rapid
salvos. Range of Pinaka II is 20 km more than the Pinaka I version, which has a
40 km range and has already been inducted into the forces.
iii. The system acts as
a force-multiplier while supplementing the artillery guns of the armed forces.
It is capable to incorporate several types of warheads, which make the weapon
deadly for the enemy as it can even destroy solid structures and bunkers.
iv. The system proved
its mettle during Kargil war while neutralising the mountain peaks off the
enemy. They are developed at a very low cost vis-a-vis other such rocket
systems in the world bestowed with shoot and scoot capabilities. The Pinaka
MBRL System has been indigenously developed by the ARDE, Pune.
2.
15 states have joined UDAY scheme: Piyush Goyal
i. Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar have agreed to join the central government’s
electricity distribution utility (Discom) financial turnaround scheme to take
the total number up to 15.
ii. Piyush Goyal,
Minister of State (Independent Charge) Power, Coal and New & Renewable
Energy Minister said on Monday that within two months of getting Cabinet
approval, more than half the states have voluntarily agreed to join the scheme
called the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
iii. Under UDAY, states
shall take over 75 per cent of Discom debt as on 30 September 2015 over two
years where 50 per cent of Discom debt shall be taken over in 2015-16 and 25
per cent in 2016-17. Discoms will also issue bonds for the remaining 25 per
cent of their debt which will be guaranteed by the state governments.
iv. Further, states will
issue non-SLR including SDL bonds in the market or directly to the respective
banks and financial institutions holding the Discom debt to the appropriate
extent.
v. The states which have
agreed to join the scheme are Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana,
Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.
3.
Lodha panel proposes drastic reforms for BCCI, IPL CEO given clean chit
i. The Supreme
Court-appointed Lodha Committee today recommended sweeping reforms for the
controversy-ridden BCCI, suggesting a bar on ministers from occupying
positions, putting a cap on the age and tenure of the office-bearers and legalising
betting.
ii. In a series of
drastic reforms, the three-member panel, headed by Justice (Retd) R M Lodha,
also suggested one unit should represent one state, while taking away the
voting rights of institutional and city-based units. The committee also
suggested the restructuring of the BCCI’s administrative set-up, proposing the
position of a CEO accountable to a nine-member apex council.
iii. Among the most
sensational recommendations by the Lodha panel was the suggestion to legalise
betting. The panel felt that the move would help curb corruption in the game
and recommended that except for players and officials, people should be allowed
to place bets on registered sites.
iv. “Regarding the IPL,
the recommendation is that the chief governing body will be known as the
Governing Council, which will comprise nine members. The Secretary and the
Treasurer of the BCCI will be ex-officio members of this IPL governing
council,” Justice Lodha said.
v. “The Governing
Council of IPL will be entitled to take all decisions concerning IPL, which
includes decisions relating to financial matters. However, the Governing
Council will be answerable to the general body of the BCCI. So limited autonomy
is proposed for the IPL GC,” he added.
4.
Wipro management changes, T K Kurien elevated as Vice Chairman, COO becomes CEO
i. India’s third largest
IT services exporter – Wipro has announced major management changes with the
elevation of the chief executive officer (CEO) T K Kurien as the executive
vice-chairman and chief operating officer Abidali Neemuchwala as the new CEO
and member of the board.
ii. In a notice to the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday afternoon, Wipro announced that both
these changes will be effective February 1, 2016. Kurien who took over the role
of CEO in February, 2011 will hold the executive vice chairman position until March
31, 2017.
iii. Commenting on the
appointment, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said, “Over the past five years, Wipro
has been transforming into a next generation technology and consulting company
with defining differentiators in the marketplace. As Executive Chairman TK will
enable Abid by leveraging his deep relationships with customers and chart out a
new technology roadmap for Wipro.”
iv. Neemuchwala, who was
appointed as COO in April, 2015 will be the new CEO for a period of five year.
He previously spent 23 years at TCS and is the second outsider to head Wipro’s
IT business after Vivek Paul.
v. Kurien on the
appointment of Neemuchwala said, “Abid had demonstrated a deep understanding of
technology, business vision, sound judgement and innate ability to bring people
together. I have no doubt that Abid is the right leader to lead Wipro in its
next phase of growth.”
vi. Neemuchwala taking
over as the CEO comes at a time when Wipro is struggling to get into double
digit growth rate and has fallen behind its peers like TCS, Cognizant and
Infosys.
5.
Paytm acquires Shifu for $8mn to enrich customer experience
i. Paytm has acquired
Shifu for $8 million (about Rs 53.2 crore), a move that will enable the digital
payments company to offer more personalised user experience. Shifu, a
context-aware personal assistant application, mines the smartphone usage
patterns of users and makes personalised and highly relevant recommendations to
them.
ii. By predicting user
behaviour based on past usage, location and other data points, Paytm’s platform
will be able to offer relevant recommendations to our users, he added.
iii. Shifu, created by
Delhi-based The Signals, is a free task-managing app. Once the app is
installed, it analyses the usage patterns of the device owner and give various
suggestions based on a predictive algorithm.
iv. While the app will
continue to be available in its original form after the acquisition, the
technology behind it will be used by Paytm.
Paytm has a user base of
more than 100 million people.
v. In November, Paytm
acquired home service marketplace Near.in for an undisclosed amount to boost
online-to-offline (O2O) play.
6.
NABARD, NRSC signed MoU for monitoring Watershed Projects
i. The National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on 1 January 2016 signed the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)
for web-based monitoring of Indo-German Watershed Development projects.
ii. The web-based
monitoring of Indo-German Watershed Development projects will happen in three
states- Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana.
iii. Under the MoU, NRSC
will create a separate page for NABARD on Bhuvan web-portal.
iv. NRSC will develop
customised software tool and mobile application for real time monitoring,
online comparison and visualisation with respect to activities implemented in
the projects.
7.
Atul Sobti took charge as CMD of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
i. Atul Sobti on 1
January 2016 took charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-owned
power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for a period of
five years.
ii. His appointment as
CMD of BHEL was approved by the Union Government in September 2015. Prior to
this appointment, Sobti was the Director on the board of BHEL, where he headed
two crucial portfolios of Power and Finance.
iii. He also held
Additional Charge of the post of Director (Engineering, Research and
Development).
iv. Before his elevation
to the Board of BHEL in December 2013, Sobti was Executive Director (Power) at
BHEL and was holding concurrent charge of Industrial Systems Group, a Bengaluru
based unit of BHEL.
8.
LIC offers longer cover under ‘Jeevan Labh’
i. LIC is offering a
‘New Year gift’ to the public in the form of a limited-premium, non-linked and
with-profit endowment assurance plan ‘Jeevan Labh’ from Monday. The highlight
of the plan is that premium is payable for a limited period while risk is
covered for the whole policy term.
ii. The plan is
available from ages 8 to 59 years with a choice of policy term of 16, 21 and 25
years and premium-paying terms of 10,15 and 16 years respectively. The maximum
age at maturity is 75 years, said Shaji M Shankar, Senior Divisional Manager, LIC,
Thiruvananthapuram Division.
iii. The plan is
suitable for those who want premium commitment for a short duration while life
coverage and benefits are assured for a longer period. Minimum basic sum
assured is ₹2 lakh with maximum basic sum assured having no limit, Shankar
added.
iv. LIC’s accidental
death and disability benefit rider is available as an optional rider by payment
of additional premium. New term assurance rider is also available at the
inception of the policy on payment of additional premium.
9.
Arunima Sinha scaled Mount Aconcagua in Argentina
i. Arunima Sinha, the
amputee mountaineer who set a record by climbing the Mount Everest on 25
December 2015, conquered Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. Arunima started her
mission on the morning of 12 December 2015 and hoisted the Indian tricolour on
25 December 2015.
ii. With this, Arunima
has successfully completed the 5th summit of the Mission 7 Summits and also
became the first female amputee to climb 5 Mountains of the World. The four
other peaks conquered by her include Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa,
Elbrus in Europe, and Kosizko, Australia, as the world's four highest peaks.
iii. Aconcagua is the
highest mountain outside Asia, at 6960.8 metres and by extension, the highest
point in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
iv. Arunima who lost her
left leg in a train accident in 2011 surprised the world by climbing Mt.
Everest on 21 May 2013. She was awarded the Padmashree for her achievement.
10.
India won the 2015 SAFF championships
i. India on 3 January
2016 won of the South Asian Football Federation Cup (SAFF) championships. In
the title clash played at Trivandrum International Stadium of Kerala, India
defeated defending champions Afghanistan 2-1.
ii. Half time saw both
the teams’ goal-less. At the end of a breathless normal second half, both India
and Afghanistan were 1-1.
iii. For India, the
first goal was scored by Jeje Lalpehlua. In the ongoing extra time, Indian
captain Sunil Chhetri scored a goal to help India lead 2-1.
iv. India has been the
most successful side in the tournaments history by winning the title in seven
of the 11 editions. Afghans won their first title in 2013.
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