1.
Start up India: This is the beginning of big bang start up boom in India, says
Softbank CEO
i. Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley on Saturday kick-started Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious
Start-Up India mission at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The Start Up India
mission to be unveiled on Saturday envisages technology business incubators and
research parks.
ii. The Human Resource
Development Ministry and the Department of Science and Technology have agreed
to partner in an initiative to set up over 75 such startup support hubs in the
National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the Indian Institutes of Information
Technology (IIITs), the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research
(IISERs) and NIPERs or National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and
Research.
iii. Organised by
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), along with other key
Indian startup ecosystem players, the Startup India, Standup India initiative
aims to celebrate the country's entrepreneurial spirit, and create a strong
ecosystem for fostering innovation and startups in India.
iv. The event was
inaugurated by finance minister Arun Jaitley, and was attended by the Minister
of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, and the Minister of
State for Finance Jayant Sinha. Around 40 top CEOs and startup founders and
investors from Silicon Valley attended the event as special guests, and take
part question and answer sessions at the event.
2.
Narendra Modi initiative has Kochi’s ‘Startup Village’ plotting more success
i. Four years ago, an
idea took root in Kerala’s business capital of Kochi in the hope of attracting
the best entrepreneurial minds among youngsters and creating successful
start-ups. Startup Village (SV), as it was called, was a nascent idea then that
drew not much attention.
ii. But today, on the
cusp of the launch of a nationwide campaign that aims to spawn startups across
the country, Startup Village in Kochi sits pretty with a list of grand
accomplishments and a grander vision.
iii. In April 2012,
Startup Village commenced operations as India’s first public-private
technological business incubator with the aim of creating at least 48 startup
companies in five years. However, within three and a half years, it achieved
its targets, becoming home to over 70 startups in typical incubation mode.
iv. After its successful
first phase, officials at SV are now excited about their next phase of
expansion in which they aim for complete digitization of the incubation process
right from filing applications to mentoring, resource allocation and final
graduation. The target is to support 10,000 startup teams in the next five
years.
v. The ‘Startup India’
campaign that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches on Saturday will be an
added boost, top officials at SV told IndianExpress. Incubators like Startup
Village have found favour among the administration at a time when startup
companies like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Ola have made it big and entered the
billion dollar club. With a young and aspiring demographic, many believe India
can very well be the hotbed for enterprising startups that can contribute to
national GDP as well as provide labour.
3.
Chinese President Xi launches Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
i. China-backed Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in which India and 56 countries have
joined as founding members, was formally opened here today by Chinese President
Xi Jinping.
ii. “This is a
historical moment,” Xi said addressing the ceremony of the bank, which along
with the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) is expected to expand infrastructure
financing, rivalling the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
iii. An Indian
delegation headed by Dinesh Sharma, additional Secretary in the Ministry of
Finance, attended the opening ceremony. In all 57 countries have joined as
founding members, while the US and Japan have stayed out. Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang will address the founding conference of the AIIB council later today.
iv. The bank was
formally established in Beijing on December 25, 2015. Chinese Finance Minister,
Lou Jiwei, was elected as the first Chairman of the AIIB council. China’s
former Finance Minister, Jin Liqun, was elected the first AIIB president.
v. With authorised
capital of $100 billion and subscribed capital of $50 billion, Beijing-based
AIIB will invest in sectors including energy, transportation, urban
construction, and logistics as well as education and healthcare.
vi. China, India and
Russia are the three largest shareholders, taking a 30.34 per cent, 8.52 per
cent, 6.66 per cent stake respectively in the newly formed bank. The opening of
the AIIB marked a milestone in the reform of the global economic governance
system, Lou said in an interview earlier.
vii. The AIIB will work
together with multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank, to facilitate Asian infrastructure construction and
sustainable development, Lou said.
4.
World Bank to be anchor investor in Rail Development Fund: Prabhu
i. The World Bank would
be the anchor investor in the new Railway Development Fund, which would be used
to fund the modernisation of Indian Railways, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
has said.
ii. “We have decided to
work with the World Bank on creating a Railway Development Fund. This was
already initiated. But now, we have taken it forward,” Prabhu said here
yesterday after his meeting with World Bank officials. Noting that the World
Bank would be anchor investors in this new fund, along with other co-investors,
Prabhu said, “This fund would be kick-started soon as there is unanimity in the
World Bank leadership”.
iii. He also said the
World Bank leadership has realised that based on the performance in the past
one year, Indian Railways is in the “right direction”. However, Prabhu did not
divulge the size of the fund, but indicated that it would be the largest ever
provided by the World Bank to the Indian Railways. Prabhu is here to attend a World
Bank meeting on transportation. During his stay in the US capital, he also met
officials of the International Finance Corporation, the US Transportation
Secretary Anthony Renard Foxx, and some of the think-tanks.
iv. The International
Finance Corporation (IFC) would look into the possibility of revenue generation
through non-railway operations, he said. “To help us in monetisation issues,
bringing in the global best practices. Globally, railways get 30-40 per cent of
their income from non-railway operations. In India it is not even two per cent.
So this is going to be a challenging time, particularly when Indian Railways
would have to bear the additional burden of the Pay Commission,” he said.
v. During his meeting
with Secretary Foxx, the two leaders decided to create an umbrella agreement
with the Department of Transportation about the transportation sector in
general. “Today we also agreed to make a Railways-specific umbrella agreement
with the Transport Department, which would help to work on many things,” Prabhu
said.
5.
Flipkart ties-up with Mahindra for KUV100 online bookings
i. Online marketplace
Flipkart has tied up with auto major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd to exclusively
launch the latter's newest SUV- KUV100. Consumers can book the SUV on Flipkart
from January 18th, 2016.
ii. Anil Goteti, Vice
President - Business, Flipkart said, "Online today is a must have strategy
for all players to respond to the growing demand of their customers who are
spread across different cities and towns in the country. First time in the
automobile category, this exclusive tie-up will allow Mahindra access
Flipkart’s extensive reach and network to connect with their customers and
provide them the ease to book Mahindra KUV100 online.”
iii. Flipkart launched Automobiles as a category last month with a
vision to change the way vehicles are bought in India. The association with
Mahindra is another step in that direction. The two entities have come together
to deliver superior customer experience with assured in-a-month delivery.
Flipkart currently also offers a wide range of automotive accessories as part
of its endeavour to become a destination for all automotive needs.
iv. Designed in-house
and engineered at Mahindra's world class research and development facility, the
Mahindra Research Valley at Chennai, KUV100 is targeted at the youth and first
time car buyers.
v. An indigenously
developed monocoque SUV, the KUV100 will have many firsts to its credit
including the first ground up petrol engine offering from Mahindra. In fact,
all research & development activities for this compact SUV were aligned with
global standards of quality, technology, testing norms, regulations and
emissions from the very start.
6.
World Bank released report titled World Development Report 2016: Digital
Dividends
i. The World Bank on 14
January 2016 released a report titled World Development Report 2016: Digital
Dividends in Washington DC, the USA. The report explored the impact of the
internet, mobile phones, and related technologies on economic development
across the world including India.
ii. Further, it
concluded that potential gains from digital technologies are high, but often
remain unrealized and proposed policies to expand connectivity, accelerate
complementary reforms in sectors beyond information and communication
technology (ICT), and address global coordination problems.
iii. In relation to India, the authors of the report that included
Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of World Bank
appreciated the Aadhaar scheme as it saved 1 billion US dollars by bringing
down corruption.
iv. The world’s offline
population is mainly in India and China, but more than 120 million people are
still offline in North America and the digital divide within countries can be
as high as that between countries. Worldwide, nearly 21 percent of households
in the bottom 40 percent of their countries’ income distribution don’t have
access to a mobile phone, and 71 percent don’t have access to the internet.
v. The increased
connectivity has had limited effect in reducing information inequality. For
example, there are more contributions to Wikipedia from Hong Kong, China, than
from all of Africa combined, despite the fact that Africa has 50 times more
internet users. Digital technologies, apart from resulting in economic
benefits, influenced the participation of women in the labor force, the ease of
communication for people with disabilities, and the way people spend their
leisure.
vi. By overcoming
information barriers, augmenting factors, and transforming products, digital
technologies can make development more inclusive, efficient, and innovative.
7.
Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand won the Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for work on
Khap panchayats
i. An independent
Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand on 14 January 2016 won the European
Commission's prestigious Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for 2015 in Asia and the
Pacific amateur category.
ii. She earned the award
for her sensitive portrayal of life for young women facing the threat of the
diktat of khap panchayats in Haryana with the title Stirrings beneath the
peepul published in the journal The Equator Linel.
iii. Arison Tamfu, an editor for the Cameroon Journal, won the
Lorenzo Natali Grand Prize for a critical investigative report on how UN
Climate change negotiations that are calling on nations to switch from fossil
fuels to renewable energy are going to affect the development of African
communities living where the resources are found with the title Africa’s
billions might be buried forever.
iv. It is organized by
the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and
Development since 1992. It is awarded to journalists for outstanding reporting
on development and poverty eradication. The Prize is divided into two distinct
categories: amateur and professional journalism. An independent jury will
identify one winner per category and per region.
v. The Regions are
Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America
and the Caribbean and Europe. Each winner of the prize will be granted 5000
Euros. The Lorenzo Natali Grand Prize of an additional 5000 Euros will be
awarded to one of the winners.
8.
Dr Jancy James selected for Prof MV Pylee Award for the Distinguished
Academician of India
i. Dr Jancy James, the
first woman Vice Chancellor of Kerala, was on 15 January 2016 selected for the
Prof MV Pylee Award for the Distinguished Academician of India. The award was
instituted by Cochin University of Science and Technology in the name of MV
Pylee. He is an Indian scholar, educationist and management guru and widely
regarded as the father of management education in Kerala.
ii. The award is given
for excellence in teaching and research and contribution to academic community.
It carries an amount of 1 lakh rupees and a citation.
iii. Dr Jancy James is
an established author, literary critic, researcher and translator. She is the
former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University and founder Vice Chancellor
of Central University of Kerala.
iv. She served as member
of Kendra Sahitya Akademi and as the National President of the Comparative
Literature Association of India. She is a post-doctoral Commonwealth Fellow in
University of Warwick, UK and also worked as a Faculty Research Fellow in
Toronto University, Canada.
v. She was a member of
the Indian delegation at the Indo-US Higher Education Summit at Washington
under the Obama-Singh Initiative in 2011.
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