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Japan Govt, IMD & UNDP Launched Joint Project to Accelerate Climate Action in India
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), an agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the Government of Japan, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have launched a new initiative to accelerate climate action in 10 states and Union Territories (UT) across India.
The initiative will support National Determined Contribution (NDCs) help to achieve net-zero emissions and also supports climate-resilient development.
For this initiative, Japan has given USD 5.16 million to UNDP India for climate funding.
Aim – To foster green jobs and green innovation in the Renewable Energy sector by providing skills and training to more than 2000 people.
Key Highlights:
i.The initiative comes after the inclusion of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
ii.Under the initiative, UNDP will work with IMD to promote climate resilience and work with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to promote climate mitigation by deploying clean energy infrastructure and low emission technologies in sectors including transport, health and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Through this initiative, 150 healthcare facilities, 20 micro-enterprises will be solarized and also supplies solar energy to 85 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations and 30 solar cold storage facilities in the 10 states.
iii.This also demonstrates resilient climate planning at the grassroots through climate information systems for 30 Gram Panchayats.
Implementation:
i.Japan had provided the fund as a part of Japan’s global assistance to 23 countries through the UNDP Climate Promise-From Pledge to Impact initiative.
ii.This initiative will be implemented in coordination with the IMD at the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the MNRE.
iii.The project will be rolled out in states and UTs of Bihar, Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh from 2022-2023.
Note – In November 2021, at the Conference of Parties – 26 (COP-26) held in Glasgow, India pledged to cut India’s total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tones in 2030, install 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030, reduce carbon intensity by less than 45 percent and net zero emissions by 2070.
NBCC signed a pact with the MEA to redevelop a housing complex for Rs. 175 crore
NBCC (India) Limited, formerly known as National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for the redevelopment of the MEA Housing Complex (old) at Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi, Delhi.
The tentative cost of the redevelopment project is Rs. 175 crore.
NBCC also signed an MoU with
Aligarh Smart City Ltd for Providing Project Management and Consultancy (PMC) services for the ‘ Development and Modernisation of Infrastructure at Naurangilal College, SH: Sports facilities’ assignment. The estimation is around Rs.50 crore.
National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) for ‘Demolition and construction of National Centre for Cooperative Education (NCCE) Hostel building at National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) complex’. The tentative cost for this project is Rs 33 crore.
University of Hyderabad First Among Indian Universities in 2022 Nature Index Rankings
The University of Hyderabad (UoH) in Telangana, an Institution of Eminence (IoE), was placed first among Indian universities and 16th among all institutions in India in the Academic sector in the Nature Index 2022 ranking.
The rankings are based on Nature Index data from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
The Nature Index is an indicator of high quality research in natural and physical sciences (including chemistry, life sciences, earth & environmental sciences, and physical sciences).
Key Facts:
i. The University of Hyderabad (UoH) is a prominent higher education institution in India that was established as a Central University in 1974 by an Act of Parliament.
ii.Under the academic sector, the UoH received a count of 72 and a share of 19.46.
An institution receives a count of one (1) if one or more authors come from it.
The “share” is a fractional count that considers both the percentage of authors from that institution and the number of affiliated institutions for each article.
The maximum combined share for every article is one (1).
The Top 3 Among The List
RBI issues Digital Lending Norms to curb Malpractices; Cancels banking licence of Rupee Co-operative Bank , Pune
i.On August 10, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a regulatory framework to make digital lending safe for members of the public; curb malpractices; and to mitigate the concerns arising from credit delivery through digital lending methods.
ii.The framework is focused on the digital lending ecosystem comprising RBI Regulated Entities (REs) and the Lending Service Providers (LSPs) engaged by them to extend various permissible credit facilitation services.
iii.RBI has cancelled the licence of Rupee Co-operative Bank Ltd, Pune in Maharashtra thereby prohibiting the bank from conducting the business of banking which includes acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits as defined in Section 5(b) read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949 w.e.f. September 22, 2022.
About Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC):
DICGC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which provides an insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh on bank deposits
Chairman – Michael Debabrata Patra(M.D.Patra)
Establishment – 15th July 1978
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Navi Mutual Fund Launches India’s First Manufacturing Index FundNavi Mutual Fund (Formerly known as Essel Mutual Fund) has launched its 6th fund for the year 2022, the Navi Nifty India Manufacturing Index Fund which is India’s first open-ended manufacturing index fund.
The fund is an open-ended equity scheme replicating the Nifty India Manufacturing Index, which tracks the performance of manufacturers among the top 300 companies in India.
Key highlights:
i.Navi Nifty India Manufacturing Index Fund aims to simplify investing in the Indian manufacturing sector.
The fund proposes to have a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.15 percent for the direct plan and 1 percent for the regular plan and the fund will be managed by Aditya Mulki.
ii.The companies are selected from the combined universe of Nifty 100, Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 50 index based on 6-month average free-float market.
The index holds a minimum weight of 20 percent for certain manufacturing sectors.
The weightage of each stock in the index is based on its free float market capitalisation which is reconstituted semi-annually along with Nifty Broad-based indices.
iii.The largest sectors in the Nifty India Manufacturing Index include automobile & auto components, capital goods, healthcare, and metals & mining.
iv.The top 10 stocks constitute around 37 percent of the index which includes Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra and JSW Steel.
About Navi Mutual Fund:
Founder – Sachin Bansal
Establishment – 2018
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
RBI Disallows Use of Letters of Comfort: To Impact Debt Worth Rs. 35,000 Crore
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prohibited the usage of Letters of Comfort (LoC), a document that gives a guarantee of support to the borrower without any promise to make good any defaults.
This move will downgrade the credit ratings of roughly 100 firms, equal to Rs. 35,000 crore of debt.
All credit rating agencies (CRAs) were instructed to disregard these letters in a guidance note and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document that the RBI published in 2022 on April 22 and July 26, respectively