ASSAM

• PM urged to sanction toy train, ropeway projects to boost tourism
• The Viswa Shanti Sangathan, Assam after a threadbare discussion with its national organisation Viswa Shanti Sangathan, Bharat, having its headquarters at Ayodhya, UP has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce nano electric train service (toy train service) right from Udalguri via Bhairabkunda and Kalaktang to Bomdila, the district headquarters of West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh and a ropeway for the promotion of tourism in the backward remote areas along Bhutan and China borders.
• It is to be noted that the Viswa Shanti Sangathan, Assam is all set to organise an 11-day mega programme known as Makar Sankranti Bhairab Kumbh Pujan from January 5 to January 15 in 2020, in Bhairabkunda involving stakeholders from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bhutan also.

INTERNATIONAL

·         Saudi Aramco remains worlds most profitable company

 

• Saudi Aramcois the world’s most profitable company and paid out almost all its net income in dividends. The corporate titans such as Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., and other big oil producers, many of which suffered larger declines in profit as output and crude prices fell. The Aramco paid out $46.4 billion in dividends in the first half. That included a $20 billion special payout to its owner.The Saudi government compares with a $6 billion payout last year.
• The particular interest to potential investors ahead of an initial public offering planned for 2020 or 2021 according to money manager T. Rowe Price Group Inc.
  Aramco, officially known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co., published annual financial statements for the first time in April, ahead of a $12 billion bond sale.

 

NATIONAL

·         RBI launches regulatory sandbox for Fintech companies

• TheReserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the final framework for regulatory sandbox (RS) for the startups, banks and financial institutions. The Fintech companies can now set up their own RS for live testing of innovative products in areas like retail payments, digital KYC and wealth management.

 

• The framework aims to enable innovations in the financial technology space. It will also foster responsible innovation in financial services, promote efficiency and bring benefit to consumers.

 

• It will encourage innovations that are intended for use in theIndian market in areas where there is absence of governing regulations.

 

• Fintech companies including startups, banks, financial institutions and any other company partnering with or providing support to financial services businesses.

 

·         Centre introduces scheme for NBFCs and HFCs

 

• Centre has announced a partial guarantee scheme in the budget fornon-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs). The scheme will allow the Public Sector Banks to purchase their assets.

 

• The scheme is aimed to provide liquidity support to the NBFCs and HFCs. The key reason for theslowdown in the economy is the stress on NBFCs and HFCs. The stress has also caused reduced credit flow to small businesses and consumers. Now, by improving the liquidity the scheme aims to avoid the distress sale of assets in a sector facing a shortage of cash due to asset- liability mismatch.

 

• The Department of Financial Services will obtain information on transactions in a prescribed format from PSBs and send a copy to the budget division of the Department of Economic Affairs.

 

• NBFCs that registered with RBI and HFCs registered with National Housing Bank can take benefit under the scheme.

 

·         MoHUA launched Swachh Survekshan 2020

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)launched the Swachh Survekshan 2020. It is the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry. The scheme was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs.

 

• The project Swachh Survekshan 2020 focus on sustaining and monitoring the ground and service level performance on cleanliness. The redesigned Swachh Survekshan will ensure and focus on sustaining the changed behaviours on key areas.
  The project focuses onKey areas such as:

 

Collect segregated waste and maintain till processing site
Utilize capacity Of wet waste processing facilities

Treat aid re-use wastewater
Follow 3R Principles: Reduce. Reuse and Recycle

 

• New wages code will fix workers’ issues

 

• The new code on wages, soon to become a law across states, will fix the issues of workers being underpaid by contractors.

 

• The states will have to call all stakeholders (employers, employees and other representatives) again, for consultation before the law becomes applicable in states.

 

• Under the new code, it is proposed that only up to 15% of the wages can be paid in kind. The wages must be paid on a fixed date, the employer should declare upfront the time for which he.she is hiring a worker, and men and women should be paid equally.

 

• The new code will apply equally to the organized (eight crore workers) and unorganized sector (40 crore workers).

 

• WB, Odisha, Jharkhand to be major contributors in meeting 300 MT steel output target

 

• Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal will contribute in a big way in meeting the ambitious 300 million tonnes (MT) steel production target.

 

• The government has set a target to ramp up the country’s steel making capacity to 300 MT by 2030.

 

• The eastern region of the country holds immense potential and a large part of steel production target as envisioned in National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017 will come from states like Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal