SBI launches card-less payment solution for offline transactions

 

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.

Kotak Mahindra Bank opens IFSC banking unit at GIFT City

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd became the fourth bank to open its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) at India’s first and only International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) City.

• The private sector banking and financial major offers a range of financial services, including transaction banking.
•  At IBU, the bank expects a balance sheet of $one billion in the next three years.

Scientists win $3 million for detecting Einstein’s waves

Researchers who helped detect gravitational waves for the first time, confirming part of Albert Einstein’s theory in a landmark moment in scientific history, will share a $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize, according to the prize’s selection committee.

•  The Breakthrough Prizes for scientific achievements were created by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner along with several technology pioneers, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. 

President Pranab Mukherjee confers 2015-16 Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards

 President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the 15th set of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards in New Delhi.

•  The awards were bestowed upon the companies from various sectors of exports during the year 2015-16. 
• It also covered service providers, banks, and various facilitating agencies which are promoting exports.
•  Besides, President also unveiled the new Logo of FIEO representing growth, vibrancy, innovation and entrepreneurship on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of FIEO.
•  FIEO was established in 1965 under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 Award recipients :

• Reliance Industry: It was awarded as the top foreign exchange earner and leading exporter of last 50 years. 
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): It won the Gold Award in IT services. 
• State Bank of India (SBI): It won the Gold award among the supporting institutions.

Andhra Pradesh Harita-Priya Agriculture Project wins 2016 WSIS Prize

Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Project  has won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in the e-Agriculture category. 

• Harita-Priya (Harmonized Information of Agriculture, Revenue and Irrigation for a Transformation Agenda – Precision Technology for Agriculture) Project is meant to collect very specific climate data from farms and give farmers personalised information through SMS. 

About  Harita-Priya Agriculture Project :

• The Harita-Priya Project uses wireless sensor networks to collect micro-climatic information from farms. 
• The data is used to create advisories and alerts on irrigation schedules and pests and plant diseases.
•  Based on this state agriculture officers disseminate personalised crop advisories in Telugu language to farmers by way of SMS. 
• The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Hyderabad has developed the project and is having a pilot run in Anantpur district.
•  Andhra Pradesh government, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) station and Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University also have partnered for the project.

Radha Binod Barman took over as Chairperson of National Statistical Commission

Renowned statistician Dr Radha Binod Barman took over as the part-time Chairperson in the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

•  Besides, Professor Rahul Mukherjee, Professor S. Mahendra Dev, Dr Rajiv Mehta and Dr Manoj Panda also took over as other part-time members of the commission.

 About National Statistical Commission:

•  The Commission is an advisory body on all statistical matters, set up to enhance public trust in official statistics.
•  It was established in 2006 based on the recommendation of C. Rangarajan Commission to reduce problems faced by statistical agencies in the country in relation to collection of data.
•  The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog is the ex-officio Member in the Commission.

Union Cabinet approves India-UAE currency swap agreement

The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation concerning currency swap agreement.

•  Decision in this regard was taken at the Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. 
• The Agreement was signed in February, 2016 during the official state visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India.

About the Agreement :

• The MoU commits that RBI and Central Bank of UAE will consider signing a bilateral Currency Swap Agreement on mutually agreed terms and conditions.
•  The agreement will be signed after undertaking technical deliberations, subject to the concurrence of respective Governments. 
• The MoU will help to further strengthen the close economic cooperation and relationship between India and UAE. 
• The swap agreement is also expected to facilitate invoicing of bilateral trade in local currencies.