6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue

NATIONAL NEWS

6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue

• The 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) will be held in New Delhi from 7-9 September 2019.
• Set up between erstwhile Planning Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China during the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010, the SED has since then served as an effective mechanism for enhancing bilateral practical cooperation. NITI Aayog after its formation has taken the Dialogue forward giving it a greater momentum.
• Under the aegis of the SED, senior representatives from both sides come together to constructively deliberate on and share individual best practices and successfully identify sector-specific challenges and opportunities for enabling ease of doing business and facilitating bilateral trade and investment flows.

India, Nepal inaugurate Motihari-Amlekhganj oil pipeline

• India-Nepal relationship will continue to intensify across multiple sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the video-link launch of Motihari-Amlekhgunj energy pipeline during which he was invited to visit Nepal by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.
• Prime Minister Modi said the 69-km Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline, having a capacity of 2 million metric ton per annum, will provide cleaner petroleum products at affordable cost to the people of Nepal.

Govt launched multilingual 'CHC Farm Machinery' Mobile App for farmers

• The Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Purushottam Rupala recently launched a multilingual mobile app 'CHC Farm Machinery' during the National Conference on crop residue Management for farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
• Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Purushottam Rupala said that this mobile app will allow farmers to avail custom hiring services of CHCs located in a radius of 50 km.
• CHC Farm Machinery Mobile App connects the farmers with Custom Hiring Service Centers in their area. Farmers can download this mobile app on any android phone from Google Play Store.
• Farmers can get affordable access to cutting-edge technology at their doorsteps with the help of this mobile app.

H-Energy, KSPL ink pact for regasification project

• Hiranandani Group energy arm H-Energy has signed a port service agreement (PSA) with Kakinada Seaports Limited (KSPL) to develop a liquified natural gas (LNG) regasification and reloading terminal at Kakinada port.
• KSPL has the concession for Kakinada Deep Water Port from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
• The PSA signed through H-Energy’s wholly owned subsidiary East Coast Concessions Private Ltd. (ECPL) will help the company to develop an LNG hub at the Kakinada Port catering to the needs of domestic customers in the state of Andhra Pradesh and shall supply LNG through small LNG vessels to H-energy’s upcoming Kukrahati LNG terminal in the state of West Bengal and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar.

PM to inaugurate India's second Multi-Modal Terminal in Jharkhand

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation India’s second riverine Multi-Modal terminal (MMT) built at Sahibganj in Jharkhand.
• It has been built at a cost of 290 crore rupees in a record time of about two years.  Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone of terminal in April, 2017.
• The terminal at Sahibganj will open up industries of Jharkhand and Bihar to the global market and provide Indo-Nepal cargo connectivity through waterways route.
• Coal, stone chips, fertilizers, cement and sugar are other commodities expected to be transported through the terminal. This is the second of the three Multi-Modal Terminals being constructed on river Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project.

• Earlier, in November last year, the Prime Minister had inaugurated the MMT at Varanasi.

Kerala to set up India's first trade centre for women

• Kerala will set up India’s first international women’s trade centre (iWTC), in consonance with the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), in Kozhikode.
• A key project of the state’s gender park under the department of social justice, it is envisaged as a safe space away from home for women to harness their entrepreneurial capabilities, set up or expand their businesses and get their products marketed globally.

McKinsey roped in for first digital capability centre

• India will soon set up its first digital capability centre showcase advanced technologies and provide a test bed for emerging innovations as the government looks to transform the country's manufacturing sector.
• The NITI Aayog has roped in McKinsey & Company, which supports five such centres globally — in Aachen, Chicago, Singapore, Venice and Beijing — to develop it.
• A senior official, aware of the deliberations, told ET that the government will act as a facilitator to bring together industry, academia, and research on one platform to help set up a digital capability centre (DCC), which has to be driven by the private sector.

24th World Energy Congress to commence in Abu Dhabi

• The 24th World Energy Congress will commence today in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.
• The four-day World Energy Congress aims to bring together international energy stakeholders, including governments, private and state corporations, academia and media.
• With over 15,000 participants expected, the Congress is set to welcome over 250 high-level speakers, 72 Ministers, 500 CEOs, 1000 media persons with 40,000 square-metre exhibition space that will cover the entire energy spectrum.

BANKING

RBI to launch mobile app for visually impaired; here's how it'll help them identify banknotes

• Moving ahead with its plan to enable visually impaired people identify currency notes, the Reserve Bank of India has selected a vendor to develop a mobile phone-based application for them.
• The RBI had told the Bombay High Court that an internet connection would not be required for its proposed mobile application which would help visually impaired people identify currency notes.

APPOINTMENT

Hamied elected Honorary Fellow of Royal Society

• Cipla chairman Yusuf Hamied has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, U.K. for his service to the cause of science. Dr. Hamied graduated with honours from Cambridge University in 1957 and continued a Ph. D in 1960 under the tutelage of Nobel Laureate Alexander Todd.
• The Society is a Fellowship of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Fellows are elected for life through a peer review process.