Today's Current Affairs-13th September 2022

NATIONAL

NMHC to be built at Lothal in Gujarat

• Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is building the National Maritime Heritage Complex at the historic Indus Valley civilization region of Lothal in Gujarat with a total cost of 3500 crores rupees. The first-of-its-kind complex in India, this centre will showcase India’s rich and diverse maritime heritage. The foundation stone for the NMHC project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the consent for the master plan was given in March 2019.
• The project is planned to be completed in different phases. In phase 1A, a museum will be built with 5 galleries and a naval gallery on 35 acres of land at an investment of Rs 774.23 crores.
• In phase 1B, the remaining portions of the museum will be built, including galleries, lighthouse, 5D dome theatre, Bagicha Complex and other infrastructure. This phase is proposed to be developed under EPC mode.

About Gujarat:

Capital: Gandhinagar

Governor: Acharya Devvrat

Chief Minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel

Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur inaugurates Ladakh Screenwriters Fair in Leh

• Ladakh Screenwriters Fair: In Leh, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur effectively opened the five-day Ladakh Screenwriters Fair. Mr. Mathur claimed that Ladakh technologists and content providers are conversant with the motion picture business. Ladakh, he claimed, has contributed to the industry with its naturally stunning scenery and rich culture. He urged the attendees to learn from and follow the advice of film industry professionals in order to portray Ladakh in film media.
• Screenwriters fair, according to Union Territory Ladakh Secretary Commissioner Padma Angmo, is the outcome of the LG’s persistent efforts to promote Ladakh-original stories in the Ladakhi language by Ladakhis for consumption throughout India.
• During the Fair, Satyanshu Singh, Shakun Batra, Abhya Pannu, Shaunak Sen, and Pratyush Parasuram will discuss the fundamentals of screenwriting, character arc sketches, writing for documentaries, episode writing, OTT, and marketing.

About Ladakh:

Union territory: 31 October 2019

Districts: 2

Administering Country: India

Capitals: Leh, Kargil

Lieutenant Governor: RK Mathur

Chief Minister announces ‘Cinematic Tourism Policy 2022-2027’

• Gujarat Chief Minister, Bhupendra Patel has announced Gujarat’s first-ever ‘Cinematic Tourism Policy’ in the presence of dignitaries including actor Ajay Devgan, and State Government Minister Shri. Purnesh Modi and Shri Arvind Raiyani. This new policy will create viable opportunities for film production in Gujarat and also provide employment opportunities to local people. There are many places in Gujarat like the White Desert of Kutch, Shivrajpur Beach where there are ample opportunities to become shooting spots.
• Four MoUs worth Rs. 1022 crore for investments in various subjects including filmmaking, studio infrastructure, acting schools in Gujarat were signed by some investors with the tourism department.

About Gujarat:

Capital: Gandhinagar

Governor: Acharya Devvrat

Chief Minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel

 OBITURY

Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati passed away on Sunday at the age of 99

• Dwarka-Sharda Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati has passed away at Narsinghpur in Madhya Pradesh. He was 99 years old. He breathed his last at the Shridham Jhoteshwar Ashram in Narsinghpur. Swami Swaroopanand was born in Dighori village in Madhya Pradesh’s Siwani district. He left his home at the age of 9. Later, he went to Kashi in Uttar Pradesh, where he gained spiritual enlightenment and religious wisdom from Swami Karpatri Maharaj.
• Swami Shankracharya was also imprisoned during the Indian Independence movement. He also participated in the Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942 and was incarcerated in Varanasi for nine months and in Madhya Pradesh for six months.

About Madhya Pradesh:

Capital: Bhopal (Executive Branch)

Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Governor: Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel 

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

Sanjay Khanna appointed CEO of American Express India

• American Express Banking Corp India has appointed Sanjay Khanna as its chief executive officer (CEO) and country manager. At present, Khanna heads the country executive team and is responsible for driving growth across the organisation’s consumer and commercial businesses. In his new role, Khanna will be leading several business development initiatives for American Express, while steering collaboration across its diverse businesses in India, adding his position will be key to strengthening the company’s strategic focus in the country.
• Khanna has spent about 27 years with American Express, joining as manager of finance in 1996. In his previous roles, he held many leadership positions in the company, including head of Global Financial Operations, India Center Lead for Finance and chairman of the American Express India Pvt Limited Legal Entity Board.

About American Express:

Headquarters: New York, United States

CEO: Stephen Squeri (1 Feb 2018–)

Owner: Berkshire Hathaway

Founders: William Fargo, Henry Wells, John Butterfield

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

HDFC Bank issues India’s first Electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG)

• HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, became the first bank in the country to issue an Electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG) in partnership with National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL). The paper-based, time-consuming process has been eliminated with the new electronic bank guarantees that can be processed, stamped, verified and delivered instantly with enhanced security. This is a transformational change, and the Bank will migrate to e-BG to benefit all its customers.
• Paper-based bank guarantees takes 3-5 days to complete the process of physical pick up from the bank, courier to the beneficiary, stamp it and re-verify it. Besides, there was no central repository for bank guarantees until now.
• Bringing inefficiency of time, eBG offers enhanced security. Physical stamping has been eliminated and replaced with eStamping and with eBG, the applicant and beneficiary can instantly view a bank guarantee on the NeSL portal.
• e-BG has been developed in consultation with NeSL, the CVC-CBI committee and IBA to simplify the process and eliminate the possibility of fraud and manipulation. e-BG will be issued on the NeSL portal through an API-based digital workflow.

About HDFC Bank:

CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan;

Headquarters: Mumbai;

Founded: August 1994, Mumbai.

Bank of Maharashtra raises Rs 710 cr via Tier I bonds

• The government-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) reported raising Rs 710 crore through bonds to finance company expansion. According to a statement from the bank, the money was raised through Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds for Rs 710 crore (including Rs 610 crore for the green shoe option) at a coupon rate of 8.74 percent.
• When compared to the base issue size of Rs 100 crore, the issue received a ten-fold increase in subscription from investors.
• A nationalised bank, Bank of Maharashtra is owned by the Indian government’s Ministry of Finance. By March 2022, the bank had 2022 branches around the nation and 29 million customers. In the state of Maharashtra, it boasts the broadest network of branches of any nationalised bank. At the close of business on December 31, 2021, the bank’s total revenue exceeded 3,15,620 lakh crore.

About Bank of Maharashtra:

Chairman and Managing Director: Shri. S. Muhnot

Headquarters: Pune

CEO: A. S. Rajeev (2 Dec 2018–)

Founded: 16 September 1935

Founders: D. K. Sathe, V. G. Kale

 

Reserve Bank of India is estimated to have sold about $13 billion in August to Hold Rupee at 80

• India’s foreign exchange reserves slumped by over $2 billion in the week ending August 12, as the Reserve Bank of India intervened to shore up the rupee and keep the currency below 80 per dollar. That is an effort the Indian central bank has said was essential, and it would do whatever it takes to maintain the rupee’s stability, limiting any wild swings despite extremely volatile currency markets. The RBI’s weekly statistical supplement data showed that the country’s forex reserves slumped to $570.74 billion in the week ending August 12, down by $2.238 billion from $572.978 billion in the previous week. The magnitude of that fall in the latest week was the largest in a month, and the country’s import cover dipped for the second week.
• Since Russia invaded Ukraine, India’s forex reserves have fallen for 19 weeks out of a total of 25 since then, having nearly $61 billion during that period. Still, India’s forex reserves are the fourth largest globally, said RBI governor Shaktikanta Das after the latest rate-setting meeting when the central bank hiked rates for the third consecutive time.
• Expectations of volatility have also reduced during the time period of the study, which starts from 2007 and includes the current episode of volatilities triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

Governor: Shaktikanta Das 

Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata

Founder: British Raj

Jurisdiction: India

Government's share in total health expenditure increases

• The per capita government spending on healthcare has increased by 74 per cent since 2013-14. As per National Health Accounts Estimates India 2018-19, the per capita government spending in 2013-14 was one thousand forty-two rupees, which has increased to one thousand eight hundred and fifteen rupees. It said, government’s share in the overall spending on health in the country is increasing steadily. The government’s share in current health expenditure has increased from 23.2 per cent in 2013-14 to 34.5 per cent in 2018-19.
• The government spending on primary healthcare has increased since 2013-14. The government health expenditure during that period on primary healthcare was around 51 per cent, which has increased to over 55 per cent in 2018-19. The per capita Out-of-pocket expenditure in the country has also decreased by eight per cent since 2013-14.
• Such reports will help us with clear decision-making processes in line with National Health Policy recommendation of 2017.” Dr. V K Paul stated this while congratulating everyone on NHA Estimates report launch which is sixth consecutive since 2013-14. He said that National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) has ensured that all such reports are published without any interruption and follows academic rigor along with robust methodology and approach.In the group of 189 countries, India ranks 66th for per capita OOPE.

About Govt of India:

Founder: Constitution of India

Founded: 26 January 1950

Ministries: 57

Responsible to: Lok Sabha

Legislature: Parliament

Seat: Raisina Hill (Official Seat of the Government of India)

Retail inflation inches up to 7% in August led by food price rise

• Price pressures returned to the Indian economy in August, with retail inflation quickening to 7% after cooling to a five-month low in July. The increase, led by food prices, makes it the eighth month that retail inflation has stayed above the central bank’s upper tolerance limit of 6%, strengthening the case for continued monetary tightening.
• Retail inflation in July had cooled to 6.7%, and a poll of 22 economists estimated August inflation at 6.9%. The Reserve Bank of India has projected Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation for 2022-23 at 6.7%. Inflation is expected to remain elevated over the next couple of months due to last year’s low base, even as easing energy and commodity prices globally would help cool inflationary pressures. RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) raised the repo rate by 50 basis points for the third time in a row in August, taking the policy rate to pre-pandemic levels of 5.4%. The MPC meets again from 28 to 30 September.
• The uptick in CPI inflation was led by food inflation, which spiked to 7.57% in August from 6.71% in July. The food and beverages category makes up 54% of CPI.
• Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a recent address on ‘taming inflation’, said that it could not be left to monetary policy alone, but fiscal policy needs to work alongside.

About Govt of India:

Founder: Constitution of India

Founded: 26 January 1950

Ministries: 57

Responsible to: Lok Sabha

Legislature: Parliament

Seat: Raisina Hill (Official Seat of the Government of India)