Online travel firm MakeMyTrip will acquire rival ibibo in an equity deal that will create one of the leading travel groups in India. 
●    South Africa's Naspers and China's Tencent Holdings are selling ibibo Group to MakeMyTrip in exchange for an issuance of new shares by MakeMyTrip, the company said in a statement.
●    MakeMyTrip went public on NASDAQ in 2010.
●    Upon closing of the transaction, MakeMyTrip will own 100 percent of ibibo Group. 
●    Naspers and Tencent will become the single largest shareholder in MakeMyTrip, owning a 40 percent stake and will contribute proportionate working capital upon closing. 
●    Additionally, prior to closing, a $180 million, 5-year convertible notes issued by MakeMyTrip to Ctrip.com International Ltd in January 2016 will also be converted into common equity, resulting in Ctrip having an approximately 10 percent stake in the combined entity.    
●    The transaction is expected to close by the end of December 2016 and is subject to approval by MakeMyTrip shareholders and regulatory approvals.

The logo of the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) was launched today by the Commerce & Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. 
●    On the occasion she said that this is an ambitious task as India’s intellectual property related activities need great traction.
●    The logo has been designed keeping in mind the slogan of the National IPR Policy: “Creative India, Innovative India”. While the logo stands for “Cell for IPR Promotion and Management”, the letters “I” and “P” have been stylized to represent “Intellectual Property” as well.
●    The letter “I” stands for Intellectual, and is represented by a pencil, denoting the expression of creativity, and in the tri-colours of the Indian flag. The curve of the letter “P” stands for Property, and is denoted by a gear which depicts Innovation and Industry.
●    Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) has been created as a professional body under the aegis of DIPP to take forward the implementation of the National IPR Policy that was approved by the Government in May 2016, with the slogan – “Creative India; Innovative India”
●    CIPAM is working towards creating public awareness about IPRs in the country, promoting the filing of IPRs through facilitation, providing inventors with a platform to commercialize their IP assets and coordinating the implementation of the National IPR Policy in collaboration with Government Ministries/Departments and other stakeholders.

The Centre has allowed U.S.-based NGO, Compassion International, to disburse funds to ten NGOs in India, months after it was put on the government’s watch list after security agencies reported that it was funding Indian NGOs involved in religious conversions. 
●    The move comes after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had expressed concerns over the treatment of the organisation with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during his India visit in September.
●    Following observations made by Mr. Kerry, the External Affairs Ministry had also written to the Home Ministry and asked the latter to reconsider its decision.
●    There are 21 foreign donors under the government’s scanner right now. 
●    Of these, eight were put under the prior-permission category during UPA government and the remaining 13 after the NDA came to power. 
●    Since the NDA came to power, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of around 10,000 NGOs have been cancelled.

Tata Trusts and GE Healthcare have entered into an agreement to train 10,000 youth in various technical areas of the healthcare sector in three years.
●    The partnership is aimed at bridging the skills gap among healthcare staff in technical or operating roles.
●    GE Healthcare will expand its network of training institutes from 10 to 25 across the country.
●    While Tata Trusts will provide an interest-free loan of Rs.86,000 per candidate to cover the course fee for an entire year.
●    Once the beneficiaries land full-time jobs, the amount will be repaid to Tata Trusts on minimal monthly instalments. 
●    On completion of the course, the candidates, normally Class 12 passouts, could earn between Rs.12,000 and Rs.18,000 per month depending on the job location.
●    Tata Trusts annually spends about Rs.750 crore on various philanthropic initiatives, out of which 25 per cent goes to healthcare.

As part of promoting coastal shipping in the country under Sagarmala programme, the Ministry of Shipping has sanctioned the Capital Dredging Project for Ro Pax Ferry Services between Gogha & Dahej, in Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat. 
●    The Ministry released Rs 58.50 Crore as first installment of grant-in–aid to Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB). 
●    The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 234 Crore and of which 50% will be funded by Centre Government under the Sagarmala programme. 
●    The project would result in reduction in motorable distance of 231 kms between Gogha & Dahej to mere 31 kms and reduce the travel time from 7 hours to 1 hour.
●    The initiative would not only reduce the travel time but also result in savings in fuel, reduction in CO2 emission and reduction in road congestion. 
●    It is one of the flagship projects under Sagarmala which aims to increase share of waterways transportation in modal mix to 10 per cent from present level of 7 per cent by year 2025. 
 

The government will keep a record of all the services and benefits availed using the Aadhaar number for seven years, say new rules, prompting fears that the database could be used for surveillance.
●    The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues the 12-digit biometric identity to all Indian residents, will be required to preserve its record of verification of an Aadhaar number for the duration.
●    UIDAI chief executive officer ABP Pandey said the concerns were exaggerated. 
●    The agency was keeping records in case a dispute arose over a transaction.
●    The information will be retained online for two years and another five years in the offline archives, say the rules notified in September.
●    Users will be able to check the records but only for two years.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) on Thursday released a discussion paper on listing of Indian insurance firms.
●    The Irdai proposed that insurance firms having completed eight years of operations in case of general and reinsurance, and 10 years of operations in case of life insurance, can go for mandatory public listing.
●    As per the regulatory framework in place, a insurance company can get its shares listed through an offer-for-sale or through a public issue for meeting capital requirements.
●    All life insurance firms shall take steps to get their shares listed on completion of 10 years of operations, it said, adding all companies which have already exceeded the number of years of operations shall initiate steps to ensure that they get their shares listed within three years from the date of issue of directions under these guidelines.

The researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru have developed a cost-effective, high-performance, self-powered UV photodetector.
●    The self-powered UV photodetector can use the harvested optical energy for direct self-charging of energy storage devices such as supercapacitor. 
●    It can also be used for operating electronic devices in the absence of external power source.
●    Photodector is a device capable of sensing (detecting) or responding to electromagnetic energy, typically light by using the electrical effect of individual photons.
●    The researchers have developed the photodetector by integrating semiconducting vanadium doped zinc oxide (VZnO) nanoflakes with a conducting polymer.
●    The zinc oxide (ZnO) is the base material for UV detection which can be doped with vanadium to produce photodetectors that are self-powered.
●    The photodetector has superior performance in terms of faster detection of photo signals in the order of milliseconds even when UV light intensity is low.

Uber said it has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Electronics and IT to use Common Services Centers (CSCs) to impart skills training to drivers.
●    Through this agreement, Uber aims to ensure that people who come to these CSCs, especially at the grassroot level, gain access to tools, training resources and related information for becoming a driver on its platform, the company said
●    Uber India President Amit Jain said the partnership could provide an opportunity for individuals to receive driver training, license facilitation and vehicle financing to become successful micro-entrepreneur.
●    Uber plans to start the initiative with an initial pilot phase in and around Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The Centre government on Friday decided to utilise the vast network of post offices across the country to sell subsidised pulses to ensure that there is no shortage of the item during the ongoing festival season.
●    The decision was taken during the meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on prices of essential commodities.
●    The committee, headed by Consumer Affairs Secretary Hem Pande, suggested that in the absence of government outlets in the States, postal networks should be explored for the distribution of pulses, mainly, tur, urad and chana.
●    An official statement of the Consumer Affairs Ministry said the committee also reviewed the availability and prices of essential commodities, especially pulses, and decided to release more chana (gram) from buffer stock to ensure its availability through retail distribution at reasonable prices during the season.
●    The Central government has been asking the States to lift tur and urad pulses from buffer stock and sell it at subsidised prices to protect consumers from high prices.