NATIONAL
1. Govt to launch TIES to fund export infrastructure
2. Air India to get Rs 1,800 crore from govt next fiscal year
3. Agriculture credit raised to record Rs 10 lakh crore in FY18
4. 4 Govt to set up dairy development fund with corpus of Rs 8,000 cr
INTERNATIONAL
5. Rex Tillerson sworn-in as US secretary of state
6. British PM Theresa May receives UK Parliament's approval to begin Brexit process
BUSINESS
7. Budget 2017 pushes Nifty above 8,700 for 1st time since October 25
8. Rs. 10,000 cr allocated for PSB recapitalization
9. Jaitley bans cash dealings above Rs. 3 lakh from April 1
10. Govt looks to raise Rs. 11,000 cr from listing of insurers
SPORTS
11. Virat Kohli remains top T20 batsman, India rise to second on ICC rankings
12. India beat Pakistan to top pool in Asian Squash
NATIONAL
1. Govt to launch TIES to fund export infrastructure
• "A new and restructured central scheme with a focus on export infrastructure, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) will be launched in 2017-18
• The scheme will help create modern infrastructure like last mile connectivity to ports, testing labs and certification centres.
• The scheme will help in modernizing infrastructure in states for exporters
• Assistance to States for Development of Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) provides for an outlay for development of export infrastructure in states.
2. Air India to get Rs 1,800 crore from govt next fiscal year
• The government-owned airline has been allocated Rs 1,800 crore as part of the Rs 30, 0231 crore financial bailout package.
• As part of this planned equity infusion, the carrier has so far received around Rs 24,000 crore from the government.
• Saddled with a debt of Rs 46,570 crore, including Rs 15,900 crore on account of aircraft acquisition, the carrier posted an operational profit of Rs 105 crore for the first time in a decade last fiscal.
• However, in the ongoing financial year, the airline has reported combined losses of over Rs 700 crore for April and September quarters.
3. Agriculture credit raised to record Rs 10 lakh crore in FY18
• The government will take special efforts to ensure adequate credit flow to underserved areas -- the eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir.
• The government provides short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh at subsidized interest rate of 7 per cent per annum.
• An additional incentive of 3 per cent is provided to farmers for prompt repayment of loans within due date, making an effective interest rate for them at 4 per cent.
• The Finance Minister said that dedicated micro-irrigation fund will be created with a corpus of Rs 5000 crore.
• The government will set up a dairy processing fund of Rs 8,000 crore over three years with initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore.
4. Govt to set up dairy development fund with corpus of Rs 8,000 cr
• A Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund would be set-up in NABARD with a corpus of Rs 8,000 crores over 3 years
• Agriculture is expected to grow at 4.1 percent in the current year (2016-17) as the total area sown under kharif and Rabi seasons are higher than the previous year.
• The target for agricultural credit in 2017-18 has been fixed at a record level of 10 lakh crores.
• The farmers will also benefit from 60 days’ interest waiver in respect of their loans from the cooperative credit structure.
INTERNATIONAL
5. Rex Tillerson sworn-in as US secretary of state
• The vote came after Senate Republicans changed the rules in order to approve Mr. Trump's nominees for health and treasury, despite a Democratic boycott.
• Mr. Tillerson, who has never held political office, faced intense scrutiny over his ties to Russia. As Mr. Tillerson was sworn by the Vice President in the Oval Office.
6. British PM Theresa May receives UK Parliament's approval to begin Brexit process
• British MPs voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill.
• 498 MPs voted in favour of Brexit Bill, while 114 voted against it.
• The bill now progresses to the next more detailed legislative stage before it can become law.
• British Prime Minister will bring out a White Paper on her Brexit strategy.
BUSINESS
7. Budget 2017 pushes Nifty above 8,700 for 1st time since October 25
• The Sensex closed the day at 28,141, up 486 points, while Nifty50 settled at 8,716, up 155 points• Nifty50 reclaiming its crucial 8,700 mark for the first time since October 25, 2016, while S&P BSE Sensex ended comfortably above its key 28,000 level.
• Fiscal deficit target of 3.2% for the fiscal year 2017-18.
• The BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap indices mirrored the gains in the frontline indices to settle 1.7% higher each.
8. Rs. 10,000 cr allocated for PSB recapitalization
• The Union Budget has allocated Rs. 10,000 crore towards recapitalization of public sector banks in FY2017-18.• “As per the Indradhanush plan, the public sector banks will be provided with Rs. 10,000 crore in the next fiscal.
• Under Indradhanush roadmap announced in 2015, the government will infuse Rs. 70,000 crore in state banks over four years while they will have to raise a further Rs. 1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their capital requirement in line with global risk norms, known as Basel—III.
• Besides, Rs. 10,000 crore each would be infused in 2017—18 and 2018—19.
9. Jaitley bans cash dealings above Rs. 3 lakh from April 1
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today proposed to ban all cash transactions above Rs. 3 lakh beginning April 1, 2017.• The decision to ban cash transactions beyond a threshold is based on the recommendation of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money that was set up by the Supreme Court,
• The SIT, headed by Justice M B Shah (retired), in July had submitted its fifth report to the Supreme Court on steps needed to curb black money.
• It recommended a total ban on cash transactions of Rs. 3 lakh and above and that “an Act be framed to declare such transactions as illegal and punishable under law”.
10. Govt looks to raise Rs. 11,000 cr from listing of insurers
• The Government plans to divest Rs. 11,000 crore worth of stake in PSU general insurance companies to meet the steep disinvestment target of Rs. 72,500 crore next fiscal.
• Of the total target, Rs. 46,500 crore will be mobilized through minority stake sale and Rs. 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment.
• The goal of Rs. 72,500 crore is higher than Rs. 45,500 crore the government has estimated to raise in the current fiscal.
• “Besides strategic and minority stake sale, Rs. 11,000 crore has been budgeted from listing of general insurance companies
• The government shareholding in these companies will be reduced from 100 per cent to 75 per cent in one or more tranches over a period of time.
SPORTS
11. Virat Kohli remains top T20 batsman, India rise to second on ICC rankings
• Virat Kohli maintained his top spot in the latest ICC rankings of T20 batsmen.• Kohli leads number-two ranked Aaron Finch of Australia by 28 points, while Glenn Maxwell of Australia is third.
• Kohli is ranked second in Tests and third in ODIs which makes him the only Indian batsman in top five across all formats.
• Jasprit Bumrah also maintained his second position in the bowlers' table with a four-point difference between him and Imran Tahir.
• Ravichandran Ashwin is 8th in the list while Ashish Nehra is 24th.
• England's Joe Root and India wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have made impressive gains after rankings released following the three-match series.
12. India beat Pakistan to top pool in Asian Squash
• Indian boys came up with a fabulous display, beating arch rival Pakistan to top Pool A in the Asian Junior Team Squash Championship in Hong Kong .
