1) 1st time India becomes Net Exporter of Electricity
•As per Central Electricity Authority, the Designated Authority of Government of India for Cross Border Trade of Electricity, 1st time India has turned around from a net importer of electricity to Net Exporter of electricity.
•During the current year 2016-17 (April 2016 to February 2017), India has exported around 5,798 Million Units to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar which is 213 Million units more than the import of around 5,585 Million units from Bhutan.
2) IRDAI imposed penalty on ICICI Pru Life
•The Insurance Regulatory and Development authority of India (IRDAI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company on various charges.
•The charges include free look cancellations not being in line with regulations and delay in processing surrenders/partial withdrawals.
3) UN appoints David Beasley to head World Food Programme
•United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres has appointed former South Carolina Governor David Beasley to head the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP).
•Beasley will run the affairs of the world’s largest humanitarian organization, serving more than 90 million beneficiaries in 80 countries. He will replace another American, Etharin Cousin, who has been the WFP executive director since 2012.
4) Karnataka Bank’s PoS installations reach 10,000-mark
•The total tally of PoS (point-of-sale) installations of Karnataka Bank Ltd has reached 10,000. The bank has been offering PoS services since 2011.
•This service enabled the merchant establishments to accept card payments and boost their business. The bank is also providing ‘PoS Manager’, an android mobile app, to help merchants monitor and keep track of their counter transactions besides providing an interface to contact the bank and service provider for further information and escalations.
5) Paytm, The first e-commerce company to become ASCI member
•The country’s fast-growing e-commerce industry Paytm is all set to become a member of the self-regulatory voluntary organization Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) from April, 2017.
•The move is significant because advertising violations by e-commerce companies, which are big spenders on television, print and digital media, have been on the rise in recent years.
•The Alibaba-backed Paytm has also set up a new company named Paytm Financial Services, which will sell financial products like insurance and mutual funds to its planned payments bank account holders.
6) Bhubaneswar to host men’s hockey World League Final 2017
•The International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed Bhubaneswar as venue for two of its major events the Men’s Hockey World League Final in December 2017 and the men’s World Cup in 2018.
•The Kalinga Stadium in the Odisha capital was confirmed as host after the state government signed a deal with FIH to sponsor the two events.
