19 May 2016

5 Member Committee to give recommendations on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management

·        The Centre has constituted a five Member Committee to comprehensively review and give recommendations on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management, FRBM, roadmap for the future.
·        The Committee will be headed by former Revenue and Expenditure Secretary N.K. Singh.
·        Other members of the Committee are Sumit Bose, former Finance and Revenue Secretary, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Urijit Patel, Deputy Governor,RBI and Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute Public Finance and Policy, NIPFP.
·        The Committee will examine the need and feasibility of having a ‘fiscal deficit range’ as the target in place of the existing fixed percentage of GDP and make specific recommendations.

Apple- IT Major opened a development office in Hyderabad 

On 19th May 2016, A new Development Office was opened by Apple in Hyderabad, Telangana.
This office will majorly focus on Maps for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. This will accelerate Maps development and is expected to create up to 4000 jobs.

HDFC Bank launches SmartUp for startups

• HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has launched SmartUp, a dedicated solution for startups to fulfil all their banking needs. It was launched in association with a Mumbai-based start-up accelerator Zone Startups India (ZSI). 

• Key facts -SmartUp is tailored to meet all the requirements of a startup. It is a complete banking solution meant for startups. It will be offering banking and payment solutions, along with forex and advisory services to startups. SmartUp will provide facility of current account. It will include waiver of AMB (average monthly balance) for the first six months and extendable to 12 months/ It will also include salary account for employees by waiving the minimum number of employees criteria. SmartUp will also provide HDFC’s ‘PayZapp’ for business – a payment and collection solution and a dedicated relationship manager. Accountholders will also get recommendations of regulatory and compliance issues and also chartered accountant for tax related issues. Startups will also get the opportunity to showcase their products on SmartBuy to 32 million HDFC Bank customers.

•  Zone Startups India (ZSI): It is a joint venture of Canada based Ryerson University and Bombay Stock Exchange Institute (BSEI). It has been operational for over two years and has helped over 70 startups

Indian journalist Philip Abraham elected Deputy Mayor in UK

Indian journalist and Councillor Philip Abraham has been elected the Deputy Mayor of Loughton town in the United Kingdom. Councillor Carol Davis, the newly-elected mayor presented the Deputy Mayor’s Badge to Philip Abraham. 

Mr. Abraham is a journalist from Kerala and is editor of Kerala Link. He had won the election to the Loughton Town Council in 2012. He was the first person of Asian origin to be elected to Loughton Town Council Loughton is a vibrant town in the Epping forest district of Essex and has migrant population is less than 2 per cent. The elected deputy mayor normally goes on to become the mayor for the following year. 

Interesting fact: India’s former defence minister V K Krishna Menon was the first person from Kerala to become a Councillor in Britain. He was a Labour Councillor for the Borough of St Pancras from 1934 to 1939.

Hypersonic superjet technology successfully tested in Australia

A joint US-Australian military research team successfully tested a hypersonic technology in the Australian desert. In the test, scramjet attached to a rocket booster was successfully sent to an altitude of 278 km at Mach 7.5 (seven times the speed of sound). The team was running a series of 10 trials of the hypersonic technology at the world’s largest land testing range located at Woomera in Australia and at Norway’s Andoya Rocket Range. 

Key facts :

Hypersonic flight involves travelling at more than 5 times the speed of sound (Mach 5). For this purpose, scientists working in the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) programme are developing an engine that can fly at Mach 7 speed. HiFiRE programme consists of a scramjet engine attached to a rocket booster. Scramjet: It is a supersonic combustion engine that uses oxygen from the atmosphere for fuel. It is lighter and faster than fuel-carrying rockets and is suitable for flying at hypersonic (Mach 5 and above) speed. Scramjet engines do not have moving parts. It has rotating compressor and turbine in a jet engine. In the engine, air is compressed and expanded by complex systems of shockwaves located in front of the aircraft.

 Significance: It is a game-changing technology that could revolutionise global air travel, and also provide cost-effective access to space. It can be very useful as an alternative to a rocket for putting satellites into space.

UN Secretary-General appoints Patricia Espinosa Cantellano Executive Secretary of UNFCCC

· United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Patricia Espinosa Cantellano of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

· The appointment was made after consultation with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau.

·  Espinosa Cantellano will succeed Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica.

Barco Appoints Rajiv Bhalla as MD for India

·Belgium based visualization technology leader Barco has announced the appointment of Rajiv Bhalla as managing director for India.

· Rajiv has more than 22 years of experience in senior leadership in technology organizations such as  Thomson Consumer Electronics, Microsoft, NEC and Intel & has a deep understanding of the B2B and B2C aspects of the business.

· He will be the legal representative of Barco India’s side fulfilling all legal, regulatory and statutory obligations ensuring compliance with local legal, safety, environmental regulations also company directives and guidelines.