Third Meeting of G20 Finance Ministers, Discusses Global Economic Outlook Amid COVID-19 Crisis
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Saudi Arabian Presidency through video conferencing to discuss the global economic outlook amid evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis along with other G20 Finance Track priorities for the year 2020.
This G20 Action Plan lays out a list of collective commitments under the pillars of Health Response, Economic Response, Strong and Sustainable Recovery and International Financial Coordination, aimed at co-ordinating G20 efforts to fight the pandemic.
Nirmala Sitharaman also shared her perspective on the way forward on the action plan and highlighted the need for international coordination required in addressing the spill-over effects of exit strategies. Emphasising that the Action Plan needs to reflect how the economies are balancing their supply side and demand side measures in response to COVID-19, Sitharaman shared with her counterparts how India is working on ensuring this balance through credit schemes for greater liquidity, direct benefit transfers, and employment guarantee schemes.
She specifically referred to India's comprehensive economic package to address recovery and growth amounting to over $295 Billion, about 10 per cent of India's GDP. Adding to this, Sitharaman also spoke about the procyclicality of credit rating downgrades by the rating agencies and its deterrent impact on policy options, particularly for EMEs.
UK Asks Japan for Huawei Alternatives in 5G Networks
The British government asked Japan to help build its 5G wireless networks without Huawei Technologies, a further step in a global technology and security war between the United States and China.
Britain named NEC Corp and Fujitsu Ltd as potential alternative suppliers to Huawei.
British officials met with their counterparts in Tokyo, two days after Britain ordered Huawei equipment purged from its 5G networks by the end of 2027.
As Britain prepares to leave the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei have forced Prime Minister Johnson to choose between the United States and China, weighing a critical alliance against billions in investment.
Joe Biden Warns of Russia Meddling in November's US Presidential Election
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden got intelligence briefings, and has been told Russia continues to try to meddle in November`s US election.
As per Biden, China also was conducting activities designed for us to lose confidence in the outcome of the 2020 election.
Bidedn now knows that the Russians are still engaged in trying to delegitimize our electoral process.
He warned that if Russia continued to interfere there would be "a real price to pay" if he wins the November election against Republican President Donald Trump.
Railways Terminates Chinese Firm's Contract for Signaling, Telecommunication Work
The Railways terminated the contract of a Chinese firm for signaling and telecommunication work on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor due to poor progress. The work was to be executed on a 417-km section of the corridor between Kanpur and Mughalsarai.
Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) DFCCIL is the implementing agency for the project. The termination letter was issued after a 14-day notice to the Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group, which had bagged the Rs. 471-crore contract in 2016.
The process to oust the Chinese firm from the project had started as early as in January 2019 as it had failed to complete its work within the given timeframe.
The DFCCIL approached the World Bank, which is funding the project, in April this year informing them of their decision to terminate the contract.
Single-window Clearance Mechanism to Expedite Aviation Sector Proposals
The civil aviation ministry has set up a single-window clearance mechanism to expedite various investment proposals in the domestic aviation industry.
MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) has an Investment Clearance Cell (ICC) for prompt assistance and clearance.
The setting up of the ICC was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in 2020-2021 Union Budget in February this year.
According to the MoCA, the 10-member ICC will be headed by Amber Dubey, joint secretary in the aviation ministry.
The ICC has been mandated to serve as a single-window system for attracting investment and its terms of reference include accelerating investments, bringing projects to the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) which require special incentive, policy interventions, expeditious clearances and systematic references, among others.
The ICC will also identify projects and report to EGoS and maintain active contacts with investors and work with the states, duly adopting ways of on-boarding the states to make them a part of the institutional set-up.
Dharmendra Pradhan's and Dan Brouillette's 2nd Meeting of India-US Strategic Energy Partnership
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan and United States (US) Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette co-chaired the 2nd ministerial meeting of the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) virtually to review progress, highlight major accomplishments, and prioritise new areas for cooperation.
Several Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) were signed at US-India SEP ministerial meeting. Think tanks, policy researchers, NGOs and Government agencies from India have collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Labs and respective U.S. Government and private agencies to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas signed MOU to begin cooperation on Strategic Petroleum Reserves operation and maintenance, including exchange of information and best practices. This MoU was based on a proposal from the US after the recent historic drop in oil prices during the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. DOE signed a MOU to collaborate with India U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) in order to support India in the establishment of Solar Decathlon India in 2021. The aim of this competition is to prepare the next generation of building professionals to design and build high efficiency buildings powered by renewables.
More than two dozen missing cocooned black holes have been rediscovered, after researchers took a new look at X-ray maps of the sky. All of these singularities had been misclassified as distant galaxies or other types of black holes.
All 28 of the objects are supermassive black holes, billions of times the mass of our sun. And all are going through a stage of development where they shroud themselves in a dark bubble of dust and other material. Those cocoons obscure the bright X-rays emitted by hot material swirling around their event horizons, the point of no return for infalling matter, making them seem dimmer than they really are. Models of black hole formation suggest there should be lots of black holes like this across the sky, but until now, scientists hadn't spotted as many as expected. This new research, based on observations of one patch of the southern sky, suggests many of them were hiding in plain sight.
BCCI Hopes for Formal Postponement of T20 World Cup
On hold for the past two months, the fate of this year's T20 World Cup will be up for a decisive round of deliberation when the ICC board meets virtually with the BCCI hoping for a postponement to ensure that the IPL can go ahead.
The global event is supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country's cricket board had, in May itself, expressed its inability to host amid a second surge of COVID-19 cases in the state of Victoria.
With India's case load also exceeding the 10 lakh mark, including more than 26,000 deaths, the IPL, if it is held, is likely to move to the UAE once the central government gives its go ahead.
Central Government Allows Contributions from Any Person or Institution in NDRF
The Centre allowed contributions from any person or institution in the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)
The Centre has laid out the modalities for receipt of contributions/grants from any person or institution for the purpose of disaster management in the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) as per Section 46(1)(b) of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005.
Contributions/grants can be made by any person or institution in NDRF through physical instruments, RTGS/NEFT/UPI and Bharatkosh portal.
The central government has laid out step by step instructions on how to contribute to NDRF through Bharatkosh portal using net banking, debit cards, credit cards and UPI.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot Meets Governor Kalraj Mishra
Amid the ongoing political drama in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday met Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhavan and handed him a letter confirming that two MLAs of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) are backing his government.
Meanwhile, BJP leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje broke her silence on the ongoing political crisis in the state and said that it is unfortunate that the people of Rajasthan have to bear the brunt of the infighting in Congress.
In 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, Congress currently has 107 MLAs, including Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs who have been issued notices of disqualification by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C. P. Joshi.
Seven Chinese Companies May Face Action in India for Having Links with PLA
Chinese global giants like Huawei, Alibaba and others having a direct or indirect link with the Chinese Army and could soon face action in India. These companies are among 7 Chinese companies which the government sources claim having deep links with the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The 7 Chinese companies under the scanner are Xindia Steels, Xinxing Cathay international, China electronic technology group, Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent and SAIC motor corporation. As per government sources, these companies are under watch and could face potential action.
C. S. Seshadri, a towering figure in the field of algebraic geometry and founder of the prestigious Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), passed away. He was 88 years old.
Seshadri had mentored many young people who were interested in the field of mathematics and was the man behind the CMI. His contributions in the field were so immense that a constant in algebra was named after him.
Seshadri, began his career at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, moved to his home town of Chennai in 1984 to the Institute of Mathematical Sciences. In 1989, he launched the School of Mathematics as part of the SPIC Science Foundation, which is now known as CMI.
Restaurant Chain Zizzi and Ask Italian to Close 75 Branches
The owner of Zizzi and Ask Italian restaurant chains will close 75 locations, risking the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.
Azzurri Group, which also owns the Coco Di Mama pasta chain, has been sold out of administration to TowerBrook Capital Partners.
The move will keep 225 shops and restaurants open and maintain about 5,000 jobs.
The Covid-19 crisis has had a profound impact on the casual dining sector, bringing many businesses to a standstill.
Despite being a successful operator, the immediate loss of revenue during lockdown meant that we have had to make some incredibly difficult decisions to protect the business for the long-term.
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