10^th February 2015

1- Union Cabinet approves hike in share capital of NMDFC

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra

NMDFC

Modi, has given its approval to increase the Authorized Share Capital of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC).

As per this decision, NMDFC’s Authorised Share Capital has doubled from Rs. 1500 crore to Rs. 3000 crore.

Cabinet also gave its approval to revise the shareholding pattern from present 65:26:9 to 73:26:1 among the Centre, States/Union Territories and Individuals/Institutions respectively. Further, approval was also given for restructuring of the NMFDC’s business model.

About National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC)

NMFC is Central Sector Public Enterprise (CPSE) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.

It was constituted in 1994 as a non-profit making company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.

Function: NMDFC provides loans at concessional interest rates for self-employment and economic development activities to backward sections of minority communities having family income up to Rs. 1,03,000 in urban areas and Rs. 81,000 in rural areas.

In this case minority communities are Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis. It also includes Jains as they have been notified as a minority community recently in 2014.

2- World’s first humanoid robot staffed hotel set to open in Japan

World’s first  humanoid robot-staffed hotel is set to open in

Henn-na Hotel | Nagasaki

Nagasaki, Japan in July 2015.

The Henn-na Hotel which means Strange Hotel will be employing Robots as its staff and other advanced technologies in order to significantly reduce operating costs.

The hotel will come up with a Huis Ten Bosch theme park which is named after a town of Netherlands.

Some facts

• The hotel has been developed by Japan’s Osaka University and its robots are manufactured by the Japanese robotics company Kokoro.
• This hotel will implement in two phases. In the first phase, the two-story of hotel with 72 rooms will begin its operation in July 2015. While, the second phase will be completed in 2016 with an additional 72 rooms.

Robot employees

• The hotel will be staffed with actroid androids – which are human-like robots.
• These robots will function as humans to greet, carry luggage to rooms, make cups of coffee and even smile like. These robots will speak Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English.
• The hotel will have three robots that will act as receptionists, four service and porter robots, and robots engaged in menial tasks such as cleaning.

Other advanced technologies

• The hotel has facial-recognition technology to access the Guestroom doors of the hotels. While, Guests will request items through a tablet when needed.
• It will be not having air-conditioning, instead of it a radiation panel will be used. This panel will detect body heat in rooms and adjust the temperature.
• Advance solar power and other energy-saving features will be used in order to reduce operating costs.

3- Vodafone India appoints Naveen Chopra as new COO

Vodafone India has appointed Naveen Chopra as Chief

Naveen Chopra | Vodafone

Operating Officer (COO).

Prior to this appointment, Chopra was Director of Vodafone Business Services (VBS). He will succeed Sunil Sood, who earlier was elevated to post of CEO in the company. His appointment will come into effect from April 1, 2015.

Naveen Chopra had joined Vodafone in 2004 as Vice-president, Corporate Marketing. Over the last 10 years, he had held various posts in the company which includes CMO, Business Head of Mumbai and Rajasthan circles and the Director of VBS.

About Vodafone India

Vodafone India is the second largest mobile network operator in India after Airtel in terms of subscriber base.

As of September 2014, it had approximately 173 million customers. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Services: Vodafone India offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. It also provides 3G services on basis of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology.

4- M Ravindran takes over as Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Limited

M Ravindran has taken over as the Chairman of

M Ravindran | IGL

Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL).

He has replaced K K Gupta, Director (Marketing) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), who has relinquished the charge upon completion of his two-year tenure.

Presently M Ravindran is Director (Human Resources) of state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Limited.

About Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL)

IGL is a joint venture of GAIL, BPCL and government of Delhi.

It is the sole supplier of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

The post of chairman of IGL is rotated among GAIL and BPCL every two years.

Market Base: IGL has around 9500 km of pipeline network and meets fuel requirements of over 7.7 lakh vehicles running on CNG through a network of 297 CNG stations in Delhi Region. IGL is also supplying PNG to nearly 5,30,000 households in Delhi and NCR towns.

5- 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election result

Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared the results of Delhi Legislative Assembly election 2015.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headed by social activist turned politician Arvind Kejriwal with 67 seats has emerged as the largest party in the house of 70 seats.

Arvind Kejriwal is going to take oath as Chief Minister on 14 February 2015 at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi.

Key facts

• AamAadmi Party (AAP) –Won record 67 seats with record vote share of 54.2% percent. It should be noted that AAP 1st party in Delhi to win with record 67 seats with more than 50% vote share in history of assembly elections.
• BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) –Won 3 seats with vote share of 32.3% percent.
• While other big parties like Indian National Congress (INC), BahujanSamaj Party (BSP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) etc were not able to win single seat in this election.

Background

2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election was held on 7 February 2015 to elect 70 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Voter turnout for this election was recorded 67.14%, it was highest voter turnout in history of Delhi Legislative Assembly elections.

In this election AamAadmi Party (AAP) and Indian National Congress (INC) had contested 70 seats. While, BharatiyaJanata Party had contested 67 seats and its ally ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) had contested 3 seats.

6- Economist AmartyaSen awarded inaugural John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015

Eminent Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has

John Maynard Keynes Prize | Awarded

been awarded the inaugural Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015.

He was chosen for this award for his ground-breaking work that has profound impact on the formation of development policy worldwide and outstanding contribution to society.

Amartya Sen will receive £7,500 to commission a work of art. He will also give the annual Charleston-EFG Keynes Lecture on the topic The Economic Consequences of Austerity at the Charleston Festival on 23 May 2015.

About Amartya Sen

• Amartya Sen was born on 3 November 1933 in Manik ganj district in British India (Now in Bangladesh).
• He is regarded as one of the foremost thinkers in the field of famine, poverty, social choice and welfare economics.
• He was teacher and a research scholar in the Department of Economics, Jadavpur University, West Bengal.. Currently, he is a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University.
• His has authored more than 100 books which have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Awards: He has won many prestigious awards. Few of them are

• Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his work in welfare economics.
• Bharat Ratna- India’s highest Civilian Award in 1999.
• National Humanities Medal in 2012.

About Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize

It is an international award, instituted in the memory and spirit of British Economist John Maynard Keynes’ work, life and legacy.

The aim of this prize is to honour individuals from around the world who continue to embody Keynes’ extraordinary attributes.

7- First World Ocean Science Congress concludes in Kochi

First World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) concluded in

At Kochi | Kerala

Kochi, Kerala. The four-day-long event had started in Kochi on 5 February 2015.

Key facts about World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC)-2015

• Themes of WOSC-2015:Protect Oceans for Posterity and Blue Economy.
• It was organized by Swadeshi Science Movement, Vijnana Bharati, Kerala Chapter and the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS).
• Eminent oceanographers, environmentalists, naval exponents and maritime industrialists from across the world participated in the event.
• First edition of  WOSC-2015  witnessed to deliberate findings on sustainable means to utilise ocean resources without causing damage to the oceans and their marine life.
• It also witnessed presentation of 450 technical papers in 13 sessions by 86 Indian institutions and 14 foreign institutions.

Outcomes of WOSC-2015

• A set of recommendations have been outline in the congress. These ecommendations will be submitted to Prime Minister NarendraModi for further guidelines.

Delegates of  WOSC-2015 have urged the Union Government to form a separate ministry in the fields of ocean research and fisheries research in order to bring all the agencies and institutions working on it under one roof. This separate ministry will help for the smooth implementation and management of all the government policies related to the ocean and fisheries research sectors.

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