International

Thai PM recalls Parliament as protesters raise pressure

Thailand's embattled Prime Minister has called for a special session of parliament as protesters planned more rallies to demand his resignation, the release of jailed activists and reforms to the monarchy. Tens of thousands of mostly young protesters have taken to the streets in the past week in defiance of an emergency decree banning gatherings of more than four people. The largely leaderless movement is calling for the resignation of Prayut – a former army chief and mastermind of a 2014 coup – as well as the re-writing of the military-drafted constitution they say rigged last year's election in his favour. Protesters are also making unprecedented demands to reform the powerful and ultra-wealthy monarchy. They want the abolition of a draconian defamation law that shields King Maha Vajiralongkorn from criticism, greater transparency of royal finances, and for the monarch to stay out of politics.

Australia to take part in Malabar naval exercise

Amid the ongoing stand-off with China, the Ministry of Defence announced that Australia will join the Malabar 2020 naval exercise, consisting of , Japan and the U.S., to be held next month. Australia had first requested to join more than three years ago.

The Annual Naval Exercise Malabar-2020 is expected to be held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea later this year. This year, the exercise has been planned on a ‘non-contact-at sea’ format. The exercise will strengthen the coordination between the Navies of the participating countries. The Malabar series of Naval exercises started in 1992 as a bilateral -US Navy exercise and Japan joined the Naval exercise in 2015.

Singapore Becomes First Country to Use Facial Recognition to Pay Taxes

In Singapore, online government services can now be accessed by facial recognition – a world first. This technology is being rolled out to the city-state's SingPass digital identity scheme, offering access to no less than 400 online services, including tax declarations and public housing applications. Facial recognition is also increasingly being used to access other online services, such as banking. This new function, dubbed SingPass Face Verification, lets users connect securely to government websites, as well as online services on private websites. The function is designed to work via home computers, tablets and cell phones, as well as at public kiosks.

National

India begins cultivation of hing for the first time, likely to save about Rs 900 crore on import

Farmers of the Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh have taken up cultivation of hing (asafoetida), primarily because of the efforts of the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), using the vast wasteland in the remote cold desert conditions of the region, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has said. The first seedling of asafoetida was planted in Kwaring village of Lahaul valley to mark the initiation of its cultivation in India. India imports around 1,200 tonnes of the high-value spice annually from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan and spends about $100 million per year for it. In 2019, the country imported approximately 1500 tonnes of raw hing from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan and spent about Rs 942 crore.

FSSAI's new food safety compliance platform to become operational across India from Nov

Food regulator FSSAI said its Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS) will become operational in the entire country from November 1. The system is operational in nine States/UTs — , Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Chandigarh, Goa, Manipur, Puducherry and Ladakh since June. FoSCoS is conceptualized to provide one point stop for all engagement of a food business operator (FBO) with the department for any regulatory compliance transaction.

Supersonic Cruise Missile, BrahMos successfully test fired from Indian Navy’s indigenously-built stealth INS

BRAHMOS, the supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired from Indian Navy’s indigenously- built stealth destroyer INS Chennai, hitting a target in the Arabian Sea. The missile hit the target successfully with pin-point accuracy after performing high-level and extremely complex manoeuvres. BRAHMOS as a prime strike weapon will ensure the warship’s invincibility by engaging naval surface targets at long ranges, thus making the destroyer another lethal platform of Indian Navy. The highly versatile BRAHMOS has been jointly designed, developed and produced by India and Russia.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launches AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme. The scheme is a unique way to assist cooperatives play an important role in creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country. AYUSHMAN SAHAKAR scheme has been formulated by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). Mr. Tomar announced that NCDC would extend term loans to prospective cooperatives to the tune of 10 thousand crore in the coming years. NCDC’s scheme will be a step towards strengthening farmers welfare activities by the Central Government.

NITI Aayog to establish Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre with AWS

In order to address societal challenges through digital innovation, NITI Aayog announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre, CIC with Amazon Web Services, AWS. It is the first of its kind in India. This CIC is part of the AWS CIC Global Programme which provides an opportunity for government agencies, non-profits and educational institutions, to come together on pressing challenges, apply design thinking, test new ideas, and access the technology expertise of AWS.

Centre invites British govt to exploit huge business potential in North East

Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Dr Jitendra Singh has invited the British Government and the private sector for exploiting huge business potential in North Eastern Region of India. In a virtual meeting with officials of British High Commission, Dr Singh said, India and the UK, the two vibrant democracies enjoy a mutually rewarding business relationship and can work together in exploring and exploiting new opportunities in the North Eastern Region. Dr Singh also welcomed the British Council proposal for collaboration in the Education Sector for teaching Science and Mathematics in all the 8 States of the region and an MoU will be signed soon with North Eastern Council to take the collaboration to a new high

More than half of farmers oppose farm laws: survey

More than half of Indian farmers oppose the three farm reform laws passed by Parliament last month, while only 35% support them, according to a new survey in 16 States conducted by Gaon Connection Insights. Almost 40% expressed fear that the new laws will end state-run markets and government procurement at minimum support prices, and almost 60% are in favour of a legal guarantee for MSPs.

Business and Economy China GDP growth accelerates to 4.9%

China’s economic growth continued to gain momentum in the third quarter, with the GDP expanding 4.9% from a year earlier in the July-September period, according to official Chinese data released on Monday. Factory output rose, boosted by global demand for masks and other medical supplies, while retail spending returned to pre-virus levels for the first time.

No violation of any law in bringing cooperative banks under supervisory control: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India has said that there is no violation of any law of the nation in bringing the cooperative banks under its supervisory control. In an affidavit filed in the Madras High Court, the RBI has said, the recent legislation enacted in Parliament is aimed at regulating banking. It further said that the law is aimed at safeguarding the interests of the depositors and the public. It said, the laws governing the cooperatives vary from state to state and therefore, the banking activities being done by them require a national law. It pointed out that 430 urban cooperative banks in the country have lost their banking licenses due to very poor financial positions.

India's agricultural exports rise by 14.8 % during first five months of current fiscal

India’s agricultural exports have recovered from a pandemic-induced decline. Exports of major farm products stood at 53,000 crore rupees in the five-month period between April and August 2020-21, a rise of 14.8 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. During the April to August period, farmers gained from higher exports of rice, wheat and sugar. Exports of basmati rice, a big-ticket export item among cereals, during April-August rose 8.2 percent from the year-ago period, while the value of non-basmati rice exports grew 91.3 percent.

CPSEs told to meet 75% capex target by Dec.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exhorted large central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to achieve 75% of their planned capital expenditure (capex) target for FY21 by December, to support economic growth impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. She held a virtual meeting with secretaries of coal and petroleum & natural gas, along with the chairman and managing directors (CMDs) of 14 CPSEs belonging to these ministries. In 2019-20, against the capex target of Rs 1,11,672 crore for these 14 CPSEs, the achievement was Rs 1,16,323 crore that is 104 per cent, the statement said. It added that the capex target is pegged Rs 1,15,934 crore for these companies for the current financial year.

Wadhawan offers assets of Rs. 43,000 crore

The jailed promoter of crisis-hit mortgage lender DHFL, Kapil Wadhawan, has offered his personal and family properties, which he claims are worth Rs. 43,000 crore, for repayment of outstanding loans of lenders to the company. Wadhawan wrote to RBI-appointed administrator R Subramaniakumar on October 17 saying his offer would ensure maximum value for the assets that have been put on the block to repay loans.

Paytm to issue co-branded credit cards

Digital financial services platform Paytm said it would be partnering with various card issuers to introduce co-branded credit cards, with an aim to issue two million such cards in the next 12-18 months. Along with this the company also announced that it has been building ‘Next generation’ credit cards which include - insurance protection against fraudulent transactions, a personalised spend analyser, and will offer instant one-touch services for changing of security pin, updating address, and blocking the card.

Sports IPL: Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 7 wickets

Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 7 wickets in Abu Dhabi. Rajasthan achieved the target of 126 runs with 15 balls left. For Rajasthan, Jos Buttler was the highest scorer with 70 not out off 48 balls. Earlier, electing to bat, Chennai Super Kings scored 125 for five in their stipulated 20 overs.