GENERAL AWARENESS STUDY NOTES FOR BANK EXAM

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NEWS HEADLINES ECONOMICS NEWS face of demand draft, pay order, banker’s cheques and other Karnataka Bank has launched instruments to prevent money 'Cash@PoS' facility to withdraw cash laundering. from PoS terminals. The Life Insurance Corporation, LIC The Asian Development Bank (ADB) board gave approval to the acquisition has approved USD 503-million lining of up to 51 per cent stake in debt- project of the Son canal in Shahabad- ridden IDBI Bank. Bhojpur region of Bihar. The Inflation, based on wholesale Rajasthan government and Software prices, shot up to 5.77 per cent in Company Microsoft has signed a June. Memorandum of Understanding According to International Monetary (MoU) to provide digital training to Fund (IMF), 's Gross Domestic 9,500 college students of Rajasthan. Product Growth Rate is expected to India and China have agreed to 7.3 % in the Financial Year 2018-1 reduce tariffs on Chinese imports of Jana Small Finance Bank officially Indian medicines. launched its commercial banking South Asia's largest hotel chain OYO operations. has acquired -based Internet RBI to Issue New Design ₹ 100 of Things (IoT) technology company Denomination Banknote. The color of AblePlus. this note will be lavender and it will The market capitalisation of the listed have a motif of Rani ki vav, a stepwell firms of Deepak Parekh-led financial located on the banks of Saraswati services conglomerate HDFC group river in Gujarat's Patan. crossed Rs 10 lakh crore mark. It is SBI has Organised Kisan Mela to only the second Indian business group Educate Farmers on Financial to achieve this feat after Tata Group. Literacy. India has formally become the 69th shareholder of the European Bank for INTERNATIONAL NEWS Reconstruction and Development. Public sector lender Bank of Baroda Human Resource Development has inked an agreement with South Minister Prakash Javadekar has Korea's KB Financial Group to set-up inaugurated the 17th World Sanskrit financing corridor and development Conference at Vancouver, Canada. of digital payment ecosystem. India’s latest frontline warship INS India's largest electricity generating Trikand has reached Sri Lanka in a company, NTPC has signed a term goodwill visit. loan agreement with HDFC Bank for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and availing a loan of Rs 1,500 crore. South Korean President Moon Jae-in Indian Army and SBI have signed inaugurated Samsung India's new Memorandum of Understanding mobile phone manufacturing facility (MoU) on the Defence Salary in Noida. This is the world’s largest Package. mobile factory. Reserve Bank makes it compulsory to According to the latest study incorporate purchaser’s name on the "Twiplomacy" by communications

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firm Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), Drill In Russia Named ' Peace US President Donald Trump is the Mission'. most followed world leader on US President Donald Trump and his Twitter while Pope Francis is second Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra hold their first summit at Helsinki, Modi is on third place. Finland. US President Donald Trump Peru has declared a 60-day state of nominated Foreign Service officer emergency on its border with David Hale as the Under Secretary of Colombia. State for Political Affairs. He is India became Vice-Chair or regional currently the US Ambassador to head of Asia Pacific Region of the Pakistan. World Customs Organisation Indian naval ship INS Sumitra (WCO). became the first-ever warship to enter Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos port of Sabang in Indonesia. becomes the richest person in modern The Minister of State (I/C) MSME history. Giriraj Singh and Minister of SMEs Austin Fernando, Sri Lankan and Start-ups of Republic of Korea, President Maithripala Sirisena's Hong Jong- hak, inaugurated the former secretary, has been named Sri India-Korea Technology Exchange Lanka's next High Commissioner to Centre in New Delhi. India. India and the United Kingdom signed Prime Minister Narendra Modi will an agreement on exchange of embark on a five day visit to Rwanda, experience by legal professionals and Uganda and South Africa from 23rd government functionaries for July. resolution of disputes before various courts. NATIONAL NEWS UN chief Antonio Guterres has established a first-of-its-kind panel on Law Commission recommends digital cooperation aimed at regulating betting. addressing concerns of cybersecurity International Round Table threats and rise in hate speech and Conference on “Data for New India’’ named senior Indian diplomat has been started in New Delhi. Amandeep Singh Gill as the Human Resource Development executive director of the panel’s Ministry granted Institution of secretariat. eminence status to IIT Delhi, IIT Ishwar Sharma, 8 Year Old Indian Bombay and IISc Bangalore. Boy has been named as 'British Indian Uttarakhand Chief Minister, of the Year. Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated India became Vice-Chair or regional the country's first Drone Application head of Asia Pacific Region of the Research Laboratory and Cyber World Customs Organisation (WCO) Security centre in Dehradun. for two years. According to Global Innovation Militaries Of India And Pakistan to Index (GII) 2018, China broke into Participate in A Mega Anti-Terror the world's top 20 most-innovative economies. Switzerland has topped

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this list while India is at 57th place in The BBC World Service has launched the list. This annual ranking has been its first Gujarati language television published by Cornell University, news bulletin. INSEAD and the World Intellectual 10th edition of the Delhi Dialogue Property Organization (WIPO). (DD X) has been started in New The first "India Tourism Mart (ITM)" Delhi. will be organized in New Delhi from Bihar Government has decided to 16th to 18th September 2018. give reservation in promotions to the State-run telecom company BSNL Scheduled Castes and Scheduled has unveiled the country's first Tribes personnel in its services. internet telephony service. Now National Council of Educational BSNL customers will be able to make Research and Training (NCERT) has calls using the company's mobile app initiated the process of introducing "Wings" to any phone number in the QR code in their textbooks. country. 734 youngsters shortlisted for Indian Batsman Mohammad Kaif, complete scholarship under the who was one of the best fielders of the KHELO INDIA TALENT Indian cricket team, announced his DEVELOPMENT Scheme. retirement from competitive cricket. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has launched the Student Police Cadet launched the first consolidated Bridge (SPC) programme for nationwide Management System of Railways, a implementation in Gurugram. web-enabled IT application to store data on its one lakh 50 thousand EVENT NEWS bridges. The Ministry of Drinking Water and The 6th edition of the biennial World Sanitation launches the Swachh Cities Summit was held in Singapore. Survekshan Grameen 2018 in New The Ministry of Mines organized the Delhi. 4th National Conclave on Mines & Himachal Pradesh’s Kagra district Minerals at , . has introduced a new rule at its petrol First one-on-one summit between US pumps –‘No helmet, no petrol’. President Donald Trump and his The Odisha government has Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin constituted a 'Heritage Cabinet,' was held at Helsinki, capital of headed by Chief Minister Naveen Finland. Patnaik. 7th Defence Technology and Trade Union minister for electronics, IT and Initiative (DTTI) meeting between law & justice Ravi Shankar Prasad India and the US delegation was held unveiled the Goa IT Policy 201 in New Delhi. The Telecom Commission has First India-US '2+2 dialogue' will be approved the Telecom Regulatory held in New Delhi. Authority of India's (TRAI) net Fourth BIMSTEC Summit will be neutrality recommendations. held in Kathmandu. First edition of the Pondicherry 8th BRICS Health Ministers Meeting International Film Festival (PIFF) was held at Durban, South Africa. will begin on September.

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REPORT NEWS According to Asian Development Bank (ADB), India's Gross Domestic Andhra Pradesh has topped the ease Product Growth Rate is expected to of doing annual business ranking of 7.3 % in the Financial Year 2018-19. states and Union Territories by the World Bank and Department of AGREEMENTS NEWS Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Telangana and Haryana are at The University of Houston has signed the second and third positions, a memorandum of understanding respectively in the rankings. (MoU) with the Indian Institute of According to property consultant Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) to build CBRE, New Delhi’s Connaught Place scientific and technical knowledge has moved one position higher to through joint research. become ninth most expensive office An agreement was signed between location in the world with an annual IIT Delhi and the All India Institute of rent of $153 (Rs 10, 512 approx.) per Ayurveda (AIIA) to give "scientific sq. ft. validation" to the ancient medical According to Forbes Magazine, science and integrate it with Indian-origin technology executives technology. Jayshree Ullal and Neerja Sethi have Union Cabinet has approved the made it to the list of America’s 60 signing of Memorandum of richest women. Jayshree is ranked Understanding (MoU) amongst 18th in the list of 60 self-made BRICS Nations on the Regional women, having a net worth of 1.3 Aviation Partnership Cooperation. billion dollars while Sethi is ranked The Cabinet has approved a MOU 21st with a net worth of a billion between India and Indonesia on dollars. cooperation in the field of According to World Bank figures for pharmaceutical products, 2017, India has become the world’s pharmaceutical substances, sixth-biggest economy, pushing biological product and cosmetics France into seventh place. regulatory functions. Indian Institute of Technology, Union Cabinet has given its approval Kharagpur, has been featured among for the Memorandum of the top 100 in the Times Higher Understanding (MOU) between India Education Golden Age University and Cuba on cooperation in the field Rankings and top 50 in the Emerging of Traditional Systems of Medicine University Rankings. and Homeopathy. According to Bloomberg Billionaires CSIR- National Physical Laboratory Index, Mukesh Ambani has become (NPL) has signed a MoU with HPCL Asia’s richest person. for indigenous development of According to the report of property petroleum certified reference consultant CBRE, New Delhi’s materials (CRMs) under trade name Connaught Place is the 9th most of Bhartiya Niredeshak Dravyas. expensive office location in the Five central oil PSUs - IOCL, ONGC, world. GAIL, OIL and NRL - signed a joint venture agreement for executing the

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North-East Natural Gas Pipeline identify various items and policy Grid. interventions to reduce dependence Power Grid Corporation of India on import. signed a MoU with Uttar Pradesh Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Power Corporation (UPPCL) for Solanki has been given the additional energy efficiency and Agricultural charge of the Governor of Himachal Demand Side Management Pradesh during the absence Acharya Programme (AGDSM). Devvrat. Information Technology Company Metals and mining giant Vedanta Ltd Wipro has signed an agreement with has re-appointed Navin Agarwal as US-based Alight Solutions to acquire the Whole Time Director of the its subsidiary, Alight HR Services company. India, for $117 million. Ministry of Corporate Affairs India and Ghana have signed two constituted 10 Member Committee to agreements on Cultural Exchange review Companies Act 2013. Programme and on cooperation Swati B Baruah Became the 1st between Bureau of Indian Standards Transgender Judge in Assam. and Ghana Standards Authority. Former Indian off-spinner Ramesh 1The AIIMS has signed a MoU with Powar has been named as the interim the Indian Institute of Technology coach of the Indian women's cricket (IIT), Kharagpur, for institutional team. collaboration in education, research Kaptan Singh Solanki took additional outreach programme and medical charge of Himachal Pradesh. services. T.V. Narendran has been appointed as the chairman and non-executive APPOINTMENT NEWS additional director of Bhushan Steel Ltd. Grammy Award-winning Italian Anil Kaul has been appointed as the singer Laura Pausini has become Managing Director of Tata Capital Goodwill Ambassador of the United Housing Finance. Nations World Food Programme Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) (WFP). president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Sandeep Sancheti has taken charge as was officially appointed as the Chef the 97th President of the Association de Mission (CDM) of the Indian of Indian Universities (AIU). contingent for the upcoming 18th UK Prime Minister Theresa May has Asian Games to be held in twin cities appointed Jeremy Hunt as foreign of Jakarta and Palembang from secretary. August 18 to September 2. The Vice President of India and the Rajendra Menon will take over as the President of Indian Council of World Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Affairs (ICWA), M. Venkaiah Naidu Vice President of India and has appointed Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan Chancellor of Panjab University, M. as the Director General of ICWA. Venkaiah Naidu has appointed Prof. Government has set up a high-level Raj Kumar as the next Vice task force under the chairmanship of Chancellor of Panjab University. Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to

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The Institute of Cost Accountants of India & South Korea signed five India has appointed Amit Anand Apte MoUs in field of Science and as its President. Technology. Eminent Indian-origin broadcaster AWARDS NEWS and journalist Mahendra Kaul died. He was 95. Tapan Kumar Chand has received Chief of Sadhu Vaswani Mission and Knowledge Excellence Award for Spiritual leader Dada Vaswani passed Outstanding Contribution in away. He was 99. Aluminium Knowledge domain. Doyen of Indian Psychiatry N N Wig Sri Lanka-born Canadian writer died. He was 88. Michael Ondaatje's book 'The English Former Director General of Civil Patient' has won the Golden Man Aviation (DGCA) Kanu Gohain died. Booker Prize. This book has been He was 68. awarded to mark the 50th anniversary Veteran journalist and Dainik of the prestigious literary award. Bhaskar Group Editor Kalpesh Famous folk artist Dr. Mahendra Yagnik passed away. He was 55. Bhanawat will be honored with the Veteran actor Rita Bhaduri has Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for his passed. She was 62. outstanding contribution in the field Famous Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj of literature, culture and art. passed away. He was 93. Aruna Sairam Has Been Selected For Ramchandra Singhdeo, former and Sangita Kalanidhi Award 2018. first Finance Minister of Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated Chhattisgarh, passed away. He was Raising towards Excellence – A two 88. day Conference of Heads of AYUSH Japanese screenwriter and Film National Institutes organized by All director Shinobu Hashimoto died. He India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) at was 100. New Delhi. Vivek Srivastava, Co – Founder & SPORTS NEWS CEO, Healthcare at HOME (HCAH) has won the prestigious Dipa Karmakar has won Gold Medal "Entrepreneur of the year Award" for at FIG Artistic Gymnastics World healthcare services at 8th Annual Challenge Cup in Mersin, Turkey. Entrepreneur India award. Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel has won the British Grand Prix OBITUARY NEWS title. Bajrang Punia has won Gold medal Veteran journalist J N Sadhu has At Tbilisi Grand Prix. passed away recently. He was 94. Satyarup Siddhanta has become the Famous Kumaoni folk singer second Indian mountaineer after Kabutari Devi has passed away Malli Mastan Babu to climb Mt Ojos recently. She was 70. del Salado, the highest volcano in the Former Meghalaya Governor M M world. Jacob has passed away recently. He Jhili Dalabehera has won the bronze was 90. medal in the 2018 IWF Junior World

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Weightlifting Championships at Indian boxers has won seven Gold Tashkent, Uzbekistan. medals to claim the overall top spot at Indian sprinter Hima Das scripted the Golden Glove of Vojvodina youth history by becoming the first Indian tournament at Subotica in Serbia. woman to win a gold in the women's Greco Roman wrestler Viresh Kundu 400m final race at the IAAF World has won a Bronze medal in Asian Under-20 Athletics Championships. Junior Championships in New Delhi. France Defeated Croatia, Won FIFA India's Greco Roman wrestler Sajan World Cup after 20 years. has won the gold medal in 77kg Vinesh Phogat has won Gold Medal category in Junior Asian Wrestling at the Spanish Grand Prix Wrestling Championships in New Delhi. Tournament. Brazil's Footballer Alisson Becker The Indian team won four silver became the most expensive medals and five bronzes (total 9 goalkeeper in the world by signing a medals) at the 7th World Junior contract with Liverpool Wushu Championships in Brasilia, Brazil.

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NEWS IN DETAIL PM inaugurates new ASI Headquarters in New Delhi

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated Dharohar Bhawan - the new Headquarters building of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), - at Tilak Marg in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the Archaeological Survey of India has performed significant work over the course of the last 150 years or so.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of taking pride in our history, and in our rich archaeological heritage. He said that people should take a lead in knowing about local history, and archaeology of their towns, cities and regions. He said lessons in local archaeology could form part of the school syllabus. In this context, he also mentioned the importance of well-trained local tourist guides, who are familiar with the history and heritage of their area.

He said each archaeological discovery, painstakingly made by archaeologists over long periods of time, has its own story to tell. In this context, he recalled how he and the then French President had travelled to Chandigarh a few years ago, for a first-hand view of archaeological discoveries made by a joint Indo-French team.

The Prime Minister said that India should showcase its great heritage with pride and confidence, to the world.

The new Headquarters building of ASI has been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including energy efficient lighting and rainwater harvesting. It includes a Central Archaeological Library with a collection of about 1.5 lakh books and journals.

MoU on Defence Salary Package signed between Indian Army and State Bank of India

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Army and SBI on the Defence Salary Package on 12 July 2018. The signing-in ceremony was chaired by the Adjutant General Lt Gen Ashwani Kumar and was attended by top officials of SBI headed by Shri PK Gupta, Managing Director (Retail and Development Banking), SBI.

The first MoU between SBI and the Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was renewed on 23 Feb 2015. The revised MoU is tailor made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. A number of additional facilities have been incorporated in the revised MoU which include free personal accident death cover, free permanent total disablement cover and other accidental benefits to the deceased soldier and family. This MoU will benefit a large number of serving and retired Army personnel who are having their accounts with SBI. The MoU will be valid till 03 Jan 2019 and continuation thereafter will be subject to review/renewal.

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President nominates four members to Rajya Sabha

In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 80 of the Constitution of India, and on the advice of the Prime Minister, the President of India is pleased to make the following four nominations to the Rajya Sabha:

Shri Ram Shakal: He is an eminent people’s leader and public representative from Uttar Pradesh, who has devoted his life for the welfare and well-being of the Dalit community. A farmer leader, he is widely respected for championing the cause of farmers, labourers and migrants. He has also been a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Robertsganj constituency of Uttar Pradesh.

Shri Rakesh Sinha: A respected and widely read author, Shri Rakesh Sinha is the Founder and Honorary Director of the Delhi-based think-tank “India Policy Foundation.” A Professor of Motilal Nehu College of Delhi University, he is also currently a member of the Indian Council of Social Science Research. He is a regular columnist in a range of newspapers.

Shri Raghunath Mohapatra: He is an internationally renowned authority on stone carving. Practicing since 1959, he has trained over 2000 students. He has contributed to the preservation of traditional sculpture and ancient monuments, and has worked on the beautification of the Sri Jagannath Temple, Puri. His famous works include a 6 feet high statue of the Sun God carved in grey sandstone, in the Central Hall of Parliament; and the Wooden Buddha, Buddha Temple, Paris.

Smt Sonal Mansingh: She is among India’s foremost exponents of Indian Classical Dance. She has been performing Bharatnatyam and Odissi for over six decades. She is also a well-known choreographer, teacher, orator and social activist. She founded the Centre for Indian Classical Dances, in Delhi in 1977.

Steel CPSE Employees Pension Scheme Announced

Ministry of Steel has agreed to the proposal received from various CPSEs under its control to introduce the pension scheme with effect from 1stJanuary 2007 in case of executives and 1stJanuary 2012 in case of non-executives or from a subsequent date as decided by the company. The agreement was reached after detailed consultation with representatives of employees unions and officers associations belonging to SAIL, RINL, MSTC, FSNL, MECON and KIOCL. This was announced by the Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh in New Delhi.

During the meeting with the Minister, the representatives of employees unions and officers associations discussed various issues concerning them, including the introduction of pension scheme as part of the superannuation benefits, provident fund, gratuity and medical benefit. The Minister informed that medical benefits have already been extended to employees of CPSEs under the Ministry of Steel. NMDC and MOIL have also introduced the pension scheme to its employees

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as per the Second Pay Revision Committee recommendations. He said that there has been a long standing demand from the employees of other CPSEs for introduction of pension scheme.

Chaudhary Birender Singh said that the pension scheme will benefit over 94,000 serving and 56,000 retired employees of CPSEs under the Ministry of Steel and put an additional financial burden of Rs. 45 crore per month. He said that the pension scheme will be subject to factors like affordability, capacity to pay and sustainability by the CPSEs. Government budgetary support will not be provided to operate these schemes. The rate of contribution will be decided by the respective boards of CPSEs each year depending upon the profit made and employee cost to the company subject to upper ceiling of 30% (Basic Pay plus DA) of superannuation benefits. The actual details of the pension scheme and road map of implementation will be worked out by the management of each CPSEs.

Committee set up to synergies NCC and NSS

Government has decided to set up a committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Anil Swarup, former Secretary, School Education, with suitable representations from NCC, M/o Youth Affairs and Ministry of HRD to suggest measures to strengthen National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS).

The Committee will deal with on issues like expansion, strengthening training infrastructure, rationalizing resources, reducing manpower deficiency affecting NCC and NSS. The Committee will also submit recommend for building synergies between these two institutions viz. NCC and NSS and further strengthen them for empowering the youth.

At present, there are 13.5 lakh cadets in NCC in the age group of 12 to 26 years with pan India presence in about 703 out of 716 districts. There are a large number of educational institutions in the country including as much as 8600 on waitlist in which NCC is yet to be extended. There is also an existing shortage in the NCC manpower across the categories ranging from 5% to 36%.

The NCC has an annual budget allocation of about Rs.2200 crore with Central Government share of about Rs.1600 crore. NCC, with this meagre resources, is not able to expand itself and to cover all the districts of the country and cater to the needs of waitlisted educational institutions.

A meeting was held recently in PMO to revamp the NCC and NSS. Ministry of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Human Resource Development and NCC through the Ministry of Defence participated in the discussion. The discussion was mainly focused on taking measures for strengthening NCC and NSS and how youth could be empowered through these institutions. NSS has been playing a very active role in the service of the nation, particularly in the Government’s Programme such as Swachh Bharat Mission.

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Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear Power Park refers to a site with a number of large capacity reactors with a total capacity of 6000 MW or more. The Kudankulam site, presently has two reactors – KKNPP 1&2 (2X1000 MW) in operation and two reactors, KKNPP 3&4 (2X1000 MW) under construction. In addition, work for setting up two more units - KKNPP 5&6 (2X1000 MW) at this site has commenced. On progressive completion of Units 3 to 6, the Kudankulam site having a total capacity of 6000 MW will be a nuclear power park.

The total completion cost of the six units at Kudankulam is Rs 111932 crore. The units at the site are expected to be completed progressively by 2025-26.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Observatory for Gravitational Waves study

The Government of India has given ‘In-Principle’ approval for Construction and Operation of Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Laboratory – India (LIGO) in India in collaboration with LIGO Laboratory, United States of America. This is the third observatory identical to the two LIGO observatories in USA. An MoU has been signed between DAE-DST of India and National Science Foundation of USA on 30.03.2016. LIGO-India Observatory is scheduled to be operational in 2024.

Of the various sites surveyed for this project, the site in Hingoli District of has been selected as the primary site and the process of acquiring land for the project is in advanced stage.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Memorandum of Understanding amongst BRICS Nations

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) amongst BRICS Nations on the Regional Aviation Partnership Cooperation viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Salient features:

The objective is that BRICS countries would benefit from the establishing of an institutional framework to cooperate in the field of civil aviation. Among the areas of cooperation, following areas have been identified:

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• Public Policies and best practices in regional services; • Regional Airports; • Airport infrastructure management and air navigation services; • Technical cooperation between regulatory agencies; • Innovation; • Environment Sustainability; including deliberation of global initiatives; • Qualification and Training; • Other fields as mutually determined Impact:

The MoU signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and other BRICS Member States and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges amongst the BRICS Nations.

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