RBI Hikes Repo Rate By 25 bps to 6.5%, Raises Inflation Projection


In 3rd Bi-monthly Policy Statement, the Reserve bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy committee (MPC) raised policy rates by 25 basis points to 6.5% on account of inflationary pressures arising due to hike in minimum support price. 
The committee has increased the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.5%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.25%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.75%. 
RBI also raised the average inflation projection for the second half of the year to 4.8% from 4.7% in June. The central bank expects inflation to edge higher to 5% in the first quarter of next fiscal year. The policy statement also cited the implementation of minimum support price hike as the primary factor stoking inflation this year. The government has fixed the MSP at 150% of the cost of production of all kharif crops. 
Source- The RBI

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018-
  • Urjit Patel- 24th Governor of RBI, Headquarters- Mumbai, Established on- 1st April 1935, in Kolkata.

E-Aksharayan, Desktop Software Launched By IT Ministry

The IT ministry launched a desktop software e-Aksharayan in a conference for Indian Languages Technology Industry ‘Bhashantara’, in New Delhi. The objective is to enable editing and printing of text in scanned documents. The software e-Aksharayan was launched in 7 Indian languages.
They are namely: Hindi, Bangla, Malayalam, Gurmukhi, Tamil, Kannada & Assamese. This software would scanned printed Indian language documents into a fully editable text format in Unicode encoding.

Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 
  • Ravi Shankar Prasad is the present Minister of Electronics and Information Technology of India. 
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UN E-Government Index: India Ranks 96th, Denmark Tops

India has jumped 22 places to 96th rank to break into the top 100 of the United Nation’s E-Government Development Index (EGDI) 2018. Denmark, with an index value of 0.9150, topped the 2018 E-Government Development Survey. The E-Government survey is released by the United Nations in every two years. The 2018 edition was titled as ‘Gearing E-Government to Support Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies’.
India, which was ranked 118 in 2014, jumped 11 places to be ranked 96 in 2018. The EGDI is a composite index based on the weighted average of three normalised indices:
1. Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII),
2. Human Capital Index (HCI),
3. Online Service Index (OSI).
The Top 6 Countries in the list along with the Score are: 
S.No. Country Index
1. Denmark 0.9150
2. Australia 0.9053
3. Republic of Korea 0.9010
4. The United Kingdom 0.8999
5. Sweden 0.8882
6. Finland 0.8815
Source- The Financial Express

Health Ministry Signs MoU With Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

National Health Agency (NHA) under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the apex body for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), and Common Service Centres (CSC) scheme under the Digital India Programme, have signed an MoU to provide information and eligibility validation services to beneficiaries, especially in remote areas. 
J P Nadda, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Law and Justice & Information Technology presided over the MoU signing ceremony. As the benefits under AB-NHPM are based on entitlement and not on enrolment, over 3 lakh CSCs spread across the rural India can become the key point of information for potential beneficiaries and help in validating their entitlement. 
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 
  • Dr. Indu Bhushan is the CEO of National Health Agency (NHA).
  • Dr. Dinesh Tyagi is the CEO of Common Service Centres-Special Purpose Vehicles (CSC-SPV). 

US Elevated India’s Status To STA-1 To Ease Export Controls For High-Tech Product Sales

The United States has eased export controls for high-technology product sales to India by elevating its status to a Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) country. The information was shared by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. 
With the move, the United States has granted India the same access as NATO allies, Australia, Japan and South Korea. 

Source- NDTV News

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 

  • The STA-1 list currently comprises 36 countries in total. 
  • India is the only South Asian country to feature on the list. Other Asian countries designated as STA-1 include Japan and South Korea.

Chhattisgarh CM Launch Mobile Distribution Scheme ‘Mobile Tihar’

Actress Kangana Ranaut and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh launched a smartphone distribution scheme called ‘Mobile Tihar’ under Sanchar Kranti Yojna. 
The scheme includes distribution of smartphones to 45 lakh women and 5 lakh children, and setting up of 556 new mobile towers. The Chhattisgarh government is working towards improving network connectivity and empowering youth with smartphones. 
Source- India Today

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 
  • Balramji Dass Tandon is the present Governor of Chhattisgarh.

Scientists Discover New Shape ‘Scutoid’ From Human Cells

American and Spanish Scientists have discovered a new shape called ‘scutoid’ while studying nature’s way of moulding tissue to form the skin, cavity linings and the building blocks of organs. The shape has five sides on one end and six on the other and a triangular surface on one of its longer edges. 
Scientists have referred to it as a twisted prism kind of shape that allows the tissue to mould around organs. Epithelial tissue, one of the four kinds of tissue that forms the human body, is composed of epithelial cells packed together in a particular formation that has been given a nifty name: scutoid. 
Source- Hindustan Times

Reliance Beats TCS to Become India’s Most Valued Company

India’s richest person Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) beat Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the most valued company in India. 
RIL’s market capitalisation during the day was Rs7.44 trillion as compared to TCS’ Rs7.39 trillion. RIL had recently reported its highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs9,459 crore, for the April-June quarter. 
Source- The Livemint

Veteran Bengali Writer Ramapada Chowdhury Passes Away

Acclaimed Bengali writer Ramapada Chowdhury, whose story ‘Abhimanyu’ was made into a Hindi movie ‘Ek doctor ki maut’, passed away. Chowdhury was 95. 
He was conferred the Sahitya Academy award for ‘Bari badle jay’ in 1988. He was also the recipient of Rabindra Puraskar, Ananda Puraskar and Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize. His last book, ‘Harano Khata’ was published in 2015. 
Source- Business Standard

Surendra Rosha Named HSBC India CEO

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) announced the appointment of Surendra Rosha as Chief Executive Officer for HSBC India, subject to regulatory approvals. 
Rosha succeeded Jayant Rikhye. Rosha, who is currently HSBC’s Head of Financial Institutions Group (FIG) for Asia-Pacific, has 27 years of experience in the financial services sector. He began his career in financial services when he joined HSBC’s India operations in 1991. 
Source- The Hindu Business Line
Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 
  • HSBC Headquarters in London UK.