Adani Group pays Rs7,374 crore worth loans ahead of maturity

Securities-Based Lending:

• It is the practice of raising a loan by offering your existing investments in stocks/mutual funds/ Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as collaterals.
• These kinds of loans are generally offered to high-net-worth individuals by large financial institutions and private banks.
• The loan amount depends on the security the borrower is offering.
• The loan can then be used for making purchases like real estate or personal items.
• This loan cannot be used for making further security purchases.
• Due to the inherent volatility in the nature of stocks/mutual funds, the risk of forced liquidation tends to be very high for these loans.
• Borrowers benefit from easy access to capital, lower interest rates, and greater repayment flexibility and also avoid having to sell their securities.

India is ‘dangerously close’ to Hindu rate of growth, says Raghuram Rajan

• It is a term describing low Indian economic growth rates from the 1950s to the 1980s, which averaged around 4%.
• The term was coined by the late economist Raj Krishna in 1978 to describe the slow growth in the country.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

• GDP is the final value of the goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a country during a specified period of time, normally a year.
• The GDP growth rate is an important indicator of the economic performance of a country.
• It can be measured by three methods, namely, Output Method, Expenditure Method, and Income Method

BJP''s Prashant Umrao gets transit bail till March 20

Transit Anticipatory Bail:

• A transit anticipatory bail is sought when a case against a person has been or is likely to be filed in a state different from the one in which the person is likely to be arrested.
• The purpose of transit bail is to allow the person bail, so they can approach the appropriate court in the state in which the case has been filed for anticipatory bail.
• In the absence of transit anticipatory bail, the result would be that another state’s police could arrest a person from their home state without them having the opportunity to apply for anticipatory bail at all.
• The procedure to be followed in transit anticipatory bail is exactly the same as of any other anticipatory bail application.
• The concept of transit anticipatory bail is not codified in Indian law but has found its identity through judicial practice and legal precedents.

Bail

• Bail is a judicial release of an accused person from custody on the condition that the accused person will appear in court at a later date.
• Sections 436 to 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code deal with the concept of Bail.
• Under the CrPC, bail can be granted to an accused person either by a police officer or by a judicial magistrate.

Anticipatory Bail

• It is the bail granted to a person in anticipation and apprehending arrest.
• Under Section 438 of CrPC, any individual who discerns that he may be tried for a non-bailable offense can apply for anticipatory bail.
• The application shall be made to the High Court or Sessions Court, where the crime is alleged to be committed.
• Anticipatory Bail is bail before the arrest, and the police can''t arrest an individual if the Court has granted anticipatory Bail.

Ask state govts to provide mandatory cover for uninsured vehicles: Irdai

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has recently come up with a ''zero-tolerance'' policy to achieve 100% motor insurance.

IRDAI:

• It is an autonomous and statutory body established under the IRDA Act 1999.
• It is the apex body that supervises and regulates the insurance sector in India.
• Objective: To protect the interests of policyholders, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry in India.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Finance
• Head Office: Hyderabad.
• Composition: IRDAI is a 10-member bodya Chairman, five full-time members, and four part-time members appointed by the Government of India.
• Functions:
  • To have a fair regulation of the insurance industry while ensuring financial soundness of the applicable laws and regulations.
  • Frame regulations periodically so that there is no ambiguity in the insurance industry.
  • Registering and regulating insurance companies;
  • Protecting policyholders'' interests;
  • Licensing and establishing norms for insurance intermediaries;
  • Promoting professional organizations in insurance;
  • Regulating and overseeing premium rates and terms of non-life insurance covers;
  • Specifying financial reporting norms of insurance companies;
  • Regulating investment of policyholders'' funds by insurance companies;
  • Ensuring the maintenance of solvency margin by insurance companies;
  • Ensuring insurance coverage in rural areas and of vulnerable sections of society.

Sudden rain, hailstorm damage crops in Madhya Pradesh

Hailstorm:

• Hail is a type of solid rain made up of balls or lumps of ice.
• Storms that produce hail which reaches the ground are known as hailstorms.
• Conditions for Hailstorms to occur:
  • Highly developed Cumulonimbus clouds need to be present. These are the massive anvil or mushroom-shaped clouds that are seen during thunderstorms which can reach heights up to 65,000 feet.
  • There must be strong currents of air ascending through these clouds. These currents are commonly known as updrafts.
  • The clouds will need to contain high concentrations of supercooled liquid water.
• How are Hails formed?
• It begins as a water droplet that is swept up by an updraft inside of a thundercloud.
• Other supercooled water droplets which are already present inside the cloud will adhere to the water droplet’s surface, forming layers of ice around
• As the water droplet reaches higher elevations within the cloud, it comes into contact with more and more supercooled particles.
• The hail embryo will grow larger and larger as it reaches higher altitudes in the updraft.
• Finally, it will reach a size and weight where gravity will begin to act on it and pull it down.