Latest News
25th Aug 2021
INS RANVIJAY, INS KORA CARRY OUT MARITIME EXERCISE WITH PHILIPPINES
Recently, the Maritime Partnership Exercise was held between Indian Navy and Philippine Navy in the West Philippine Sea.
Maritime Partnership Exercise
- It included several operational manoeuvers and the participating ships of both navies were satisfied with the consolidation of interoperability achieved through this operational interaction at sea.
- The two ships of the Indian Navy, namely INS Ranvijay (Guided Missile Destroyer, D55) and INS Kora (Guided Missile Corvette, P61) participated in the exercise with with BRP Antonio Luna (Frigate, FF 151) of the Philippine Navy.
- It provides an enriching opportunity for the Indian Navy to consolidate its bilateral relations with the Philippine Navy.
- India and The Philippines share a very robust defence and security partnership built over several years and spanning across all domains.
- It is aimed at strengthening bilateral collaboration in the maritime domain towards a collective aim of ensuring a stable, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
- It is the fifth and the latest ship of the Rajput class Guided Missile Destroyers.
- It was commissioned in 1987 at Poti in erstwhile USSR.
- It is equipped with Brahmos Missile.
- It is the lead ship of the Kora-Class of Corvettes in active service with the Indian Navy.
- It is equipped with 3M-24 Anti-Ship Missiles as a primary weapon, with two Strela-2M Anti-Air Missiles as defensive weapons.
- The Kora-class corvettes were built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and outfitted at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL).
- The Kora-class corvettes were designed by India's naval design bureau under Project 25A, as a replacement for the Russian-designed Petya II-class corvettes of the Indian Navy.
- The four Kora-class corvettes are INS Kora, INS Kirch, INS Kulish and INS Karmuk.
- It is co-sponsored by India Exim Bank and SIDBI with a contribution of ₹ 40 crore each has been successfully registered with SEBI.
- The corpus of the Fund is ₹ 250 crore with a green shoe option of ₹ 250 crore.
- The Fund would invest by way of equity, and equity like products in export-oriented units, both in the manufacturing and services sectors, across the country.
- Its objective is to identify and invest in small and mid-size ventures in manufacturing and service industries with good export potential.
- It would make investments in export-oriented small and mid-sized companies by way of equity and equity-like products, and thereby help script a new paradigm of growth in exports.
- It would play a catalytic role in contributing to the growth of the identified companies.
- It would also have downstream benefits such as growth and diversification of India’s exports, impetus to brand India, and employment generation.
- Under the scheme, an identified company is supported even if it is currently underperforming or may be unable to tap its latent potential to grow.
- The programme diagnoses such challenges and provides support through a mix of structured support covering equity, debt and technical assistance.
- Eligible companies can be supported by both financial and advisory services by way of equity / equity-like instruments, term loans for modernisation, technology or capacity upgradation.
- Companies will be selected for support based on their unique value proposition in technology, products or processes that match global requirements.
- Companies with a unique value proposition in technology, products or processes which match international requirements
- Fundamentally strong companies with acceptable financials, and outward orientation.
- Small and mid-sized companies with an ability to penetrate global markets and have an “annual turnover of up to approximately ₹500 crore.
- Companies that have a good business model, strong management capabilities and a focus on product quality.
- If Parliament is not in session, a cabinet minister can be arrested by a law enforcement agency in case of a criminal case registered against him.
- The Section 22 A of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha states that the Police, Judge or Magistrate would have to intimate the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha about:
- The reason for the arrest; and
- The place of detention or imprisonment in an appropriate form
- The Chairman is expected to inform the Council if it is sitting about the arrest.
- If the council is not sitting, he/she is expected to publish it in the bulletin for the information of the members.
- In civil cases, the members have freedom from arrest during the continuance of the House and 40 days before its commencement and 40 days after its conclusion.
- It is mentioned under section 135of the Code of Civil Procedure.
- The privilege of freedom from arrest does not extend to criminal offences or cases of detention under preventive detention.
- Whether of a member or of a stranger, no arrest can be made within the precincts of the House without the prior permission of the Chairman/Speaker.
- No legal process, civil or criminal, can be served within the precincts of the House without obtaining the prior permission of the Chairman/Speaker whether the House is in Session or not.
- The new metro lines will further strengthen safe, affordable and green mobility in Bengaluru, having positive impact on enhancing quality of life, sustainable growth in urban habitat and livelihood opportunities.
- The project supports urban transformation of Bengaluru City into a more livable and sustainable city with concepts of transit-oriented development (TOD) and multi-modal integration (MMI).
- TOD-based urban development model will target realigning growth and increase the city's economic productivityby creating higher density, compact, mixed use, mixed income, safe, and resource-efficient and inclusive neighborhoods.
- TOD also aims to raise land values along these corridors, generating capital revenues for the state governmentto meet the city’s long-term investment needs.
- MMI will aim to provide people-oriented, environment-friendly solutions and a safe, total mobility solution for all Bangalore residents through the seamless integration of different modes of public transport.
- The project will bring various benefits including road de-congestion, better urban livability and environmental improvement.
- It will construct two new metro lines, mostly elevated, along Outer Ring Road and National Highway 44 between Central Silk Board and Kempegowda International Airport with 30 stations.
- It is a regional development bank which was established in 1966.
- Its headquarter is in Manila, Philippines.
- It aims to promote social and economic development in Asia.
- It admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and non-regional developed countries.
- It is modeled closely on the lines of World Bank having similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members' capital subscriptions.
- Japan holds the largest proportion of shares followed by US, China, India and Australia.
- It envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
- Currently, it is owned by 68 members, out of which 49 members belong to Asia-Pacific region.
- The Union Budget 2021-22 has identified monetisation of operating public infrastructure assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing.
- The Budget provided for preparation of a ‘National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)’ of potential brownfield infrastructure assets.
- The pipeline has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with infrastructure line ministries, based on the mandate for ‘Asset Monetisation’
- It aims to provide a medium term roadmap of the programme for public asset owners; along with visibility on potential assets to private sector.
- NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of Rs 6.0 lakh crores through core assets of the Central Government, over a four-year period, from FY 2022 to FY 2025.
- The Asset Monetisation programme is based on the vision of universal access to high-quality and affordable infrastructure to the common citizen of India.
- The pipeline has been prepared based on inputs and consultations from respective line ministries and departments, along with the assessment of total asset base available therein.
- The monetization through disinvestment and monetization of non-core assets have not been included in the NMP.
- Currently, only assets of central government line ministries and CPSEs in infrastructure sectors have been included.
- The framework for monetisation of core asset monetisation has three key imperatives:
- It includes selection of de-risked and brownfield assets with stable revenue generation profile with the overall transaction structured around revenue rights.
- The primary ownership of the assets under these structures continues to be with the Government with the framework envisaging hand back of assets to the public authority at the end of transaction life.
- Its strategic objective is to unlock the value of investments in brownfield public sector assets by tapping institutional and long-term patient capital.
- The NMP is envisaged to serve as a medium-term roadmap for identifying potential monetisation- ready projects, across various infrastructure sectors.
- The NMP is aimed at creating a systematic and transparent mechanism for public authorities to monitor the performance of the initiative and for investors to plan their future activities.
- The NMP is a culmination of insights, feedback and experiences consolidated through multi-stakeholder consultations undertaken by NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance and line ministries.
- The period for NMP has been decided so as to be co-terminus with balance period under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).
- The aggregate asset pipeline under NMP over the four-year period, FY 2022-2025, is indicatively valued at Rs 6.0 lakh crore.
- The estimated value corresponds to ~14% of the proposed outlay for Centre under NIP (Rs 43 lakh crore).
- It includes more than 12 line ministries and more than 20 asset classes.
- The sectors included are roads, ports, airports, railways, warehousing, gas & product pipeline, power generation and transmission, mining, telecom, stadium, hospitality and housing.
- The top 5 sectors (by estimated value) capture ~83% of the aggregate pipeline value.
- These top 5 sectors include Roads (27%) followed by Railways (25%), Power (15%), oil & gas pipelines (8%) and Telecom (6%).
- The assets and transactions identified under the NMP are expected to be rolled out through a range of instruments.
- It includes direct contractual instruments such as public private partnership concessions and capital market instruments such as Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT) among others.
- It is a company that is recognised under section 406 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Nidhi Rules 2014.
- Under section 406 of the Companies Act, 2013, and amended Nidhi Rules of 2014, companies incorporated as ‘Nidhi’ need to apply to the Central government in form NDH-4.
- Its core functions are borrowing and lending money among its members and fall under the non-banking Indian finance sector.
- It is a company that has been incorporated with the express purpose of cultivating the habit of thrift and savings among its members.
- They are known by different names such as Benefit Funds, Permanent Fund, Mutual Benefit Funds, or Mutual Benefit Company.
- To establish a Nidhi Company, the following criteria must be met:
- The company must have the suffix “Nidhi Limited” in its name
- The company must be a Public Company.
- Minor, Body Corporate and a Trust cannot be admitted as members to Nidhi.
- The minimum paid-up share capital must be Rs. 5 lakh.
- The company cannot issue preference shares, in the case where such shares have been issued by the company prior to the commencement of the Act, the same shall be redeemed.
- The primary objective of the company must be to inculcate the habit of savings in its members.
- Within one year of incorporation, a Nidhi company must satisfy the following conditions:
- The minimum number of members must be 200.
- The Net owned funds must be Rs. 10 lakhs.
- Net owned funds is the aggregate of paid-up capital and free reserves reduced by the accumulated and intangible assets as appearing in the last balance sheet.
- The net owned funds and the deposits shall be in a ratio not exceeding 1: 20 that is Net Owned Funds: Deposits = 1:20.
- Unencumbered term deposits should be not less than 10% of the outstanding deposits as specified in Rule 14 of Nidhi Rules 2014.
- As per Rule 6 of Nidhi rules 2014, a Nidhi Company cannot perform the following activities:
- Conduct the business of chit fund, leasing finance, and hire purchase. It cannot acquire securities issued by a body corporate.
- Issue preference shares, debentures, or any debt instrument by any name or in any form whatsoever.
- Open any current account with its members.
- Make any acquisitions or arrangements or concessions until the same is adopted in the General Meeting by a special resolution and is approved by the Regional Director.
- Perform any business other than borrowing/ lending in its own name.
- Lend to or accept funds from anyone other than its members.
- Lend to or accept funds from body corporate.
- Enter into any partnership arrangement in their borrowing or lending operation.
- Act of publicity for seeking any deposits in any form.
- Pledge any of its assets lodged by its members as security.
- Pay any brokerage or incentive for granting loans or deployment of funds or mobilise deposits from its members.
POSTED ON 25-08-2021 BY ADMIN
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