Current Affairs Daily Updates: 19th February 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 19th February 2017

BANKING AFFAIRS
RBI allows multilateral FIs to invest in masala bonds
  • Reserve Bank permitted multilateral financial institutions to invest in rupee denominated bonds popularly known as ‘masala bonds’ issued by Indian entities.
  • In order to provide more choices of investors to Indian entities issuing rupee denominated bonds abroad, it has been decided to also permit multilateral and regional financial institutions where India is a member country, to invest in these rupee denominated bonds.
  • Meanwhile, the RBI has withdrawn the instruction regarding submission a fortnightly return on Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) and Interest Rate Swap (IRS) to Monetary Policy Department with a copy to various departments of the central bank.
  • In a further step towards rationalization of returns it has been decided to withdraw the said return with immediate effect. The banks are hereby advised to stop sending the hard copy of the said return to RBI.
BUSINESS AFFAIRS
SBI ties adult with Greenply to offer financial services to the dealers
  • State Bank of India has announced a tie-up with Greenply Industries to grow a channel financing business.
  • Forging a business partnership is rather routine, though this turns out to be special as a bargain allows SBI to take nonetheless another step in flourishing a digital banking footprint.
  • The dual companies sealed a chit of bargain on Saturday for financing a dealers of GreenplyIndustries on electronic platform.
  • SBI pronounced it will extend financial services to Greenply dealers to grow serve on a really rival pricing.
OMA Emirates enters Indian payments market; buys MobiSwipe
  • UAE based merchant solutions provider OMA Emirates today said it has entered into Indian market with the acquisition of mobile point of sale (mPOS) firm MobiSwipe.
  • MobiSwipe enables merchants to accept credit and debit card payments through a mobile application.
  • OMA, which is currently having presence in Middle East, Europe and select parts of Asia, will provide services like business development, sales and marketing.
  • The company said its operations will be located in Mumbai and plans to open offices in other parts of the country gradually.
DEATHS
Altamas Kabir, former Chief Justice of India, no more
  • Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passed away in Kolkata after brief illness. He was 68.
  • He was suffering from a kidney ailment was in a critical condition. The conformation of his demise came from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who tweeted saying "Bengal has lost a legal luminary."
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Indian Navy inducts first all-women global circumnavigation vessel 'Tarini':
  • The Indian Navy's second sailboat 'Tarini' was inducted into service at a ceremony in Goa. 
  • The vessel is slated to be the platform for the first Indian all-women global circumnavigation by the Indian Navy to begin in August.
  • The Indian Navy is operating four sailing vessels capable of open ocean deployments - Tarangini, Sudarshini, Mhadei and Tarini, all four of which have been built in shipyards at Goa.
Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH commissioned February:
  • Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH was commissioned at Kochi, Kerala by Vice Admiral AR Karwe, Flag Officer Commanding-in- Chief, Southern Naval Command. 
  • ICGS AYUSH is the 20th and the last in the series of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. 
  • ICGS AYUSH is fitted with state-of- the-art navigational and communication equipment including Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and Machinery Control System (MCS).
Jharkhand signs MoU with Microsoft in ‘Momentum Jharkhand’:
  • Jharkhand government and Microsoft India has inked an MoU for the state government to explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services and provide better facilities in the fields of education and agriculture.
  • The MoU was signed at the ‘Momentum Jharkhand: Global Investors’ Summit & Trade Exhibition’.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS
GSLV's Cryogenic upper stage tested successfully:
  • Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully ground tested India’s largest indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage engine for GSLV Mark III.
  • It said the cryogenic stage, designated as C25, was tested for a flight duration of 640 seconds.
  • C25 stage was earlier tested successfully for 50 seconds on January 25, 2017.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
Sandeep Kumar breaks his own national record in 50km race walk:
  • Sandeep Kumar of Haryana won the gruelling men's 50-kilometre event of the National Race Walking Championships held in New Delhi. 
  • Sandeep smashed his own national record in a brilliant performance to win the race and qualify for the London World Championships in August. 
India win silver at Asian Women's Rugby Sevens Trophy:
  • The Indian Women's team won a silver after getting defeated by South Kores, at the Asian Rugby Sevens Trophy tournament at Vientiane, Laos.
  • The team participated under the aegis of the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the governing body for the sport of Rugby in India and supported by Societe Generale, the financial partner of Rugby India.