News on Indian Economy
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a Maharatna CPSE under Ministry of Power has upgraded Assam’s New Mariani Sub-station from 220 kiloVolt (kV) switching station to a 400/220 kV Sub-station with 2×500 MegaVolt Ampere (MVA) transformation capacity, 2×125 Mega volt ampere (re- active) power compensation along with other associated bays under North Eastern Region Strengthening Scheme (NERSS-VI) project.
The 52-kilometre long Chisumle to Demchok tarmac road passes through the 19,024 feet high Umlingla Pass and betters the previous record of a road in Bolivia, which connects volcano Uturuncu at 18,953 feet. The Umlingla Pass road is another landmark in resurgent India’s achievement as it has been constructed at an altitude higher than the North and South Base Camps of Mount Everest which are at an altitude of 16,900 feet and 17,598 feet respectively.
Paytm Money, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paytm, launched Voice Trading that lets users to set a trade or get information regarding stocks via single voice command.
Globally, IP filings — including patents, trademarks and designs — rebounded in 2020, indicating the resilience of human innovation despite dire global and economic turmoil during the Covid pandemic, latest data from World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) showed. In contrast, during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, both patent and trademark filing activity had contracted sharply.
Researchers from India and Japan are working on smartphone-based mapping of road health in both the countries to reduce the accidents caused due to damaged roads.
A report by the economists of the State Bank of India (SBI) stated that an increase in mobile transactions along with the number of bank branches, a careful recalibration of bank branches along with a robust digital infrastructure has enhanced India’s financial inclusion metrics.
The government plans to closely monitor cryptocurrency as it is believed to be a quickly evolving technology. Officials have been directed to take proactive steps if any discrepancy is spotted. This was a result of a “consultative process as RBI, finance ministry, the home ministry had done an elaborate exercise on it as well as consulted experts from across the country and the world,” sources who know about the matter told news agencies.
RailTel has been awarded the work of provision of Integrated tunnel communication system (VHF Simplex) in sections of Konkan Railway jurisdiction of Rail Link project in Udhampur-Srinagar- Baramulla section of Northern Railway which is a crucial project aimed to connect the valley with the rest of the country.
Shri Goyal invited South Korean entrepreneurs to invest in new sectors like Defence and Retail. “We need to complement our complementary strengths in Automobiles, Textiles, Food processing, Leather Products, Metals, Mining, Chemicals and also through some of our traditional sectors like Steel and look at new emerging opportunities in Defence, e-Commerce and Retail.”
The RBI Retail Direct Scheme is aimed at enhancing access to government securities market for retail investors. It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in securities issued by the Government of India and the State Governments. Investors will be able to easily open and maintain their government securities account online with the RBI, free of cost.
