PIB Notes

Kerala Bank

  • The Reserve bank of India (RBI) has approved merger of 13 District Co-operative Banks (DCBs) of Kerala with the Kerala State Co-operative Bank to form ‘Kerala Bank’.

Nifty Midcap150 Quality 50

  • NSE Indices has launched a quality-factor based smart-beta mid-cap index called Nifty Midcap150 Quality 50. The Nifty Midcap150 Quality 50 index includes the top 50 companies from its parent Nifty Midcap 150 index, selected based on their 'quality' scores.

Youth Co: Lab Launched

On 4 November, 2019, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India launched Youth Co:Lab which aims at accelerating social entrepreneurship and innovation in young India by recognizing young people as drivers of sustainable development.

  • It is a youth lab programme through which young entrepreneurs and innovators will get a chance to connect with governments, mentors, incubators and investors, who will help equip them with entrepreneurial skills.
  • The initiative will convene social innovation challenges at the national and sub-national level, which will invite young people in the age group of 18-29 years and start-ups to showcase their proposed ideas and solutions to tackle some of the regions biggest social challenges.
  • It will also convene a series of youth dialogues across several cities such as New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai to promote entrepreneurship across India.
  • Aspiring entrepreneurs or nascent entrepreneurs (with less than three years of experience) can submit their ideas at Lab’s website. Selected applicants will be invited for a national innovation challenge, where each winning start-up will get an opportunity to incubate and strengthen their ideas at the Atal Incubation Centres.
  • The first phase of Youth Co:Lab will focus on six SDGs:
    • SDG 5 (Gender Equality)
    • SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation)
    • SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)
    • SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
    • SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production)
    • SDG 13 (Climate Action)
  • It was co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation and is operational in 25 countries across the Asia Pacific region.

Indio-French Strategy In Western Indian Ocean Region

  • India and France have taken concrete steps to firm up their strategic partnership in the western Indian Ocean, as part of their respective Indo-Pacific strategies.
  •  Leaders of India, France and Vanilla Islands – consisting of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean – met for the first time in Reunion Islands (a French territory) for exploring economic and development partnership.
  •  India, in partnership with France, is keen to focus on port development, blue economy, trade, connectivity, tourism, skill development, hospitality and healthcare in this resource-rich region. India is also eyeing gas deposits in the Mozambique Channel near Vanilla Islands.
  • While India has longstanding defence partnerships with Mauritius and Seychelles, its defence ties with Comoros and Madagascar are growing as part of India’s Indo-Pacific outreach to ensure peace and stability.
  • India’s mantra for the region 'SAGAR' stands for 'security and growth for all'. India could forge a strong economic partnership in the Indo-Pacific, especially around the Reunion.”

‘Vanilla Islands’

  • Vanilla Islands is a grouping of six island nations in south-west Indian Ocean -Mayotte, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion and Madagascar.
  • The term ‘Vanilla’ is used because these countries are known for their export of the flavouring substance Vanilla

Comoros Accords Its Highest Civilian Honour On Naidu

  • The Vice president of India Venkaiah Naidu, during his recent visit to Comoros, was accorded its highest civilian honour ‘The Order of the Green Crescent’.
  • The Vice President is the first to receive the honour from India.
  • India announced to extend a Line of Credit of over 60 million US Dollars to Comoros in the field of energy and maritime defence cooperation.

OVL Finds Oil And Gas

  • State-owned ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has discovered oil and gas in its exploration blocks in Colombia and Brazil respectively.
  • ONGC Videsh has recorded discoveries of oil in its onshore exploration block CPO-5, Colombia in the Llanos basin and major gas in the deep offshore exploration block BM-SEAL-4, Brazil in the Sergipe Alagoas Basin.
  • ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC, has invested $28 billion in 41 projects across 20 countries and has probable reserves of 711.36 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

'Bishwa Ijtema'

  • Bangladesh will hold the first phase of Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslim community after Hajj, from January 10 to 12 next year in Dhaka. The second phase of the Ijtema will be held from January 17 to 19.
  • Bishwa Ijtema is an annual event which is held on the bank of the Turag river at Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka since 1967.
  • Bishwa Ijtema means world congregation and it draws in Muslims from about 150 countries.
  • It is a gathering that focuses on prayer and meditation and is not open for political discussions.

Operation Kayla Mueller

  • The operation that claimed the life of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named after 26-year-old Kayla Mueller, an American who was kidnapped by the extremist group and killed in 2015.
  • The world's most wanted terrorist was killed in an American air raid in northwest Syria.

Operation Peace Spring

  • The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, after the pull-out by the US troops, code-named by Turkey as Operation Peace Spring, is an ongoing cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army against the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Arab Army in northeastern Syria.

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