International News
India and US Launches RETAP Under Strategic Clean Energy Partnershi
- The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNREP) said that it is intended to advance new and emerging renewable technologies with a view toward deployment and scaling.
- RETAP’s initial focus is to be on green/clean hydrogen, wind energy, long duration energy storage, and to explore geothermal energy, ocean/tidal energy and other emerging technologies as mutually determined in the future.
Maritime Partnership Exercise between Indian Navy Ship and Sri Lanka Navy ship
- The exercise aimed to enhance interoperability, mutual understanding and cooperation between the two navies.
- The exercise also involved a joint clean-up drive at Crow Island beach and a presentation of a state-of-the-art Arogya Maitri Cube to the speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament by the High Commissioner of India.
National News
Delhi Metro to start selling ‘Tourist Smart Cards’
- The ‘Tourist Smart Cards’ are available in two categories: one-day validity and three-day validity cards, offering “unlimited rides” in the metro network.
- The ‘Tourist Smart Cards’ grant unrestricted access to the entire metro network and no penalties or surcharges are imposed on them for issues such as entry/exit mismatches or overstay within the system.
- To assist tourists in planning their journeys, the Delhi Metro Rail offers a Delhi Metro Rail app which provides comprehensive information on the metro network. Within the app, a dedicated ‘Tour Guide’ section showcases a list of all Metro stations and nearby tourist attractions.
Centre approved 30 railway projects worth over ₹83,000 crore
- The Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the projects will boost the development and welfare of the state.
- He said that the state government has been asked to speed up the land acquisition for railway projects and support the Phase II of Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) in Hyderabad.
Banking
National Pension System Assets under Management crossed 10 lakh crore
- The AUM of NPS and APY doubled in less than three years, as it was around 5 lakh crore rupees in November 2020.
- The AUM of NPS and APY is distributed across different segments, such as central government, state government, corporate, all citizen model, NPS Lite and APY.
PNB Launches PNB GST Sahay App
- The PNB GST Sahay App is a mobile application launched by Punjab National Bank (PNB), a state-owned bank in India, to provide instant digital loans to small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) based on their GST invoices.
- The app also offers features such as loan eligibility calculator, loan application tracker, loan repayment schedule, and loan statement.
- PNB has become the first public sector bank to extend loans to MSME sector entrepreneurs using their GST invoices. The app aims to simplify loan procurement for businesses operating within the MSME sector and support their growth and development.
