1. India launches its first indigenous aircraft carrier
i. India on Monday launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability.
ii. Defence Minister A K Antony's wife Elizabeth launched the 37,500-tonne carrier at Kochi shipyard almost four-and-a-half years after its keel was laid by the minister.
iii. "It is a red-letter day for the entire nation and a proud moment for the country which has achieved self-reliance in the field of warship design and construction. Only a few advanced countries have capability to design and build such aircraft carriers,
iv. Other nations capable of designing and building a ship of equivalent size are the US, the UK, Russia and France.
v. The launch of warship, which has a length of 260 metres and is 60 metres wide, is behind schedule by three years. It is set to go for extensive trials in 2016 before being inducted into the Navy by 2018 end.
vi. Fighter aircraft--Mig-29K, Light Combat Aircraft and Kamov-31 helicopters--will deployed on board the carrier which will also carry an array of other weapons systems.
2. Jains to be included in list of minority communities, says Minority Affairs Minister
i. Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan has said the Jain community will be added to the list of national minority communities. In an interview to a private news channel, Mr. Khan said the attorney general and the Law Ministry have cleared the proposal and a note has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office.
ii. He said the draft of Equal Opportunity Commission as recommended by the Sachar Committee is with the Union Cabinet and it would be made into a law soon. He said all minorities would be covered and the Commission would have legal teeth.
3. RBI issues guidelines for early detection of bad loans
i. RBI has released guidelines that will help banks in early recognition of bad loans and prompt steps for recovery or sale of unviable accounts.
ii. In the document called Framework for Revitalizing Distressed Assets in the Economy, RBI has asked banks to form a committee called Joint Lenders forum to formulate a plan for early resolution of stress in an account.
iii. The committee should also consider an option to transfer the promoters' holdings to a security trustee or an escrow arrangement till turnaround of company.
iv. In the new guidelines, which will be effective from April 1, the RBI has said that restructuring of a bad loan should be done in such a manner that shareholders, including promoters, bear the first loss and not the lenders. The guidelines ask banks to make future loans more expensive for borrowers who don't cooperate in resolving existing bad loans.
v. It also offers a liberal regulatory treatment for sale of distressed asset and allows lenders to spread loss on sale of such assets over two years provided loss is fully disclosed.
vi. RBI has said that the refinancing institution can fix a repayment period by taking into account the life cycle of the project and cash flows from the project.
vii. According to RBI, the amount of recast loans touched an all-time high of 4 trillion rupees or 10.2 per cent of the overall advances as of September 2013.
4. ‘Ship of Theseus’ named best film at National film awards
i. Anand Gandhi’s debut film Ship of Theseus was on Wednesday named the best feature film while Milkha Singh’s biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was declared the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment at the 61st National Film Awards.
ii. The best actor award was shared by Shahid actor Rajkumar Rao and Suraj Venjaramoodu for Malayalam film Perariyathavar while Hansal Mehta was named the best director for Shahid, again a biopic on slain lawyer-activist Shahid Azmi.
iii. Geetanjali Thapa was named the best actress for Hindi film Liar’s Dice Saurabh Shukla was declared the best supporting actor for court-room drama Jolly LLB which was also named the best Hindi film.
iv. The best supporting actress award is shared by Amruta Subhas and Aida El-Kashef for Astu (Marathi) and Ship of Theseus (English-Hindi).
v. An 11-member jury, headed by noted directed Saeed Akhtar Mirza announced the awards on Wednesday.
vi. The National Film Awards along with Dada Saheb Phalke honour, which will go to lyricist-director Gulzar this year, are likely to be given by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 3.
i. India on Monday launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability.
ii. Defence Minister A K Antony's wife Elizabeth launched the 37,500-tonne carrier at Kochi shipyard almost four-and-a-half years after its keel was laid by the minister.
iii. "It is a red-letter day for the entire nation and a proud moment for the country which has achieved self-reliance in the field of warship design and construction. Only a few advanced countries have capability to design and build such aircraft carriers,
iv. Other nations capable of designing and building a ship of equivalent size are the US, the UK, Russia and France.
v. The launch of warship, which has a length of 260 metres and is 60 metres wide, is behind schedule by three years. It is set to go for extensive trials in 2016 before being inducted into the Navy by 2018 end.
vi. Fighter aircraft--Mig-29K, Light Combat Aircraft and Kamov-31 helicopters--will deployed on board the carrier which will also carry an array of other weapons systems.
2. Jains to be included in list of minority communities, says Minority Affairs Minister
i. Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan has said the Jain community will be added to the list of national minority communities. In an interview to a private news channel, Mr. Khan said the attorney general and the Law Ministry have cleared the proposal and a note has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office.
ii. He said the draft of Equal Opportunity Commission as recommended by the Sachar Committee is with the Union Cabinet and it would be made into a law soon. He said all minorities would be covered and the Commission would have legal teeth.
3. RBI issues guidelines for early detection of bad loans
i. RBI has released guidelines that will help banks in early recognition of bad loans and prompt steps for recovery or sale of unviable accounts.
ii. In the document called Framework for Revitalizing Distressed Assets in the Economy, RBI has asked banks to form a committee called Joint Lenders forum to formulate a plan for early resolution of stress in an account.
iii. The committee should also consider an option to transfer the promoters' holdings to a security trustee or an escrow arrangement till turnaround of company.
iv. In the new guidelines, which will be effective from April 1, the RBI has said that restructuring of a bad loan should be done in such a manner that shareholders, including promoters, bear the first loss and not the lenders. The guidelines ask banks to make future loans more expensive for borrowers who don't cooperate in resolving existing bad loans.
v. It also offers a liberal regulatory treatment for sale of distressed asset and allows lenders to spread loss on sale of such assets over two years provided loss is fully disclosed.
vi. RBI has said that the refinancing institution can fix a repayment period by taking into account the life cycle of the project and cash flows from the project.
vii. According to RBI, the amount of recast loans touched an all-time high of 4 trillion rupees or 10.2 per cent of the overall advances as of September 2013.
4. ‘Ship of Theseus’ named best film at National film awards
i. Anand Gandhi’s debut film Ship of Theseus was on Wednesday named the best feature film while Milkha Singh’s biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was declared the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment at the 61st National Film Awards.
ii. The best actor award was shared by Shahid actor Rajkumar Rao and Suraj Venjaramoodu for Malayalam film Perariyathavar while Hansal Mehta was named the best director for Shahid, again a biopic on slain lawyer-activist Shahid Azmi.
iii. Geetanjali Thapa was named the best actress for Hindi film Liar’s Dice Saurabh Shukla was declared the best supporting actor for court-room drama Jolly LLB which was also named the best Hindi film.
iv. The best supporting actress award is shared by Amruta Subhas and Aida El-Kashef for Astu (Marathi) and Ship of Theseus (English-Hindi).
v. An 11-member jury, headed by noted directed Saeed Akhtar Mirza announced the awards on Wednesday.
vi. The National Film Awards along with Dada Saheb Phalke honour, which will go to lyricist-director Gulzar this year, are likely to be given by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 3.
