In pursuance of the Union Budget 2024-25 announcement by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman to simplify rules and regulations for Foreign Direct Investment and Overseas Investment, as one of the initiatives, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, has amended Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 vide notification dated 16.08.2024.

The amendments aim to simplify cross-border share swaps and provide for the issue or transfer of Indian company equity instruments in exchange for foreign company equity instruments. This will facilitate the global expansion of Indian companies through mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic initiatives, enabling them to reach new markets and grow their presence worldwide. Another key change brings further clarity on the treatment of downstream investments made by Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)-owned entities on a non-repatriation basis, aligning it with the treatment of Non-Resident Indian (NRI)-owned entities.

The government has finalised a tender document to procure 1,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) as part of its ambitious IndiaAI Mission and offer computing capacity to Indian start-ups, researchers, public sector agencies and other entities approved by the government, The Indian Express has learnt. A requirement of data localisation has also been considered in the tender.

The move is part of the Rs 10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission to establish a computing capacity of more than 10,000 GPUs and also help develop foundational models with a capacity of more than 100 billion parameters trained on datasets covering major Indian languages for priority sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and governance. The idea is that if such an infrastructure exists in the country, start-ups could plug into it for developing AI systems.

In a recent move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday (August 16) imposed a monetary penalties on three financial institutions for various lapses. The three financial institutions include Bank of Maharashtra, Hinduja Leyland Finance, and Poonawalla Fincorp. The RBI imposed penalties on these institutions for the following reasons:

The Bank of Maharashtra was slapped with a penalty of Rs 1.27 crore for failing to meet RBI's guidelines related to the ‘Loan System for Delivery of Bank Credit’, ‘Cyber Security Framework in Banks’, and ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) rules.

This fine was imposed by an order dated August 8, 2024,

Union Minister for Jal Shakti CR Paatil on August 13 unveiled version 2.0 of 'FloodWatch India' mobile application, aimed at providing a more comprehensive and detailed overview of flood conditions across the country.

The upgraded app, developed by the Central Water Commission (CWC), builds on its first version launched last year. The initial version offered flood forecasts from 200 monitoring stations.

In a statement, the Jal Shakti Ministry said that version 2.0 significantly expands this scope, integrating real-time data from 592 flood monitoring stations across the country. This expansion aims to provide users with a more extensive and detailed flood condition overview.

In addition to enhanced flood forecasting, the new version includes data on the storage positions of 150 major reservoirs.

The Centre on Friday accorded approval to three big-ticket Metro projects for prominent cities - Bengaluru, Pune and Thane costing Rs 30,765 crore and two airports for Patna in Bihar and Bagdogra in West Bengal, which are currently handling commercial flights primarily being a defence facility.

The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While briefing about the decisions, union minister for information and broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that under the phase III of the Bangalore Metro Rail Project approved on Friday, there will be two elevated corridors comprising a length of 44.65 kilometres (kms) with 31 stations.

In an attempt to connect with farmers and address their concerns, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has on Thursday launched a monthly radio programme called "Kisan Se Baat".

The programme, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popular radio programme "Mann Ki Baat", aims to provide a platform for farmers to engage with the minister, agriculture scientists, and officials from the ministry.

The programme will start sometime in September—possibly a week ahead of the PM's radio programme, a senior government official said.

“During the programme, we will discuss various aspects of farming, including best practices, new technologies, and innovative methods to boost productivity,” Chouhan said at an event on Thursday.

The winners of the 70th National Film Awards were announced at the National Media Center in New Delhi on Friday with the Malayalam film Aattam emerging as the Best Feature Film. While Rishab Shetty won the Best Actor award for Kantara, the Best Actress honour was shared by Nithya Menen for Thiruchitrambalam and Manasi Parekh for The Kutch Express, respectively. The Best Director honour went to Sooraj Barjatya for his film, Uunchai. Ponniyin Selvan I won the maximum number of awards while Fouja, KGF 2, Brahmastra and Aparajito were among the other films which won multiple honoyrs.

The awards were announced by the chairperson of the Feature Film Jury, Rahul Rawail; Nila Madhab Panda, chairperson of the Non-Feature Film Jury; and Gangadhar Mudalair, chairperson of the Best Writing on Cinema Jury.

First handed out in 1954, these awards were known as the State Awards. In those years, only the best films in different regional languages were recognised and awarded. The awards for actors and technicians working on the films were first given in 1967. Nargis was the first actor to win Best Actress for her performance in Raat Aur Din. Uttam Kumar won the Best Actor award for Antony Firingee and Chiriyakhana in the same year.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved multiple high-level appointments across several ministries and departments yesterday.

Senior IAS officer Vivek Joshi, who is currently serving as Secretary, Department of Financial Services in Ministry of Finance, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training. Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Coal, Nagaraju Maddirala will now be the Secretary, Department of Financial Services.

Senior IAS officer Manoj Govil, who is currently Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Expenditure. Chief Executive Officer of National Health Authority, Deepti Gaur Mukherjee will now be Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence and he will take over as Secretary, Department of Defence after the completion of tenure of Aramane Giridhar on 31st of October this year.

An MoU was signed between the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and Sansad Television in Parliament today. The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Sansad TV CEO Rajit Punhani and Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi, as well as senior officials of both organizations.

The MoU will facilitate resource sharing, training of personnel, and cross-channel promotion of each other’s programs. Talking about the objectives of the MoU, CEO Prasar Bharati Gaurav Dwivedi said the MoU will facilitate content and program sharing, telecast of Sansad TV on Prasar Bharati’s OTT platforms, and the use of training facilities.

On this occasion, CEO Sansad TV Rajit Punhani said the MoU will further enhance the cooperation between Sansad TV and Prasar Bharati.

According to the MoU, Prasar Bharati and Sansad Television will share and broadcast special coverage, exclusive content, interviews, documentaries, audio-visual content, live feeds, archives, and other content produced by the two networks. They will also share human resources, technologies, and equipment. Prasar Bharati will provide the facilities of PB-SHABD to Sansad TV. Both networks agreed to promote and advertise each other’s programs.

India has dispatched a consignment of approximately 1400 kgs of anti-cancer drugs to Syria in humanitarian assistance, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The drugs are dispatched from India, keeping in mind the country's commitments to Syria.

"India sends humanitarian assistance to Syria. In keeping with its humanitarian commitments, India has despatched anti-cancer drugs to Syria," the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X Friday, sharing a post of the consignment with pictures.