Syndicate Bank and SBI Life Insurance announced that they have signed a bancassurance pact to offer a comprehensive financial planning solution to its customers.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Syndicate Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mrutyunjay Mahapatra and MD and CEO of SBI Life, Sanjeev Nautiyal, a bank release said.

The two banks said they were hopeful of ensuring greater reach and penetration in the market with 3,000 branches of Syndicate Bank spread across the country offering SBI Life's diverse range of protection, wealth creation and savings insurance products to its customers.

"Increasing life insurance penetration has been a strategy focus of Syndicate bank and we are starting with a pilot project in three districts. Riding on the proven delivery and technology capabilities of our partner SBI Life Insurance, we hope to achieve this aspiration very soon," Mahapatra said.

Arunima Sinha, the Indian mountaineer who became the world’s first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest in 2013, has now become the first woman amputee to climb Mount Vinson (highest peak of Antarctica).

Congratulating Arunima, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday tweeted: “Excellent! Congratulations to Arunima Sinha for scaling new heights of success. She is the pride of India, who has distinguished herself through her hard work and perseverance. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours.”

On Thursday, Arunima took to Twitter to inform about her success. “The wait is over we are glad to share with you The World record World’s 1st woman amputee who climbed Mount Vinson (highest peak of Antarctica) has become to the name of our country India. Thank’s to all for their blessings and pray Jai Hind,” she said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister J P Nadda for their visionary leadership which helped around seven lakh people avail benefits of the healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat in the first 100 days of its launch.

"In its first 100 days, #India's ambitious #AyushmanBharat scheme has provided free care for almost 700,000 people. I applaud Prime Minister @narendramodi and Health Minister @JPNadda for their visionary leadership for #HealthForAll (sic), " Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.

He had earlier also praised the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which aims to provide insurance cover of Rs five lakh per annum to 50 crore poor people by calling it a "great commitment".

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will host third edition of the National Entrepreneurship Awards in New Delhi today. The awards aim to recognize and honor outstanding young first-generation entrepreneurs and those who have contributed immensely in building the entrepreneurship ecosystem. We have a report.

Total of 43 awards will be presented this year. These include 39 awards for Young Entrepreneurs in different sectors and four awards for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders. 

The winners will receive trophy, certificate and cash prizes ranging from 5 to 10 lakhs rupees. There are special awards for women, persons with disability, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and entrepreneurs from areas with limited opportunities. 

The National Entrepreneurship Awards is a platform focused on driving innovation, ushering in a positive change for youth in entrepreneurship across all the industries. 
The awards will inspire and promote growth of entrepreneurs in India. 

Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a batch of petitions for hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case today. The matter is listed before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul. 

The apex court on October 29 had fixed the matter in the first week of January before an appropriate bench, which will decide the schedule of hearing. 

Various Hindutva organisations have been demanding an ordinance on early construction of Ram temple at the disputed site. 

The hearing today assumes importance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday suggested any decision on an ordinance on Ram temple in Ayodhya can happen only after the completion of the judicial process.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manipur and Assam today. In Manipur, he will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for several projects and schemes. 

Mr Modi will unveil the plaque to mark the inauguration of various projects including Integrated Check Post at Moreh, the Dolaithabi Barrage project, FCI food storage godown at Sawombung, Eco Tourism Complex at Thangal Surung and various water supply schemes. 

Prime Minister will dedicate the 400kV double circuit Silchar-Imphal line. He will also the lay the foundation stone of projects like Infrastructure Development of Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal and sports facilities. 

He will then address the gathering at Hapta Kangjeibung in Imphal East District. In Assam, Prime Minister will address a Public Rally at Ramnagar in Silchar.

Dronacharya awardee cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar, who is credited with shaping the early career of Sachin Tendulkar, died on Wednesday.

He was 87 and passed away owing to age related ailments at his home.

Achrekar competed in just one first-class match in his playing career but discovered and shaped the biggest batsman in international cricket after Sir Donald Bradman in Tendulkar.

Achrekar is best known for being his childhood coach and has always been acknowledged by the celebrated right-hander for the role he played in shaping his career as a child. Achrekar was also a Padmashri awardee.

“Cricket in heaven will be enriched with the presence of Achrekar sir. Like many of his students, I learnt my ABCD of cricket under Sir’s guidance," Tendulkar said. "His contribution to my life cannot be captured in words. He built the foundation that I stand on. Last month, I met Sir along with some of his students and spent some time together. We shared a laugh as we remembered the old times.

“Achrekar sir taught us the virtues of playing straight and living straight. Thank you for making us a part of your life and enriching us with your coaching manual. Well played Sir and may you coach more wherever you are."

Besides Tendulkar, he also coached some prominent players in Vinod Kambli, Pravin Amre, Sameer Dighe, Ramesh Powar, Chandrakant Pandit, Ajit Agarkar and Balwinder Singh Sandhu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit in Jalandhar district of Punjab on Thursday to inaugurate the 106th edition of Indian Science Congress (ISC)-2019. He will also deliver the inaugural address on the occasion.

PM Modi will then proceed to Gurdaspur where he will address a public rally.

In keeping with the PM’s vision to give a boost to the spirit of science, technology and innovation across the country, it will be the fifth Indian Science Congress to be addressed by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed office.

In the Past, he has delivered inaugural addresses at 105th edition of ISC in 2018, 104th edition in 2017, 103rd edition in 2016 and 102nd edition in 2015.

The government Tuesday appointed Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) senior-most Managing Director Hemant Bhargava as the insurer’s interim chairman, in place of V K Sharma who retired on Monday.

Meanwhile, the government has already initiated process to select regular chairman and managing director of LIC.

Bhargava was appointed as the managing director (MD) of LIC in February 2017, the insurer said in a statement. Apart from Bhargava, there are two more MDs of LIC currently.

He was instrumental in completing the design and setting up a separate microinsurance vertical which was LIC’s first comprehensive enterprise-wide initiative in financial inclusion space.

He also set up a new joint venture in collaboration with the banking industry, and founded LIC Cards Services Ltd.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday set up an expert committee under former Sebi chairman U.K. Sinha to suggest long-term solutions for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSME sector. RBI has announced the panel a day after it allowed a one-time restructuring of existing debt up to ₹25 crore for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which have defaulted on payment but the loans given to them have continued to be classified as standard assets.

The eight-member committee will also examine the factors affecting the timely and adequate availability of finance to the sector, the central bank said in a statement. “The expert committee will submit its report by the end of June 2019,” it said.

The MSME panel has been asked to review the current institutional framework in place to support the MSME sector and study the impact of the recent economic reforms on the sector and “identify the structural problems affecting its growth”.

To study the global best practices with respect to MSMEs and recommend its adoption in India, wherever appropriate, and review the existing MSME-focused policies and its impact on the sector are among the issues which the panel will look into.