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 Logix India 2019

Context: Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, launched the logo and brochure of Logix India 2019 in New Delhi today.

About:

• Logix India 2019 is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from 31st January to 2ndFebruary 2019.The mega logistics event is being organized by the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO).
• Logix India is organized as a major initiative to improve logistics cost effectiveness and operational efficiencies for India’s global trade.
• FIEO will also focus on investment opportunities in infrastructure development, warehouse consolidation, technology integration and IT enablement and skilling of manpower at the three-day meet.

Logistics Sector In India:

• India ranked 44 in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index 2018.
• As per the Economic Survey 2017-18, India’s logistics industry which is worth around USD 160 billion is likely to touch USD 215 billion in the next two years.
• Logistics sector provides employment to more than 22 million people and is expected to grow at the rate of 10.5 per cent over the next 5 years.

High-End Skill Development Centre in Chandigarh

Context: India’s premier National Research Laboratory CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH) today announced a new partnership with Merck, a leading German science and technology company, to establish a ‘High End Skill Development Centre’ in CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh.

About:

• This ‘High End Skill Development Centre’ will enrich skills by conducting workshops, trainings and seminar series on cutting edges life science processes, tools and techniques.
• The centre will facilitate hands-on experience to learning and real time sample analysis.
• The proposed state of the art Centre will integrate Work-based and Research-based learning by providing next generation lab set-up for carrying out real time sample analysis and learning workshops for selected group of technologies in the domain of Life Sciences.

CSIR

• CSIR is government’s autonomous research agency, established in 1942. Presently, CSIR has over 4,500 scientists working across 38 laboratories and employs over 9000 scientific and technical personnel.
• The research bodies under CSIR cover science and technology focus areas ranging from aeronautics, instrumentation, mining, environmental engineering and to oceanography, geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics and biotechnology.

NPCC is now a Miniratna

Context: National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) has been conferred with the status of Miniratna : Category –I by the Government of India. The empowerment of Miniratna Status to NPCC will help the company in taking speedy decisions by enhancing the delegation of powers to the Board.

Miniratna

Those CPSEs that have shown profits in the last continuous three years and have positive net worth, can be considered eligible for grant of Miniratna status. The Miniratnas are divided in two categories – I and II.

Category I: These have made profits for the last three years continuously or earned a net profit of Rs. 30 crores or more in one of these three years.

Category II : These companies have made profits continuously for the last three years and must have a positive net worth.

Navratna

The company must have ‘Miniratna Category – I‘ status along with a Schedule ‘A’ listing.

• It should have at least 3 ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very Good’ Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the last five years.
• Along with the above, it should also have a composite score of 60 or above out of possible 100 marks in the 6 selected performance parameters:-
  1. Net Profit to Net Worth (Maximum: 25)
  2. Manpower cost to cost of production or services (Maximum: 15)
  3. Gross margin as capital employed (Maximum: 15)
  4. Gross profit as Turnover (Maximum: 15)
  5. Earnings per Share (Maximum: 10)
  6. Inter-Sectoral comparison based on Net profit to net worth (Maximum: 20)

Maharatna

• The company already holds Navratna status.
• It is listed on the Indian stock exchange fulfilling the minimum prescribed public shareholding according to the SEBI regulations.]\
• The Average annual turnover of company during the last 3 years is more than Rs. 25,000 crore.
• The Average annual net worth during the last 3 years is more than Rs. 15,000 crore.
• The Average annual net profit after tax during the last 3 years is more than Rs. 5,000 crore.
• The company should have a significant global presence or international operations.

South Asia Regional Youth Peace Conference

Context: Gandhi Smriti to Organize ‘South Asia Regional Youth Peace Conference’ in New Delhi this month

About:

• Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (GSDS), functioning under Ministry of Culture, Government of India will be organizing a 3 day ‘South Asia Regional Youth Peace Conference’ in partnership with UNESCO- MGIEP and Standing Together to Enable Peace from November 28-30, 2018.
• The conference will be held at Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat, Delhi, India. The conference is being organized to mark the beginning of celebration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• This conference focuses on building a network for young leaders from South Asian countries working on various social issues, to identify avenues for partnership and collaboration, support and show solidarity towards each other’s initiatives, nurture relationships and promote global citizenship to work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti

Context: Defense Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman has formally launched ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ and said the objective is to inculcate IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti has been instituted by the Department of Defence Production as a part of the ongoing initiatives to enhance self-reliance in defence.

• The mission aims to provide a boost to the IPR culture in indigenous defence industry.
• The Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating and implementing the programme.
• The end objective of the programme is to inculcate IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.

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