Daily News Digest:23 May 2020

US withdraws from Open Skies Treaty

The United States of America has signalled its intention to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty” citing violations of the accord by Russia, which allows the 34 participating countries to do unarmed aerial surveillance. India is not a member of the Open Skies Treaty which came into force on 1 January 2002.

‘SUKOON’ initiative by J&K

The Department of Information and Public Relations, Jammu and Kashmir has started the ‘SUKOON’ - COVID-19 Beat the Stress” initiative. The initiative has been started to increase awareness regarding the psychological impact of lockdown and steps to overcome them. The initiative involves telecast of a programme, which will be telecast every Tuesday at 9.00 PM on Doordarshan Kashir Channel.

“Hunar Haat” to be restarted from September 2020

“Hunar Haat” which was put on halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic will be restarted from September 2020 with the theme of “Local to Global” after a gap of 5 months. “Hunar Haat” has become synonymous with “Empowerment Exchange” of artisans and craftsmen throughout the country and will be restarted with a comparatively higher number of participation by artisans.

Webinar on Medical Devices and API sector: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities held

A webinar for business and trade collaboration between India and Japan in the post-COVID-19 scenario was held on 22 May 2020 and was titled ‘Medical Devices and API sector: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities’. The Embassy of India, Tokyo, in collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India organized the webinar.

Electrochemical sensing platform for detecting carcinogenic compounds developed by IASST

An electrochemical sensing platform for the detection of carcinogenic or mutagenic compounds has been developed by the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati.

Nine additional measures announced by RBI

The Reserve bank of India (RBI) has announced a set of nine measures to facilitate the flow of finance and preserve financial stability in the times of crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The nine measures are as follows, (i) Refinance Facility to SIDBI extended for another 90 days, (ii) Relaxation of Rules for Foreign Portfolio Investment under Voluntary Retention Route, (iii) Exporters can now Avail Bank Loans for Higher Period, (iv) Loan facility to EXIM Bank, (v) More time for Importers to Pay for Imports, (vi) Extension of Regulatory Measures by another 3 Months, (vii) Provision to convert Interest on Working Capital into Interest Term Loan, (viii) Increase of Group Exposure Limit to Increase Fund Flow to Corporates, (ix) States allowed to borrow more from Consolidated Sinking Fund.