India Infrastructure Index launched by Asia Index
Anticipating investment boom in infrastructure sector as the government re-starts stalled projects, Asia Index, a joint venture of BSE and S&P Dow Jones Indices, launched India Infrastructure Index that comprises the top 30 companies based on market capitalisation from five sectors—Energy, Transportation, Non-Banking Financial Institutions, Telecommunications and Utilities. The 30 companies will be picked from the BSE 500 index.
As per Asia Index, the 30-stock index is designed to serve as both a benchmark and an investable index. This is the third index launched by Asia Index after theShariah Index and the S&P BSE India 10-year Sovereign Bond Index.
Pinaka rockets test-fired successfully
India’s Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL)–Pinaka rockets, capable of decimating hostile targets at 40kms-range with rapid salvos, successfully test- fired thrice at an armament base in Chandipur, Odisha. The rockets, which have been subjected to several tough tests since 1995, have been already inducted into the armed forces and the current trials were performed with some improvements in the weapon system. Three rounds of Pinaka rockets were successfully tested from the Proof and eXperimental Establishment (PXE) at Chandipur.
Indigenously developed by DRDO, Pinaka is an unguided rocket system meant to neutralise large areas with rapid salvos. With a battery of 6 launchers, the system can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds and neutralise a target area of 3.9 sq km. It gives an edge to the army with its quick reaction time and high rate of fire, thus, supplementing artillery guns.
Sushma Swaraj -The first woman to head MEA
In yet another first for BJP leader Sushma Swaraj (62), she has become the first woman External Affairs Minister of India. She is the country’s first woman to be appointed as a full-time Cabinet minister with the external affairs portfolio. Indira Gandhi too held the portfolio between September 1967 and February 1969 and again between July and October 1984, but it was among the portfolios she retained with her as Prime Minister.
Sushma Swaraj has several other first to her name:
- At the age of 25, she became the youngest cabinet minister in Haryanagovernment in 1977.
- First woman Chief Minister of Delhi in 1998.
- She was the first woman spokesperson for any political party in India and won the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
Justice MB Shah Committtee: SIT to probe black money
In its first major step after assuming charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate black money, mostly hoarded abroad.
Composition of SIT
The SIT will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge MB Shah. Its other members include Secretary revenue, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank ofIndia, director of the Intelligence Bureau, director of the Enforcement Directorate, director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and director of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
As per an estimate by the US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity, the illegal money outflow from India is around $462 billion.
The black money refers to the money that is earned and transferred illegally abroad in tax havens like Cayman Islands and Mauritius, generally to evade tax.Real estate is believed to account for nearly a third of black money transactions. Other major areas of black money transactions include manufacturing, gold and consumer goods purchases.
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