FDI in Insurance
Government has issued draft Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Amendment Rules, 2025.
About Rules
- Issued by: Ministry of Finance (Dept. of Financial Services) under powers of Insurance Act, 1938.
- Change in Foreign Investment Cap : Enable 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance from earlier 74%, subject to parliamentary approval.
- Permitted via: The automatic route, with oversight by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
- Aims: To unlock the insurance sector’s potential and bolster its projected 7.1% annual growth.
- Tags :
- FDI in Insurance
- Insurance Act, 1938
Digilocker
National e-Governance Division (NeGD) has successfully enabled Pan-India integration of nearly 2000 e-Government services on DigiLocker and e-District platforms.
- NeGD is a section 8 not-for-profit company created as an Independent Business Division under the he Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).
About DigiLocker
- Purpose: A flagship MeitY initiative, it ensures 'Digital Empowerment' by providing citizens authentic digital documents.
- Legal Standing: Issued documents are legally at par with originals as per IT (Preservation and Retention of Information by Intermediaries providing Digital Locker facilities) Rules, 2016.
- Benefits: Offers anytime, anywhere access and faster service delivery for citizens. It also reduces administrative overhead for agencies and facilitates secure document exchange with real-time verification.
- Tags :
- DigiLocker
- National e-Governance Division (NeGD)
Magsaysay Award
Educate Girls NGO becomes first Indian organisation to win Ramon Magsaysay Award, in 2025.
About Ramon Magsaysay Award (Established, 1957)
- First Award: 1958. It is Asia’s highest honor, the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.
- Awarded: Annually
- It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the Seventh Philippine president, Ramon Magsaysay.
- Recognises and honours: individuals and organisations in Asia, regardless of race, creed, gender, or nationality, who have achieved distinction and have helped others generously without aiming for public recognition.
- Tags :
- Magsaysay Award
- Educate Girls
Exercise Yudh Kaushal
Indian Army has conducted Exercise Yudh Kaushal 3.0 in the Kameng region in Easter Himalayas.
About Exercise Yudh Kaushal
- Major highlight was the operational debut of the newly raised ASHNI platoons, designed to integrate advanced technology with traditional combat skills for decisive battlefield advantage.
- It also marked active participation of the Indian defence industry, reflecting the push for indigenous innovation under the vision of self-reliance.
- Tags :
- Exercise Yudh Kaushal
- ASHNI platoons
APK Scam
APK scam has become one of the fastest-growing cybercrime threats in the country today.
About APK Scam
- It is a type of fraud where criminals use social engineering to trick individuals into installing malicious Android Package Kit (APK) files on their mobile phones.
- Social Engineering techniques include impersonating as trustworthy individuals or entities, such as bank employees or government officials, creating a sense of urgency or fear, etc.
- Subsequent to installation of APK files, fraudsters can carry out unauthorized financial transactions without the victim's consent, leading to significant financial losses.
- Tags :
- Cybercrime
- APK Scam
Mercator’s Map
African Union has endorsed the ‘Correct the Map’ campaign to replace the Mercator map projection with alternatives such as the Equal Earth map.
About Mercator’s Map
- Origin & Purpose: Designed in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator, this projection aimed to solve navigation issues by making rhumb lines appear as straight lines on a flat map.
- Characteristics: It is a conformal map, preserving local shapes and angles, achieved by stretching the north-south scale.
- Distortions: It distorts scale, showing landmasses near the poles as larger and equatorial regions as smaller than reality. E.g., Africa appears roughly as large as Greenland, despite being 14 times bigger.
- Tags :
- Equal Earth map
- Mercator’s Map
Multi-Lane Free Flow
NHAI signed agreement to implement India’s First Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) Tolling System in Gujarat.
About MLFF
- It is a tolling system that enables transactions through reading of FASTag and Vehicle Registration Number (VRN) by High performance RFID Readers and Cameras.
- Launched by: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
- Significance:
- Barrier-less: No need to stop vehicles.
- Reduced congestion and travel time leading to enhanced fuel efficiency and lower emissions
- Improved toll revenue collection, smarter, faster and more efficient National Highway network.
- Tags :
- FASTag
- NHAI
- Tolling System
Articles Sources
Blue Dragons
Several beaches in Spain were closed due to Blue Dragons.
About Blue Dragons
- About: Blue dragons (Glaucus atlanticus) are tiny (4 cm long) floating sea slugs that live on the ocean surface.
- Occurrence: They are generally found along the warm tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans.
- Impact on Humans: A sting from a blue dragon can be extremely painful to humans and cause redness, swelling, nausea, and vomiting. However, it cannot lead to death.
- Tags :
- Blue Dragons