 Mastercard has announced an agreement to acquire RiskRecon. RiskRecon is one of the leading providers of data analytics solutions and artificial intelligence focused on cyber-risk and security and offering solutions to mitigate cyber risks faced by the companies. The acquisition would enhance the cyber-security systems for MasterCard which offers payment processing services on a global scale. |
| Source: The Economic Times |
 The Ministry of Minority Affairs will organize more than 100 Hunar Haat in the next five years. The move aims to increase employment opportunities to craftsmen, artisans and culinary experts and also to increase their market exposure. |
| Highlights The Ministry will organize Hunar Haats in Chennai, Delhi, Kolakata, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Patna, Dehradun and Indore. The ministry has also sanctioned to set up more than 100 Hunar hubs in different parts of the country. The Ministry in its report said that more than 65,000 artisans and craftsmen have been employed through Hunar Haats in the last 2 years. |
| Significance Indian Handicrafts have great recognition in international market. US and EU are the major destinations that account to 65% of export of Indian handicrafts. China is a new buyer. Other countries where Indian crafts have great market includes Israel, Uruguay, Columbia and chile. In 2019, India exported 128 billion rupees worth handicrafts. Last year, it stood at 118 billion rupees. The increase is 9%. |
| Government measures The GoI has taken several steps to develop the handicraft sector. Government set up Indian Institute of Carpet at Bhadohi. It also reduced interest rates to MUDRA loans provided to handicrafts and artisans. The custom duties and exercises that were paid for importing inputs of handicrafts were refunded through Duty Drawback Channel. |
 Infosys has announced the launch of three blockchain-powered distributed applications. The applications will be dedicated for government services, insurance, and supply chain management domains. The applications are equipped with predictive return on investment (ROI) analytics for business investments that can be tailored to meet numerous industry-specific needs. |
| Source: The Economic Times |
 French carmaker “Peugeot SA” and US-Italian “Fiat Chrysler” have signed an agreement to create the world’s fourth largest automaker. The binding combination agreement provides a 50/50 merger of their businesses to create the 4th largest global automotive original equipment manufacturer by volume and third largest by revenue. The combined revenue of the two entities will be close to 170 billion euros i.e. $190 million. The combined entity will have a workforce of more than 4,00,000. The combined group would be headquartered in the Netherlands. Fiat Chrysler’s chief John Elkann will be the chairman and PSA’s Carlos Tavares chief executive of the new entity. |
| Source: The DD News |
 Xiaomi has formally launched its lending platform “Mi Credit” in India for Android phones. According to platform “Mi Credit” individuals can avail up to Rs 1 lakh loan. The company is planning to introduce more financial products in India. The company has been operating Mi Credit platform on a pilot basis. Xiaomi has roped in Aditya Birla Finance Ltd, Money View, EarlySalary, Zestmoney and CreditVidya as the current lending partners for Mi Credit service. Mi Credit app will come pre-loaded on all MIUI phones, and can be downloaded from Google Play Store. |
| Source: The Live Mint |
 A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and Suadi Aramco (Asia) for the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ecosystem in India in Oil & Gas Sector. The MoU will pave a way for accredited Indian MSMEs to carve out a space as vendors in Global space. |
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 The Appeal Court of the World Trade Organization that acts as trade dispute settlement body for the members was shut down by the United States on December 9, 2019. The seven-member body that was cut down to a 3-member body in 2018 is now completely blocked by the United States. Without WTO’s appellate body, the dispute settlement will return to pre-1995 GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) status quo. |
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 Jharkhand’s Mahuamilan station which comes under East Central Railway (ECZ) zone has become 5500th station to get free wifi facility. The RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), the digital arm of Indian Railways, has thus provided free WiFi at 5,500 stations across country. RailTel is a ‘Miniratna’ enterprise that focuses on providing broadband and VPN services. |
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 On December 6, 2019, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached a deal deepening their output cuts. They have set the target as 500,000 barrels a day. The action is being implemented in order to eliminate surplus and bolster crude prices |
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 HDFC ERGO general insurance company, India’s third-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, has launched “my: health Woman Suraksha policy”, a comprehensive medical insurance scheme specially designed for women. The my:health Woman Suraksha policy is specially designed to cover women against numerous illnesses and contingencies they may face during their lifetime, thereby providing financial aid in case of medical contingencies. The benefits include fitness discount at renewals, specially designed preventive health check-ups after every renewal and wellness services like health coaching, nutrition and weight management services, discounts at pharmacies, etc. It also provides counselling on stress management, pregnancy care, work-life balance, etc which is much needed by today’s new age women. This policy is offered to women between 18-65 years of age and offers a sum insured ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to 1 crore. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
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