8th October, 2024 Current Affairs

NATIONAL
India and Maldives Boost Ties with $750 Million Currency Swap Deal

• India has extended significant financial aid to the Maldives by signing a $750 million currency swap agreement to ease the country’s foreign exchange crisis. This includes a $400 million swap and an additional ₹3,000 crore ($357 million) under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework, available until 2027.
• The currency swap aims to bolster the Maldives’ foreign exchange reserves, currently facing significant pressure due to an external debt of 110% of its GDP, particularly from Chinese loans.
• India and the Maldives agreed to initiate discussions on a potential bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signaling a further deepening of economic ties. This agreement could serve to counterbalance China’s influence in the region, given Muizzu’s past advocacy for reducing Indian involvement in Maldivian affairs and pivoting towards Beijing.

INTERNATIONAL
India-Maldives Ties Strengthened: RuPay Card Launch and Airport Upgrade

• The recent inauguration of a new runway at Hanimadhoo International Airport and the launch of the RuPay card in the Maldives signify a pivotal moment in the evolving relationship between India and the Maldives.
• The introduction of the RuPay card aims to facilitate cashless transactions for Indian tourists, enhancing convenience and reducing costs in the Maldives’ tourism sector. This initiative is expected to strengthen economic cooperation between the two nations.
• The new runway at Hanimadhoo International Airport is part of a broader airport redevelopment project funded by an Indian Line of Credit of USD 132 million. This project includes modern infrastructure upgrades, such as a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, a hangar, cargo facilities, and a passenger terminal building.

WHO launches Health Labour Market Analysis support tool to assist Africa

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the Health Labour Market Analysis (HLMA) support tool to assist Africa in assessing health workforce education capacity, supply, and demand.
• The tool is designed to facilitate the integration of health workforce planning into labour market analysis. The WHO developed the HLMA Guidebook in 2021 and trained 75 experts from 25 countries in Africa.

Sri Lanka secures $200 million from World Bank under Development Policy Financing Program

• Sri Lanka, under its Development Policy Financing Program, has secured a 200 Million US Dollars package from the International Development Association of the World Bank Group.
• The agreement was signed today between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, and the World Bank officials in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
• This financing is part of the World Bank’s continued commitment to assist Sri Lanka in its comprehensive reform agenda. The DPF program is part of the second phase of Sri Lanka’s Resilience, Stability, and Economic Turnaround or RESET programme, which operates in tandem with the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility. The two-year program which commenced last year, is designed to restore stability through macroeconomic adjustments while protecting the poor and vulnerable. The first phase of the program, implemented in 2023, successfully secured USD 500 million in funding for the island nation.
• This financial assistance is expected to be crucial in stabilizing Sri Lanka’s economy and preventing future crises while fostering a more inclusive and competitive economic environment.

ECONOMY
IFC Partners with Axis Bank for India’s First Blue Loan of $500 Million

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with Axis Bank to provide a $500 million loan aimed at scaling up blue finance and green projects in India. This is IFC’s first blue investment in the country and the largest climate finance initiative by IFC in India to date. Blue loans focus on funding water and wastewater management, reducing ocean plastic pollution, restoring marine ecosystems, and promoting offshore renewable energy, among others.
• IFC has provided over $1.9 billion in blue loans and bonds globally since 2020. This partnership with Axis Bank will help expand resource-efficient growth, create jobs, and protect India’s clean water resources while aligning with the country’s climate goals.

AWARDS
US scientists awarded 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine for microRNA discovery

• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the year 2024 has been awarded to scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. MicroRNA is a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.
• Announcing the decision, the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, a research-led medical university in Stockholm stated that the discovery made by these two scientists has proven to be fundamentally important for understanding how organisms develop and function.
• The winners will receive a sum of 1.1 million dollars. This year’s award is the 115th Nobel prize to be presented in physiology or medicine since 1901. Of the 229 winners, only 13 have been women.