The Daily Brief – 25th June 2019

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be on a three-day visit to India from 25 June 2019. Mr Pompeo’s visit will be an important opportunity for both sides to explore ways to further strengthen the India-US Strategic Partnership. He will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and call on other dignitaries in the government. The visit will deepen and broaden the bilateral relationship and kick-start a dialogue towards the resolution of some of the key issues in trade ties.

Saudi Arabia has become 1st Arab country to be granted full membership of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) following FATF’s Annual General Meeting held in Orlando, Florida in United States (US). Since November 2004, Saudi Arabia has been a founding member of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) arm of FATF group. At the beginning of 2015 Saudi Arabia had received an invitation from FATF as an observer member. FATF was established in 1989, with headquarters in Paris, France.

Japan gifted Manipur a Museum of Peace built on the memories of Battle of Imphal, one of the fiercest battles of 2nd World War (WWII). The inauguration of Imphal Peace Museum at Red Hill which lies about 20 km southwest of Imphal marked 75th anniversary of Battle of Imphal. Battle of Imphal took place from March to July 1944.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released a unique flood hazard atlas aided by satellite imagery, which is expected to help the coastal state manage floods more efficiently. Atlas is compiled on basis of historic flood inundation over 18 years period from year 2001 to 2018. The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Hyderabad had undertaken a study on Odisha’s flood hazard zonation.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched a Complaint Management System (CMS) on its website on June 24, 2019 for lodging complaints against banks and NBFCs with a motto to improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances. CMS provides features such as acknowledgement through SMS/Email notification(s), status tracking through unique registration number, receipt of closure advises and filing of Appeals, where applicable.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to modify the format of driving licenses to smart card type driving licences. Ministry has prescribed a common standard format and design of the Driving Licence for the whole of the country. Through its flagship application called SARATHI developed by NIC, the Ministry identify duplicate records online in real time and access information about the challans if any.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order, which he said, will impose hard-hitting sanctions on Iran and deny the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other officials’ access to financial instruments within US jurisdiction. Any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant financial transaction for entities designated under this Executive Order could be cut off from the US financial system.