current affairs 18 September 2021 (In English)

Union Cabinet approved 100% FDI in the telecom sector under the automatic route.

• PM Modi has approved a number of structural and process reforms in the telecom sector to provide relief to ailing telecom service providers suffering from high levels of debt.
• The definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) has been changed and now all non-telecom revenue will be removed from AGR.
• The moratorium has been announced on statutory dues of the telecom sector for four years. This will come into effect from 1 October 2021.
• Government has increased FDI in the telecom sector from 49% to 100% under the automatic route.
• From now on the spectrum auction will be conducted in the last quarter of every financial year.

J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched the mission "One Gram Panchayat-One Digi-Pe Sakhi".

• DIGI-Pay aims to promote door-to-door digital banking and financial services in remote areas of the Union Territory.
• Initially this facility will be provided in 2,000 remote villages of the Union Territory.
• In the first phase 80 women of Self Help Groups (SHGs) from Jammu and Kashmir Division will be involved to promote financial inclusion within the SHG ecosystem of the UT and to create financial access points with greater transparency even in remote areas

SIDBI has partnered with the Assam Govt to provide project-specific loans for upgradation of MSME clusters.

• Assam will focus on three major themes- Startups, Cluster Development and Livelihoods, and Enterprise Promotion.

Power Finance Corporation (PFC) issues India's 1st Euro Green Bond.

• Leading power sector NBFC, Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC) has successfully issued its first Euro Green Bond.
• The 7-year Euro 300 million bond is priced at 1.841 percent.
• This Euro Green Bond is the first to issue Euro denominated green bonds from India.
• It is also the first-ever Euro issuance by an Indian NBFC.

NITI Aayog launched the report on "Improving Urban Planning Efficiency in India".

• The report titled Improving Urban Planning Efficiency in India presents measures to enhance urban planning capacity in India.
• The report was jointly released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajeev Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant and Special Secretary Dr K Rajeshwar Rao.
• The report suggests that every city should aspire to become a Healthy Cities for All by 2030.
• The report also recommended a central sector plan called '500 Healthy Cities Programme' for a period of 5 years.
• Under this priority, the cities and towns will be jointly selected by the states and local bodies.