• Coal India Ltd (CIL) recently decided to invest over 1.22 lakh crore rupees on development of nearly 500 projects.

• It includes coal evacuation, infrastructure, project development, exploration and clean coal technologies in the country.

• The investment aims at making India self-reliant in terms of coal and achieve the production target of 1 billion tonnes by 2023-2024.

• Out of the proposed spend of over ₹1.22 lakh crore, ₹32,696 crore will be invested on coal evacuation, ₹25,117 crore on mine infrastructure, ₹29,461 crore on project development, ₹32,199 crore on diversification and clean coal technologies, ₹1,495 crore on social infrastructure and ₹1,893 crore on exploration works by 2023-24.

• 2nd metro rail project supported by the EIB in Uttar Pradesh(UP), following the €450 million investment in Lucknow metro rail system.

• Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (UPMRC) is the promoter-Financial intermediary for this project.

• €650 million(Rs 5,551.99 crore) investment is the 5th investment of EIB in green infrastructure and connectivity in India i:e Bhopal, Pune, Bangalore and Lucknow.

• This investment will boost GOI and its Urban Development “Smart Cities Mission”, as Kanpur is one of the first 100 targeted Smart Cities in the country.

• The project will also help India to achieve few UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely: SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 11 (sustainable cities) and SDG 5 (gender equality).

• According to a joints report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as many as 41 lakh youth in the country lost jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic while construction and farm sector workers account for the majority of job losses.

• For India, the report estimates job loss for 4.1 million youth. Construction and agriculture have witnessed the major job losses among seven key sectors.

• The report is based on regional assessment of the 'Global Survey on Youth and COVID-19' and arrived at estimates based on available unemployment data in different countries.

• India will receive an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of an amount of JPY50 billion (approx. Rs. 3,500 crore) from the government of Japan.

• Japan has committed the loan for the COVID-19 Crisis Emergency Response Support in order to fight the COVID-19 crisis.

• The ODA loan will support India’s efforts in its fight against COVID-19. It will also assist the country to prepare the health system to handle future epidemics. It will also increase the resilience of India’s health systems against infectious diseases.

• Japanese government has also committed Grant Assistance of an amount of JPY 1 billion (approx. Rs. 70 crore) for offering medical equipment to bolster the public health and medical system in India.

• The acquisition by Lightstone Fund S.A., for and on behalf of Lightstone Global Fund (LGT) of certain equity stakes has been approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

• Under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, the Lightstone Fund S.A. will acquire certain equity stakes in 91Streets Media Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (91Streets), Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Ascent), API Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (API), Aahaan Commercials Pvt. Ltd. (Aahaan) and Lokprakash Vidhya Pvt. Ltd. (Lokprakash).

• Lightstone Fund S.A.: It was established as an umbrella fund structure with initially one sub-fund, i.e. Lightstone Global Fund and is presently managed by LGT Capital Partners (Ireland) Limited.

* National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and LinkedIn announced a partnership to provide access to free learning resources for imparting digital skills to youth for enhancing employability.

* According to LinkedIn, Indian professionals with digital skills are 20 percent more in demand than professionals without digital skills in 2020.

* Under the partnership, 10 free LinkedIn learning paths, consisting of 140 courses for a range of in-demand tech jobs will be made available for free on eSkill India digital platform till March 31, 2021. It will help India’s youth to develop skills needed for jobs.

* LinkedIn will provide insights on the Labour market based on an economic graph of more than 69 million members in India.

* It will also share in-demand skills, emerging jobs, and global hiring rates with NSDC to better understand the skilling ecosystem.

• The government of Andhra Pradesh, through the AP Economic Development Board, has entered into an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian School of Business (ISB) for policy guidance to spur growth in post pandemic with special focus on economic development and job creation.

• The MOU will nurture a think tank by setting up a Policy lab called the GoAP-ISB Policy Lab, a public policy laboratory to drive evidence-based policy decisions.

• It aims to create a Knowledge Bank for strategic planning, policy analysis, data analytics and action-research essential for sustaining high rates of growth and successful completion within the committed timelines with focus on investment flows, their efficacy in terms of value addition, employment generation and wealth creation.

* The Power Finance Corporation) signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur (IIT-K) in order to provide training, research and Entrepreneurship Development (ED) in Smart grid technology.

* PFC will provide support to the IIT-Kanpur to develop the infrastructure of the research and development on smart grid technology.

* The PFC will provide financial assistance of Rs. 2.38 crore to the IIT-K under its CSR initiative.

* The IIT-K provides training in smart grid technology to 90 participants.

* The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) over a virtual platform with the Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb), Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat to speed up the business and industrial development process of Gujarat.

* Neelam Rani, Managing Director of iNDEXTb and Kevin McCole, Managing Director of UKIBC signed the MoU.

* The objective of the MoU is to enhance the business environment of Gujarat and to strengthen the collaboration of British business in Gujarat.

• The Central Government in collaboration with the World Bank has decided to convert the area of ravines in the region of Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into cultivable land.

• The decision was made through a virtual meeting with Adarsh Kumar, representative of the World Bank.

• Around 3 lakh hectares land of this region are non-cultivable, this conversion will improve and support the integrated development of the Bihad area in the region of Gwalior-Chambal.

• In addition to the agricultural and environmental development this project will also create employment opportunities and will support the substantive development of this region.