- Sanjeev Chaturvedi takes charge as ni-msme director
Sanjeev Chaturvedi has taken over as the Director of National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme), Hyderabad. With a Ph.D. in economics, Chaturvedi has 18 years experience in industry besides 12 years in academics.
He had served as General Manager, Lan Eseda Industries Ltd, Deputy Director, Engineering Export Promotion Council (Government of India Undertaking), and as Resident Director-UP at the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, among others.
- Ex-Zimbabwe Army chief appointed as Vice President
Retired army chief Constantino Chiwenga and veteran politician Kembo Mohadi will be sworn in as Zimbabwe’s vice presidents.
The pair, appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, were elevated to similar positions in the ruling ZANU-PF party.
- K S Chitra bags ‘Harivarasanam’ Award
Veteran singer K S Chitra has been selected for this year’s prestigious ‘Harivarasanam’ award, instituted by the Kerala government.
Chitra has been selected for the award in recognition of her contribution to propagate the spirit of secularism, equanimity and universal brotherhood.
- Punjab CM Amarinder Singh approves setting up of startup hub
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has given the nod for Punjab startup hub, under which a state-of-the-art incubation centre is proposed to be set up in Mohali.
The chief minister also approved constitution of a high- level committee to draft a proposal for resettlement and rehabilitation of those who would be affected in the process of setting up such hubs in the state.
- Agriculture Minister Launches Livestock Disease Forewarning (LDF) Mobile App
Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has launched Livestock Disease Forewarning –Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App), developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru, in New Delhi.
ICAR-NIVEDI has identified 13 priority diseases based on their past incidence patterns and has built a strong database of these diseases and has been providing monthly livestock disease alerts to the state and central animal husbandry departments.
- Environment Ministry Launches a Regional Project to Tackle Stubble Burning
In another significant step to combat climate change, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has approved a regional project on ‘Climate Resilience Building among Farmers through Crop Residue Management’ under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC).
The first phase of the project has been approved at a cost of approximately Rs. 100 Crore for the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The project will leverage approximately three times the approved amount with contribution from the States as well as farmers.
- Delhi appoints environment marshals to curb burning in open
Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain had started deployment of environment marshals to stop illegal burning in the open, controlling dust from various sources and improper management of dhalaos. All these factors locally contribute to air pollution.
- 78th session of Indian History Congress begins
The three-day long 78th session of the Indian History Congress began in West Bengal at the Jadavpur University campus.
The Indian History Congress will have six sections this time – Ancient India, Medieval India, Modern India, Countries Other than India, Archaeology and Contemporary India.
The aim of conducting Indian History Congress is for promotion and encouragement of the scientific study of Indian History, holding Congresses and publishing of the proceedings, bulletins, memoirs, journals and other works.
- Maternity Benefits Under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
The maternity benefits under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) are available to all Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) except those in regular employment with the Central Government or State Government or Public Sector Undertaking or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being in force, for first living child of the family as normally, the first pregnancy of a woman exposes her to new kind of challenges and stress factors.
The objectives of the scheme are:
- providing partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first living child; and
- the cash incentives provided would lead to improved health seeking behavior amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM).
- India successfully test-fires supersonic interceptor missile
India has successfully test-fired its indigenous developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile in low altitude, from a test range in Odisha.
This was the third supersonic interceptor test carried out this year in which an incoming ballistic missile target was successfully intercepted, within 30 km altitude of the earth’s atmosphere by an interceptor.
- India’s 1st bitcoin trading app
Cryptocurrency dealer Pluto Exchange has announced the launch of India’s first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.
Pluto Exchange founder and Chief Executive Bharat Verma has all set to launch the country’s first app-based wallet that enables bitcoin transactions using a mobile number.
The Pluto Exchange mobile app offers a solution to the coordination problem between payment processors, financial gateways and banks.
- World Bank commits USD 40 mn to UP tourism development project
The World Bank has committed USD 40 million (about Rs 260 crore) for the development of tourism facilities in Uttar Pradesh.
An agreement for IBRD credit of USD 40 million from the World Bank for the UP Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project was signed.
The five-year programme is worth approximately USD 57.14 million, of which USD 40 million will be financed by the bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of state Budget.
- Indo-Maldives joint exercise concludes in Belagavi
The two-week long eighth edition of the Indo-Maldives joint military exercise, ‘Ekuverin’, came to an end at Belagavi.
The bilateral annual exercise was a 14-day joint military training between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), held alternatively in India and Maldives since 2009.
‘Ekuverin’ means ‘friends’ in the Maldivian language. The seventh edition of the exercise was held at Kadhdhoo, Lammu Atoll, Maldives in December, 2016.
- China launches world’s largest human genome research project
China has launched the world’s largest human genome research project to document the genetic makeup of one lakh people to help generate the precision medicines for the future.
The project would detect the genetic links between health and sickness and involve one person from different ethnic backgrounds and regions.
