Ravi Shankar Prasad to inaugurate second edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020

Shankar School of Banking January 21 , 2020 333

NATIONAL NEWS

Ravi Shankar Prasad to inaugurate second edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020

  • Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad will inaugurate the second edition of NIC Tech Conclave-2020 in New Delhi. The two-day event is being organized by the National Informatics Centre.
  • This Conclave will contribute immensely to the capacity building of Government officers across the country and help in delivering high-quality citizen-centric services.
  • This year’s theme is Technologies for Next-Gen Governance.

National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme to begin in Pondicherry

  • A week-long National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme will begin in Pondicherry from Sunday. The programme is being jointly organized by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Pondicherry Government.
  • Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Director of NYKS  M. N. Nataraj today informed that 200 youths from Naxal- affected areas of Chhattisgarh State will be participating in the 12th  National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme being arranged with a view to ensure development and empowerment of the tribal youths. 
  • They will be visiting many places to know about the language, customs, and culture, arts, dressing patterns, food pattern and other aspects of Pondicherry. Lt. Governor Dr Kiran Bedi, Chief Minister Narayanasamy, Ministers, MLAs, Officials from District Administration will take part in the activities.

STATE NEWS

Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes bill to establish three capitals

  • Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed a bill proposing three capitals, Legislative, Executive and Judicial for the state. The Assembly passed the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill this regard last night.
  • Visakhapatnam is proposed to be the Executive capital, Amaravati Legislative capital and Kurnool will be the judicial capital. The Bill also provides for dividing the State into various zones. It seeks to establish zonal planning and development boards.
  • The Bill will be moved in the Legislative Council today where YSR government may face an uphill task to see it through as it has just nine members in the 58-member Upper House. 
  • 7 MLAs of the TDP were suspended from the House for a day as they disrupted the Chief Minister's address.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

PM Modi, Nepal PM Oli to jointly inaugrate Integrated Check Post Biratnagar today

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart K P Sharma Oli will inaugurate the Integrated Check Post (ICP) Biratnagar today.
  • The two Prime Ministers will jointly inaugurate the project through video conferencing at 11 A.M. India and Nepal share over 1,850 kilometre- long border which is characterized by a unique and long tradition of free movement of people.
  • Jogbani-Biratnagar international trade point is one of the important trade points between the two countries.
  • It has the facilities for immigration clearance of foreign passengers, export and import cargo handling. It is equipped with all modern facilities and is designed to handle around 500 trucks per day.

FESTIVAL

Mizoram to celebrate Chapchar kut on March 6

  • Mizoram will celebrate Chapchar Kut, the biggest and most important festival of the Mizos, on March 6.
  • The meeting of Chapchar Kut organizing committee held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Zoramthanga decided that the festival will be a two-day event.
  • While March 5 will be celebrated as pre-festival, which would be graced by Art and Culture Minister R Lalzirliana as "Kut Pa" or the "father of the festival", the grand celebration will take place on March 6.

DEFENCE

IAF inducts its first squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft equipped with BrahMos missiles

  • The Indian Air Force has inducted its first squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft carrying the BrahMos missiles in the South at its Thanjavur base in Tamil Nadu today.
  • The Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Bhadauria inducted the squadron at an impressive ceremony.
  • The newly reinstated 222-squadron, also known as the Tigersharks, would serve as a lethal weapons platform capable of carrying both aerial and maritime roles in the Indian Ocean Region.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCE

50th Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum begins in Davos

  • The 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, a congregation of rich and powerful from across the world, opens in Davos, Switzerland today.
  • Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation to the WEF. Besides, over 100 CEOs, political leaders including Union Ministers and Chief Ministers will take part in the 50th edition of the annual event.
  • The welcome message was followed by the annual crystal awards and this year's recipients included celebrity film star Deepika Padukone. The awards are given to cultural leaders, who are improving the state of the world through their contributions to inclusive and sustainable change.
  • This year's programme focuses on achieving maximum impact on the Forum's platform for public-private cooperation across six core areas of activity: ecology, economy, society, industry, technology, and geopolitics.
  • Among the initiatives to be launched at the annual meeting is one that aims to plant one trillion trees over the next decade and to equip one billion people with the necessary skills in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Rs 70,000 crore loan amount has been disbursed till Jan 13 under MSMEs scheme: Govt

  • A loan amount of nearly seventy thousand crore rupees has been disbursed till 13th of this month under the scheme of providing loan to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises - MSMEs within 59 minutes.
  • The Ministry tweeted that out of the 2.73 lakh applications received, 2.19 lakh applications have been approved. It said, for ease of access to credit for MSMEs, the government has introduced loan provision to MSMEs through a dedicated online portal- www.psbloansin59 minutes.com.
  • The portal acts as a single interface portal which facilitates in principal approval of bank loans to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises upto five crore rupees within 59 minutes.

APPOINTMENT

Centre appoints Nripendra Misra as chairman of NMML executive council

  • Former principal secretary to the Prime Minister, Nripendra Misra, has been appointed chairperson of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).
  • According to a government order, the Executive Council of the NMML has been reconstituted and it will be now chaired by Mr Misra.
  • Mr Misra is a 1967-batch retired IAS officer.
  • Dr A Surya Prakash, chairperson of the Prasar Bharati board, will be the council's vice-chairperson.
  • Among other eminent persons who find themselves on the reconstituted executive council are Rajya Sabha members Vinay Sahasrabudhhe and Swapan Dasgupta.
  • Academic Kapil Kapoor has also been nominated as a member of the committee apart from the Director of NMML, and two senior bureaucrats of the Culture Ministry as ex-officio members of the eight-member panel.

SPORTS

Prajnesh Gunneswaran crashes out in first round of Australian Open

  • India's top-ranked player Prajnesh Gunneswaran crashed out in the first round of Australian Open Tennis tournament to Tatsuma Ito of Japan at Melbourne World No. 122 Prajnesh went down 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. The match had been rescheduled yesterday because of rain. Prajnesh entered the main draw of the men's singles event as a lucky loser in the qualifiers.
  • This was Prajnesh's fifth straight appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam event having earlier played in the Wimbledon, French Open and the US Open due to his better rankings.

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