Shah inaugurates I4C, launches National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

NATIONAL NEWS

Shah inaugurates I4C, launches National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to fight cyber crimes and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal through which people can report cyber crimes online.
• That I4C is a 7 pronged scheme to fight cyber crime.
• I4C is a 7 pronged scheme to fight cyber crime which includes cyber crime reporting portal, analysis of threats, capacity building, research and innovation, creating an ecosystem for cyber crime management and joint cyber crime investigation platform for law enforcement agencies.

Railway stations to have smart cameras for facial recognition

• Indian Railways in an effort to improve the overall security of the passengers travelling in the trains has decided to install smart cameras in its premises.
• It has begun the process of installing Internet Protocol (IP) based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at stations, that is, waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas, main entrance/ exit, platforms, foot over bridges, booking offices etc.

INDEX

Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala top State Energy Efficiency Index 2019

• Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala have topped the State Energy Efficiency Index 2019. This index tracks the progress of Energy Efficiency (EE) initiatives in 36 states and union territories based on 97 significant indicators.
• The State Energy Efficiency Index categorises states as ‘Front Runner’, ‘Achiever’, ‘Contender’ and ‘Aspirant’ based on their efforts and achievements towards energy efficiency implementation.
• The top performing states in the State EE Index 2019 - Haryana, Kerala and Karnataka - are in the ‘Achiever’ category.
• Since there isn’t any ‘front runner’ state, it can be inferred that a lot more can be done at the state level to realise energy savings from energy efficiency.
• Karnataka, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Pondicherry led their groups. Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Rajasthan performed the worst in each of their groups.
• This index, developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), showed that a majority of the initiatives taken by states are on the Policies and Regulations front.

STATE NEWS

B Live launches e-bikes in Kochi to promote tourism

• B Live, an eco-tourism start-up which has pioneered the concept of electric vehicle tourism in India, has launched its services in Kerala, starting with Kochi.
• B Live offers experiential guided tours on smart electric bikes, providing an ecofriendly way to discover the State. The company, which is a award-winning eco-tourism start-up, works closely with the tourism ministry to promote eco-tourism in India.

Gujarat Agro Industries launches imported water-soluble fertilisers

• In a bid to encourage use of high-grade agri-inputs, the Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation (GAIC) has launched imported water-soluble fertilisers in Ahmedabad.
• The state agency, which promotes agro-based industries in Gujarat, has already imported 300 tonnes of water-soluble fertilizers from China.
• GAIC's role will be to import, package and sell the imported water-soluble fertilisers to the farmers through its network of dealers across the State.
• The new-generation fertilizers will be sold in the market under its brand - 'AGRO'. It also plans to launch customized grades of stage-specific and crop-specific fertilizers.

DEFENCE

Aircraft carrier Vikrant likely to be commissioned by 2021-Report

• The manufacturing of the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant is currently under phase three which involves setting to work of machinery and other equipment and it is likely to be commissioned by early 2021.
• This carrier is being built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) in Kochi.
• "Currently, phase three of the construction of Vikrant is under progress, which involves setting to work of machinery and equipment, like power generation and propulsion machinery. The carrier is likely to be commissioned by early 2021.

BANKING

RBI issues guidelines for universal access to financial services

• The Reserve Bank of India’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2019-2024 has recommended increasing the outreach of banking outlets to provide universal access to financial services to every village within a 5 kilometer radius/ hamlet of 500 households in hilly areas by March 2020.
• It also wants banks to move towards an increasingly digital and consent-based architecture for customer on boarding by March 2024. In order to achieve the objective of providing universal access to financial services, the NSFI approach paper emphasized that it is important to provide a robust and efficient digital network infrastructure to all financial service outlets/ touch points for the seamless delivery of financial services.

      Digital financial services

• The paper underscored the need to strengthen the ecosystem for various modes of digital financial services in all Tier-II to Tier VI centers to create the necessary infrastructure to move towards a less cash society by March 2022.
• NSFI’s vision is to make financial services available, accessible, and affordable to all the citizens in a safe and transparent manner to support inclusive and resilient multi-stakeholder-led growth.

SPORTS

Ladakh lifts 7th National Ice Hockey Championship Women trophy

• Ladakh lifted the 7th National Ice Hockey Championship Women trophy. The match was held at the Karzoo Ice Hockey Rink.
• The tournament was organised by the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) in association with the Ladakh winter sports club. Four women teams representing Chandigarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Ladakh participated in the tournament.