Assam Current Affairs –November 01 – 07, 2019

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Current Affairs Assam – November 1 - 7, 2019

( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 1 – 7, 2019 )

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November 01, 2019

 Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu to inaugurate NE Book Fair at Guwahati
  • Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the 21st North East Book Fair, 2019, organised by the All Assam Publishers and Book Sellers Association at the AEI Field in Guwahati.
  • The book fair, scheduled from November 1 to November 12, has this year attracted a total of 75 publishers and book sellers from all over the country, besides one publishing house from Bangladesh.
  • More than 150 Assamese books will be released during the fair that will also see a series of cultural and literary activities.
  • The book fair has been dedicated in the memory of eminent educationist Tabu Ram Taid, who passes in August this year. The main stage of the book fair is dedicated in the memory of social worker GL Agarwala and artist Benu Misra.
  • The cultural programmes of the book fair have been dedicated in the memory of Vaishnavite scholar Purnabrata Deva Goswami, Natya Samrat Chandra Choudhury and freedom fighter Ramesh Chandra Sarma. The main auditorium of the fair is dedicated in the memory of eminent anthropologist Annada Charan Bhagabati. The sabhaghar of the book fair has been dedicated in the memory of Prof Dilip Kumar Dutta.
  • Remembering litterateur Purabi Bormudoi, a special women’s day will be observed during the book fair. Similarly, a senior citizens day in the memory of folk scholar and linguist Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya and a children’s day remembering writer Manik Bora.

BIOGRAPHY – Tabu Ram Taid

  • Tabu Ram Taid was an Indian educationist, linguist, author and administrator.
  • Hailing from the Mising community, a small indigenous tribe of Assam, India, and from an economically challenged and geographically remote village ‘Ghunasuti Ayengia’, tackling various challenges and obstacles, eventually earned a Post Graduate degree from Delhi University, which was quite uncommon in his community at that time.
  • Starting his career as a lecturer of English language in Cotton College, Guwahati, he further proceeded to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics from the University of Reading, UK, and also successfully completed a course in Distance Teaching at University of London Institute of Education, UK.
  • He served in various senior level posts in various educational arms of the Government of Assam.
  • He was the founder President of the Mising Agom Kebang (Linguistic Society of the Mising, also known as Mising Sahitya Sabha), the apex body of the Mising community aiming for the preservation and development of the Mising language.
  • His body of work includes the ‘Mising Gompir Kumsung’ a dictionary of the Mising language with an introduction to Mising grammar), ‘EkuNki nibondho’, a collection of selected articles written in Assamese, ‘Glimpses’, a collection of articles written in English, research work on the Mising and Assamese language, editorial work on traditional Mising literary artifacts like folk songs, along with lexicographical works like dictionary, grammar and phonology of the Mising language.
  • His work on his mother tongue, Mising, is his invaluable contribution to the Mising community and also to the Assamese people and culture at large.
Punjab CM launches job helpline under ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ programme
  • In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the Punjab government launched a job helpline for job-seekers. As part of the state government’s flagship ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ programme, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said it would help connect job-seekers and job providers and open up job opportunities for thousands.
  • The helpline aims to reach every household in Punjab and is designed to call 75,000 mobile and landline numbers a day through a 110-seat back-end call centre.
  • The Chief Minister asked the Secretary of the Employment Generation and Training Department, which has come up with the initiative, to popularise it to enable youth, especially in the rural areas, to get the maximum benefit from the helpline.
  • Singh also asked the department to intensify its efforts to provide job opportunities to youth to tap their massive latent potential.
  • He stressed synergy among the Department of Employment Generation and Training, the Technical Education and the industries to create job opportunities for youth.
Pavan Kapoor appointed as Ambassador to UAE
  • Pavan Kapoor, a 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service officer took charge as the new Ambassador to UAE. Ambassador Kapoor replaced Navdeep Singh Suri, who retired last month.
  • During his diplomatic career Pavan Kapoor has served in different capacities at the Indian Missions in Moscow, Kyiv, London and Geneva.
  • Mr Kapoor served as the Ambassador to Israel.
  • He has also served in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi.
  • Pavan Kapoor was India’s High Commissioner to Mozambique and the Kingdom of Swaziland from January 2014 to February 2016.
  • He has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and also holds a Masters in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics.
Odisha govt signs MoU with J-PAL South Asia
  • The Odisha government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia to engage in a strategic evidence-based approach to policy making.
  • The partnership targets to maximise the impact of anti-poverty programmes of the state across a wide range of sectors.
  • J-PAL is co-founded by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, joint winners of 2019 Nobel Prize in economics for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.
  • Under this partnership, J-PAL South Asia will provide the Odisha government technical assistance for scaling up evidence backed programmes to improve development outcomes across the state.
  • This partnership aims at bringing transformation in the lives of people through research based intervention in policy formulation.
  • The partnership also establishes an overarching collaboration between J-PAL South Asia and the state government under which J-PAL will work with several departments to conduct policy-relevant randomised evaluations of new anti-poverty and development programmes.
  • Additionally, a diagnostic exercise and subsequent workshops will be conducted to build state capacity in the area of monitoring and evaluation.
  • The MoU was signed by Odisha Development Commissioner Suresh Mahapatra and Executive Director of J-PAL South Asia Shobhini Mukerji in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
  • J-PAL and the state government will conduct an annual policy dialogue to identify the government”s top policy priorities, conduct discussions to share evidence, and jointly come up with innovative solutions that can be field-tested through rigorous randomised evaluations.
  • Topics for the policy dialogues include malnutrition, women”s empowerment, distress migration, health-worker performance, and improving agricultural productivity.

FACTFILE – The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

  • J-PAL is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.
  • J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty, and builds partnerships with governments, NGOs, donors, and others to generate new research, share knowledge, and scale up effective programs.
  • J-PAL was founded in 2003 as the “Poverty Action Lab” by professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan, to support randomized evaluations measuring interventions against poverty on topics ranging from agriculture and health to governance and education.
  • The Lab was renamed in honor of Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel when his son, MIT alumnus Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, supported it with three major endowments in 2005.
  • 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to J-PAL founder Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.

November 02, 2019

IIT Guwahati, PCBA join hands to tackle air pollution
  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and the Pollution Control Board Assam (PCBA) have joined hands to tackle the problem of air pollution in some major urban centres of the state, including Guwahati.
  • The two have joined hands under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
  • IIT-G and PCBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently in this regard.
  • Under the project, IIT-G and PCBA will work together to deal with air pollution in Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar and Silchar.
  • In these urban centres, the particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) levels exceed the annual average ambient air quality standard of 60 microgram per cubic metre.
  • PCBA will work to prepare city-specific interventions and action plans with the target of reducing PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by at least 20 to 30 per cent by 2024. IIT-G will act as the technical partner.
  • The institute will assist PCBA in carrying out air pollution studies like identifying critical sources, building state-of-the-art air quality monitoring networks, and investigating mitigations in the five identified towns and cities and implementing them with the help of the Board.
  • NCAP was launched in January as part of the government’s agenda to put in place a time-bound national level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner.
  • The approach for NCAP includes collaborative, multi-scale and cross-sectoral coordination between the relevant Central ministries, state governments and local bodies.
  • NCAP’s objective is to have comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution, besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.
India-US Economic and Financial Partnership Meeting
  • At the Seventh Meeting of the India-US Economic and Financial Partnership, India and the US on Friday discussed trade issues and also resolved to boost cooperation in tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).
  • India and the US discussed policies to stimulate economic growth and noted the significant steps India has taken to strengthen the financial sector, including Public Sector Bank recapitalization and plans to merge some of the state-owned banks.
  • Both sides also discussed capital flows, investment promotion related issues, and the external economic environment.
  • The Indian delegation was led by Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, and the US delegation was led by Steven Mnuchin, US Secretary of the Treasury.
  • Both sides had in-depth exchanges of views on a range of issues such as the global, US, and Indian economic outlooks, global debt sustainability, financial sector reforms, leveraging of capital flows and investment, and tackling money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT)
  • Both sides are committed to greater economic cooperation on global economic issues, both bilaterally and multilaterally in the G20 and other fora.
  • Both sides are working together to attract more private sector capital to finance India”s infrastructure needs and further raise growth for both countries.
  • Both sides took note of the importance of having greater attention to transparency and debt sustainability in bilateral development lending.
  • Both sides appreciated the recent signing of an arrangement that enables automatic exchange of Country-by Country Reports for purposes of high level transfer pricing risk assessment.
  • Both sides are encouraged with the developments that have taken place since the last meeting of the Economic and Financial Partnership and look forward to continued engagement to strengthen our bilateral relationship, our economies and our economic security.
D.C. Raina appointed as the first Advocate General of J&K UT
  • Senior advocate D.C. Raina was appointed as the first Advocate General of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • The appointment was made by Lt Governor G.C. Murmu a day after the Union Territory came into being.
  • The UT was carved out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir along with abolition of its special status granted under Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
India, Germany inks pacts in various fields & resolved to jointly combat terrorism
  • India and Germany inked over 20 agreements, including in the field of Artificial Intelligence, green urban mobility and agriculture, and resolved to jointly combat terrorism.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the 5th Inter Governmental Consultations.
  • While strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation formed a major part of the joint statement, there was also a large section on combating terrorism.
  • Both sides are also focusing on strategic cooperation in the field of new and advanced technology.
  • The two sides have stressed on cooperation in the fields of new and advanced technology, Artificial Intelligence, skills, education, cyber security.
  • The two countries have also agreed to explore cooperation in news areas like e-mobility, fuel cell technology, smart cities, inland water ways, coastal management, cleaning of rivers and climate change.
  • The five Declarations of Intent, were in the field of Consultations for the period 2020-2024, cooperation in strategic projects, in green urban mobility, for joint cooperation in research and development in the field of Artificial and Intelligence and in the field of prevention of marine litter.
  • The 17 MoUs included for Exchange of Personnel between ISRO and German Aerospace Centre, Cooperation in the Field of Civil Aviation, Cooperation within the International Smart Cities Network, Cooperation in Skills Development and Vocational Education and Training, in the field of Start-ups, in Agricultural Market Development, among others.
  • The others included cooperation in Inland, Coastal and Maritime Technology, Setting up of Academic Collaboration in Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation, in Higher Education, between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Deutscher FuAYball-Bund e.V (DFB), and on Indo-German Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.

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November 03, 2019

 French Development Agency (AFD) to provide Rs 400 crore loan to Assam
  • The French Development Agency (AFD) will provide a Rs 400-crore loan to Assam to implement a forest and biodiversity conservation project.
  • The agreement signed in the presence of French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain.
  • The Rs 251.50-crore Assam Project on Forest and Biodiversity Phase I was co-funded by AFD and the State government and it covered the entire State in a phase manner.
  • The Phase I of the project, implemented by 32 territorial divisions, seven wildlife divisions and 13 social forestry divisions, ended in May this year.
  • The project vision is to enable sustainable forest and biodiversity conservation and management in Assam through multi-scale integrative planning and involvement of forest dependent communities in target areas and giving fillip to their livelihood activities through sustainable use of forest and non-forest resources.
  • There are three components of the project – conservation of ecosystems, community engagement and institutional strengthening of forest department – to be implemented over a period of five years.
  • The counterpart funding of Rs 100 crore for the second phase of the project will be done by the State government.

FACTFILE – The French Development Agency

  • AFD is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.
  • This public institution is active in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the French overseas territories, where it finances and supports projects that improve living conditions for populations, promote economic growth and protect the planet.
  • In 2014, AFD earmarked EUR 8.1bn to finance projects in developing countries and for the French overseas territories, a commitment up by 4% compared to 2013.
  • Its headquarters is located in Paris. Its teams are based in Paris, Marseille and in a network of 72 agencies and representations abroad and in the French overseas territories.
West Bengal, UNICEF jointly set 5-step agenda to fight malnutrition
  • The West Bengal government and UNICEF have come together to implement a five-step agenda laying stress on empowering families and building a healthy food environment to fight the triple burden of malnutrition.
  • The UNICEF”s flagship report – The State of the World’s Children (SOWC) – for this year has focused on food and nutrition, given the importance of healthy diets, especially among children and young people.
  • The report says that poor diet is damaging children’s health, and that poverty, urbanisation, climate change and poor eating choices are driving unhealthy diets.
  • The SOWC report calls for a shift in the way the authorities address and respond to malnutrition.
  • Children across the world are facing a triple burden of malnutrition in the form of undernutrition (stunting and wasting), hidden hunger (deficiencies in micronutrients) and overweight (including obesity).
  • The topmost priority in the five-step agenda is empowering families, children and young people to demand nutritious food, including by improving nutrition education.
  • There is also stress on collecting, analysing and using good-quality data and evidence to guide action and track progress.
PM Modi releases commemorative coin on Guru Nanak and thai translation of ‘Tirukkural’
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin marking the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Besides releasing a Thai translation of the Tamil classic ”Tirukkural” at the ”Sawasdee PM Modi” community event in Bangkok.
  • Tirukkural is written by poet Thiruvalluvar and has been translated into many languages. The Tamil community in Thailand got it translated into Thai language for the first time.

FACTFILE – The Tirukkural

  • Tirukkural is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 couplets or Kurals. The text is divided into three books, each with aphoristic teachings on virtue, wealth and love.
  • It is considered as one of the great works on ethics and morality, is known for its universality and secular nature.
  • Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE.
  • The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.
  • The Kural is traditionally praised with epithets and alternate titles such as “the Tamil Veda” and “the divine book”. It emphasizes non-violence and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual.
  • In addition, it highlights truthfulness, self-restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, goodness of wife, duty, giving, and so forth, besides covering a wide range of social and political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, greatness of army and soldier’s honor, death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education, abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants.
  • The Kural has been widely admired by scholars and has been translated into at least 40 Indian and non-Indian languages.
China launches high-resolution Earth observation satellite ‘Gaofen-11’
  • China launched Gaofen-11, an optical remote sensing satellite, as part of its high-resolution Earth observation project.
  • The Gaofen-11 satellite was launched on a Long March 4B rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in northern Shanxi Province. It was the 282nd flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket.
  • The satellite can be used for land survey, urban planning, road network design, agriculture, and disaster relief. Its data will also be used for the Belt and Road Initiative.
 India, EU launch call on research on developing local energy system
  • The European Commission and India”s Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched an 18 million euros joint call on research and innovation to develop integrated local energy systems.
  • Proposals should develop and demonstrate novel solutions, integrating all energy vectors including possibilities offered by batteries and electric vehicles, interconnect them and optimize joint operation with increased share of renewables and a higher energy efficiency.
  • Cooperation should take the form of a proposal demonstrating a local energy system (or several) in Europe and/or India.
  • The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) will range between 5 and 8.
  • The call text and call deadlines are the same for applicants from Europe and India.
  • This call targets minimum three participants from India as well as from Europe.
  • A total budget of euro 18 million is foreseen. The Indian selected participants will be funded by DST and the European partners by the EU Research and Innovation programme ”Horizon 2020”.

November 04, 2019

Union Govt and UNICEF launch ‘YuWaah’ initiative
  • A national initiative – YuWaah – aimed at imparting skills among the youth and providing employment to more than 300 million young Indians was launched by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani with an alliance of national and international partners, including UNICEF.
  • India is one of the first countries to launch the YuWaah national initiative linked to the global Generation Unlimited movement which began in New York in September 2018.
  • Supported by Unicef, Generation Unlimited brings young people together with the private sector, governments, international and local organisations to tackle the urgent challenge of investing in their learning and training so that they are prepared for the complex and fast-changing world of work and can be active and engaged citizens.
  • On the occasion, Irani and Fore also launched a special “U-Report” digital survey, aimed at listening to and engaging youth throughout the country to ensure that their voices and solutions shape the actions of YuWaah! Partners.
NASSCOM, SAP India signed an MoU to skill, reskill and upskill workforce across industries
  • NASSCOM and business software solutions major SAP India signed an MoU to skill, reskill and upskill the workforce across industries.
  • The “FutureSkills” programme of IT industry”s apex body, launched in February 2018, aims to reskill 2 million professionals, potential employees as well as students in the industry over a period of next five years.
  • SAP will support NASSCOM”s “FutureSkills” with its skill development initiatives that focus on content, evangelism and industry connects, thus, enabling the skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling imperative for the IT-BPM industry and related stakeholders in the country.
  • SAP would provide content and enable select SAP experts as mentors for this programme while NASSCOM, through its “FutureSkills” platform, would host these content and expose the SAP mentors as experts on these technology domains which would be made available for the end beneficiaries on a zero-cost subscription model.
  • The automotive, textile, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail and IT-BPM are set be the most disrupted industry with the inclusion of AI, ML and data analytics, etc.
  • People from the IT, IT-enabled services industry workforce, potential workforce and college-going students are expected to benefit from the programme.
Satya Pal Malik takes oath as Governor of Goa
  • Satya Pal Malik was on Sunday sworn in as the Governor of Goa.
  • Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Justice Pradeep Nandrajog administered the oath of office to Malik at Raj Bhavan.
  • Malik had earlier served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Malik, 73, replaced Mridula Sinha who was holding the Goa governor’s post since August 2014.
India and Uzbekistan signs 3 MoUs and initiated first-ever joint exercise ‘Dustlik 2019’
  • India and Uzbekistan inked three Memorandum of Understanding in Tashkent, Uzbekistan during the visit of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh.
  • Pacts were inked in the field of Military Medicine and Military Education to further strengthen Defence cooperation between both the countries.
  • Rajnath Singh also held discussions with Uzbekistan’s Defence Minister Major Gen Nizamovich.
  • Singh and his Uzbekistan counterpart witnessed the first-ever exchange over a video-link between College of Defence Management in Secunderabad, India and the Armed Forces Academy of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.
  • The two Defence Ministers also presided over a curtain raiser of the first-ever India-Uzbekistan joint exercise Dustlik 2019.
  • Both Defence Ministers expressed satisfaction at the enhanced level of engagement between their respective countries in the defence sphere.
  • The defence ministers agreed that both nations would continue to work together to further raise their level of engagements in the defence sphere in keeping with strategic partnerships.

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November 05, 2019

 Assam gets 15 electric buses under ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles’ (FAME-1)
  • Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off 15 electric buses which were introduced under Assam State Transport Corporation in the city.
  • The new buses procured under ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles’ (FAME-1) and introduced as a pilot project will ply from Panbazar to Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.
  • The state government is working to transform Guwahati as the gateway to the South East Asian countries, the Chief Minister said that such a vision to materialise requires great deal of support from all sections of society.
  • The state government is likely to introduce 100 additional electric buses under FAME-2 for which necessary process have been started. Out of these buses 50 buses will ply in Guwahati, 25 each will be pressed into service at Jorhat and Silchar.

FACTFILE – The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020

  • The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country.
  • As part of the NEMMP 2020, Department of Heavy Industry formulated a Scheme viz. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in the year 2015 to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.
  • The Phase-I of this Scheme was initially launched for a period of 2 years, commencing from 1st April 2015, which was subsequently extended from time to time and the last extension was allowed up to 31st March 2019.
  • The 1st Phase of FAME India Scheme was implemented through four focus areas namely (i) Demand Creation, (ii) Technology Platform, (iii) Pilot Project and (iv) Charging Infrastructure.
  • Market creation through demand incentives was aimed at incentivizing all vehicle segments i.e. 2-Wheelers, 3-Wheelers Auto, Passenger 4-Wheeler vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses.
India to launch National Disaster Management Scheme
  • Urging all SCO countries towards joint assistance in dealing with earthquakes, Home Minister Amit Shah said India would soon come up with a national scheme which would not only cover the disaster risk renewal Sendai Framework but also the goals of permanent development and climate related agreement.
  • Shah said India has completed the amendment process in the country’s National Disaster Management Scheme launched in 2016.
  • Shah said that all 28 states, nine Union Territories and 90 per cent districts have completed their disaster management schemes.
  • Shah said will come up with a national scheme which not only would cover disaster risk renewal Sendai framework but also the goals of permanent development and climate related agreement.
  • Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the state has the primary role in reducing disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders, including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.
  • The Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search and Rescue 2019 is a four-day exercise, which would help the SCO countries in a situation when they need the support of others to deal with any disaster-like situation.
Odisha Govt inks pacts for youth skill development
  • The Odisha government has signed an MoU and two agreements with TATA Strive and Tech Mahindra for skill development and to create employment opportunities for the youth.
  • The Directorate of Technical Education and Training (DTE&T) and TATA Strive signed an agreement to impart life skills to students in all 49 government ITIs.
  • The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) signed an agreement with Tech Mahindra to set up a state-of-the-art facility to start its operations for international BPO for global customers.
  • A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Tech Mahindra, Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) and College of Engineering and Technology (CET) to set up a Centre of Excellence in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
  • The students will get an opportunity to work on proof of concept on real life business problems to keep up with the market demand and to enhance the employability of engineering students. Every year, 30 students will get training in the field of AI and ML for a period of 12 months.
IBM launch ‘SkillsBuild‘ platform for skilling students in collaboration with MSDE
  • IBM announced launch of SkillsBuild platform in collaboration with the Directorate General of Training under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
  • As part of the programme, a two-year advanced diploma in information technology (IT), networking and cloud computing will be offered at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and the National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).
  • The platform will also be extended to train ITI and NSTI faculty in artificial intelligence (AI) skills.
  • SkillsBuild offers digital learning content from IBM and partners, like CodeDoor, Coorpacademy and Skillsoft.
  • The digital platform will also provide personal assessment for cognitive capabilities and personality via MyInnerGenius to students. They will then learn basics about digital technologies as well as professional skills, like resume writing, problem solving and communication.
  • Students will also receive recommendations on role-based education for specific jobs, that include technical and professional learning.

November 06, 2019

 Assam CM opens Brahmaputra Pushkar Mahotsav
  • Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the Brahmaputra Pushkar Mahotsav, a mega river festival on the bank of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati highlighting the river’s important role in Assam’s sociocultural life.
  • The Pushkar Mahotsav, to be held for 12 days from November 5 to November 16, is a river festival which is organised on the banks of 12 important rivers in India, including the Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Kaveri, etc.
  • The festival occurs once in every 12 years for each river. As per mythological beliefs, Pushkar is celebrated on the banks of each river according to the zodiac sign of that river.
  • The Mahotsav has been organised at Sonaram High School Field at Bharalumukh here by the Purva Tirupathi Sri Balaji Samiti, Guwahati in collaboration with the Sri Mahalakshmi Charitable Trust, Chennai.
  • The State tourism department and a number of other departments are assisting the festival, which is supposed to host approximately two lakh devotees, mostly from South India.
Justice Rajendra Menon appointed AFT Chairperson
  • Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice (Retired) Rajendra Menon was appointed the new Chairperson of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).
  • The tenure of appointment of Justice (Retired) Menon will be for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till he attains the age of 70 years, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest
  • The tribunal, established by the government of India, has the power provided for adjudication or trial of disputes and complaints with respect to commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, The Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950.

FACTFILE – Armed Forces Tribunal

  • Armed Forces Tribunal is a military tribunal in India. It was established under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007.
  • In 1999, the Law Commission’s 169th report stated that disciplinary and service matters required quick resolutions and proposed a special tribunal for the military and paramilitary forces.
  • Armed forces tribunal bill was steered through Parliament only by the Defence Ministry, leaving paramilitary forces, even the Assam Rifles and Coast Guard, outside the tribunal’s purview.
IIT Madras launches first indigenously designed standing wheelchair
  • Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has launched country’s ‘first indigenously’ designed standing wheelchair- ‘Arise’ for assisting the specially-abled person in day to day activities.
  • These customised wheelchairs enable a differently-abled person to shift from sitting to standing position and vice-versa independently.
  • Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot was also present at the launch of ‘Arise’.
  • Lauding the efforts of IIT Madras, Gehlot said, IIT Madras has done a wonderful job, I have never seen such a standing wheelchair even in a foreign country.
  • He also stated that ministry will be extended the necessary help, if required to extend the benefits of this initiative to more and more specially-able citizens.
P S Sreedharan Pillai sworn-in as the new Governor of Mizoram
  • P S Sreedharan Pillai was sworn-in as the new Governor of Mizoram at the Raj Bhavan.
  • The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Justice Ajai Lamba.
  • Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthangam his cabinet colleagues, legislators, former chief minister Lal Thanhawla and senior officials attended the swearing-in ceremony.

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November 07, 2019

 Assam Governor adopts Morigaon as model district for agriculture
  • To develop agriculture and to use it for the socio-economic development of the people of the State, Governor Jagadish Mukhi has adopted Morigaon district for development of agriculture and allied activities.
  • Governor Mukhi said that the Morigaon district has enormous potential as most of the people are associated with agriculture, so developing the district in agriculture will lead to capacity building of its people. Moreover, as practising the single-cropping system amounts to inadequate use of land resources, the Governor also advised the farmers to adhere to multi-cropping system.
  • The Governor also distributed power tillers, rickshaws for carrying agriculture goods and electric water pump sets.
  • The Department of Fisheries, Assam has already initiated an effort under ‘Morigaon Special intervention of the Governor of Assam Project: 2019-2022’ to develop supporting infrastructure to achieve sustainable development in fisheries.
India, Russia to expand military technical cooperation
  • India and Russia are working on a programme of military technical cooperation by 2030, Work is underway to agree on a programme of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation till 2030.
  • The Russian government said after a meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Moscow
  • During the meeting, Borisov noted that despite of external pressure, Russia and India are successfully implementing joint cooperation in the military-technical sphere, particularly the supply of S-400 air defence systems.
  • The topics of discussion included a wide range of issues related to bilateral military technical cooperation, as well as interaction in the field of science and high-tech.
Nasscom Foundation rewards 7 entities for social impact
  • The Nasscom Foundation, the Indian IT industry body’s social arm, and software firm Mphasis declared Rs 60 lakh in grants to seven entities for innovatively applying technology for social impact.
  • The seven entities recognised as part of the National Association of Software and Services Companies” (Nasscom) Social Innovation Forum include Meraki Foundation, Inali Foundation, Padcare Labs, MHS City Lab, Watsan Envirotech, Bombay Bijlee and Anukai Solutions.
  • Meraki Foundation was awarded for skilling low income parents to act early to unleash a child”s potential, PadCare Labs for sanitary napkin disposal and recycling solution and MHS City Lab for developing digital tools for affordable low-income housing, among others.
  • In addition to the catalytic grants, all the winners are eligible for industry mentorship worth Rs 20 lakh, offering a 12-month ”support to scale” mentoring from experts
  • As many as 15,000 entities applied in the categories of education, accessibility, healthcare, financial inclusion, environment and others.
 PM Modi inaugurated the 5th edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF)
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fifth edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF) via video conference.
  • The theme of the festival – ‘RISEN: Research, Innovation and Science Empowering the Nation’
  • The function was attended by West Bengal Governor J Dhankar and Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardan.
  • Diplomats from Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among others, attended the conclave.

FACTFILE – India International Science Festival (IISF)

  • India International Science Festival (IISF) launched in 2015 is a celebration to promote Science and Technology and demonstrate how science could lead India towards a developed nation within a short span of time.
  • The aim is to engage the public with science and celebrate the joy of science and show the ways how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) provide us with the solutions to improve our lives.
  • Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), has created a unique platform of India International Science Festival which intends to inspire curiosity and make learning more rewarding.

 

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