23 November 2017 Current Affairs
Northeast Development Summit held in Manipur
Manipur hosted the first- ever North East Development Summit (NEDS) 2017 in Imphal. NEDS 2017 was jointly organized by Manipur State Government in collaboration with Union Commerce Ministry and India Foundation. The main objective of this summit was to showcase the economic potential and to attract investments in food processing, bamboo industry, real estate and other businesses within the state. During the course of this Summit, around 20 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed between various Departments of Manipur State Government and National and International Companies/ Investors.
Telangana makes Telugu compulsory till Inter from next academic year
Telugu would be implemented as a compulsory subject from first standard to Intermediate, including in the CBSE and ICSE schools, from the next academic year in Telangana. Deputy Chief Minister K. Srihari, who also holds Education portfolio, reviewed the steps to be taken before the commencement of the 2018-19 academic year in tune with the decision already taken by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
India is one of top global cybercrime hotspots: study
According to the latest study, Asia-Pacific region accounts more than half of the world’s Internet users and is the biggest region globally in terms of e-commerce sales, has seen a massive rise in cybercrime. As per the APAC Cybercrime report 2017 by Threat Metrix, cybercrime in the Asia-Pacific region is growing with attacks becoming more organized and sophisticated. It is because of the rapid digital tranformation spurred by massive economic growth.
Union Govt initiates ‘safe-city’ plan for women in 8 metropolitan cities
The union govt has initiated the process of formulating comprehensive ‘safe-city’ plans for women in eight metropolitan cities of the country. The process was kick-started during a Steering Committee meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Rajiv gauba. During the meeting, a comprehensive review was undertaken to measure the progress and examine steps taken by the police and civil administration for women’s safety. The pan will be implemented in cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Hyderabad.
PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 5th global conference on cyber space
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fifth edition of Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) in New Delhi. GCCS is one of world’s largest conferences on cyber space. It is for first time organized in India. The theme of the two-day conference is “Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development”.
Hike partners with Airtel Payments Bank mobile wallet
Messaging app Hike announced that it has entered into a tie-up with Airtel Payments Bank for its mobile wallet product. Wing to this tie-up, users of Hike messenger will now have access to Airtel Payments Bank’s vast product line including merchant and utility payments. From Airtel Payments Bank’s perspective, this tie-up will be beneficial as it will get access to over 100 million users on Hike.
Shubhangi Swaroop becomes first female pilot in Indian Navy
Bareilly’s Shubhangi Swaroop became the first-ever female pilot to be inducted into the Indian Navy. Swaroop who has been appointed in the Naval Armament Inspection (NAI) branch will now undergo pilot training at Dundigal Air Force Academy near Hyderabad. She is among the 328 cadets who passed out from the Indian Naval Academy’s first batch of female officers.
Prime Minister Modi launches Umang app
Prime minister Narendra Modi has launched Umang mobile application, an integrated platform for government to citizen services. Umang- an acronym for “unified mobile app for new age” e-governance – currently hosts around 162 services from 33 government departments of central and state governments. The app has been developed by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY). Some of the services relate to Aadhaar, DigiLocker, Pay Gov, Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS), and CBSE. The app provides easy facility for provisioning the services through mobile without long drawn detailed project report (DPR)/ bidding process.
Government Sets up a Panel to Draft New Direct Tax Law
The government has constituted a task force for redrafting the 50-year old income tax law in sync with the economic needs of the country. The six-member task force will have Arbind Modi, CBDT Member (Legislation) as the Convener and other members, including Girish Ahuja (chartered accountant), Rajiv Memani (Chairman and Regional Managing Partner of EY) and Mansi Kedia (Consultant, ICRIER). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the annual conference of tax officers in September, had observed that the Income-tax Act, 1961 was drafted more than 50 years ago and it needs to be redrafted.
TN has highest number of women entrepreneurs: Report
According to the state-wise analysis of state of women entrepreneurship in the country by Sheatwork, a knowledge hub for women entrepreneurs, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in India, followed by Kerala and West Bengal. It also said that nearly 80 per cent of women entrepreneurs in India are self-financing their businesses, with little utilisation of the various government schemes that provide financial aid to them.
Palestinian factions agree to hold election by 2018 end
Rival group Hamas and Fatah have agreed to hold a general election by the end of 2018. Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal min October in Cairo-backed talks after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of Gaza, including the key Rafah border crossing, a decade after seizing the enclave in a civil war. The Western-backed mainstream Fatah party lost control, of Gaza to Hamas, considered a terrorist group by many in the West and by Israel, in fighting in 2007.