Israel Appoints Joyshree Das Verma as Honorary Consul in North-East India
To further increase its presence and collaborations in India's North-East, the Embassy of Israel in India has appointed Joyshree Das Verma as honorary consul in the region, to be based in Assam with jurisdiction over the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
The Embassy aims to identify all possible areas of cooperation in the North-East, where Israel can bring in expertise and advanced Israeli technologies to benefit people in the region.
Japan has Best Passport, India Ranks 85
The Henley's passport index has retained Japan on top of passport rankings as it offers visa-free access to 191 destinations around the world.
India is in the middle with a rank of 85 but three of its SAARC fellow members — Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan—bring up the rear with countries in the throes of civil war such as Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Indian passport holders can access 58 countries in the world without a prior visa and share the spot with Tajikistan.
Singapore also continues in second place since the rankings were last announced in July 2019 while South Korea and Germany are tied for third place.
Henley & Partner's Passport Index is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens. The Henley is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
US Lifts Self-imposed Curbs on Ties with Taiwan
The US has lifted the "self-imposed restrictions" on contacts between American and Taiwanese diplomats and officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced, ending a long-standing policy to "appease" China.
China regards Taiwan a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. But Taiwan's leaders assert that it is a sovereign state.
Pompeo said that for several decades, the State Department has created complex internal restrictions to regulate our diplomats, service members, and other officials' interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts. The US has maintained close ties with Taiwan since it split from mainland China in 1949 after the end of a civil war.
Private lender Bandhan Bank has signed an agreement with the Indian Army to provide banking services to the personnel of the force.
The bank got the mandate to maintain and a Bank Shaurya Salary Account of the Army personnel. Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account will have a zero balance facility. The Shaurya Salary Account also offers protection for self and assets.
Services under the account will be offered to serving personnel of the Army through the bank's network of banking outlets. The account will offer a host of features including zero-balance facility with 6 per cent interest on balance above Rs. one lakh, unlimited free ATM transactions, waiver of issuance and annual charge on Shaurya Visa Platinum debit card.
Baidu and Geely Partner up for Smart Cars
China's search engine Baidu has announced it will partner with carmaker Geely to make smart electric vehicles (EVs).
Baidu will provide "intelligent driving capabilities", while Geely will offer design and manufacturing expertise.
Geely is one of China's largest carmakers, and also owns Volvo and a stake in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler.
The two companies will be competing not just with Elon Musk's Tesla, but also with several Chinese competitors.
Baidu established its autonomous driving unit Apollo in 2017, which mainly supplies technology powered by artificial intelligence and works with a number of international and Chinese carmakers.
BHEL Secures Order for Steam and Power Plant from NALCO
State-run engineering firm BHEL bagged an order worth Rs. 450 crore for a steam and power plant from National Aluminium Corporation Limited (NALCO).
The Rs. 450 crore order has been placed on BHEL by NALCO for its 5th Stream Alumina Refinery Expansion Project at Damanjodi, Odisha.
BHELs scope in the contract includes design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of 1×300 TPH Coal Fired Boiler, 18.5 MW Steam Turbine Generator and associated auxiliaries, including Flue-gas desulfurisation (FGD) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR).
J&K LG Launches Mobile Application 'Satark Nagrik'
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha launched Mobile Application 'Satark Nagrik' and Departmental Vigilance Officers Portal of J&K Anti Corruption Bureau. The Lt Governor observed that the UT Government is taking comprehensive measures for ensuring transparent, accountable and responsive governance.
The mobile application has been developed with a purpose to facilitate seamless flow of information about corruption and enable citizens to submit their grievances with ease and mobility.
A unique ID number will be allotted at the time of registration of grievance which later can be used to track the status of grievance.
The Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVO) Portal has been designed to enable an online communication channel with the DVOs of various departments.
Labour Ministry Likely to Give Shape to National Employment Policy by December
The Ministry of Labour and Employment is likely to give a shape to the National Employment Policy (NEP) by December this year following the implementation of four labour codes and completion of four major surveys.
The NEP will draw a broad road map for improving job opportunities in the country, mainly by various initiatives like skill development, bringing investment in employment intensive segments and other policy interventions.
Last year, Parliament passed three labour codes on Industrial Relations, Social Security and Occupational Health Safety & Working Conditions (OSH).
The Code on Wages was approved by Parliament last year and its rules have been firmed up. But the implementation of the rules for Code on Wages was held back because the government wanted to implement all four labour codes in one go. These four codes are likely to be implemented from April 1 this year.
India to Get UN Tag of International Disaster Response Force for NDRF
India could soon be a part of the United Nations (UN) mandated international disaster rescue operations as the country's federal contingency force, NDRF, is expected to obtain a globally recognised standardisation later this year.
The authorisation will be done by the Switzerland-headquartered INSARAG (or the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group) which is a network of more than 90 countries and organisations under the UN umbrella to deal with urban search and rescue related issues.
INSARAG committee, comprising Australian and Singaporean experts, has conducted preliminary review of NDRF teams in September, 2019, but the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic put the process on a back burner for a while.
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Madhavsinh Solanki passed away aged 93. Solanki served as the state's CM for three terms between 1976 and 1990.
Notably, Solanki began the 'Mid-day Meal' initiative which is still benefitting the students in schools across the country. He also started the girl child nurturing scheme 'Kanya Kelavani' in Gujarat.
Subodh K. Jaiswal Takes over as New CISF Chief
Former Maharashtra DGP Subodh Kumar Jaiswal took over as the new chief of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that is primarily tasked to guard major Indian civil airports and vital infrastructure in the aerospace and nuclear domain.
The 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour before he took charge as the 28th chief of the force at the CISF headquarters at Lodhi Road in central Delhi.
Jaiswal, who was heading the Maharashtra Police since February 28, 2019, was appointed as the director general (DG) of the about 1.62 lakh personnel strong CISF by the central government last month.
26th Kolkata International Film Festival Inaugurated
The 26th Kolkata International Film Festival was inaugurated. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and actor Shah Rukh Khan were present at the online inauguration programme. The inauguration was very different from what it has been for years now, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, 81 full-length feature films and 50 short films and documentaries from around 45 countries would be screened at eight venues over the next one week.
KIFF is usually held in November every year but had to be postponed because of the pandemic.
National Road Safety Week
National road safety week is celebrated from 11th January to 17th January every year in India to create awareness about road safety and minimize road accidents & save life.
This year (2021) we are celebrating 32nd National Road Safety Week.
At first in the year 1989 awareness for the National Road Safety Week was celebrated and at that time about 36,000 had lost their lives. So this tragic story is related to the observation of this awareness week.
Later in the year, 2010 March 15 gave sanction to the National Road Safety policy by Cabinet Union of India which was recommended by the Sunder Committee through a written document in 2007 February.
The theme for the 32nd National Road Safety Week 2021 is 'Safe yourself to save your family'. Apply all the safety measures while going through a vehicle and always follow the traffic rules.
Suriname President, Curacao PM, NZ Minister among 30 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardees
Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, Curacao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath and New Zealand minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan were among 30 NRIs, and Indian-origin people and organisations who were conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award.
President Ram Nath Kovind, who delivered the valedictory address on the third and final day of the 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations, presented the awards at a virtual event.
The award is the highest honour conferred by the President of India as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conventions on a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Person of Indian Origin (PIO), and organisation or institution established and run by NRIs or PIOs.
Gujarat's Amendment to Industrial Disputes Act Gets Presidential Nod
Gujarat's amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act that seeks to increase ease of business by reducing the compliance burden on industries in terms of lay-offs, retrenchment and compensation has received the assent of President Ram Nath Kovind.
The Industrial Disputes (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2020, which was passed in the state Assembly in September 2020.
Vipul Mittra, Additional Chief Secretary, state Labour and Employment department, said the amendment aims at reforms to increase ease of doing business, and was carried out on the instructions of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An all-women Air India pilot team flew over the North Pole on the world's longest air route and successfully landed at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru from San Francisco, covering a distance of about 16,000 kilometres.
According to Shivani Manhas, one of the four pilots, who operated Air India's inaugural San Francisco-Bengaluru flight said that it took almost 17 hours to reach Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.
India's Institutions of Eminence can Set up Campuses in Foreign Countries
Indian universities and colleges with the Institutions of Eminence (IOEs) tag, which include several IITs, will now be able to set up campuses in foreign countries with the University Grants Commission (UGC) issuing fresh guidelines on the same. The Education Ministry had launched the IoE scheme in 2018 as per which 20 institutions were to be selected -- 10 public and 10 private ones -- that would enjoy complete academic and administrative.
The new guidelines have been issued in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) as per which foreign universities will be allowed to set up campuses in India and top Indian institutes in foreign countries.
IIT Jammu Organises its First-ever Convocation Ceremony
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu organised its first-ever convocation ceremony, however, it was conducted in a hybrid model.
The ceremony was attended by 79 students. Out of the 79 graduates, 39 received their degrees while present on campus while 40 graduates were awarded their degrees online.
From Khirki to Fathepur and 'Sambhaji Nagar', the Many Names of Aurangabad
The historic city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra has become the centre of a debate between ruling allies Shiv Sena and Congress, after the former sought to rename the city as "Sambhaji Nagar" in honour of Chhatrapati Sambahji Maharaj, son of the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji, who was killed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
The move, however, is opposed by the Congress which claims the renaming is not part of the Common Minimum Programme of the state government and that politics over renaming of cities creates a rift among people.
The issue, however, is not new and has often popped up during elections. Going back in history, the name change was first proposed by late Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray in May 1988, during the party's expansion drive in Maharasthra. Thackeray had justified the renaming saying that Sambhaji Maharaj was kept captive and tortured by Aurangzeb, who had lived in Aurangabad until his death. Ever since, the Shiv Sena has raised the demand of renaming the city.
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