FM N Sitharaman announced raising the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in the defense sector under the automatic route from 49% to 74%. Also, Ordnance Factory Boards to be corporatised for better management & eventually get listed in stock markets.
Union Defense Minister: Rajnath Singh.
Centre has asked the States to use online portal National Migrant Information System (NMIS) for capturing the information on movement of migrants & for better inter-State coordination. Portal has been developed by National Disaster Management Authority.
NDMA works under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs.
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet & communication technologies. Theme 2020: "Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)"
The day marks signing of 1st International Telegraph Convention.
FM N Sitharaman said debts related to COVID-19 will be excluded from the "default" category under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code for a period of upto 1 year. Also, minimum threshold to initiate insolvency proceedings has been raised to Rs 1 crore.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was passed as an Act in 2016.
Digital education initiative for students called PM e-Vidya to be launched which will be an earmarked TV channel per class from 1 to 12. Also, top 100 universities to be permitted to automatically start online courses by 30 May 2020.
National Foundational Literacy & Numeracy Mission to be launched
Government would provide 30% viability gap funding (VGF), against the 20% given earlier for social infrastructure projects, to help boost private sector investment in social infrastructure projects with a total outlay of Rs 8,100 crore.
Minister of State for Finance: Anurag Singh Thakur.
Government announced that it will introduce competition, transparency & private sector participation in the coal sector through revenue sharing mechanism. This will be done instead of regime of fixed rupee/tonne. Nearly 50 blocks to be offered immediately.
Coal bed methane (CBM) production would also be encouraged.
A team from Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc) has developed a three-layered antimicrobial composite material of low-cost for making masks. The material is designed to cut off particles of the size of 0.3 micrometres to about 95% efficiency.
N95 masks filter out 95% of particles of size 0.3 micrometres.
Phyllis George, a broadcast television pioneer who became the first female co-anchor of the football pregame show "The NFL Today," has died. She was 70. She had been crowned the 50th Miss America in 1971.
Miss World 2019: Toni-Ann Singh.
Govt announced that around 1.2 million members of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) withdrew Rs 3,360 crore retirement savings during the coronavirus-induced lockdown under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) package.
EPFO functions under the Union labour and employment ministry
The purpose of World Hypertension Day is to promote public awareness of hypertension and to encourage citizens all around the world to prevent and control this modern epidemic. The expanded theme is Measure Your Blood Pressure, Control It, Live Longer.
Celebrated May 17 every year to raise awareness about high BP.