Daily News

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Tribal Affairs Minister launches 'GOAL' programme to provide online mentorship to tribal youth

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda has launched the "GOAL - Going Online As Leaders - a programme of his Ministry in partnership with Facebook in New Delhi. The GOAL programme is designed to provide mentorship to tribal youth through digital mode.

Did you Know

It intends to upskill 5000 tribal youths in the current phase.

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Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan participates in 73rd WHA online session

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan participated in the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) via video conferencing. A session of the WHA, the decision-making body of the WHO, began its first-ever teleconference due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Did you Know

Ms. Keva Bain - President of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

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Government implements Shekatkar Committee recommendations related to creating border infrastructure

Union Govt has implemented Lt. General D B Shekatkar Committee's recommendations related to creating border infrastructure. These were related to road construction leading to socio-economic development in the border areas along India’s border with China.

Did you Know

The Shekatkar Committee submitted a total of 99 recommendations.

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World Bank approves $1 billion to support India's fight against Covid-19

The World Bank approved USD 1 billion 'Accelerating India's COVID-19 Social Protection Response Program' to support the country's efforts for providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted by the pandemic.

Did you Know

This takes the total commitment from the Bank in India to $2 bn.

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Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s Prime Minister for the fifth time

Benjamin Netanyahu has been sworn in as the Prime Minister for the fifth time. Just moments before the ceremony his Coalition Government won a vote of confidence in Parliament by 73 votes to 46. This will be the largest government Israel has ever seen.

Did you Know

Benny Gantz was sworn in as Alternate Prime Minister.

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Israel Names Street After Rabindranath Tagore On the Poet's 159th Birthday

Israel named a street in Tel Aviv after Rabindranath Tagore as a tribute on his 159th birthday. Tagore, who wrote his poetry, novels, stories and plays in Bengali won the prestigious Nobel prize in literature, the only poet from India to have done so.

Did you Know

The poet also composed the national anthem of India.

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Italy develops ‘iFeel - you’ bracelet for Social Distancing

The Genoa-based Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) has developed iFeel – You, an intelligent bracelet to help with social distancing. It uses a radio signal when another bracelet is approaching and does not use GPS & cannot track the user’s location.

Did you Know

Italy Prime Minister: Giuseppe Conte.

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ARCI jointly develop biodegradable metal implants for use in humans

Scientists at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials, ARCI & Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences developed new generation Iron-Manganese based alloys for biodegradable metal implants for use in humans.

Did you Know

Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute is located in Trivandrum.

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CSIR CMERI develops mobile indoor disinfection sprayer to combat COVID-19

Scientists at CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute Durgapur, developed two mobile indoor Disinfection Sprayer units (BPDS & POMID). They can be used to clean & disinfect pathogenic micro-organism effectively, especially in hospitals.

Did you Know

These units can be used to clean frequently touched surfaces.

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NABARD disburses Rs 20,500 crore to coop banks, RRBs

NABARD has disbursed Rs 20,500 crore to cooperative banks and RRBs for on-lending to farmers. The amount is a part of the Rs 25,000 crore of special refinance facility provided by RBI to NABARD for refinancing RRBs, cooperative banks and MFIs.

Did you Know

NABARD is a development bank focussing on rural sector of India.

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Canara Bank launches special gold loan business vertical

Canara Bank, the fourth-largest public sector lender launched a special business vertical dedicated for gold loans. The Bank's gold loan products are aimed at providing a quick, hassle-free experience for customers with low-interest cost till June 30, ’20.

Did you Know

Canara Bank Headquarters: Bengaluru.

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Facebook buys Giphy, will integrate GIF library with Instagram

Facebook acquired Giphy, a popular website for making and sharing animated images or GIFs. Giphy will now work as part of the Instagram team. Its GIF library will be integrated with the photo-sharing application as well as with Facebook’s other apps.

Did you Know

Giphy was founded by Alex Chung and Jace Coke in Feb ‘13.

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Tata to buy out PepsiCo's stake in JV NourishCo Beverages

Tata Consumer Products Ltd to acquire the stake of PepsiCo in their joint venture NourishCo Beverages. NourishCo, a 50:50 joint venture of TCPL and PepsiCo, operates in the healthy hydration space and has brands like Tata Gluco Plus and Tata Water Plus.

Did you Know

NourishCo formed in 2010 as joint venture between TCPL & PepsiCo

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IRCON, RZD International sign MoU

Ircon International (IRCON) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with RZD International LLC to explore opportunities for joint development of railways and infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America. IRCON is a Miniratna Schedule A PSE.

Did you Know

S. K. Chaudhary - Chairman & Managing Director, IRCON.

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Government of West Bengal announces new schemes- ‘Sneher Porosh’ & ‘Prochesta’

The Chief Minister of West Bengal launched two schemes ‘Sneher Porosh’ to provide support for the migrant workers and ‘Prochesta’ to help the workers of the unorganised sector of Bengal to enable them to earn their living in the lockdown situation.

Did you Know

Prochesta Scheme is to provide wages to all daily wage workers.

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Karnataka launches incubator for cyber security start-ups in India

Karnataka launched its first cyber security-specific accelerator programme 'H.A.C.K'. The programme is implemented by CySecK, which is state’s Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security meant to create a cyber-safe environment for industry collaboration.

Did you Know

It is housed at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

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Acer India launches ‘Back to School’ campaign

Acer India announced its Back to School primarily aimed at helping students and parents to easily procure a new Acer laptop. It has partnered with EduThrill that uses gamification to deliver tests and assessment tools to unleash more fun in learning.

Did you Know

Headquarters of Acer: New Taipei City, Taiwan.

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Pearson India launches MyPedia Alexa skill to help enhance English vocabulary

Digital learning firm Pearson India introduced an interactive skill on Amazon Alexa for learners of all age groups to learn English. The Pearson MyPedia skill offers a collection of engaging stories coupled with fun facts, trivia, quizzes and rewards.

Did you Know

MyPedia skill enhances the interest of students in the language.

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Indian economy to contract 5% in FY21: Goldman Sachs

America’s Goldman Sachs expects the Indian economy to contract by 5% in FY21, making it the worst performance by the country ever. Goldman was earlier expecting a 0.4% contraction before revising it down to a level it shares with Japanese brokerage Nomura.

Did you Know

It said that fiscal impact of the stimulus is at 1.3% of GDP.

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Indian economy to contract 7% : Bernstein

Bernstein, the US-based investment management firm, has estimated contraction in the Indian economy at 7 per cent during 2020-21. BofA Securities pegged it at 0.1 per cent for FY21 and 12 per cent in the first quarter of the fiscal year.

Did you Know

CARE Ratings has projected growth of 1.1-1.2 per cent.

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Kotak Mahindra Bank launches Video KYC for new customers to open savings account

Kotak Mahindra Bank introduced Video KYC for new customers to open a Savings account. Launched on a pilot basis, it is in line with Kotak’s digital-first strategy and is a start – to- end fully integrated completely digital and paperless account opening.

Did you Know

Kotak is 1st bank to integrate Video KYC in account opening.

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Liberty Steel appoints Paramjit Kahlon as CEO

UK-based Liberty Steel appointed Paramjit Kahlon, joining from ArcelorMittal as the CEO of its primary steel and integrated mining businesses. Liberty Steel is part of British Indian entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta's diversified business house Liberty Group.

Did you Know

Liberty Steel is the eighth-largest steel group outside China.