The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the Reserve Bank of India, is developing a model platform for Block Chain technology.
A Block chain is a public distributed ledger or decentralised database that keeps records of digital transactions.
It is seen as the main technological innovation of bitcoin, since it stands as proof of all the transactions on the network.
Each node (computer) connected to the bitcoin network using a client gets a copy of the database, which gets downloaded automatically upon joining the bitcoin network and and shared by all nodes.
It removes the need for a third-party by directly connecting the customers and suppliers on the same platform.
Sunrise Industry
Sunrise Industry is a colloquial term for a sector or business that is in its early stage, but is growing at a rapid pace and expected to become important in the future.
It is often characterized by a high degree of innovation, and its rapid emergence may threaten the competing industry to decline state.
Usually dynamic sectors such as technology related industries are considered as sunrise industries. E.g. Telecom industry in the mid 1990’s
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) wants sunrise sector status accorded to energy efficiency industries.
Swacch Vidyalaya Puraskar
Ministry of HRD instituted Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar in 2016-17 to recognize, inspire and celebrate excellence in water, sanitation and hygiene practices in schools.
For the first time, government schools in Central and State level have been ranked on the basis of Water, Sanitation, Operations and Maintenance, Behaviour Change and Capacity Building.
Winners of the competition will be given additional grants to be utilized for sanitation and hygiene related activities in schools.
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan have been declared top three States with maximum number of schools accorded five and four Star ratings.
UNICEF and Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) were the technical and knowledge partners with Department of School Education and Literacy.
This year the competition will be open to Private Schools as well.
National Nutrition Week
The National Nutrition Week will be observed throughout the country from 1st to 7th September.
The basic objective of this annual event is to intensify awareness generation on the importance of nutrition for health.
The Food and Nutrition Board of Ministry of Women & Child Development will coordinate with concerned Department of the State/UT Governments, National Institutions, NGOs for awareness creation.
India – EFTA pact
Switzerland is pressing for early Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The agreement is expected to promote economic ties between the countries.
EFTA comprises of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
It is officially negotiating a free trade pact known as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), with India since October 2008.
Under an FTA, trading partners give market access to each other with a view to promoting bilateral trade in goods and services, besides investments.
Prakriti Khoj
It is an environment awareness initiative by the Union Ministry of Environment.
Under the initiative, an online environmental quiz competition will be conducted at the national level on the occasion of Teachers’ Day.
The objective is to reach out to young minds to trigger their sensitivity towards environment protection and conservation.
Schools under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme will get an opportunity to participate in this environmental quiz.
NGC was initiated by Environment Ministry in 2001-02 for creating environmental awareness among children by formulating “Eco-clubs” in schools across the country.
