Current Affairs April 14, 2017 – Supreme Court: Conduct NEET in Urdu in 2018-19

   

    The Supreme Court directed the Centre and CBSE to include Urdu as a medium of instruction in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) from the academic session 2018-19.

The bench, however, accepted the submission by the authorities that it was not possible to include Urdu as a medium of instruction for the all-India medical entrance exams this session.

The SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC), which was being run from Delhi since last year, was shifted to Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) in January after Pakistan said it has ‘no objection’ to moving the institute to Gujarat.

Other SAARC nation, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

India to host a disaster management seminar for officials from Pakistan and other SAARC countries in Gandhinagar. The seminar is likely to be held in May.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on paid tributes to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on his 126th birth anniversary at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present.

India and France reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening their cooperation in the field of railways and agreed that mutual collaboration and exchange of expertise will benefit both countries.

In a bilateral meeting, Minister of Railway Suresh Prabhu and France’s Minister of State for Transport, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Alain Vidalies decided to share their experiences regularly.

The military exercise named ‘Sagarmatha Friendship-2017’ will also focus on common interests like disaster management. Sagarmatha is the Nepali name of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak that is bordering between Nepal and China.

Nepal and China will hold the first-ever joint military exercise from April 17 with a special focus on combating terror and disaster management, the Nepal Army announced.

Nepal Prime Minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal

       

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French civil aviation authority DGAC to further technical cooperation between the two countries.

The MoU was signed by Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India and A K Dutta, Member, AAI.

Department of Posts has joined hands with State Bank of India to promote SBI buddy e-wallet and POS machines for cashless transactions at Post Office counters while booking speed post and registered post items.

US-based tech giant Cisco launched its fifth global cyber range lab in Gurugram with an aim to train Indian firms and government agencies on real-world cyber attacks. The facility was inaugurated by National Cyber Security Coordinator Gulshan Rai. Cisco has four other such labs in Australia. 

  India to host a disaster management seminar for officials from Pakistan and other SAARC countries in Gandhinagar. The seminar is likely to be held in May.

TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, has launched a Made-in-India robot catering primarily to micro, small and medium industries. TAL has tied up with Italy-based RTA Motion Control Systems as a technological partner for critical components of the robot such as motors and drives.

    Online marketplace Amazon India has secured a licence to operate pre-paid payment instrument (PPI) or mobile wallet in the country as it tries to compete against rivals.

The approval will help the U.S.-based giant to cash in on the booming digital payments market in India. “Our focus is providing customers a convenient and trusted cashless payments experience,” said by Amazon India.

    Former Bihar Minister Narsingh Baitha died in Patna after a prolonged illness. He was minister in Congress government headed by Daroga Prasad Rai and Jagannath Mishra. 

Girish Chandra Saxena, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and former Director of India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has passed away in New Delhi. He was 89 years old.