Gujarat govt. announces Rs. 1 lakh cash reward to find out Blue Whale curators
- The Gujarat state govt. has announced 1 lakh Rupees cash reward to those providing information about the administrators and curators of the deadly Blue Whale Challenge.
- The cyber cell of the state police has launched a helpline number - 079-22871917 - for anyone seeking information on the online game.
- The state govt. has directed commissioners and district magistrates to prohibit undertaking of the game under relevant provisions of the CrPC and the Gujarat Police Act.
- The Blue Whale challenge is undertaken using social media apps, online gaming groups, online community messaging groups, and so on, where a certain administrator or curator targets the vulnerable young player through private chat platform.
- The Internet Protocol (IP) address of the link to the challenge keeps changing.
Viveck Goenka elected as chairman of Press Trust of India
- ‘Viveck Goenka’ has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of Press Trust of India (PTI).
- He succeeds Riyad Mathew of the Malayala Manorama group.
- Earlier, he was chairman of United News of India (UNI) and council member of Audit Bureau of Circulation(ABC).
- Viveck Goenka serves as the Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of the Express Group and also Vice-Chairman of PTI.
Note:
- Press Trust of India (PTI) is the news agency in India, headquartered in New Delhi and is a non-profit cooperative among more than 500 Indian newspapers.
- It provides news coverage and information of the region in both English and Hindi.
India and US to conduct joint military exercise ‘YUDH ABHYAS 2017’
- A joint military training exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas – 2017’ will be conducted at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington (USA) from 14 to 27th Sep this year.
- This will be the 13th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.
- The exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level.
- Both armies will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed operations for neutralization of threats of varied nature.
Andhra Pradesh signs MoU to build India's first Hyperloop
- The Andhra Pradesh govt. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) to build India's first Hyperloop system.
- Hyperloop will cover 35 km distance between Vijayawada and Amaravati only in five minutes.
- It is a system of magnetically levitating capsules that are sent at high speeds through low-pressure tubes.
Note:
- Hyperloop is a transportation system which proposes to propel a pod-like vehicle through a near-vacuum tube at more than airline speed.
- Hyperloop is faster than fastest high-speed rail and claimed to have speeds even greater than commercial air travel.
Tamil Nadu govt hikes freedom fighters pension
- The Tamil Nadu state govt. has hiked the Freedom Fighters pension from 12-thousand rupees to thirteen thousand rupees per month.
- According to an order by the Public Department, family pension to their eligible heirs would be enhanced from 6000 rupees to 6500 rupees with retrospective effect from the 15th August last.
Nagaland to implement DBT under MGNREGA
- Nagaland state govt. will start implementing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under MGNREGA to ensure transparency and check corruption at all levels.
- Wages of the MGNREGA workers will be directly credited to the individual accounts of the job card holders through National Electronic Fund Management System or Public Financial Management System.
- To avail the benefit,every job card holder must have a bank account duly linked with Aadhaar.
- Currently, there are 4.25 lakh active job cards with 5.82 lakh active MGNREGA workers in the state.
Nestle sets up first food safety institute in India
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal has inaugurated the Nestle Food Safety Institute in Manesar, Gurugram to provide guidance and training on food safety.
- Nestle already runs a similar Institute in China and Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Earlier, FSSAI banned Nestle India Ltd’s Maggi instant noodles over health and safety worries.
Govt. sets up online service facility to resolve all foreign trade-related issues
- The union govt. has set up an online service facility that can be used by importers and exporters to resolve all foreign trade-related issues.
- The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has asked all exporters and importers to use the system - Contact@DGFT (for resolution of their matters).
- Traders can raise all matters related to the directorate or other agencies of the Centre and States through this facility activated at the DGFT website.
- The DGFT notice to all regional authorities, export promotion councils, commodity boards and members of trade and industry said best efforts will be made for expeditious resolution.
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana generates 5.5 crore jobs
- According to the govt. report, the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) has helped in creating 5.5 crore jobs.
- Around Rs 3.42 lakh crore loan has been disbursed to over 8 crore people under the scheme (mostly small entrepreneurs).
- The biggest beneficiary’s states of the PMMY are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
- The MUDRA scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8, 2015, with an objective to fund the unfunded.
- MUDRA loan is available for non-agricultural activities (like dairy, poultry, bee-keeping) for up to Rs 10 lakh.
PNB and BSNL join hands to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay
- Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) join hands to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country.
- Now, BSNL will expand Speed pay services in Punjab, Chandigarh (UT), Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
- India is now second largest market in the world with 120 crore mobile users.
Note:
- PNB's Speedway wallet will operate like any other mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone besides its users will be able to deposit and withdraw money from authorised retail outlets.
- Speedway users will be able to operate Internet banking services from the application.
BCCI releases its first ever players handbook
- The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has released its first ever players handbook '100 things every professional cricketer must know' in New Delhi.
- The book was released by the Committee of Administrators (COA) and is in line with the recommendations of the Lodha panel.
- The document will be the official handbook for all the cricketers registered with the BCCI.
- The book has 10 sections covering topics ranging from money management to injury management.
India to play against Australia in 5 ODIs and 3 T-20 International matches
- After routing Sri Lanka 9-0 across all three formats in their just concluded overseas tour,
- India will play against Australia in 5 One Day Internationals (ODI) and 3 Twenty20 International matches at home, begins next week.
- The five ODIs will be played at Chennai, Kolkata, Indore, Bengaluru, and Nagpur.
- Twenty20 matches will be played at, Ranchi, Hyderabad, and Guwahati.
- Steve Smith will lead the Australian team in both the formats.
