Daily GK Updates - 21st October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Film on murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh to be made: A Kannada film will be made by director AMR Ramesh who knew Gauri Lankesh personally. He said that his focus will be on who killed her and would be done with clarity.

2. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar resigns: The Solicitor General of India is below the Attorney General for India and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar has resigned due to personal reasons. In June 2014, he was appointed solicitor general after the Modi government came to power.

3. Meals served on train to have details of quantity and supplier: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has directed officials to ensure that meals served onboard trains carry information about quantity, date of packing and the contractor supplying it. As of now, the packets only mention if the food is vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

4. IIT Bombay partially rolls back hiked fee: After students protested against the fee hike introduced in May this year, the institute has decided to partially roll back. The roll back varies between 28-43% depending on various categories.

5. 150 people trapped after dam collapses in Maharashtra: A check dam on Pimpaldoh lake in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar collapsed causing flooding and inundation in Arangaon village . They have been rescued by the National Disaster Response Force teams which were rushed to the spot. 

6. Centre gives clearance to greenfield airport project at Hirasar near Rajkot in Gujarat: The Centre has given clearance for a greenfield airport project at Hirasar, near Rajkot in Gujarat.The Environment Ministry has given the environment clearance to the Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Ltd (GSAICL) for development of a greenfield airport at Rajkot at a cost of over 1,400 crore rupees.The proposed project will aid the development of trade and tourism besides improving regional connectivity in Gujarat.

7. Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates 1st phase of PNG supply system in Bhubaneswar: The Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated first phase of Piped Natural Gas supply system in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. In the first phase, 255 houses in Nalco Nagar in Chandrasekharpur of Bhubaneswar were supplied with environment-friendly PNG. Around 25 thousand households in twin-city Bhubaneswar and Cuttack would get PNG connection by end of next year. The overall capital expenditure for the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack gas distribution projects will cost around Rs. 1700 crore. Piped Natural gas (PNG) is used for Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Consumption. PNG has several distinctions to its credit of being a pollution-free fuel, economical and safer fuel being few of them.

8. 500 long distance trains to run quicker from next month: The Indian Railways will soon cut short the running time of over 500 long distance trains by up to two hours. The new timings will be updated in the November timetable of the railways. The railways has also started the exercise of an internal audit through which 50 mail and express trains will be upgraded to super-fast services. This is part of an overhaul of the rail system of increasing the average speed of existing trains.

9. International conference on consumer protection to be held on 26th Oct: A two-day international conference on consumer protection will be held in New Delhi on 26th October, 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference. The conference will discuss how the UN guidelines on consumer protections can be implemented. The Consumer Affairs Ministers and representatives of 24 South East Asian countries will attend the conference on the theme of empowering consumers in the age of new markets.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Jacinda Ardern to be next New Zealand PM: Jacinda Ardern (37-year) is set to become the next prime minister of New Zealand just months after taking control of the opposition Labour party in the middle of an election campaign. She will become one of her country’s youngest prime ministers and the third woman to lead a government after winning the support of the nationalist New Zealand First party. The Labour-NZ First coalition controls 55 of the 120 seats in the country's parliament and the Green Party supporting it with eight lawmakers cross the 61-mark to pass policies.

2. Musharraf blames Zardari for Benazir Bhutto’s murder: Pakistan’s ex-President Pervez Musharraf accused former PM Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari of Bhutto’s murder. Musharraf claimed that Zardari,who co-chaired the People’s Party of Pakistan after Bhutto’s death had the most to gain from her murder.

3. Hurricane Maria towards Atlantic Ocean: Hurricane Maria which struck the Dominica Island made landfall in Puerto Rico. It is likely to reach the Turks and Calicos Islands, the Bahamas and travel north into the Atlantic Ocean.

4. UAE appoints country's first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence:  Artificial intelligence (AI) is apparently intelligent behavior by machines, rather than the natural intelligence (NI) of humans and other animals. The UAE has named Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama (27-years) as the country's first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence (AI). His appointment is part of the UAE's ambition to be at the forefront of the global technological revolution. Other new positions created in the reshuffle include a Minister for Advanced Sciences and another for Food Security.

5. Have short range nuclear weapons to counter Indian conflict - Pakistan: Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the country has short range nuclear weapons to counter India’s Cold Start military doctrine. Pakistan is on course of having 350 nuclear weapons, the world’s third largest stockpile after US and Russia.

6. China gets world’s fastest bullet train: China started operating the world’s fastest bullet train, Fuxing between Beijing and Shanghai. The train has an average speed of 350 km/hr and maximum speed of 400 km/hr.

 OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. Dhoni becomes 6th cricketer to play 300 ODI’s for India : MS Dhoni played 303 ODI’S overall with the former captain having played 3 ODI’s for Asia XI in 2007.Sachin Tendulkar has played most ODI’s for India at 463 followed by Rahul Dravid at 340.

2. Sindhu, Saina crash out of Japan Open : Sindhu lost to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara and Saina lost to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the second round. Both of them lost to their opponents in straight sets.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Birla Sun Life, Max Life initiate merger talks: Analjit-Singh promoted Max Financial services is in talks with Aditya Birla Group to explore a merger of their life insurance businesses. Singh is also in talks with Apax Partners to sell his 30% stake in Max Financial.

2. GSTN launches excel-based offline tool to file initial GSTR-3B returns: Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has launched an Excel-based offline tool for businesses to file initial GSTR- 3B returns. Now, taxpayers can download the offline utility from the GSTN portal and after filling in the data the file can be uploaded on GST portal. After uploading of the return to the GST Portal, the taxpayer has to preview the form, complete formalities like submit, offset the liability and file their GSTR-3B Return using digital signature or electronic verification code. This facility will provide an opportunity to the taxpayer to verify details of GSTR 3B before filing and minimise chances of error.

3. BlackRock sells Singapore office tower for $1.5 billion: World’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is selling its Asia Square Tower 2 in Singapore. The deal will mark Singapore’s second largest office building sale. Last year, Qatar Investment Authority had bought Tower 1 from Black Rock for $2.5 billion.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.Govt permits banks to sell more small savings schemes: The government has authorized all public-sector banks and three private banks (ICICI, HDFC, and Axis) to accept deposits under various small savings schemes like National Savings Certificate (NSC), recurring deposits and monthly income plan. So far, public sector banks were allowed to receive subscription under Public Provident Fund (7.8%), Kisan Vikas Patra-2014 (7.5%-mature in 115 months), Sukanya Samriddhi Account (one for girl child savings-8.3%), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme-2004 (8.3 per%- quarterly). Increased outlets for selling small savings scheme would result in higher mobilization under the scheme.

2. Yes Bank cuts over 2,500 jobs: Private sector lender Yes Bank cut nearly 2,500 jobs citing reasons such as digitisation and bad performance. The bank had 20,851 employees at the end of June.

OBITUARIES:

1. Former CPI-M MP Amal Datta passes away: Former CPI-M Lok Sabha member Amal Datta (84-year) passed away at a private hospital in Kolkata yesterday following a cardiac arrest. Datta represented Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal for 14 years. He was a nephew of veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu.

Daily GK Updates - 20th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. New Tourism policy of Assam:  Assam state cabinet has launched a new Tourism policy- 'Tourism Policy of Assam 2017' with the aim of increasing tourist inflow in the state two to three folds within the next five years. Its main focus to make Assam a filmmaking destination by offering a range of incentives to movie producers to come and shoot in the state. The new policy will be effective starting January 2018 till December 2022.

2. Loan waiver scheme of Maharashtra Government: The Maharashtra Govt. has released the sum of 4,000 crore rupees under the first phase of the over 34,000 crore rupees farm loan waiver scheme. A list of 8.4 lakh beneficiaries has been uploaded online and it would be sent to banks. From a single bank account, money will be transferred to banks and they will be asked to deposit the money in farmers' accounts as per the list.

3.'Online chat' platform to answer queries of taxpayers: Income Tax Department has launched an online chat service for taxpayers. They can get answers to their basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues. A window has been hosted on the main page of the department's website 'incometaxindia.gov.in' with a prominent icon stating Live Chat Online- ask your query. A person can enter the 'chat room' by furnishing an email-id and ask questions as a guest. A team of experts from the department and independent tax practitioners has been deputed to answer the general queries of a taxpayer.

4. Kamle - 23rd district approved by Arunachal Assembly: The Arunachal Assembly passed a bill paving way for creation of a new district to be named Kamle (bifurcating Subansiri districts). Now, the total number of districts in the state shot up to 23.

It consists of six administrative units, three under Lower Subansiri and three under Upper Subansiri.

5. Reduction in call rates on Satellite Phone used by armed forces: The Union Govt. has abolished the monthly charges on Digital Satellite Phone Terminal (DSPT) and reduced call rates to 1 rupee per minute to personnel of military and paramilitary. The Defence, as well as paramilitary personel will be able to make calls to their families using the satellite phone for Rs 1 per minute (existing Rs 5 per minute). Now, no monthly fee will be taken for using the service.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. India, Brazil & South Africa sign IBSA Trust Fund agreement: India, Brazil and South Africa signed the IBSA Trust Fund Agreement that seeks to fight poverty in developing countries. The agreement was signed by Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh who led the Indian side at the 8th IBSA trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting in Durban. The IBSA Trust Fund brings together the three emerging economies of India, Brazil and South Africa to combat poverty in other developing countries. Each country contributes USD 1 million annually to this fund which is managed by the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.

2.  South Africa displace India from top of ODI rankings: India lost their number one status in ICC ODI rankings to South Africa. Now, India and South Africa have identical 120 points against their name, India is placed second on the basis of decimal points. Recently, India had claimed the top spot in the ICC rankings following their 4-1 win over Australia at home recently.

OTHER UPDATES:

HONOURS/AWARDS:

1. Environmental scientist Schellnhuber receives Blue Planet Prize: The world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science has been given to Hans Joachim Schellnhuber in Tokyo. The Blue Planet Prize honors outstanding thinkers who help to meet challenges of planetary dimensions.

Daily GK Updates - 19th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Diwali celebrated with fanfare across the nation: The nation celebrated the festival of lights, Diwali, with fanfare across the length and breadth. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, celebrated Diwali with the jawans of Indian Army and BSF, in the Gurez Valley, near the Line of Control, in Jammu and Kashmir. He was there for nearly two hours. This is the fourth successive Diwali that the Prime Minister has celebrated with jawans on the border.

2. Rex Tillerson to visit India next week to dramatically deepen ties: US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, in a speech titled Defining Our Relationship with India for the Next Century at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, called for US and India to expand strategic ties, accuses China of challenging international norms needed for global stability.

3. New petition in apex court challenges linking Aadhaar with bank account and phones: A new writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the linking of Aadhaar with one's bank account to mobile phones. The writ filed on behalf of noted gender activist and writer Dr. Kalyani Menon Sen is expected to be heard after Diwali holidays. This is the recent writ after a spate of petitions led by retired Justice K. S. Puttaswamy.

4. BJP and Congress release their first list of candidates for the Himachal elections: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh where the party in opposition is trying to make a comeback. The Congress also announced its first list of 59 candidates for the 9 November Himachal Pradesh elections, with chief minister Virbhadra Singh being fielded from the Arki constituency in Solan district.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Canada's Quebec province to ban face coverings in public sector: Quebec will ban face coverings for people giving or receiving provincial government services under a law passed recently that rights groups have criticized as marginalizing Muslim women in the mainly French-speaking Canadian province.

2. Pakistani anti-corruption court indicts ousted PM Nawaz Sharif and his daughter: An anti-corruption court on Thursday indicted Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law over corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The accountability court in Islamabad indicted 67-year-old Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband retired Captain Mohammad Safdar in the London properties reference even though Sharif and lead defence counsel Khawaja Haris are both out of the country

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Reliance Jio tariff hiked: Reliance Jio customers will have to pay 15% more for its popular 84-day plan at Rs 459 from Thursday, under which subscribers get 1GB 4G data per day. However, subscribers of its Rs149 plan will get 4GB of data for each billing cycle of 28 days under the new “Diwali Dhamaka” scheme compared to 2GB being offered at present.

2. BP Plc working with Reliance Industries to start petrol pumps: A year after BP Plc received an in-principle approval to launch its fuel retail business in India, the oil firm is working along with partner Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to begin operations in a few months. BP is RIL’s partner in its exploration and production, and gas-sourcing businesses. BP had received approval and licence to set up 3,500 fuel retail outlets in October 2016.

3. Government plans to cap margins for medical devices to provide relief to industry: The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has asked medical device associations, healthcare industry bodies and relevant regulatory agencies to help it categorise the devices. The DoP secretary will hold a meeting on October 25 to fix trade margins, according to a letter sent by the department to the stakeholders.

SPORTS:
4. Hockey Asia Cup 2017 - Dominant India crush Malaysia 6-2: India displayed how dangerous they can be when they play an all-out attacking game as they pummelled Malaysia 6-2 in their second game of the Super 4s stage of the Asia Cup hockey in Dhaka. With the win, India jumped to top of the Super 4s standings with four points from two games.

5. Denmark Open: Saina Nehwal, K Srikanth advance to second round, PV Sindhu out: India had a bitter-sweet day at Denmark Open as Saina Nehwal knocked out Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain but title-contender PV Sindhu suffered a straight game loss against China's Chen Yufei to crash out of the opening round.

6. South Africa displace India from top of ODI rankings: India on Thursday lost their numero uno status in ICC ODI rankings to South Africa following their win over Bangladesh in the second ODI.

7. Gaganjeet Bhullar shares opening day honours at Macau Open: India's Gaganjeet Bhullar put up an outstanding display by carding a flawless seven-under-par 64 to grab the opening round lead with Korean duo Yikeun Chang and Giwhan Kim at the Macao Open golf tournament at Macau.

Daily GK Updates - 18th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Railways to invest Rs3,000 crore to mechanize, automate yards: The Indian Railways plans to spend around Rs3,000 crore to make smart yards in order to mechanize maintenance and repair work of rakes, ending a century-old practice of manual inspections. According to the proposal, 40 of the 100 yards that the national carrier has would be automated and mechanized at an average cost of around Rs70-75 crore each. To start with, yards at Mughalsarai and Tughlakabad will be made smart yards.

2. Govt. planning one Ayurveda hospital in every district: Honourable PM, inaugurating the All India Institute of Ayurveda, appealed to the private sector to channel some of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds towards the development of yoga and Ayurveda. Modi also said his government was working to establish an Ayurveda hospital in every district. The Prime Minister also released the “Ayurvedic Standard Treatment Guidelines” developed by the AYUSH ministry. The Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy is also working for the standardization of traditional Indian medicines.

3. Govt. plans to revive Gorakhpur, Barauni, Sindri fertilizer plants using US LNG: India’s biggest gas utility plans to use some of the liquefied natural gas it gets from the US to restart three idled fertilizer plants, according to people with knowledge of the matter. State-run GAIL India Ltd plans to supply the factories in eastern India with more than a third of the LNG it’s contracted to buy from the US. The company will connect them by pipelines to supply the imported gas.

4. Asian University Rankings 2018- IIT Bombay top among Indian universities, IISc slips: IIT Bombay was ranked 34th in Asia, followed by IIT Delhi (41), IIT Madras (48) and IISc Bengaluru at 51, according to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asian University Rankings for 2018. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore has emerged as the Top University in Asia.

5. 1 million Maharashtra farmers to get farm loan waiver benefits today: The first set of one million farmers in Maharashtra will get the benefit of loan waivers on 18 October, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in Mumbai. The farmers are spread across all districts of Maharashtra and the amount on account of loan waiver will be deposited directly into their accounts on 18 October.

6. I-T dept launches 'online chat' to answer taxpayers' queries: The income tax department has launched an 'online chat' service for taxpayers so that they can seek answers to their basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues. A window has been hosted on the main page of the department's website with a prominent icon stating 'Live Chat Online- ask your query'.

7. ICAI seeks post graduation status for CA qualification: Chartered accountants’ apex body the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said it has sought post graduation degree status for CA qualification. Besides, the CA intermediate programme should be accorded the graduation degree status. In this regard, ICAI has recently written a letter to the corporate affairs ministry. According to the release, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), back in 1984, had recognised chartered accountancy along with graduation to be equivalent to a post graduate degree in commerce or allied disciplines for the purpose of registration to PhD programme.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. George Saunders wins 2017 Man Booker Prize: US author George Saunders wins Britain’s renowned Man Booker Prize, which was awarded for his first full-length novel ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’.

2. 40% decline in Indians looking for work in US: US president Donald Trump's anti-immigration stance and Britain's exit from the European Union last year have resulted in a lower number of Indians looking for jobs in these countries.
There has been a 38% and 42% drop in Indians looking to move to the US and UK respectively in the last one year (September 2016 to October 2017), compared to the corresponding previous year, data from job site Indeed showed. Overall, there has been a 5% decrease in Indians looking to move abroad in search of job opportunities, the report added.

3. China's prospects are bright but challenges severe-Jinping at Communist Party’s National Congress: Chinese President Xi Jinping trumpeted his nation's prospects as bright but made a rare acknowledgement of severe economic challenges as he opened the Communist Party's twice-a-decade National Congress. Among the grave issues Xi said were insufficiently addressed are a widening income gap and problems in employment, education, medical care and other areas. Xi has been consolidating his already considerable power and is expected to get a second five-year term as party leader at the gathering.

4. Sebastian Kurz - World's youngest leader in waiting: "Whizz-kid", "Basti Fantasti", "Messiah" are just some of the monikers given to Austrian conservative Sebastian Kurz , the world's youngest leader in waiting. His People's Party (OeVP), revamped by the 31-year-old as a more hardline "movement", was projected to have come first in Sunday's election with some 31.5 percent of the vote.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Airtel plans to phase out 3G in two years, offer VoLTE nationwide: Bharti Airtel Ltd plans to phase out its 3G service in two years and upgrade all subscribers using the service to faster 4G networks in a move that will help India’s largest telecom operator save on costs and improve user experience. The entry of Reliance Infocomm has accelerated the growth of 4G in India.

2. Mahindra Logistics IPO to open on 31 October: Mahindra Logistics, Mahindra Group’s logistics arm, on Wednesday said it will launch its Rs700 crore initial public offering (IPO) on 31 October. The public offering will close on 2 November. The public issue of Mahindra Logistics comprises 19,332,346 equity shares that are up for sale. This includes 9,666,173 shares, amounting to 13.74% stake, by parent firm Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

Daily GK Updates - 17th October, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. First-ever Indo-Russia Tri-Services Exercise INDRA – 2017 to commence: The first ever Tri-Services Joint Exercise between Indian and Russian Armed Forces will be conducted in the Eastern Military District of Russia from 19th to 29th Oct 2017. Exercise INDRA-2017 will strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces.

2. Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan awarded UN medal: Fifty Indian peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan have been awarded the UN Medal for their professionalism and service in protecting civilians and building durable peace in the conflict-ridden country. The Indian peacekeepers are part of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

3. Karnataka needs its own flag-CM: Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah has invoked Kannada pride, saying the government is firm on Karnataka having a state flag.  Karnataka State government had constituted a nine-member committee to study and submit a report.

4. Bus service between Nepal's Rolpa and New Delhi begins: A direct bus service commenced between New Delhi and Rolpa district in Nepal. It will run once a week.

5. Gopal Gowda gets Mandd Sobhann award: Renowned Konkani folk artist Gopal Gowda has been chosen for this years Kalakar Puraskar. The prize is instituted by Mandd Sobhann, an organisation with the aim of protecting Konkani identity.

6. “Beyond The Dreamgirl” – Autobiography of Dreamgirl Hemamalini released: Autobiography of Hema Malini, “Beyond The Dreamgirl” was released on her 69th birthday. Beyond The Dreamgirl, published by HarperCollins India, will give readers an in-depth look into her life. It is divided into 23 chapters, covering her childhood, teens, Bollywood, rise as an actor, romance, colleagues, marriage.

7. Prabha Varma to get Padma Prabha Puraskaram: Prabha Varma, an eminent poet, lyricist and journalist has been selected for this year’s Padma Prabha Puraskaram for her contribution to Malyalam literature. Padma Prabha Puraskaram is conferred for contributions to the field of Malayalam literature.

8. Vasundhara Raje opens up expansion of Annapurna Rasoi Yojna in 191 urban areas in Rajasthan: The scheme to provide quality food to the needy of all categories at affordable rates was being implemented in the selected cities and government has now expanded it in all the urban areas. People will get breakfast for five rupees and lunch and dinner for 8 rupees under the scheme.

9. Punjab cabinet approves entertainment tax on DTH and local cable connections: The move follows a proposal mooted by the local government department, allowing all the urban local bodies and gram panchayats to levy such a tax. These local bodies will be eligible to impose and collect a nominal entertainment tax of Rs 5 per DTH connection and Rs 2 per local cable connection per month with the enactment of The Punjab Entertainments & Amusements Taxes (Levy & Collection by Local Bodies) Bill 2017.

10. FDDI Act 2017 comes into force: Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) has been declared an ‘Institute of National Importance’ under Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. The FDDI bill was passed by the Parliament in July 2017. FDDI is a premier Institute, serving as a ‘One stop solutions provider’ in footwear, leather and allied industry.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty observed: The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed every year on 17th October. The theme of 2017 is ‘Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies’.

2. The Democratic Republic of Congo wins seat on UN Human Rights Council: The Democratic Republic of Congo has been elected to the UN Human Rights Council today despite opposition from the United States. Congo was among the 15 countries who won seats on the council during a vote at the UN General Assembly.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. Amazon, Microsoft launch learning interface ‘Gluon’: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft have teamed up to launch an open-source and deep learning interface ‘Gluon’. It will help developers to deploy machine learning models across several platforms. The interface would give developers a place where they can prototype, build, train and deploy machine learning models.

2. Mahindra launches ‘Prerna’ project: Mahindra & Mahindra has launched a programme, Prerna, to empower women working in the agriculture sector. It aims to address these issues with the promotion of women friendly, efficient and ergonomic farm tools and equipment.

3. Selena Selvakumar wins triple gold at Egypt Junior Table Tennis Championship: India’s young paddler top-seeded Selena Selvakumar has won the triple gold medal at the Egypt Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championship. She won singles and doubles gold medal apart from the team championship gold.