SIPVS Knowledge is Power
- Google Expands Public Wi-Fi to Indonesia
After a successful run in India, Google has brought its public Wi-Fi programme ‘Google Station’ to Indonesia that will help improves access to Internet at railway stations and other locations.
- Google is partnering with CBN and Fiberstar to bring high-speed public Wi-Fi to hundreds of locations across Indonesia.
- Google, in collaboration with Railtel, has rolled out free Wi-Fi service at several railway stations in India, offering high-speed internet to millions of people.
- Google launched its first free WiFi services at Mumbai Central station in January 2016.
- Government Sets up Task Force on Artificial Intelligence
Government has constituted a task force on Artificial Intelligence for the country’s Economic Transformation.
- The 18-member panel, headed by Dr. V. Kamakoti of IIT Madras, will comprise of experts, academics, researchers and industry leaders. It will explore the possibilities to leverage Artificial Intelligence for development across various fields.
- The task force will submit concrete and implementable recommendations for government, industry and research institutions.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, with rapid development in the fields of information technology and hardware, the world is about to witness a fourth industrial revolution.
- 23rd Edition of Annual Delhi Book Fair Begins
The Annual Delhi Book Fair begins at Pragati Maidan in the national capital.
- It is organised by the India Trade Promotion Organization in association with the Federation of Indian Publishers.
- The theme this year is, ‘Padhe Bharat, Badhe Bharat’.
- The Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will participate in the fair with its vast repository of books on sale.
- UIDAI Launches Door Step Aadhar Enrolment
UIDAI has joined hands with CSC India for launching door step enrolment facility in the national capital for the elderly, patients and others who cannot travel the Aadhar centres.
- CSC India is in charge of many operations of Aadhaar centres across India. They provide many services, especially in rural areas with about 2.5 lakh operational CSCs across the country.
- The doorstep enrollment will be done via a mobile van.
About Aadhaar card:-
- Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the Government of India to individuals for the purpose of establishing the unique identity of every single person
- It is a digital identity that can be verified using simple methods.
- It also enables secure delivery of payments and access to government services.
- Aadhaar card is required for issuing a death certificate too.
- Dhanlaxmi Bank, DHFL Pramerica Tie up for Bancassurance
DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company has signed on Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank as its bancassurance partner, under which the latter will distribute retail and group life insurance products to its customers across 260 branches in India.
- The company is in a strong position to consolidate its presence in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
- It has 28 life insurance products and six riders in its products basket, fulfilling a gamut of life insurance needs from child’s future protection to retirement in its portfolio.
- DPLI is a Joint Venture between DHFL Investments Limited (DIL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. and Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd (PIIH).
- Taiwan Launches First Homegrown Satellite
Taiwan has launched Formosat-5, the first homegrown observation satellite, from an air base in the US, the island nation’s National Space Organisation (NSO) announced.
- The octagonal satellite – 2 metres high and 1.2 metres in diameter – cost some 3 billion Taiwanese dollars ($100 million) and made contact with a station in Norway.
- The satellite is equipped with Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor sensors to observe the Earth.
About Taiwan:-
- Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state in East Asia.
- Its neighbors include China (officially the People’s Republic of China, PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south.
- Capital:-Taipei
- President:-Tsai Ing-wen
- Premier:-Lin Chuan
- Currency:-New Taiwan dollar
- Ronaldo Becomes UEFA Player of the Year
Real Madrid’s star forward Cristiano Ronaldo deserves the UEFA Player of the Year Award. He achieved this achievement by overthrowing Lionel Messi and Juventus’s keeper Gianligi Buffon.
- 32-year-old Ronaldo has given Real Madrid the second consecutive Champions League title, as well as the top scorer of the tournament with 12 goals in the previous season.
- This prestigious award is being given from 2011.
- Portuguese veteran Ronaldo was successful in achieving this award for the third time. He left behind Barcelona’s rival, Forward Messi, 30, who has two nominations.
- Earlier, Ronaldo won the award in 2013, 2014 and 2015-16.
- London to Host 2018 Table Tennis Team World Cup
England has been awarded the right to host the 2018 Table Tennis Team World Cup, which will be held in London.
- The event will take place at the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 22-25 February.
- It will be the first major table tennis-only event to be held in London since Wembley hosted the 1954 World Championships.
- The last team World Cup was held in Dubai in 2015, in which 12 men and 12 women teams took part.
- Raghuram Rajan Pens Book ‘I Do What I Do’
Raghuram Rajan is all set to publish a book ‘I Do What I Do’about his tenure as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) where he explains economic concepts and talks of issues like tolerance and connection between political freedom and prosperity.
- The book is a collection of essays and speeches during his stint as RBI head.
- This is not Mr. Rajan’s first book. He co-authored “Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists” with Luigi Zingales and wrote “Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy”, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book.
- ‘Hero’ of Paris Climate Agreement Died
Tony de Brum, the former Marshall Islands foreign minister who became a leading advocate for the landmark Paris Agreement and an internationally recognised voice in the fight against climate change, has died aged 72.
- De Brum was also the Pacific nation’s climate ambassador.
- During the negotiations for the Paris accord, de Brum helped form the High Ambition Coalition of 100 rich and poor nations and helped secure a global commitment to try to limit Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times.
- India’s Oldest Cinematographer Ramananda Sengupta Died
Country’s oldest cinematographer Ramananda Sengupta, who worked with legends like Jean Renoir, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, died in Kolkata. He was 101 year old.
- His first film as a full-time cinematographer was in ‘Purbaraag’ directed by Ardhendu Mukherjee in 1946.
- Mr. Sengupta was also a founding member of the Technicians’ Studio in South Kolkata’s Tollygunge.
Source:- Daily Current Affairs Capsule
