Daily Current Affairs, 12th October 2018

1) President Kovind Inaugurate 13th Annual Convention Of CIC

•President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 13th Annual Convention of the Central Information Commission in New Delhi. The Convention deliberated on three specific subjects – Data privacy and Right to Information, Amendment in the RTI Act and Implementation of the RTI Act. 

•All the present and former Chief Information Commissioners, Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission, State Information Commission, RTI activists and NGOs associated with the implementation of the RTI Act attended the Convention.

2) First India-Israel Innovation Centre Opens In Bengaluru

•The country’s first India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC), an entrepreneurial technology hub, was launched in Bengaluru. The IIIC is a significant step towards facilitating penetration of Israeli companies in India and aims to forge local partnerships and joint ventures between companies from the two countries.

•It will provide an ecosystem to support entrepreneurship, partnership with vendors, mentoring and non-formal community development that will assist the growth of the companies in different verticals and covers business, technology, investors and customers.

3) NITI Aayog's AIM & IBM India Design Industry-Tailored Student Internship Programme

•NITI Aayog and IBM announced a first-of-its-kind internship programme for students selected by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).

•The internship will see 38 students receive a two-week paid internship, and 14 teachers from Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) across the length and breadth of the country including from states such as Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar and others, to come together and ideate, collaborate and innovate. 

4) Malaysian Government Abolishes Capital Punishment

•In Malaysia, the cabinet decided to abolish the death penalty. Communications and multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo stated that the government decided to scrap capital punishment following strong domestic opposition to the practice.

•Capital punishment in Malaysia is currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes. 

5) Central University Of Jammu Signs MoU With ISRO

•The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an MoU with the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) in Jammu for setting up of the Satish Dhawan Center for Space Science in the University. 

•Another MoU was signed between CUJ and the Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIR-CSIO) to create awareness about space research. This is the first of its kind institute coming up in Jammu and Kashmir and the building is proposed in an area of about 1,150 sq. m. 

6) Delhi, Moscow Sign Twin-City Agreement

•Delhi government signed a twin-city agreement with the government of Moscow for cooperation in various fields like environment, culture and education, for the next 3 years.

•The agreement was signed by Minister of the Moscow City government and head of its international relations Sergey Cheremin and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. 

7) SBI Signs MoU With Nepal's NBI For Human Resource Development

•State Bank of India has signed an MoU with Kathmandu-based National Banking Institute (NBI) for the development of human resources of the latter. Under the MoU, the strategic training unit of SBI will impart education, training and development to facilitate transformation of NBI's HR department. 

•SBI signed the three-year MoU with NBI to establish a mutually beneficial strategic alliance for development of NBI's human resources by imparting education, training and research. 

8) World Bank’s Human Capital Index: Singapore Tops, India Ranks 115th

•The World Bank released the Human Capital Index (HCI) as part of the World Development Report 2019.Broader theme of the World Development Report (WDR) this year is “The Changing Nature of Work”. As part of this report, the World Bank has launched a Human Capital Project (HCP). The HCI has been constructed for 157 countries. The HCI for India has been estimated at 0.44. The Index was released at the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Bali, Indonesia.

•Singapore topped the poll after it was highly rated for its universal health care system, education exams results and life expectancy figures. It is followed by South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Finland. India was ranked at the 115th position lower than Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.