Daily Current Affairs, 08th February 2019

1) 5th India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Committee Meet Held in New Delhi

•The 5th India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Committee Meeting was held in New Delhi. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Affairs Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen co-chaired the meeting. The last Joint Consultative Committee Meeting between the two countries was held in October 2017 at Dhaka. 

•It is the first high-level visit from Bangladesh since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s victory in the parliamentary elections in December 2018. Dr Momen briefed the Prime Minister on recent developments in the bilateral relationship.

2) Parmanu Tech 2019-Nuclear Energy Conference Held In New Delhi

•Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) organized Parmanu Tech 2019 in New Delhi to discuss the issues related to Nuclear Energy and Radiation Technologies.

•The main motive of this conference is to showcase India’s capabilities in Nuclear Energy with environmental responsibility. Dr. Jitendra Singh delivered the keynote address at the conference.

3) Chennai Police Launches Mobile App ‘Digicop’

•Actor Vijay Sethupathi launched the mobile App ‘DigiCop’ of the Chennai police department at the Commissioner’s office. Using the App, people can track the status of stolen two-wheelers and cell phones.

•The details of 18,000 stolen mobile phones are stored in the App. Using DigiCop App, people can verify IMEI, report lost two-wheelers and phones, know the nearest police station, police news, and traffic alerts.

4) India Pavilion Inaugurated At 69th Berlin International Film Festival

•The India Pavilion at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) 2019 was inaugurated by Mr Matthijis Wouter Knol, Director European Film Market (EFM). The poster of IFFI 2019 was also inaugurated by the dignitaries during the inaugural ceremony.

•Ministry of I&B, in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry, is participating in the Berlin International Film Festival being held from 7th – 17th February, 2019 at Berlin, Germany. An India Pavilion is being set-up at the Festival to act as a platform to popularize Indian Cinema in overseas market and facilitate new business opportunities.

5) American Members of US-India CEO Forum Announced

•US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has announced the names of the American private sector members of the US-India CEO Forum among who are MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga and Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf. The first meeting of the forum will be held in New Delhi on February 14.

•The US CEOs serve two-year terms and are selected from respondents to a Federal Register Notice calling for CEO-level applicants to the US Section of the Forum.

6) Francois Laborde Conferred France’s Highest Civilian Honour

•Father Francois Laborde, a 92-year-old priest, was conferred the Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour), the highest civilian award of France, in recognition of his work for specially-abled children. He is the third person from the state to have been awarded the Legion of Honor after film maestro Satyajit Ray and actor Soumitra Chatterjee.

•He was entitled by the French Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler. Father Laborde had set up Howrah South Point, an organisation working for the development of specially-abled children, the destitute and the most deprived sections of the society.

7) India Jumps 8 Place To 36th On International IP Index 2019

•India has jumped eight places to 36th position on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, which analyses the IP climate in 50 global economies, this year. India’s eight-point jump in 2019 from 44th position in 2018 is the highest increase among 50 nations mapped by the index.

•The US, the UK, Sweden, France and Germany remained the top five economies on the intellectual property index in 2019 retaining their spots from the last year. The index brought out by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) ranks countries based on 45 indicators that are critical to an innovation-led economy supported by robust patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets protection.