The Daily Brief – 8th October 2018

Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched “Closing the Skills Gap Task Force” in India in collaboration with World Economic Forum (WEF). It will be co-chaired by Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan along with Salil Parekh, CEO and MD of Infosys. It will bring together leaders from business, Government, civil society, and the education and training sectors to accelerate future-proofing of education and training systems in the country. It will be the second country-led public-private collaboration of WEF’s Closing the Skills Gap Project after South Africa.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (ROSCOSMOS) have agreed to worked together for first Indian manned space mission Gaganyaan. In this regard, both space agencies have signed MoU. Russia had first made the offer to train an Indian astronaut for the mission when External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Russia in September 2018.

The World Teachers’ Day was observed across the world on October 5, 2018. The Day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the ‘1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation’ concerning the Status of Teachers. The Day was co-convened in partnership with UNICEF, UNDP, the International Labour Organization, and Education International. The 2018 theme of the Day was ‘The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher’.

Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje announced free electricity for over 12 lakh farmers of up to Rs. 10000 for a year on their agricultural electricity connection. The farmers will be required to pay bills after which a maximum amount of Rs. 833 per month shall be deposited in their bank accounts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Uttarakhand’s first investors’ summit “Destination Uttarkhand: Investor’s Summit 2018” on October 7, 2018, saying India is the ideal investment destination in the world today with major social and economic changes sweeping the country. The key objective of the summit was to share the investment opportunities and to seek active participation from the business leaders. The delegation from the state government highlighted the 12 focus sectors of the state.

The government appointed Rakesh Sharma as MD and CEO of IDBI Bank for a period of six months or until further orders. Sharma is the former CEO of Canara Bank and was among the few bankers hired in 2015 from the private sector. He will replace B Sriram, former MD of the State Bank of India (SBI), whose short three-month term at the helm of IDBI Bank ended last month.

The Gujarat Forest Department started the vaccination of lions in the Gir Forest National Park to protect them from canine distemper virus (CDV). As many as 23 lions have died in the Gir sanctuary in less than a month. Most of them have succumbed to CDV and protozoa infections. Asiatic lions are endangered species. CDV is considered a dangerous virus and has been blamed for wiping out 30% of the population of African lions in East African forests.

Eminent Gandhian social worker Natwar Thakkar, popularly known as ‘Nagaland’s Gandhi’, passed away at the age of 86 on October 7, 2018 following a brief illness. A Padma Shri awardee, Thakkar hailed from Maharashtra and had migrated to Nagaland in 1955. He founded the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram at the Chuchuyimlang village in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland.