The Daily Brief – 17th October 2018

Music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famously known as Khayya was 2018 Hridaynath Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award will be conferred by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. The award was established in 2011 by Mumbai-based socio-cultural organisation Hridayesh Art in honour of music composer and singer Hridaynath Mangeskar. He had bagged National Award for the film Umrao Jaan.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot– Ask Disha (Digital Interaction to Seek Help Anytime) to help its users answer various queries. The chatbot is special computer programme designed to simulate conversation with users, especially over the internet. It has gone live on IRCTC’s next-gen e ticketing website and soon will be integrated on the IRCTC Rail Connect Android app. It is aimed at facilitating accessibility by answering users’ queries pertaining to various services offered to railway passengers.

Government has allowed foreign tourists to visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands without any restrictions to boost foreign tourist arrivals in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In this regard, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has modified its earlier order which made it mandatory for foreign tourists to register with Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) within 24 hours of arrival.

Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy RK Singh on October 15, 2018 launched an award scheme under the umbrella Saubhagya Scheme, also known as Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana. The Saubhagya award scheme will felicitate the power distribution companies (DISCOMs) and Power Department of the States and their employees for achieving 100 percent household electrification. Award will be given in three categories. There will be two quantum of award in each of the three categories.

The Union Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya on October 16, 2018 inaugurated the hi-tech Central Warehouse of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) at Bilaspur, Gurugram. The warehouse, setup by the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), would facilitate seamless distribution of Jan Aushadhi generic medicines to all PMBJP Kendra functional across the country. ‘Jan Aushadhi’ is a project launched by the Union Government in 2008 to provide quality medicines at affordable prices for all. The first ‘Jan Aushadhi Medical Store’ was opened on November 25, 2008 at Amritsar in Punjab.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank on October 16, 2018 announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of Sandeep Bakshi as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank for three years after resignation of Chanda Kochhar. He was appointed as the bank’s COO in June 2018. Sandeep Bakshi started his professional career in 1983 at a computer marketing company ORG Systems.

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun on October 15, 2018 signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to launch ‘Prakriti’ programme, which aims to promote awareness about forests and environment and stimulate interest among the students of NVS and KVS. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is an autonomous council under the Union Environment Ministry.

The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh on October 16, 2018 officially changed the name of Allahabad district to Prayagraj. The government said that other institutes named after the district would soon follow suit. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. There was a delusion that the place was always called Allahabad and so the revenue board suggested that in order to correct this delusion, it would be reasonably legal to change the name to the original name.