The Daily Brief – 20th October 2019

NITI Aayog with the Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. Karnataka emerged as the most innovative state among major states. Maharashtra was the best performer in the dimension of Enablers. Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the north-eastern & hill states and union territories/city states/small states respectively. The India Innovation Index 2019 is prepared on the basis of two dimensions – Performance and Enablers.

The Chairman of HBIS Group Co., YU Yong has been elected as the Chairman of the World Steel Association while the Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel, Sajjan Jindal has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of the World Steel Association for a period of one year. In addition to this, the board also elected a 14-member Executive Committee. Established on 10 July, 1967 and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the World Steel Association is an international trade body for iron and steel industry.

The first Buddhist Circuit train of the Indian Railways will run from 20^th to 26^th October, 2019 covering destinations such as Lumbini (where Buddha was born), Bodhgaya (where Buddha gained enlightenment), Sarnath (where Buddha gave his first sermon) and Kushinagar (where Buddha attained nirvana).

EX-EASTERN BRIDGE-V, a bilateral exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO), will be held from 17^th to 26^th October, 2019 at the Masirah Air Force Base in Oman. The exercise will enhance inter-operability during mutual cooperation between two Air Forces. The first edition was held in October 2009 in Oman. The last edition of this exercise was held in 2017 at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Naseem Al-Bahr is the naval exercise while AL Nagah is the joint military exercise between the two countries.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a commemorative postal stamp of the National Institute of Nutrition under the “Corporate My Stamp” scheme of India Posts during the centenary celebrations of the National Institute of Nutrition. The theme of the celebration was “Empowering the nation through nutrition”. Sir Robert McCarrison founded the National Institute of Nutrition in 1918 as a laboratory in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. It was moved to Hyderabad in 1958.

The Embassy of France in India in association with the Union Ministry of Science and Technology and the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) organised the 2^nd edition of the Indo-French Knowledge Summit at the University of Lyon in France on 17^th & 18^th October, 2019 to develop and structure India-France collaborations in the fields of education and research, stimulate connections between research and industry and encourage the mobility of students and scholars. The first edition of the Indo-French Knowledge Summit was held in India during the 2018 state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) university, the first graduate-level, research-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) university in the world. It is named after Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The Total livestock population is 535.78 million as per the 20^th Livestock Census released by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Livestock population has increased by 4.6% as compared to that of 2012. The total bovine population is around 302.79 million and has increased by 1% in 2019 while the cattle population is 192.49 million and has increased by 0.8%. India has been conducting livestock censuses periodically since 1919-20.