The Daily Brief – 23rd December 2019

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) celebrated its Centenary Foundation Celebration Day on 20^th December, 2019 in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and addressed the event under the theme ‘New India Aspiring for 5 trillion USD’. ASSOCHAM, the apex trade association of India, was established in 1920 by promoter chambers, representing all regions of India.

The National Rail Transport Institute (NRTI) signed a MoU with the University of Birmingham in the Rail Bhawan in New Delhi on December 18^th, 2019 to set up its first Centre of Excellence for Next Generation Transportation Systems. The Indian Railways is a founding partner of this centre and would provide proprietary data, professional expertise, spare equipment and other available resources. The NRTI is deemed to be a university under the Ministry of Railways that has been operational since 2018.

Jignesh Patel, a fellow at the Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad has launched a first-of-its kind service in India ‘Vaccination on Wheels Clinic’ in Pune in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided a grant for the service under the Foundation’s ‘Grand Challenges Explorations’. Called ‘VaccineOnWheels.com’ as they have adopted the Vaccination On Wheels (VOW) concept, this clinic will go to schools, colleges and corporate offices to conduct vaccination camps at their doorsteps.

Indian Navy conducted a large scale anti-hijacking exercise called Apharan at the Cochin port on 18^th December, 2019 to streamline the response mechanism. It focused on the preparedness of the navy to thwart any attempt to hijack a merchant vessel or attempt forced entry of a rogue or commandeered merchant vessel into the Kochi harbour. The Indian Navy in collaboration with the Indian Coast Guard, Cochin Port Trust and other concerned stakeholders organised the exercise.

India has emerged as the third largest publisher of science and engineering articles in the world with publications of about 1,35,788 articles in 2018 as per the latest report by US National Science Foundation (NSF). China with about 5,28,263 published scientific articles in 2018, which account for 20.67% of the total global publications, topped the list. The United States with about 4,22,808 global publications in science and engineering articles in 2018 secured the second place.

Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh is on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka between 19^thDecember to 22^nd December, 2019 to consolidate and enhance bilateral maritime relations between the two countries. He will hold bilateral discussions with the Commander of Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral KKVPH De Silva, the Services Chiefs and other senior Government officials.

Uttarakhand hosted the 11^th Regional Quality Conclave (RQC) on 20^th December, 2019 at Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, organized by the Quality Council of India (QCI) along with the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI). The QCI aims to reach out to the industries in the hilly regions of the country through this conclave. The theme of the Rudrapur RQC was ‘Advance Manufacturing with Quality, Innovation & Technology Interventions.’

Infosys announced the launch of three blockchain-powered distributed applications for government services, insurance, and supply chain management domains. These comprehensive applications designed as ready-to-subscribe business networks ensure quick deployment, inter-operability across disparate systems of value chain stakeholders and a wide variety of use cases involving other digital technologies like IoT, Analytics as well.