Table of Contents
Prime Minister Office
•Government is walking on the path shown by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and working for the poorest of the poor is its mission.
• Mr Modi said harmony and togetherness are at the core of Dr. Ambedkar’s ideals.
• Ambedkar Memorial at Alipur in Delhi will be inaugurated on the 13th of this month
• Mr Modi said, it was Babasaheb who gave top most importance to Jal Shakti, waterways, irrigation, canal networks and ports.
• Mr Modi said, Babasaheb’s work in this sector augured extremely well for the people of the country.
• The Prime Minister also extended his wishes on National Maritime Day
Cabinet
• The Cabinet today approved the Protection of Human
Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018.
• The Bill proposes to include a woman representative as a
deemed Member of the National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights.
• The Bill also proposes to incorporate a mechanism to
look after the cases of human rights violation in the
Union Territories.
• Cabinet
• The Amendment will strengthen the Human Rights
Institutions in the country for effective discharge of
responsibilities.
• The Cabinet also approved closure of loss making Burn
Standard Company Limited (BSCL) – a Central Public
Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways.
• The decision has been taken in view of the continuous
poor physical and financial performance of the company
for more than 10 years combined with low probability of
its revival in the future.
• An official release said, this measure will save public
funds, which are currently being used for loss making
BSCL and can be used for other developmental work.
•Government will provide one-time grant of around 417
crore rupees towards severance package and for clearing
the current liabilities of the company. 508 employees of
BSCL will benefit from Voluntary Retirement Scheme
(VRS).
Odisha
•Odisha Governor Satya Pal Malik today approved the
premature release of 24 life convicts lodged in different
jails across the state.
• A Raj Bhavan official said, the governor gave his nod
based on the recommendation of the State Sentence
Review Board and the state government.
India-Japan-USA
• India, Japan and the US have agreed to remain engaged and
strengthen cooperation in support for a free, peaceful and
inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
• They also agreed to continue collaboration to promote
increased connectivity in the region.
• The 9th Trilateral Meeting of officials in New Delhi today held
consultations on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
• The officials reviewed the outcomes of the Trilateral
Infrastructure Working Group that met in Washington in
February.
External Affairs Ministry
• Sushma Swaraj embarked on a three- day visit to
Azerbaijan this afternoon to participate in the Mid-Term
Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
• The External Affairs Ministry said, as a founding member
of NAM, India remains committed to the purposes and
principles of the Movement.
• Ms Swaraj’s participation in the Meeting will emphasize
India’s continued, active and constructive engagement
within the Movement to further strengthen solidarity and
cooperation among its Member States.
United Nations
• The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has
identified 139 terrorist individuals and entities operating
from Pakistani soil.
•In its consolidated list updated yesterday, UNSC named
Lashkar-e-Taiba and its chief Hafiz Saeed, Osama bin
Laden’s heir apparent and Al Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri,
Harkatul Mujahideen, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and
others.
United Nations
• The list also includes fugitive Dawood Ibrahim who,
according to the UNSC, has held several Pakistani
passports issued in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
RBI
• The RBI has kept all its key rates unchanged in the first
bi-monthly policy review for the financial year 2018-19
for the fourth time in a row.
• The Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, headed by RBI
Governor Urjit Patel kept the repo rate at which the
central bank lends short-term money to other banks at 6
per cent.
•He said, the reverse repo rate at which it borrows from
banks and absorbs excess liquidity, will remain at 5.75
per cent.
RBI
• Over the past two days the monetary policy committee
reviewed global and domestic macro economic conditions
and decided to hold the policy repo rate at six percent
while continuing with the neutral stand of monetary policy.
• The status quo policy of RBI will be neutral to the EMIs
for housing and vehicle loan borrowers, but banks are
free to tinker with both deposit and lending rate
depending on their asset liability position.
• The RBI said, GDP growth is likely to strengthen from 6.6
per cent in 2017-18 to 7.4 per cent in 2018-19 as there
are clear signs of revival in investment activity and
improvement in global demand.
• Maintaining a neutral policy stance, RBI reiterated its
commitment to achieve a medium term target of 4 percent
headline inflation on a durable basis.
• RBI said growth is likely to improve with clear signs of
revival in investment activity and improvement in global
demand.
• On inflation, RBI said food inflation is likely to remain
under check on assumption of a normal monsoon but
upside risks remain due to volatility in international crude
prices and fiscal slippage at state level.
• Key domestic stocks today logged strong gains amid RBI’s
bi-monthly policy review.
• The gain in the benchmark indices came in tandem with
world stocks, as concerns over trade tensions between
US and China eased after a statement made by US
administration.
President
• President Ram Nath Kovind has said that if more women
become part of the workforce, both household incomes
and the GDP will rise and India can become a more
prosperous nation.
•He was addressing the 34th annual session of FICCI
Ladies Organisation in New Delhi today.
• We will become a more prosperous nation, much greater
than that we will become a more equal society.
President
• The real responsibility of organisation such as FLO is not
merely to skill young women for jobs but of even greater
importance is the role FLO plays in encouraging women to
become entrepreneurs.
• The President said, in business and commerce, it is
regrettable that women have not been given their due.
•He said, there is a need to take the magic of
entrepreneurship to and facilitate the start-ups of
women at the bottom of the pyramid.
MEA
• Prime Minister will visit Sweden and the United Kingdom
from 16th to 20th of this month.
•In a official release, the Ministry of External Affairs said,
apart from bilateral visits to the two countries, Mr Modi
will attend the India-Nordic Summit in Sweden and
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
in the United Kingdom
Department of Atomic Energy
• By using radiation induced mutagenesis along with cross
breeding, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has
developed two mutants of rice {Trombay Raipur Rice1(TRR-1),
Trombay Konkan Kolam (TKKR-13)*} and one
mutant of cowpea {Trombay Cowpea 901 (TC901)*} which
are identified for release.
• BARC has also developed several mutants of groundnut,
mustard, cowpea, blackgram, greengram, soybean, rice
and wheat which are undergoing advance field trials in
State Agricultural Universities.
Digital World and People
•Not so long ago Google, Facebook and their peers were
seen as connecting the world, spreading freedom,
ending repression.
• Silicon Valley corporations could do no wrong with us.
• Their entry into our world and the disruptions to
traditional industries were seen as inevitable, and they
could not be held to the old rules.
Digital World and People
• But today, these giants are facing a crisis of trust.
•Now we have realized how opaque algorithms and big
data can combine to control our lives in secret ways.
• The services they provide to us come with strings
attached, as for them we are their product.
• These platforms have been shaping what we see and we
think.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to
intensify these problems – human bias and error are
often baked into code, which can have unpleasant
effects.
• We need to regulate them without hampering
innovation.
• French president Emmanuel Macron outlined a nuanced
vision where technology works for citizens, rather than
• Macron spoke of tapping into AI, using its potential for
healthcare, mobility, defence and so on, but also
demanded algorithmic accountability, and a clearer
bargain between tech service providers and citizens.
•It can’t be denied that Europe has shown greater
foresight in tech regulation than the US.
• Europe requires much greater clarity, and gives users
greater control over how their information is used.
•India, of course, has not even crafted a full data
protection law yet, even as it encourages full-tilt digital
innovation.
• We can have this late starter advantage.
• The time has come for India to take more control of its
digital infrastructure and ensure Indian tech companies
have a level playing field, rather than leave it to
monopoly foreign platforms.
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