- The first-ever ‘Kisan Rail’ of South India chugged off from Anantapur Railway Station carrying 322 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to Adarsh Nagar in Delhi after it was virtually flagged off by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
- The Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar has launched an online registration portal for admissions in undergraduate (UG) programmes in government, aided and self-financed colleges for the new academic session 2020-21.He also launched WhatsApp chatbot “Apka Mitra” to resolve any admission-related queries of the students. Students can send a message on WhatsApp chatbot number 7419444449 to get any information regarding admissions, scholarships etc.
- A long-pending demand to rename Hubbballi Railway Station in Karnataka after Sri Siddharoodha Swami has been approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs and now, the State government has to issue a gazette notification to complete the process.
- Government has constituted a three member expert committee to assist in the assessment of relief to bank borrowers. The committee chaired by former CAG Rajiv Mehrishi will measure the impact on the national economy and financial stability of waiving of interest and COVID-19 related moratorium.
- The Central Authority has appointed Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman as the Chairman of the Supreme Court legal services committee. The committee has been constituted for implementing the legal services programme in connection with the top court.
- According to the CARE Ratings report, the employment growth rate declined to 3.5 per cent in FY20 from 3.8 per cent in the previous fiscal year, but the total number of jobs increased to 50.02 lakh from 48.32 lakh. In FY20, 1.70 lakh new jobs were added, while the net addition was 1.76 lakh in FY19. But in FY20, as many as 321 companies reduced their headcounts by 1.13 lakh compared to 272 companies doing so by 1.18 lakh in the previous year.
- India, Israel and the United States have begun collaboration in developmental area, and in next generation of emerging technologies, including a transparent, open, reliable and secure 5G communication network.
- Two years into its efforts to eliminate industrially produced trans fats from the global food supply, the apex global public health agency in a report titled ‘Countdown to 2023: WHO report on global trans-fat elimination 2020’ released said that 58 countries so far have introduced laws that will protect 3.2 billion people from the harmful substance by the end of 2021. But more than 100 countries still need to take actions to remove these harmful substances from their food supplies.
- Microsoft in collaboration with Nasscom’s Future Skills will launch a nation-wide initiative in India to skill students in Artificial Intelligence.
- National Skill Development Corporation and professional network LinkedIn have joined hands to provide access to free LinkedIn Learning resources for imparting digital skills to youth for enhancing employability.
- Veteran Bollywood actor and BJP MP Paresh Rawal is appointed as the Chairman of the National School of Drama. The post of Chairman had been vacant since 2017 and actor Arjun Deo has been serving as the Acting Chairman.
