UTTARAKHAND

The Uttarakhand government is pitching for a separate industrial policy for Himalayan states which takes into account factors such as ecology and population of the area. Environmental restrictions and tough terrain can often keep away investors in the region.

In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said that there was a need for a separate policy and planning for development of Himalayan states.

INTERNATIONAL

· Emmerson Mnangagwa to be Sworn in as Zimbabwe’s New President

Zimbabwe’s former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwawill be sworn in as the President of the country.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda stated that the ruling ZANU-PF party has nominated him to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Robert Mugabe.
He stepped down after 37 years ruling the country.
Mnangagwa’s dismissal from the Vice President post led the ruling party and the military to intervene and forced Mr. Mugabe to resign.

NATIONAL

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for expansion of the schemes of Ministry of Women and Child Development under Umbrella Scheme “Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women” for a period 2017-18 to 2019-20.
CCEA has also given approval to the new scheme called ‘Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra’, which will empower rural women through community participation to create an environment in which they realize their full potential.
Expansion under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao has also been approved based on the successful implementation in 161 districts.
The financial outlay during 2017-18 to 2019-20 will be Rs.3,636.85 crore with a Central Share of approximately Rs.3,084.96 crore.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved India’s Membership for European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD)
Necessary steps will be initiated by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance to acquire the membership of the EBRD.
Membership of EBRD would enhance India’s international profile and promote its economic interests.

· Prime Minister launches Umang app

Prime minister Narendra Modi has launched Umang mobile application, an integrated platform for government to citizen services. Umang- an acronym for “unified mobile app for new age” e-governance – currently hosts around 162 services from 33 government departments of central and state governments.
The app has been developed by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY).

Bareilly’s Shubhangi Swaroop became the first-ever female pilot to be inducted into the Indian Navy.
Swaroop who has been appointed in the Naval Armament Inspection (NAI) branch will now undergo pilot training at Dundigal Air Force Academy near Hyderabad.
She is among the 328 cadets who passed out from theIndian Naval Academy’s first batch of female officers.

Social networking giant Facebookstated that it expects to train about five lakh people in India on digital skills by 2020 and has unveiled two programmes designed for individuals and start-ups.
The two programmes – Facebook Digital Training and Facebook StartupTraining Hubs – are being rolled out in India before any other country.
Apart from these two, Facebook also runs offline training programmes as well as Blueprint (free online training for advertising on Facebook).

The Global Conference on Cyber Space will begin in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the two-day mega event. For the first time, the event is being organized in India.
The theme of the conference is Cyber for All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development.
The story of Digital India and Digital Inclusion of citizens will be discussed in the conference.
Over 10 thousand delegates will take part in the conference in person. There will also be virtual participation from over 2800 locations across the world that will be connected in an interactive mode.