Notes:
N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, has declared the year of 2017-18 as e-Pragati year. The flagship e-pragati training programme is for AP government officials to familiarize and update new technologies and its usage. The six-week training is conducted by a team from Indian School of Business (IBS), Hyderabad to all the 32 departments of AP government. These departments will start using the latest technology from October for administration & e-governance, which will bring transparency and make everything visible online.

Notes:
The 7th ASEM Economic Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM EMM7) was held in Seoul, South Korea on September 21-22, 2017. The 2017 theme is ‘Innovative Partnership for Inclusive Prosperity’. The meeting was conducted under the Chairmanship of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea. In it, 51 member countries signed a joint statement on supporting the multilateral trade system.

Notes:
The two-week long joint military exercise “DRUZBA 2017” has started between Special Forces of Pakistan and Russia Armies started in Minralney Vody, Russia on September 25, 2017. The focus of the joint exercise is to counter-terrorism operations, hostage and rescue, cordon and search operation. The joint exercise will enhance and further strengthen military ties between the two countries and share Pakistan Army’s experience in war against terrorism. The first-ever joint military exercise was held in October 2016 and Russia also started selling weapons to Islamabad.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India’s GDP growth forecast to 7% from 7.4% for financial year 2017-18 due to weakness in private consumption, manufacturing output and business investment. Further, in its latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) outlook update, ADB has downgraded India’s growth projection for financial year 2018-19 to 7.4%, from the earlier forecast of 7.6% in July 2017. However, the multilateral lender stated that India continues its strong showing although demonetisation and implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime have dented consumer spending and business investment. These short-term disruptions are expected to dissipate allowing these initiatives to generate growth dividends over the medium term.

Notes:
The book “The Shershah of Kargil: Captain Vikram Batra” has been authored by Deepak Surana, which is launched in Banguluru on September 10, 2017. It is the biography of Kargil war hero Late Captain Vikram Batra, who was posthumously awarded Param veer Chakra (PVC) – the highest gallantry award of India. It is an inspiring story of the young captain, which takes you through the various dimensions of Captain Batra’s life.

Notes:
The Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary (GWS) is located at a distance of about 32.0 km from Bikaner, Rajasthan. This is one of the proposed forests for the reintroduction of cheetahs in India. It is home to mammals such as wildfowl, deer, antelope, nilgai, chinkara, black buck, desert fox and wild boar.

Notes:
Prime minister Narendra Modi has recently constituted Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PMEAC) under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy. The 5-member Economic Advisory Council (EAC) will address the issues of macroeconomic importance. The council will also analyse and advise the Prime Minister on any issue, economic or otherwise, referred by him. Besides Debroy, the council includes NITI Aayog’s principal adviser Ratan Watal as its member and economists Surjit Bhalla, Rathin Roy and Ashima Goyal as part-time members.

Notes:
Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister, has launched a web portal called ‘PENCIL’ for effective implementation of National Child Labour Project (NCLP) in New Delhi on September 26, 2017. The acronym PENCIL stands for Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour, which is developed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE). It is an electronic platform for no child labour. The PENCIL portal has five components — Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence. The online portal will connects the Centre to the state government, district and to all project societies and would provide a mechanism for implementation.

Notes:
Thaawarchand Gehlot, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, has launched the beta version of an accessible and comprehensive mobile App “Divyang Sarathi” in New Delhi for easy information dissemination to Divyangjans. The unique features of the App are its audio notes embedded in it which converts the written information into an audio file. The purpose of the mobile app is to provide all relevant information pertaining to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, including its various Acts, rules, regulations and guidelines, schemes and information about the various outreach institutions, employment opportunities in an accessible format.

Notes:
Manoj Sinha, the Union Minister of Communication, will launch the first-ever India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017, which is scheduled to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 27th September till 29thSeptember 2017. It is being organised by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) with support of the ministries like the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Skill Development and Entrepreneurship amongst others and will see participation from senior government representatives from the centres as well as various states.