Notes:
Maharashtra has become the India’s first state to launch Public Cloud Policy, which will allow all government departments to access public cloud. . The step will create business opportunities worth $2 billion while helping the state government departments to shift all their data to clouds. This will accelerate e-governance and open up entire new area for investment by the private entrepreneurs to make available newest technologies for all the departments as government not only is the biggest data creator but also consumer.

Notes:
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has celebrated its 13th Raising Day on January 19, 2018 in New Delhi. The NDRF raised on January 19, 2006, is a specialised force capable of responding to any type of disaster in the country and abroad. It is strategically deployed across the nation as per the vulnerability profile of the country.

Notes:
Thaawarchand Gehlot, the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, has launched 100 accessible websites for Divyangs on January 19, 2018. These 100 government websites are now divyang friendly. The Accessible Websites are those websites into which Persons with Disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. The divyang-friendly websites, especially for visually impaired, use features such as screen readers and screen magnifiers, which can relay website content to the user in audio format. Approx, 900 such websites will be launched in a phased manner.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) will set up a $350 million Solar Development Fund (SDF) for financing solar projects to achieve its ambitious target of adding 175 Giga Watts (GW) in renewable energy by 2022. This announcement was made by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh during the Future World Energy Summit (WFES) 2018. The WFES was organized by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The ISA is an alliance of sunshine-rich countries set up jointly by India and France on the sidelines of the historic Paris meeting on climate change in November 2015. So far, 19 countries have ratified and 48 signed the ISA Framework Agreement.

Notes:
Indian cricket team has won the 5th edition of Blind Cricket World Cup 2018 by defeating Pakistan in the final by two wickets at Sharjah in United Arab Emirates (UAE). With this, India has retained the World Cup for the Blind. In the final, Pakistan batted first and managed to score 308/8 after being put into bat by India. India chased down the target of 309 with 16 balls to spare to clinch the title. Thus, India maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament.

Notes:
The 8th edition of the International Conference on Wild Silk Moths has started in Guwahati, Assam on January 22, 2018. The conference would help in increasing income of the people of the region who are involved with silk industry. India is holding the event for the second time with an aim to explore latest research and development. The conference is being organized by the Central Silk Board and International Society for Wild Silk Moths.

Notes:
The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) is located at Mysore University Campus in Mysore, Karnataka. It is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. AIISH provides clinical services for speech, language, and hearing disorders through its clinical service program. The therapy clinic provides assessment and intervention services, for variety of speech, language, and hearing disorders, to individuals of all ages. It also offers public education programs and conducts workshops for speech-language pathologists, audiologists, educators for the hearing impaired, medical, and allied health professionals.

Notes:
Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the ‘Protocol for Star Rating of Garbage-Free Cities’ in Goa along with the Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar in order to fulfill India’s biggest dream of being a clean nation by October 2, 2019. . The star-rating initiative has been developed by the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban. It will rate cities on a 7-star rating system based on multiple cleanliness indicators for solid waste management, which will include Door to Door Collection, bulk generator compliance, source segregation, sweeping, scientific processing of waste, scientific land filling, plastic waste management, construction and demolition management, dump remediation & citizen grievance redressal system etc.

Notes:
Lifter Rakhi Halder of Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) has created a new national record in clean and jerk en route to a gold medal in the 63kg women’s category in the 33rd Women Senior National Weightlifting Championships, in Mangaluru, Karnataka on January 24, 2018. She lifted 128kgs in the clean and jerk for a total of 230kgs to create a new national record, bettering Karnam Malleswari’s feat (127kg) created in Athens in 1999. The silver in this category went to S Thasana Chanu of Karnataka (202kg) while the bronze was clinched by AIPSCB’s Amandeep Kaur (191kg). The day concluded with a gold medal for RV Rahul of RSPB in 85kg men’s division of the 70th Men National Weightlifting Championships.

Notes:
As per latest PwC 21st CEO Survey 2018, the United States has acquired the top spot for global investment, followed by China, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), India and Japan. The survey reveals surprising faith and optimism among CEOs in the economic and business environment worldwide, at least over the next 12 months As per the survey, 54% of the CEOs plan to increase their headcount in 2018 while only 18% expect to reduce their staff. The sectors having the highest demand for new recruits are health care (71%), technology (70%), business services (67%), communications (60%), hospitality and leisure (59%).