President Ramnath Kovind has said in a democracy, Information overload is always preferable to information deficit. Addressing the 13th annual convention of Central Information Commission in New Delhi, the President said, people have a right to know how they are being governed, how public money is being spent and how public and national resources are being deployed.

He said it is people's right to know how public services are being delivered, and how public works and welfare programmes are being carried out. Mr. Kovind said, Right to Information is about nurturing the social contract of trust between the citizen and the state where both must have faith in each other.

The President said, a related and parallel implication is to ensure rational use of public resources to check instances of corruption or waste. He said, the Internet and the digital economy have been used to advance e-auctions of mining blocks. They have helped create the Government e-Market or GeM portal for public procurement of goods and services.

AIR correspondent reports, there are half a million public information officers under the RTI Act. The estimate of requests for information is as high as six million requests a year.

NITI Aayog and IBM today announced a first-of-its-kind internship programme for students selected by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).

The internship will see 38 students receive a two-week paid internship, and 14 teachers from Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) across the length and breadth of the country including from states such as Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar and others, to come together and ideate, collaborate and innovate.

These students will be equipped with the skills for new collar careers in areas like artificial intelligence, Internet-of-Things, cybersecurity, cloud computing and blockchain. Apart from being trained in emerging technologies, students will also be coached in critical workplace skills.

As part of the program, select teachers from ATLs will also be trained by IBM volunteers and mentors to become innovation coaches. The two-week program is designed so students can experience the corporate environment and gain exposure to new technologies. To scale the programme, top-performing students are selected for industry exposure to strengthen their technical skills and prepare them for future jobs.

The Atal Innovation Mission conducted the Atal Tinkering Marathon in 2017 where Top 30 innovations across five focus areas - agritech, healthcare, smart mobility, clean energy, waste management, water management - were identified as the top innovations.

In Malaysia, the cabinet today decided to abolish the death penalty. Communications and multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said, the government decided to scrap capital punishment following strong domestic opposition to the practice.

Malaysia's Lawyers for Liberty rights group said death penalty is barbarous, and unimaginably cruel. It said once the death penalty is scrapped, Malaysia will have the moral authority to fight for the lives of Malaysians facing death sentences abroad.

Capital punishment in Malaysia is currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes.

India Thursday rejected the findings of the World Bank’s report on Human Capital Index (HCI) which placed the country at the 115th position, lower than Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The World Bank, in its first report on HCI, ranked 157 economies on parameters like child mortality, health and education.

In a statement, the Finance Ministry said the HCI score for India does not reflect the key initiatives that are being taken for developing human capital in the country.

“The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan has been launched to focus on access and quality of education for the benefit of 197 million school children.

India has been ranked among the bottom 10 countries in a new worldwide index released on Tuesday on the commitment of different nations to reduce inequalities in their populations.

UK-based charity Oxfam International’s ‘Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index’ ranks India 147th among 157 countries analysed, describing the country’s commitment to reducing inequality as a “a very worrying situation” given that it is home to 1.3 billion people, many of whom live in extreme poverty.

“Oxfam has calculated that if India were to reduce inequality by a third, more than 170 million people would no longer be poor,” the index notes.

Sendre, a former Miss Chhattisgarh, belongs to Mandir Hasaud village in Raipur.

She said since childhood she felt 'different' from others. "Nobody wanted to be my friend, everybody made fun of me," she said.

Sendre left her studies when she was in 5th standard, but was back with books a few years later, she said. She then spoke with her mother about doing something different in her life.

She has participated in various ramp walks during Lucknow and Bengaluru fashion weeks.

Her victory is being seen as a big fillip to the transgender community in the country.

Harvinder Singh notched up India's maiden archery gold in the 2018 Asian Para Games by finishing on top in the men's individual recurve event, while the country also picked up three silver and four bronze medals on day 5 of the tournament. Harvinder defeated China's Zhao Lixue 6-0 in the W2/ST category final to claim the top honours and take India's gold tally to seven. The W2 category of impairment covers athletes with paraplegia, diplegia or double leg amputation below the knee, requiring wheelchair. The ST category is for archers with limited impairment and who may take aim without having to need a wheelchair.

Para-athletics, chess table tennis gave India three silver medals on Wednesday, while the bronze medals came from para-powerlifting, besides para-athletics.

It started with Monu Ghangas claiming the silver in the men's discus throw F11 category before Vijay Kumar claimed the second spot in the men's long jump T42/T61/T63 category. Ghangas claimed his silver with a throw of 35.89m, an effort which he managed in his third attempt. He finished behind Iran's Olad Mahdi, who came up with a new Asian as well as Games record throw of 42.37m. The F11 category deals with visual impairment.

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Tuesday that Mahesh Y Reddy has taken over as its Secretary General with immediate effect.

He holds 28 years of experience in national level trade, infrastructure and industry bodies in various capacities, the chamber said in a statement.

Earlier, Reddy served as Director General of Infrastructure Industry and Logistics Federation of India for eight years.

His appointment would take effect from the date of assumption of charge by him, said an official statement.

The 1983-batch Indian Statistical Service officer has worked in the ministries of statistics and health in various positions, and briefly in the Union Public Service Commission, in his 35-year career. He was a secretary to the Indian Statistical Commission, popularly known as the Rangarajan Commission, which laid the foundation of the modern statistical system. The National Statistical Commission was set up in 2005 on its recommendations.

In his latest stint, he worked as additional director general in the national accounts division of the MoSPI.

“Three surveys, two covering the services sector and unincorporated enterprises, and a time-use survey, which we are doing for the first time, and the 7th economic census are the immediate projects before us, and the resources we have are quite significant,” he told Business Standard.

The CSI takes up the mantle to generate the most important data in India, namely the estimation of gross domestic product (GDP) and retail inflation. Both are the key to a country’s economic progress, and to politics as well. Also, the much-awaited annual and quarterly job surveys will be out any time now.

Apart from macroeconomic data, there is the economic census, the annual survey of industries, and surveys on health, agricultural households, and consumption spending of Indians, for which the CSI is the point person.

The IOC has picked its first African host of any Olympics, formally awarding the 2022 Youth Games to Senegal. Senegal President Macky Sall was present on Monday to see International Olympic Committee members confirm the executive board’s preference from four candidates.

Senegal will host the youth games in three places: Dakar; a new city of Diamniadio, close to the capital; and the coastal resort of Saly.

Sall said a 50,000-seat Olympic Stadium will be built for the government-backed project.

The games budget is estimated at $150 million, the IOC executive director of Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, said at a news conference.

Senegal’s games are likely to be held in late May. This would be at the end of the dry season to “greatly reduce the prevalence of tropical diseases,” IOC vice president Ugur Erdener told the membership.