On the occasion of its 85th anniversary, the Indian Air Force has launched an innovative mobile health App named `MedWatch' in keeping with the Prime Minister's vision of ‘Digital India'. The concept and content of the App is by the Directorate General of Medical Services (Air) and it has been developed in-house with zero financial outlay by the Directorate of Information Technology (DIT).

‘MedWatch’, available on the IAF's AFCEL network, comprises a host of features that will provide authentic health information to all IAF personnel. A Reminder Tool to enable timely immunization for the children of all Air Warriors is an important component of the App. This will directly enable 'Mission Indradhanush' of the Govt of India.

‘MedWatch’, the first mobile health app in the three Armed Services, was launched by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa PVSM AVSM YSM VM ADC, Chief of the Air Staff, during the Air Force Commanders' Conference at New Delhi on 11 Oct 17.

Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, C. R. Chaudhary, is leading the Indian delegation to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)- EXIM Bank, Regional Conclave on India-West Africa Project Partnership being held in Abuja, Nigeria on 8th – 9th October 2018. President and Vice President of Nigeria along with Ministers and Delegation of West African countries are participating in the Conclave.

Minster of State, C. R. Chaudhary, also held bilateral talks with Cape Verde, Niger and other West African countries. C. R. Chaudhary, discussed issues of climate change, electric mobility, renewable energy,tourism, infrastructure development and HR building capacity with Trade Minister of Cape Verde. These are the key areas for collaborative projects between India and Cape Verde.

Niger has appreciated India’s support to build Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC)in Niamey in Niger at the cost of USD 35.5 million on grant basis. The foundation stone of the project has been laid recently.

India’s exports to Niger increased by more than 50% since 2014-15. There is tremendous scope for increase and diversification of trade between thetwo countries. Minister of State for Commerce & Industry held bilateral meeting with Mr. SadouSeydou, Niger Minister of Trade and Promotion of Private Sectorat the Conclave.

Bilateral relations between India and Niger have expanded significantly since 2009. India has provided lines of credit worth USD 96.54 million for projects in transport, electrification, solar energy and potable drinking water. India’s grant assistance for MGICC will further contribute towards enhancing of bilateral ties. Niger will host the African Union (AU) Summit in 2019 in this Convention Centre. The establishment of the Centre is the land mark of Niger-India friendship and also a symbol of India’s firm commitment towards Africa.

Javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary produced a stunning world record effort as India bagged 11 medals, including three gold, on a productive day at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta yesterday.

Chaudhary clinched India's first gold of the Games in the men's category before middle distance runner Raju Rakshitha in women's 1500 meters and swimmer Jadhav Suyash Narayan in men's 50-meter butterfly added the yellow metals later on the second day of competitions.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday forecast a growth rate of 7.3 percent for India in the current year of 2018 and that of 7.4 percent in 2019.

In 2017, India had clocked a 6.7 percent growth rate.

"India's growth is expected to increase to 7.3 percent in 2018 and to 7.4 percent in 2019 (slightly lower than in the April 2018 World Economic Outlook [WEO] for 2019, given the recent increase in oil prices and the tightening of global financial conditions), up from 6.7 percent in 2017," the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report.

Google will be shutting down Google+ for consumers as part of a data privacy measure announced on Monday. The move comes as the company revealed that a previously undisclosed security flaw exposed hundreds of thousands of Google+ users' profile data. The issue was fixed earlier this year in March, but Google never made it public at the time. The company has now decided to shut down the seven-year-old service that was initially launched as a direct take on Facebook.

Google in a blog post said that the security bug was discovered and immediately patched in March 2018. The company adds that it cannot confirm how many Google+ users were affected by this bug, but based on a detailed analysis it seems up to 500,000 Google+ accounts have been affected. Google also said that there is no evidence that and Profile data was misused. A Wall Street Journal report cites sources briefed on the incident who say that Google executives willingly did not disclose the security breach out of fear that it would "draw regulatory scrutiny and cause reputational damage."

The company is now responding to the incident and has detailed a set of data privacy measures, which includes shutting down Google+ for consumers. Google in a blog post said that the consumer version of Google+ is seeing "low usage and engagement" in that 90 per cent of user sessions are less than five seconds. Google does plan to keep the enterprise version of Google+ alive and will roll out some new features for businesses. Google says Google+ for consumers will wind down over a 10-month period, which would be complete by the end of next August.

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday launched 'Nirman Kusuma' programme for providing financial assistance to the children of the construction workers for their technical education in the state.
Launching the programme, Mr Patnaik said 'Nirman Kusuma' would help fulfil dreams of construction workers' children. He said the children of construction workers would get financial assistance for their education in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics.

While an ITI student will be entitled to get financial assistance of Rs. 23,600, a diploma student to get Rs. 26,300 per annum. A total of 1,878 students will get benefit from the programme.

Mr Patnaik said the government had already deposited Rs. 1.09 crore in the bank account of beneficiaries of the 'Nirmal Kusuma'. The chief minister said the government had decided to increase the financial assistance by 20 per cent for girl students. Female students from standard sixth to post graduation level are being provided financial assistance.

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has won the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for Administrative Solution for Coverage Extension at the “Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific” held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.

The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage-SPREE (Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees), reduced rate of contribution rates for 24 months in newly implemented areas and raising the wage limit for coverage under the ESI Act, etc.

Shri Raj Kumar, IAS, Director General, ESIC represented Employees’ State Insurance Corporation and received the Certificate of Merit on behalf of ESIC.

The Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific is a triennial Forum, which is the most important social security event in the Region. For the triennial Regional Forum, ISSA invites submissions for the ISSA Good Practices Award for Asia and the Pacific Regions. The Forum provides unique opportunities to CEOs and Managers of ISSA Member Institutions to discuss key social security challenges and share their experiences.

Monday saw President Ramnath Kovind receiving a formal reception on day-2 of his maiden Central Asia visit in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe.

The occasion saw the President being accorded a guard of honour. National Anthems of both the countries were also played. This was followed by bilateral level talks between President Kovind and his Tajikistan counterpart Emomali Rahmon.

Addressing the media after the talks, President Kovind said India and Tajikistan share historical relations and both nations will be strengthening them further based on tremendous underlying potential.

Indian grant of 20 million US dollars was announced for Tajikistan to finance development projects. Several other key bilateral pacts were also signed.

The two leaders agreed to strengthen political relations, strategic research, agriculture, renewable energy, traditional medicine, space technology, youth affairs, culture and disaster management relations between India and Tajikistan.

President appreciated Tajikistan's role in getting India membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation which will boost strategic ties between the two countries.

The President added that both India and Tajikistan remain committed to end terrorism and radicalisation.

President Kovind also went to Tajikistan's National University the same evening where he spoke on the challenge being faced by modern society in combating radicalisation and interacted with the university's faculty.

The President commended Tajikistan's commitment to combating terrorism on the occasion.

President Kovind interacted with the Indian community in Tajikistan on day-1 of his visit to the Central Asian nation. He said India and Tajikistan have been friends for long and every Indian in that country is its ambassador.

Thangjam Tababi Devi became India’s first judo medallist at the Olympic level, claiming a silver at the ongoing Youth Games after losing to Venezuela’s Maria Giminez in the finals of the women’s 44kg category.

Tababi Devi, an Asian cadet champion hailing from Manipur, lost 0-11, also conceding a penalty point in the process, in the summit showdown that lasted a little over two minutes on Sunday night. India have never won an Olympic medal in judo either at the senior or the youth level.

The 16-year-old defeated Ana Viktorija Puljiz of Crotia 10-0 in the semifinals. Prior to that, she defeated Bhutan’s Yangchen Wangmo 10-0 in the round of 16 before getting the better of Erza Muminoviq of Kosovo in the quarterfinals. Her silver was India’s second medal at the ongoing Games after shooter Tushar Mane also clinched the second position in the men’s 10m air rifle competition.

A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Railways of the Republic of India and the Joint Stock Company ‘Russian Railways’ on the sidelines of India-Russia Summit on 5th October, 2018. The MoC intends to carry forward the activities taken up under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries on 24th December, 2015. The Memorandum of cooperation includes:

Implementation of speed up gradation project of Nagpur-Secunderabad section ;
Setting up of single traffic control centre for managing mixed traffic at local level;
Best practices in freight cargo operation ;
Development of multi modal terminals ; and
Exchange of best technologies being practiced by the two countries.
Training and advanced qualification improvement of Indian railway employees with the involvement of Russian railway-related higher education establishments.
The cooperation agreement was signed by Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Ashwani Lohani from Indian side and Mr. Oleg Belozerov, CEO & Chairman of Russian Railways.