ANDHRA PRADESH

 

• P. to launch ₹100-crore innovation fund in February

 

• State government is gearing up to set up a ₹100-crore innovation fund to encourage start-up companies. It is likely to be launched by mid- February.

 

• The government is finalising the guidelines, according to Panchayat Raj and IT Minister Nara Lokesh.

 

• Lokesh launched AP chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs, TiE Amaravati

 

• Speaking at the event, he maintained that A.P. itself was a start-up State. The government was creating eco-system to encourage the young entrepreneurs to set up their start-ups.

 

• As part of its plans and commitment to encourage innovative ideas by entrepreneurs, ₹100 crore was being allotted to create a separate fund to support out-of-the box ideas by aspiring entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

• Romania to have first female prime minister, Viorica Dancila

 

• Viorica Dancila has been named as Romania’s first female PM following the sudden resignation of Mihai Tudose.

 

• Ms Dancila, a member of the European Parliament, is regarded as an ally of the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea.

 

• Ms Dancila, 54, is Romania’s third prime minister in seven months.

 

·        Google awarded 72 lakh for finding bugs in Pixel phone

 

• Google awarded nearly 72 lakh to researcher Guang Gong for finding bugs in its Pixel devices.
• The exploit chain consisted of two bugs which together could inject arbitrary code into system server by accessing a malicious URL in Chrome.
• Around 67 lakh of the reward was given from Google’s Android Security Rewards program, the highest in the program’s history.

 

 

NATIONAL

 

·        India Ratings Projects Economic Growth at 7.1 Next Fiscal

 

• India Ratings and Research have projected the country’s economic growth to improve to 1 percentin 2018-19 from 6.5 percent in 2017-18, buoyed by robust consumer demand and low commodity prices.
• In its outlook for 2018-19, according to the agency, there will be a gradual pickup in growth momentum owing to structural reforms like GST and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in place.
• The projection is a tad lower than 7.4 percent growth estimated by Asian Development Bank and International Monetary Fund for next fiscal.

 

• Government to set up $350 million fund to finance solar projects

 

• Government will set up a $350 million fund to finance solar projects, as the country steps up efforts to achieve its ambitious target of adding 175 gigawatts (GW) in renewable energy by 2022.

 

• India will need at least $125 billion to fund a plan to increase the share of renewable power supply in the country’s grid by 2022.

 

• The country, which receives twice as much sunshine as European nations, wants to make solar central to its renewable expansion.

 

• Installed renewable power capacity is currently about 60 GW

·        HDFC Bank Becomes 1st Indian Bank to Cross Rs5 trillion Market Capitalisation

 

• India’s most-valued lender HDFC Bank Limitedcrossed Rs5 trillion capitalization action for the first time, making it only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone.
• In intraday trade, the stock touched a fresh record high of Rs1,53.75 on the BSE, up 3.31% from its previous close.
• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are the other two companies which crossed market capitalisation of Rs5 trillion.

 

·        NPPA fixes retail price of 30 drug formulations

 

• Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)fixed retail price for 30 drug formulations, including those used for the treatment of Diabetics, bacterial infections, and high blood pressure.
• NPPA is an independent body under Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. It was set up in 1997.
• Its mandate is to fix/review.
• Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the country’s population.

 

·        Maharashtra becomes first state to unveil Public Cloud Policy

 

• Maharashtra became the first state in the country to unveil Public Cloud Policy that virtually mandates state government departments to shift their data storage.
• The State Government had formed a four-member committee to draft policy framework on cloud usage.
• The policy will result in additional private sector investments worth the US $2 billion for cloud industry as the government is one of biggest creators.

 

·        Virat Kohli named as Captain of ICCs Test and ODI Teams of the Year

 

• Virat Kohli was named the captain of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams of the year that included four other Indians as well.
• Kohli scored 2,023 runs at 77.80, including eight centuries and three half-centuries in 18 matches during the qualification period.
• He surprisingly pipped Australian skipper Steve Smith for the ICC’s Test team captaincy.
• The Test team also comprises Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin.