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Obama bids farewell

President Barack Obama on 10th Jan 2017 issued a rallying cry to preserve and protect U.S. democracy, urging Americans to remain “vigilant, but not afraid” and to reject complacency and fear.
●    Obama had billed his farewell address ― his final public speech as president ― as a path forward under President-elect Donald Trump. 
●    Obama only mentioned Trump by name early in the speech, noting his commitment to the transition of power. 
●    But many of his cautions appeared directed at his successor, particularly his reminder that “democracy can buckle when we give in to fear,” and his apparent references to Trump’s campaign of divisiveness and fear mongering against minority groups.
●    Obama framed his address as a prescription for democracy. 
●    He said threats to the country’s foundation include income inequality, racism and bigotry, political polarization, the jettisoning of facts and reason in political discourse, and low levels of civic engagement.

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World Bank cuts India's growth forecast to 7%

The World Bank has lowered its growth forecast for India to 7 per cent from 7.6 per cent in 2016-17.
●    The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects January 2017 report added that the Indian economy is subsequently set to recover its growth momentum, with growth rising to 7.6 per cent in FY18 and further strengthening to 7.8 per cent in FY20.
●    Weak industrial production and manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ indexes (PMI), further suggest a set back to activity in the fourth quarter of FY2017.
●    This was further accentuated by other economic factors, the report added, leading to a slump in the entire year’s growth rate.
●    The report, however, noted that four key reforms in India in 2016 could help growth rebound.

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Import of mobile phones without Panic Button allowed till Feb

The Department of Telecom allowed import of mobile phones without panic button or emergency calling feature till February 28, 2017. 
●    It has been decided by the competent authority that the import of mobile phone handsets without Panic Button/Emergency call button feature prescribed as per ‘Panic Button and Global Positioning System Facility in all mobile phone handsets Rules 2016 shall be allowed till 28th February 2017.
●    The government in April 2016 mandated that all mobile phones in the country from January 1, 2017, will be sold with panic button feature. 
●    As per the order, pressing panic button will make a call to single emergency number 112.
●    The concept of a device with panic button feature was floated after brutal gangrape of a paramedical student in Delhi. 
●    Helpline 112, that will be India’s equivalent to 911 of the US’s all-in-one emergency services.

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MapmyIndia to join hands with Aeris for IoT

An Internet of Things (IoT) service provider Aeris has formed a partnership with mapping firm MapmyIndia to offer geospatial intelligence based IoT solutions in India by leveraging their respective areas of core competence. 
●    The global IoT market is expected to cross $200 billion by 2020. 
●    The IoT market in India stood at $5.6 billion with 200 million connected devices in 2016. 
●    This is expected to grow to $15 billion with 2.7 billion devices by 2020 presenting a significant opportunity for technology and service providers. 
●    Both companies will jointly develop solutions which is expected to address business challenges such as ubiquitous tracking through connectivity.

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New wasp species discovered from Western Ghats

A new species of wasp has been discovered from the Western Ghats, one of the biodiversity hotspots of the country.
●    Muhamed Jafer Palot of Western Ghats Regional Centre (WGRC) of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kozhikode, said this wasp belonged to the sub-family of Eumeninae of the family Vespidae.
●    This new species was so far recorded from Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Nilambur forests, and also from Muthappanpuzha of Kozhikode district.
●    The new species was discovered by a team consisting of P. Girish Kumar and P. M. Sureshan, of the WGRC of ZSI, and James M. Carpenter of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
●    Along with this new species, two other new species were spotted in the forests of Assam and Meghalaya.
●    Adding with these discoveries, the total number of species of genus ‘Parancistrocerus’ has been increased to three in Kerala and 11 in India.
 

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Railways to open up ATMs in stations, music and movies in trains

The Indian Railways will put up ATMs on platforms in stations, offer music and movies in trains and ‘brand’ trains to boost advertising revenue.
●    These and other initiatives to get revenue from non-fare sources were announced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
●    The Minister unveiled the Railways’ first non-fare revenue policy, out-of-home advertising policy, train branding policy, content-on-demand and rail radio policy, besides an ATM policy.
●    ATMs are likely to be located at the end of platforms or at a prominent place in the circulating area of stations.
●    The Railways will soon provide entertainment services through audio and video systems bringing movies, shows and educational programmes to passengers on their personal electronic devices inside trains and on platforms. 
●    Some of these services will be chargeable to passengers and Railways hope to mop up more than ₹6,000 crore by the end of a 10-year contract period.


 

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BSNL to connect 1500 Gram Panchayats through OFC

BSNL plans to connect 1,518 gram panchayats with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) this year in Assam to ensure rural connectivity.
●    5,200 kms of OFC will be laid this year to cover 1,518 gram panchayats, which accounts 70 per cent of the total gram panchayats in the state.
●    Kshetri Gaon Panchayat in Kamrup district is likely to become the first digital gram panchayat of the country.
●    BSNL will provide three thousand hot spots at important places and has already initiated steps for automatic hook up points through wireless network.
●    Following demonetisation, BSNL has tied-up with SBI and will soon launch an e-wallet called Mobicash.
●    Assam government has set the target to provide television, internet and telephone connection through a single connection to provide financial benefit to the people.

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12th World Hindi Day celebrated across the world

The 12th World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10 January 2017 across the world. 
●    To mark the occasion, special events were organised by non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) to spread the greatness of Hindi language.
●    World Hindi Day was first observed on 10 January 2006. The day is celebrated alongside the National Hindi Diwas that is being celebrated on 14 September.
●    The National Hindi Diwas is celebrated annually to mark the day, 14 September 1949, on which the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the Official Language of the Union.
●    The World Hindi Day seeks to promote Hindi at the global stage, while the National Hindi Diwas is celebrated across the country.
●    Hindi is the fourth most spoken language in the world.
●    In India, Hindi is spoken as a mother tongue by more than 250 million people.

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Yahoo to be renamed Altaba after Verizon deal

Yahoo confirmed on Monday that chief executive Marissa Mayer will quit the company's board after its merger with Verizon. 
●    Mayer is expected to remain with Yahoo's core business, which is being bought by the US telecom titan. 
●    Yahoo is selling its internet operations as a way to separate that from its more valuable stake in Chinese internet giant Alibaba. 
●    The share-tending entity, to be renamed Altaba Inc., will act as an investment company with its board reduced to five members, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 
●    Yahoo co-founder David Filo and Mayer will be among those resigning from the board, according to the filing. 

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Air India ranked third worst in punctuality

Domestic carriers Jet Airways and IndiGo ranked seventh and tenth, respectively, in on-time performance in Asia Pacific, according to a global airlines OTP survey report in which Air India remained third-worst in terms of punctuality.
●    Jet Airways (76.1 per cent) and IndiGo (74.2 per cent) have been recognised among major Asia Pacific carriers including Japan Airlines, Virgin Australia, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Jetstar.
●    Japan Airlines with 87.33 per cent OTP was ranked number one in this category followed by Virgin Australia with 86.22 per cent at the 8th Annual Airline OTP Service Awards by flight tracking and mentoring services provider Flightstats. 
●    At the 8th Annual Airline OTP Service Awards by flight tracking and mentoring services provider Flightstats.
●    On the other hand, government-run Air India was third in terms of worst OTP performer after Israeli carrier El Al and Iceland based Icelandair.
 

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