AI Centres of Excellence
Union Minister for Education announced the establishment of three AI CoE
- Focus areas – Healthcare, Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities.
- Part of the vision to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India“
- Will give further impetus to the start-up ecosystem and help create a new generation of job and wealth creators
INS Samarthak
INS Samarthak launched.
- India’s first-of-class Indigenous multi-purpose vessel
- Highly specialised, multi-role platform envisaged to be a trial platform for the development of next generation weapons and sensors for the Indian Navy.
- Can achieve a maximum speed of 15 knots.
- Also useful in launch and recovery of surface and aerial targets, maritime surveillance and patrolling, humanitarian assistance, combating sea pollution, etc.
Nanaji Deshmukh
Recently, the Prime Minister of India paid tribute to Bharat Ratna Nanaji Deshmukh on his birth anniversary.
- A social reformer and politician
- Established Chitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya, India’s 1st rural university, and served as its Chancellor.
- He was instrumental in shaping the Janata Party.
- Posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019.
World Food Day 2024
Recently, World Food Day was observed on 16th October.
- Marks the establishment of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) by the United Nations (UN) on 16th October, 1945.
- Right to food is recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
- Recently, WWF’s Living Planet Report praised India’s food consumption pattern as the most sustainable among G20 countries.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has approved a 50% increase in the ceiling prices of eleven scheduled formulations of eight drugs under the Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013.
- An independent regulator that sets drug prices and ensures their availability and accessibility.
- Formed in 1997 as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers.
- Derives authority from the Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
- Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System 2.0 (IPDMS) – For online information collection from Pharma manufacturers.