1) Japan PM Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad for India-Japan Annual Summit
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Mr. Abe is in India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual summit meeting.
•The 12th edition of the summit will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The two leaders will review the recent progress in the multifaceted co-operation between India and Japan under the framework of their ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’. They will also attend a function to mark the commencement of work of India’s first high-speed rail project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
2) State Startup Conference in New Delhi
•The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India organized the second State Startup Conference in New Delhi. The Minister of State, C.R. Choudhary inaugurated the conference. The conference was held mainly to deliberate on issues including incubation facilities and making regulations easier for budding entrepreneurs.
•The discussions were centered on four main themes related to key components of the startup ecosystem:
1.Governance reforms to be undertaken by states for start-ups.
2.Incubation facilities in India and role of state governments in developing these facilities.
3.Role of state governments in setting up funds for start-ups.
4.Making regulations easier for Start-ups.
3) Government Launches Hackathon to Promote App Ideas
•The Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched a nationwide hackathon ‘OpenGovDataHack’ to support and showcase potential ideas/talent from inner India.
•As part of the start-up eco-system development programme, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have collaborated to conduct the hackathon at Jaipur, Chennai, Noida, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Hyderabad and Surat.
4) Halimah Yacob- 1st Female President of Singapore
•Halimah Yacob was sworn-in as the 8th President of Singapore. She became the country’s first female President and the first in five decades to come from the Malay ethnicity.
•She was certified by the Presidential Elections Commission as the only eligible candidate, and since she has no opponent, there was no election held.
5) Kochi to Host Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Summit
•Kochi will host the fifth edition of the ‘Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017’. The summit will be an initiative to explore the immense potential of coastal shipping and waterways as well as an effort to build a shared commitment and decipher the role that each stakeholder will have to play in integrating the coastal and waterways transport infrastructure.
•Kerala Governor P Sathasivam will present the India Seatrade Award for Excellence in Coastal Shipping & Inland Water Transportation.
6) RBI to Introduce Rs 100 Coin to Mark MG Ramachandran’s Birth Centenary
•As per the notification of Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India will introduce 100 rupees coin to mark the birth centenary (hundredth anniversary) of AIADMK founder Late Dr. M G Ramachandran.
•On the obverse, the face of the coin will bear Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the center with Satyamev Jayate inscribed below on it in Devanagari script. It will also bear the rupee symbol and denominational value of 100.
•On the reverse side, the portrait of Dr. MG Ramachandran will be in the center. The standard weight of the coin will be 35 grams.
