Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian Resignes

  • The Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) of India, Arvind Subramanian had resigned from his post.
  • He will return to the US because of “pressing family commitments”.
  • Subramanian was appointed as CEA to the finance ministry in October 2014, for the period of three years.
  • In 2017, his term was extended for a year.

World’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics launched in Gandhinagar, Gujarat

  • The world’s first International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics was launched in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
  • Humanitarian Forensics will play a crucial role at times of natural and man-made calamities.
  • The Centre will use forensics for humanitarian services, which will assist humanitarian efforts during emergencies and natural disasters.
  • The Centre is a joint venture of the Red Cross in India, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives, and also the Gujarat Forensic Science University.

Surat Smart City selected for ‘City Award’ for implementation of projects

  • The government has handed out awards at its ‘India Smart Cities Awards’ 2018 function.
  • Surat has won the City Award for showing great momentum in implementation of projects especially in the categories of urban environment, transport and mobility and sustainable integrated development.
  • The Innovative Idea award has been conferred upon 2 cities - Bhopal and Ahmedabad.
  • Bhopal wins it for its Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) and Ahmedabad for its Safe and Secure Ahmedabad (SASA) Project.

Punjab government launches ‘i-Hariyali’ mobile app

  • The Punjab government has launched a smartphone application called i-Hariyali that lets users order free plant saplings.
  • The app, launched under ‘Mission Tandarust’, can be downloaded from the app store for free.
  • Users can use the app to book saplings of their choice from a nearby government nursery, and a maximum of 25 per person are allowed.
  • The i-Hariyali app aims to inspire people to plant more saplings to save the environment from pollution.

Shillong (Meghalaya) selected as the India’s 100th Smart City

  • Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya, has been selected as the country’s 100th Smart City under the government’s Smart Cities Mission.
  • Up to now, the government had selected 99 smart cities in four rounds of competition.
  • With Shillong, the total proposed investment under the Smart Cities Mission is Rs.2,05,018 crores (2.05 lakh crore).

World’s most powerful supercomputer, named Summit, unveiled in the US

  • Scientists from the US have unveiled the world’s most powerful and smartest scientific supercomputer.
  • The new supercomputer is called Summit, and it is claimed Summit is 8 times faster than previous fastest supercomputer, Titan.
  • Summit can complete more than 200,000 trillion calculations per second.
  • Scientists plan to use Summit’s computing power for research in energy, advanced materials and artificial intelligence (AI).
  • Summit is an IBM AC922 system consisting of 4,608 servers. Each server contains two 22-core IBM Power9 processors and six NVIDIA Tesla V100 graphics processing unit accelerators.

SBI’s B. Sriram appointed MD & CEO of IDBI Bank

  • SBI’s managing director (MD), Balasubramanyam Sriram, has been appointed the MD and chief executive officer (CEO) of IDBI Bank for three months.
  • Sriram replaces Mahesh Kumar Jain, who has been appointed deputy governor of the Reserve of Bank India (RBI).
  • Sriram has been the MD in-charge of corporate banking and stressed assets resolution at SBI since July 2014.

BSE Sensex closes at 35,547.33 points (up 260.59), NSE Nifty at 10,772.05 (up 61.60)

  • BSE Sensex and NSE’s Nifty 50 surged on Wednesday.
  • Sensex closed at 35,547.33, higher by 260.59 points (0.74%); Nifty 50 closed at 10,772.05, higher by 61.60 points (0.58%).
  • Both snapped a two-day losing streak led by gains Reliance Industries and banking stocks.
  • At the BSE, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra and Tata Steel were the top gainers. ONGC, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Coal India, ITC and Wipro lost the most.
  • At the NSE, Reliance, Vedanta, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra and HDFC Bank gained the most

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