Headlines IITs to get 25 % of govt. loans for higher education institutes under RISE scheme UIDAI introduces blue coloured Baal Aadhaar for children

Headlines IITs to get 25 % of govt. loans for higher education institutes under RISE scheme UIDAI introduces blue coloured Baal Aadhaar for children below the age of 5 Andaman & Nicobar Command to Host Milan 2018 21st National Conference on e-governance held in Hyderabad 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) held in Fiji

Headlines PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018. Vikas Krishan wins gold, adjudged best boxer at the 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Bulgaria IOA enters partnership with Edelweiss Group for 2018 CWG, Asian Games, 2020 Olympic Games Former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian passes away

IITs to get 25 % of govt loans for higher education institutes under RISE scheme 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will be getting the largest portion of loans on offer under Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) scheme.

Details about funding to higher education institutes under RISE scheme: During Union Budget 2018 speech, Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley had announced RISE scheme with a corpus of Rs 100000 crore. Under this scheme, all centrally-funded institutes (CFIs), including central universities, IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and IISERs, can borrow funds from the corpus over the next four years to expand and build new infrastructure. Rs 25000 crore, out of above stated Rs. 100000 crore corpus will be set aside exclusively for the 23 IITs.

Central Universities will be getting second largest share of Rs 20000 crore. National Institutes of Technology (NITs) can borrow up to Rs 11300 crore, new IIMs will get Rs 4500 crore while five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) can borrow Rs 5000 crore. Under RISE, all financing will be done through the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA). -- continued

UIDAI introduces blue coloured Baal Aadhaar for children below the age of 5 On February 26, 2018, Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI), introduced a Baal Aadhaar card for children below the age of five years.

About Baal Aadhaar : Baal Aadhaar Card will be of Blue Colour. No biometric details will be needed for Baal Aadhaar. However, when the child turns five, a mandatory biometric update will be required, which is to be done by taking the child to any nearby Aadhaar centre. In context of this news, it is important to note that Aadhhar Card is not mandatory for children in this age group. However, it is required if the child is attending educational programmes overseas and if he/she wants to avail government scholarships.

Quick Facts about UIDAI: Became Statutory Authority in 2016 Headquarters New Delhi Functions under Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Andaman & Nicobar Command to Host Milan 2018 Indian Navy s Andaman & Nicobar Command will be hosting a multinational mega event MILAN 2018 from 6 th 13 th March, 2018 at Port Blair.

Information about MILAN 2018 : Conducted biennially since 1995, MILAN is a congregation of navies of several countries, organised by Indian Navy at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. Objective behind this event is to foster co-operation through naval exercises and professional interactions. Theme of MILAN 2018 will be Friendship Across the Seas. Inaugural address at this event will be delivered by Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, Admiral Sunil Lanba. Professional exercises, seminars, social events and sporting fixtures will be conducted during the course of this event.

Countries that will participate in MILAN 2018: Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand. Countries that will participate for first time: Brunei, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Oman, South Africa, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

21st National Conference on e-governance held in Hyderabad On 26 th and 27 th February 2018, the 21 st National Conference on e-governance is held in Hyderabad, Telangana.

21st National Conference on e-governance: The 21 st National Conference on e-governance is organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), jointly with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology along with Telangana Government. Y.S. Chowdary, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, presided over the inaugural session. The theme for this year s Conference is: Technology for accelerating Development. The conference features plenary sessions based on the following themes: Building User Experience, Universalization and Replication and Governing e-governance, e-governance Good/ Best Practices, Emerging Technologies.

The last session of the conference will be on the theme: Synergising Role of National and State Government. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region, Minister of State for Prime Minister Office, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space will give away the National e-governance Awards 2018 under 8 categories. This conference acts as a platform for Secretaries of Administrative Reforms and Information Technology of State Governments, IT Managers of the Central Government, and software solution providers to discuss and analyze various issues and solution frameworks.

Some National Parks in Telangana: Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park Mrugavani National Park

20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) held in Fiji 20 th Conference of the Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) was held in Nadi, Fiji from 19 th rd

Highlights of 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM): The Conference was held for Education Ministers of Commonwealth nations to meet and discuss solutions to contemporary issues and challenges in education sector viz. low enrolment rates in preschool, primary and secondary schools, gender disparities in education and low adult literacy. Theme of 20CCEM was Sustainability and Resilience: Can Education Deliver?. Indian delegation to this conference was led by Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development. First Commonwealth education conference was held in Oxford, UK in 1959. It has been taking place every three years since then.

PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from 9 th 23 rd February, 2018 In this edition of Winter Olympics, competitions were held for 102 events across fifteen sports. More than 2900 athletes from 92 countries took part in PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018. Motto of PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 was Passion.Connected. Soohorang, a white tiger, and Bandabi, an Asiatic black bear were the official mascots for this event.

Norway topped the medal tally Norway topped the medal tally at PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 by winning 14 Gold, 14 Silver, and 11 Bronze. By winning 39 medals, Norway surpassed USA s record of most medals won at a single Winter Olympics. USA won 37 medals at Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010.

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Norway 14 14 11 39 Germany 14 10 7 31 Canada 11 8 10 29 United States 9 8 6 23 Netherland 8 6 6 20

Vikas Krishan wins gold, adjudged best boxer at the 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Bulgaria India s Vikas Krishan has won a gold medal the best boxer of the tournament honour at the 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

69 th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament: Vikas Krishan defeated USA s Troy Isley in the middle-weight (75kg) finals and won the gold medal. He was also named the best boxer of the tournament. Indian boxers won a total of 11 medals in the tournament. Amit Panghal (49kg) also won a gold medal in the tournament. M C Mary Kom (48kg), Seema Poonia (+81kg) and Gaurav Solanki (52kg) won silver medals.

Meena Kumari Devi (54kg), L Sarita Devi (60kg), Saweety Boora (75kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) are the women who won bronze medals. Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won bronze medals among men. About 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament: Dates 18 26 February 2018 Location Sofia, Bulgaria

IOA enters partnership with Edelweiss Group for 2018 CWG, Asian Games, 2020 Olympic Games On 26 th February 2018, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced that it has partnered with Edelweiss Financial Services Limited as sponsor of the Indian team for 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 2018 Asian Games and the 2020 Olympic Games and National Games 2018 and 2019.

IOA enters partnership with Edelweiss Group: IOA has also declared Raymond as its official styling partner and Shiv Naresh Sports as its official sports apparel partner for the Commonwealth Games that is to be conducted in Gold Coast, Australia, from 4-15 April 2018. Minster of Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, President IOA Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra and Secretary General IOA Mr. Rajeev Mehta launched the official ceremonial outfit and sports apparel of athletes.

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, provides a Rs 50 lakh life Insurance cover for Indian athletes participating in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. About Edelweiss Group: CEO Rashesh Shah Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra

Former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian passes away On 26 th February 2018, TRS Subramanian, former cabinet secretary, passed away.

Death of TSR Subramanian: TSR Subramanian was 79 years old. He was an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1961 batch from theuttar Pradesh cadre. He was the cabinet secretary from 1996 to 1998. He was also the founder member and former Chancellor of theshiv Nadar University. He had written a few books: India at Turning Point: The Road to Good Governance, GovernMint In India: An Inside View and Journeys Through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India.

Quiz 1. What is the full form of RISE scheme? a. Renewed information and software's in Education b. Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education c. Refining information and Systems in Education

2. UIDAI introduces blue coloured Baal Aadhaar for children below the age of? a. 5 b. 4 c. 6

3. What will be the theme for Milan 2018? a. Friendship Across the Borders b. Friendship Across the Oceans c. Friendship Across the Seas

4. what is the theme for 21st National Conference on e-governance? a. Technology for accelerating Development b. Technology for accelerating Digitization c. Techniques for accelerating Digitization

5. What is the theme for 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM)? a. Sustainability and Resilience: Can Education Deliver? b. Climate change c. TVET including climate change skills

6. Which country topped the medal tally at PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018? a. USA b. Germany c. Norway

7. Vikas Krishan is associated with which sports? a. Gymnastics b. Wrestling c. Boxing

8. Who is the CEO of Edelweiss Group? a. Vidya Shah b. Rashesh Shah c. Venkat Ramaswamy