The Hindu and PIB Complete News Analysis 9th February 2017 : Daily Current Affairs

9th February 2017 

1)The GSAT-11 with its lift-off mass of about 5600 Kg is the heaviest communication spacecraft to be launched in the year 2017.

GSAT-11 is planned to be launched using Ariane-5 launch vehicle.

• It will provide higher capacity for interactive applications using VSAT terminals compared to older generation three tonne INSAT/GSAT spacecrafts. 

2)Dr P Raghu Ram, President of Association of Breast Surgeons of India was awarded prestigious Dr B C Roy national award.

B C Roy Award: The BC Roy Award is the highest recognition for medical practitioners in India. It was instituted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) in 1976 in memory of renowned physician and former West Bengal Chief Minister Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.

3)The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved ‘Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan’ (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019.



PMGDISHA is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world.

• Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in the FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in 2017-18; and 300 lakh in 2018-19. The outlay for this project is Rs. 2,351.38 crore to usher in digital literacy in rural India.

• To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the 250,000 Gram Panchayats across the country will be expected to register an average of 200-300 candidates.

• The implementation of the Scheme would be carried out under the overall supervision of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs through their designated State Implementing Agencies, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), etc.

Significance : As per the 71st NSSO Survey on Education 2014, only 6% of rural households have a computer. This highlights that more than 15 crore rural households (@ 94% of 16.85 crore households) do not have computers and a significant number of these households are likely to be digitally illiterate.

4)In a bid to strengthen cyber security system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up an inter-disciplinary panel on cyber security to examine various threats and suggest measures to deal with it.

What the Committee will do ?:

• The panel will review the threats inherent in the existing or emerging technology on an ongoing basis.

• Besides, it will also study adoption of various security standards/protocols and also act as interface with stakeholders.

• The committee will also suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience.

5)Gujarat has become the first state in the country to establish cashless distribution of food grain.
The beneficiaries under NFSA (National Food Security Act) will need to carry only Aadhaar cards for getting their food grain in Gujarat.