12-05-23 Daily-Himachal Pradesh-HPPSC Current Affairs

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the government was planning to introduce new technical courses in educational institutions to enhance EMPLOYMENT and self-employment opportunities for the youth. He presided over a function of the Hamirpur Students Union here.

Sukhu said that courses such Robotics, cyber security, cloud computing, data analytics, (AI) and machine Learning could provide better employment opportunities to the youth.

He said that to provide quality Education in rural areas, one Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding School was being established in every Assembly constituency. The State Government has made a provision of Rs 300 crore for this ambitious scheme. Additionally, to ensure that poor students are not deprived of higher education, they will be provided loans at one per cent interest rate, he added.

Sukhu said that the government was making all efforts to provide quality higher education to students. Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has been given an additional grant of Rs 50 crore for the purpose, he added.

Indias Foreign Exchange reserves, which had been steadily increasing over the past few weeks, experienced a decline of $6.1 billion in the week ending on May 19, 2023. This pullback comes after three consecutive weekly increases and affects all components of the reserves, withforeign currency assets (FCA)being impacted the most, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI).

Indias total forex reserves reached $593.48 billion during the week ending on May 19, 2023, representing a decrease of $6.052 billion from the previous week. In the previous week, reserves had increased by $3.553 billion, bringing them close to the $600 billion mark at $599.53 billion. Before that, the reserves had surged by $7.196 billion. Notably, in the first week of May, reserves had jumped by $4.532 billion.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare,Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, emphasized the significance ofCapacity Building Plansin promoting focused output by a competent workforce and fostering a Work culture within organizations. These plans serve as highways that enable individuals to work together as a team with shared goals and vision.

Dr. Mandaviyamade these remarks during the launch of the Annual Capacity Building Plan for civil servants of theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare. The event was attended byDr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, who joined virtually.

TheInternational Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023) in Germany,the AI SupercomputerAIRAWAT,situated at C-DAC, Pune, achieved an impressive global ranking of 75th on the esteemed Top 500 Global Supercomputing List. This accomplishment establishes India as a leading nation in the field of AI supercomputing. AIRAWAT is part of the Government of Indias National Program on AI and represents a significant stride forward in the countrys AI capabilities.

The AIRAWAT PoC of 200 AI Petaflops integrated with PARAM Siddhi AI of 210 AI Petaflops gives a total peak compute of 410 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision and sustained compute capacity of 8.5 Petaflops (Rmax) Double Precision. The peak compute capacity (Double Precision, Rpeak) is 13 Petaflops.

Laosis gearing up to host the annualASEAN Tourism Forumin January 2024, which will take place in the countrys capital city, Vientiane. The theme for the forum is Quality and Responsible Tourism Sustaining ASEAN Future, which reflects the focus on sustainable and responsible tourism practices.

The forum will include a tourism exhibition and is expected to boost tourism in Laos while encouraging service improvement in associated businesses. The Lao News Agency quoted Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism Suanesavanh Vignaket, who stated that the event will promote Laos as a nature-based tourism destination.

The Lao government is keen to promote the countrys potential as a nature-based tourism destination. Many foreign tourists have already visited Laos to explore the countrys scenic attractions, as well as the local lifestyles and traditions.