- Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched USTAAD Scheme for Traditional Artisans
- The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has launched USTAAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) Scheme in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
- The objective of the scheme is to preserve rich heritage of traditional arts and crafts of minorities and build capacity of traditional artisans and craftsmen.
- It will be funded by the Central Government and will prepare skilled and unskilled artisans and craftsmen to compete with major companies in terms of quality of products.
- Tejaswini Sagar wins gold at Under-15 World School Chess Championship
- Talented Indian youngster Tejaswini Sagar won her maiden world title bagging the gold in the under-15 category of World School Chess Championship.
- The Aurangabad-girl defeated Kavinya Miyuni Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka in the ninth and final round.
- President Pranab Mukherjee gives away Presidential awards for Classical Tamil
- President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave away Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil for the years 2011-12 and 2012-13.
- S V Shanmugam, a legend in the field of linguistics, received Tolkappiyar Award for the year 2011-12.
- Eminent Tamil scholar R Krishnamurthi got the Tolkappiyar Award for the year 2012-13.
- Reputed German Scholar Eva Maria Wilden, who is working on classical Tamil, received Kural Pitam Award (Foreigner) for the year 2011-12.
- K Iyyappan, E Ezhilvasanthan and K Jawahar received Young Scholar Award for the year 2011-12 and A Sathish, R Venkatesan, B Jaiganesh, M R Devaki and U Alibava bagged the Young Scholar Award for the year 2012-13.
- China, India Ink Record 24 Agreements to Boost Bilateral Ties
- India and China signed a record 24 inter-government agreements worth 10 billion dollars.
- Four agreements were signed on sister-state and sister-city relations between Karnataka and Sichuan province; Chennai and Chongqing.
- An action plan between the Indian Railways and China National Railways on enhancing cooperation in the railway sector was also signed.
- Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurates India Pavilion at Cannes film fest
- Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Thursday inaugurated the India Pavilion at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival.
- He stressed the importance of movies in government campaigns like ‘Make In India’ and ‘Skill India’.
- He also announced plans of a center of excellence for gaming and visual effects.
- The Cannes film gala began on May 13 and it will conclude on May 24.
- SBI launches contactless debit and credit card with Rs 1 lakh fraud cover
- State Bank of India (SBI), the largest issuer of cards, has launched contactless debit and credit card which comes with a cover of Rs 1 lakh fraud cover.
- The contactless cards uses near field technology (NFC) that enables users to make payments by waiving or tapping the card near the contactless reader instead of swiping or dipping it.
- SBI will upgrade all its existing 2.20 lakh point of sale (PoS) machines to NFC technology. The bank currently has 5000 NFC enabled machines and it plans to launch 10,000 new PoS which will accept contactless cards.
- RBI allows transactions upto Rs 2000 without second factor authentication
- In a move that will promote ‘tap and pay’ electronic payments, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that bank can allow customers to transact with contactless card upto Rs 2000 without customers punching a separate PIN for authentication.
- The ‘tap and pay’ refers to the use of near-field communication ( NFC) technology, enabling users to make payments by waving or tapping the card near the contactless reader instead of swiping it.
- Prior to this relaxation, after tapping the card at a point of sale machines, the customer had to punch their PIN number as an additional factor authentication to avoid any chances of fraud.
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