National Current Affairs
Government Released Indian Intellectual Property Panorama
- The government of India released a single window interface on March 31, 2016 for information on Intellectual Property and’ guidance on leveraging it for competitive advantage. The portal seeks to increase awareness and build sensitivity towards IP, among stakeholders in the SME sector, academia and researchers.
- The Indian IP Panorama is a customised version of IP Panorama Multimedia toolkit, developed by World Intellectual Property Organisation, Korean Intellectual Property Office and Korea Invention Promotion Association.
- The Indian IP Panorama has been developed under the aegis of Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), government of India by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), in close coordination with the Indian IP office.
Supreme Court Approved Guidelines Issued to Protect Good Samaritans
- The Supreme Court on March 30, 2016, approved the guidelines by the Central government to protect Good Samaritans who come forward to help road accident victims.
- According to government data accessed by SaveLIFE Foundation, almost 50% of road crash victims die of treatable injuries in the country. This decision would now allow for aid to reach injured victims sooner.
- In a bid to augment road safety in the country, the government of India had released guidelines in May, 2015 for protection of Good Samaritans. The guidelines issued were based on a petition filed by SaveLIFE Foundation, a Delhi-based independent, non-profit organization focused on improving road safety.
Telecom Commission Approved 112 as Single Emergency Numbers in India
- The Telecom Commission approved a single-number helpline ‘112’ to avail emergency services like police, ambulance and fire department across India on March 28, 2016. The roll-out of the new service is expected to take place within a year, after gradually phasing out different numbers for different emergencies.
- 112 would remain operational on landlines and mobile phones even if their calling services have been suspended temporarily. The service is said to be operational through SMS, where the system would detect the sender’s location and redirect to the nearest help centre.
- The proposal, to unify all emergency point of contacts into a single number was proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRA1) as a part of its recommendations to the telecom department April, 2015.
Union Government Launched Startups Portal, Mobile App for Up-to-Date Information
- In order to make available up-to-date information towards creation of conductive ecosystem for Startups, the government launched Startup India portal along with mobile app on March 31, 2016. It has been launched by Secretary, DIPP, Ramesh Abhishek in New Delhi.
- The key features offered on the portal and app includes availability of information, exchange of knowledge, avail benefits listed in the Startup India Action Plan. The Action Plan highlights the initiatives envisaged by the Union government to develop a conducive Startup ecosystem.
- The ‘Startup India’ initiative was launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on January 16, 2016 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
- The key features of the portal and app are the following
- Information Availability
- Startup India Hub
- Application for Startup Recognition
- Real Time Startup Recognition
- Verification of Recognition Certificate
- Approval of Inter-Ministerial Board
