Cabinet Approved Credit Line for Iran Port Construction
- The Union Cabinet on February 24, 2016 approved the provision and operationalisation of a $ 150 million EXIM Bank credit line for developing Iran’s Chabahar Port that India intends to use as a transhipment point for expanding maritime commerce in the region.
- India is negotiating this project to facilitate the growing trade and investment with Iran and other countries in the region, notably Afghanistan, and also to provide opportunities to Indian companies to penetrate and enhance their footprint in the region.
- Chabahar Port lies outside the Persian Gulf in Iran and will help in expanding maritime commerce in the region. The Cabinet has also authorized the Shipping Ministry to form a company in Iran for implementing the Chabahar Port Development Project and related activities.
Government Appointed 3 Information Commissioners to CIC
- Union government appointed three retired civil servants as information commissioners on February 24, 2016. This is for the first time that the transparency watchdog will have the full complement of the chief and 10 information I commissioners.
- This was also be the first time that all the information commissioners except a law professor are from the government or the public sector. 3 information commissioners arc former IAS officers, Bimal Julka and Amitava Bhattacharyya and a retired IPS officer Divya Prakash Sinha.
- The three information commissioners will hold the posts till they turn 65. The CIC had started out with five commissioners in 2005. By 2008, it had eight. In 201 >, there were as few as five and in 2012, there were only seven of them.
CGPDTM Issued Revised Patent Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions
- The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDT) had issued revised guidelines for Computer Related Inventions (CRTs) on February 22, 2016. As per the new order, mere computer programmes those not in conjunction with a novel hardware will not be granted patent in India.
- The CGPDT had stayed on the issued guidelines In August, 2015, thai have allowed the patenting of software which demonstrated technical advancement and did not clarify it. The new guidelines have been aligned to the Patents Act, 1970 and brings out clarity in terms of exclusions expected under sub-section 3(k) of the Act.
- The Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs b Trade Marks (CGPDTM) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the nodal agency that supervises the working of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) laws In India.
National Rurban Mission Launched in Chhatttsgarh
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Shyama Prasad Mukheiji National Rurban Mission, at Kurubhat in Rajnandgaon district in Chhatrisgarh on February 21, 2016 which was aimed at “reducing the burden of migration to the cities”.
- The mission will reduce pressure on the dries and provide a new avenue to the village people. Under the mission, around 300 ‘urban growth centres’ would be developed in different parts of the country for ‘proper economic development’.
Prasar Bharati Signed a Historical Pact with EBC
- Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati signed an MoU with Empressa de Brazil Conununicacao (EBC) for activities related with broadcasting on February’ 19, 2016. Activities includes exchange of news, programmes and co-production.
- The MoU included long list of Indian programmes to be broadcast on EBC network including documentaries, science programs, serials and Portuguese programs from Goa.
- This MoU is considered as historical because it is the first agreement that Prasar Bharati has signed with any South American country. Prasar Bharati already has signed similar MoUs with Russia and China realizing the importance of BRICS in this field.
