Daily Current Affairs Updates: 23 September 2015

1) Govt withdraws draft encryption policy:

--> Narendra Modi government on 22 September 2015 withdrew the controversial draft encryption policy that proposed to make it mandatory for every citizen to save all digital communications, including emails and chats, for a period of 90 days.

--> Reiterating that the Government respects freedom of social media, Union Telecom Minister Ravishankar Prasad said the government has asked Department of Electronics and IT to withdraw and rework the draft. 

2) Government clears Military helicopters deal with US aviation giant Boeing:

--> Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has cleared a multi-billion dollar deal for 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers with American aviation giant Boeing.

3) 24th Vyaas Samman conferred on eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka:

--> Eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred with 24th Vyaas Samman for the year 2014 on 22 September 2015. He was awarded for his work 'Premchand ki Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan'.

--> Goenka's work is a critical analysis of the work by Hindi literature's towering giant Munshi Premchand.

4) India to hold Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Los Angeles:

--> With a view to further increase people-to-people contacts between India and the United States, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that India will be holding a regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Los Angeles in November this year.

5) Hyderabad to host 19th International Children’s Film Festival:

--> The 19th International Children’s Film Festival (ICFF) will be conducted between November 14th -20th, 2015 in Hyderabad, the permanent venue for the event.

--> Sunil Arora, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, said that the next film festival should be more entertaining, interactive, informative and fun for the children.

6) UIDAI control shifted from Niti Ayog to IT ministry:

--> The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar cards, has been shifted to the administrative control of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology from Niti Aayog.

--> Earlier, UIDAI was the part of Planning Commission.

7) Indra Nooyi, Shobhana Bhartia presented with USIBC global leadership award:

--> Hindustan Times Group chairperson Shobhana Bharatia and PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi have been awarded 2015 Global Leadership Award of the US-India Business Council (USIBC).

--> They were honoured with this award for their roles as top women leaders in the Business world and their commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy.

8) Union Cabinet gives nod to set up India Sign Language Research and Training Centre:

--> The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC).

--> ISLRTC will be set up as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and initially will be located at the Institute for Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.