NASSCOM, Facebook - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Facebook

Explanation:
Social media site Facebook is collaborating with the Election Commission of India in 5 states going to polls next year to run a voter registration drive to encourage youth to participate in the democratic process.

• FB is partnering ECI and office of Chief Electoral Officers in UP, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand
• Close to 155 million Indians are on FB
• The register to vote button is designed to encourage citizens to exercise their votes in the coming elections
• From Oct 6 to 9, FB users in Goa, Punjab, UP, Manipur and Uttarakhand who are 18 or above will receive a News Feed reminder to register for the vote
• Clicking on the register now button will direct people to the National Voters’ Services Portal which in turn will guide them towards the registration process
• Feature will be available at the following dates:
• Oct 6: Punjab
• Oct 7: Manipur
• Oct 8: UP and Uttarakhand
• Oct 9: Goa
• The page will disseminate election related information and develop a live interaction platform in the near future

ANSWER: Toll free Helpline

Explanation:
Following a TV channel and a website to promote digital payments, national toll-free helpline number 14444 will soon be launched to provide support for cashless mode of transactions.

Service will be operational within a week. NASSCOM will be aiding the project.

Single nationwide helpline which has been assigned to DoT will now be set up.

Initiatives for Digital Payments

• MeiTY launched free to air Channel DigiShala on Doordarshan’s DTH platform.
• Cashless India website will educate people about digital transactions.
• Digi Dhan Abhiyan has also been launched.
• This is in line with Digital India initiatives.

About NASSCOM


• Abbreviation: NASSCOM
• Formation: 1 March 1988
• Type: NPO
• Purpose: Trade association
• Headquarters: International Youth Centre, Teen Murti Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, Delhi, India
• President: R. Chandrashekhar
• Chairman: CP Gurnani
• Vice Chairman: Raman Roy

ANSWER: Vodafone Foundation

Explanation:
Vodafone Foundation announced the launch of the sixth edition of the Mobile for Good Awards 2016 in partnership with NASSCOM Foundation.

• Award will recognise and support emerging and innovative mobile solutions from NGOs and for profit enterprises.
• Government departments that facilitate community empowerment and transform the economy to bring about inclusive growth will also be included.
• Mobile for Good Awards has evolved as a platform to acknowledge social innovations through mobile and wireless technologies that have created an impact on critical areas of health, governance, agriculture and education.
• There will be a total grant of INR 90 lakhs for winning non profits in addition to structured mentoring, monitoring and impact assessment from partner institutions.
• All winning projects will be featured in the Social App Hub a unique platform for social apps.

ANSWER: Facebook

Explanation:

• Social networking giant Facebook has introduced tools and educational resources to help people in India who may be struggling with self-injury or experiencing suicidal thoughts. These tools are already available in countries like the US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
• Vulnerable users will then be encouraged to connect to the AASRA India helpline or the Live Love Laugh Foundation or a friend or seek self-help advice from resources and tips provided on how they can work through these feelings.
• Facebook has also introduced 'Help a Friend in Need' guide to help people identify when someone is distressed and what steps to take to get help. The guide also offers suggestions on how to approach their friend, what to say, how to react and what to avoid.
• It gives people the skills to reach out without fear of making the situation worse. The guide will be available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Marathi.

ANSWER: Disaster Response Summit

Explanation:
Facebook Inc. rolled out Disaster Maps for India to help communities across the country recover and rebuild from natural disasters faster by sharing critical pieces of data sets with humanitarian agencies in a timely manner.

The new product was launched at the company's first Disaster Response Summit in India along with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to improve disaster response and disaster management in India.

According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) data, India is the third-worst affected country by natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, landslides, cyclones and drought.

Moreover, the response time during and after these crises is often slow and it takes significant time and resources to understand where help is needed most.

Disaster Maps, powered by Facebook's technology and intensive research, will address this critical gap in data that government organizations face when responding to a crisis.

Disaster Maps, which was introduced globally in June, uses aggregated, de-identified Facebook data to help organizations address the critical gap in information they often face when responding to natural disasters.

Facebook provides multiple types of maps during disaster response efforts, which include aggregated location information people have chosen to share with Facebook.

This helps NGOs and relief agencies get a clearer picture of where affected people are located so they can determine where resources-like food, water and medical supplies-are needed.

Types of Facebook Maps

Facebook researchers have built three kinds of maps:

• Location density maps: These show where people are located before, during and after a disaster. We can compare this information to historical records, like population estimates based on satellite images.
  Comparing these data sets can help response organizations understand areas impacted by a natural disaster.
• Movement maps: These illustrate patterns of movement between different neighbourhoods or cities over a period of several hours.
  By understanding these patterns, response organizations can better predict where resources will be needed, gain insight into patterns of evacuation, or predict where traffic will be most congested.
• Safety Check: These maps are based on locations where our community uses Safety Check to notify their friends and family that they are safe during a disaster.
  We are using this de-identified data in aggregate to show where more or fewer people check in safe, which may help organizations understand where people are most vulnerable and where help is needed.

• While globally Facebook has partnered with organizations like the Red Cross, in India, initially it will join hands with two organizations: the NDMA and SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society).
• Facebook has 2 billion-plus users globally and according to a media report, its users in India have crossed the 240 million mark, making it the largest audience country for the social media company.
• Facebook has developed a number of crisis response tools.
• It activated the Safety Check feature in 2014 and launched Community Help in 2015, which allows the Facebook community to find and give help such as food, shelter and transportation.

ANSWER: Facebook

Explanation:
Social media giant Facebook will monitor the growth of the MSMEs in Odisha after imparting training to them in next one year.

The social networking giant has partnered the Odisha’s MSME department and Project Mission Shakti to train 25,000 entrepreneurs by the end of 2018.

The state government has plans to organise hands-on workshops for MSME entrepreneurs and women SHGs on 'Digital Marketing Skills'.
Facebook will prepare a data base through registrations in which they will take the email ids and mobile numbers of entrepreneurs in all the workshops.

After sometime either through personal conversations or through email, they can find out what is the difference Facebook has made in the business turnover or profits.

Facebook launched its SheMeansBusiness programme in Bhubaneswar, which was attended by about 1,100 women entrepreneurs of the state. The programme of Facebook is launched in 16 countries around the world including India.

It is designed to reach out to aspiring and established women entrepreneurs to help them build and grow their business online.
As per Facebook, it is the largest congregation globally under SheMeansBusiness programme.

More than 150 entrepreneurs today created their pages and uploaded their products on their profile.

CM Naveen Patnaik stressed on the use of the three Ts - technology, teamwork and transparency - to bring about transformation in the lives of people.

This is amply demonstrated today in the partnership of the government with Facebook - a partnership aimed to reduce the digital divide and empower nearly 25,000 entrepreneurs and SHGs over the next one year.

ANSWER: Arcesium

Explanation:
Nasscom Foundation and post-trade technology firm Arcesium jointly established the first rural digital literacy centre in Telangana, in Peddashapur village, on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The Centre trains people in use of computers and mobile phones so that they will be able to register for Aadhar, ration, PAN cards, pay bills, send emails and use the internet for multiple utilities.

The initiative is under the ePradhan Mantri Gamin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan.

Arcesium is supporting the training infrastructure and the trainers at the centre with the help of its implementation partner, Nirmaan Organisation.

The centre is equipped to train as many as 1,000 beneficiaries from under-privileged communities around the Peddashapur area.

The legislator representing Rajendranagar, Prakash Goud said it was necessary for children from villages to develop their competitive skills.

This is the tenth centre in Telangana. Nine centres are in cities. So far, around 7,000 youths have been trained, with each centre accounting for 1,000-1,200.

At the national level so far, 170 centres have been established.

The Centre has devised a curricular of 20 hours with two hours per day to impart training on how to use internet, how to use various apps the Centre has introduced and avail benefit from the schemes.

The collaboration with Nasscom will be further strengthened to reach more rural youth and skill them.

ANSWER: Rachel Whetstone

Explanation:
Facebook has hired Uber’s former top public relations executive as vice-president of communications for its multiple platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

Rachel Whetstone, who has worked for some of the Britain’s most powerful Conservative politicians, stepped down as head of public policy and communications at Uber in April following a string of corporate scandals.

Whetstone in her new role at Facebook will oversee communications for Instagram and WhatsApp, which are both owned by Facebook.

Whetstone worked at Google as the head of communications and public policy prior to Uber.

Whetstone left Uber earlier this year amid a number of public relations crises after a former employee’s accusation of sexual harassment stirred a major controversy, surrounding claims of rampant sexism and discrimination within the company.

Ms. Whetstone has not commented on the scandals since she left Uber.

She is a friend of David Cameron and George Osborne.

She served as Howard’s political secretary and was a major player in Conservative politics when the party was up against Tony Blair’s Labour government.

ANSWER: Mauritius

Explanation:
Mauritius has approached Indian information technology industry body NASSCOM for support in building capacity in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skill needs.

ICT has become an important activity to Mauritius. The country has started a dialogue with NASSCOM for skill development in the sector.

According to him ICT is already contributing by five per cent to the national GDP and holds lot more potential.

The proposed Indo-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement is expected to be signed by end of this year as both countries finalised the areas of exchange.

Implementation of the CECPA between the two countries is likely to be signed by the end of this year which will help greater cooperation between two countries.

Areas of cooperation identified are financial services, ICT, health, education, R&D and construction.

He invited Indian investment in Mauritius to exploit the African market as the country offers preferential access through agreements.

ANSWER: Raman Roy

Explanation:
IT industry body NASSCOM has appointed Quatrro CMD Raman Roy its Chairman for 2017-18.

It has also named Rishad Premji, Wipro Chief Strategy Officer and son of technology czar Azim Premji, as the Vice-Chairman.

Roy, who served as the Vice-Chairman in the previous fiscal, will take on the new role from April 6.

He takes over the mantle from C P Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO of Tech Mahindra.

Nasscom expects 8-10% industry growth in FY18

Building India's innovation edge is another key priority and the industry body plans to scale up start-ups and centre of excellence initiatives to the next level.

The over USD 140 billion Indian IT industry faces a number of headwinds like growing protectionism from various countries and business shifts towards digital.

Nasscom sees 20-25% less IT jobs in the next three years

Roy, along with Rishad and Chandrashekhar, will lead Nasscom to carry out its diverse array of priorities.

The leadership team will also work towards further strengthening various sector councils and focus on enhanced member outreach and involvement.

NASSCOM: Know More

• Founded: 1 March 1988
• Membership: 2300+
• Purpose: Trade association
• Chairman: Raman Roy
• Headquarters: Chanakyapuri, New Delhi
• Founders: Dewang Mehta, Nandan Nilekani