Table of Contents:
1. Multilingual AI-Chat Bot for Rural India Launched by Microsoft - Jugalbandi.
2. New Parliament Building is Inaugurated.
3. India’s AI Supercomputer AIRAWAT Ranks 75th in Top 500 ISC 2023 List.
4. Goa Signs MoU with Uttarakhand to Strengthen Tourism Cooperation.

Multilingual AI-Chat Bot for Rural India Launched by Microsoft - Jugalbandi 

Microsoft has unveiled a new generative AI-driven chatbot called 'Jugalbandi', designed for farmers and other users living in rural India. The chatbot is being developed in collaboration with Microsoft Research and the government-backed AI4Bharat - an open-source language AI centre based at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras - and OpenNyAI. 

The chatbot will operate over the WhatsApp messaging service and it aims to make information on government schemes accessible in multiple languages. 

Microsoft has said that the bot could help bridge the language barrier in India where English is spoken by just 11 percent of the 1.4 billion population. Jugalbandi offers all Indians easy access to information in local language through a mobile phone. So far, It covers 10 of India's 22 official languages and 171 of a total of approximately 20,000 government programmes. 

New Parliament Building is Inaugurated 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened the new Parliament building on 28th May, 2023. He arrived at Gate No. 1, wearing traditional attire, and was greeted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.  

Features 

• Located in: Central Vista area of New Delhi.  

• Designed by: Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management, and constructed by Tata Projects Limited.  

• The four-storey building has been constructed at an estimated cost of ?970 crore. 

• The new Parliament building has been designed to accommodate future requirements, with seating for 888 members in the Lok Sabha and 384 members in the Rajya Sabha.  

• It also houses six committee rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual systems.  

• The building takes on a triangular shape to optimize space utilization, covering an area of approximately 65,000 square meters. 

As part of the function, PM Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Ministers and CMs of different States attended a multi-faith prayer meeting under way at the new Parliament building. PM Narendra Modi felicitated the workers who helped in the building and development of the new Parliament House. 

India’s AI Supercomputer AIRAWAT Ranks 75^th in Top 500 ISC 2023 List 

India’s AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’, installed at C-DAC, Pune has been ranked 75^th in the world. It was announced in the 61st edition of Top 500 Global Supercomputing List in the International Supercomputing(ISC 2023) in Germany. The recognition puts India on top of AI supercomputing nations globally. The system is installed under National Program on AI by Government of India. 

AIRAWAT is manufactured by Netweb Technologies. It's operating system is Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS. The supercomputer runs on AMD EPYC 7742 64C 2.25GHz processor with 81,344 cores.  

• Minister of Electronics and Information Technology of India: Ashwini Vaishnaw 

Goa Signs MoU with Uttarakhand to Strengthen Tourism Cooperation  

The officials of the Government of Goa and the Government of Uttarakhand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate towards enhancing the tourism landscape of both Goa and Uttarakhand.   

The MoU is aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation in the travel and tourism sector and facilitating travel between the states to increase the number of tourists visiting Goa and Uttarakhand respectively. 

The signing of this MoU between the officials of the two states marks a significant step towards promoting tourism in Goa and Uttarakhand and showcasing India's rich cultural diversity to the world, aligned with the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ initiative launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will encourage people to witness and experience the rich heritage and vivid culture of India. 

• Chief Minister of Goa: Pramod Sawant 

• Governor of Goa: P S Sreedharan Pillai 

• Chief Minister of Uttarakhand: Chief Minister of Uttarakhand 

• Governor of Uttarakhand: Gurmit Singh