WEF launches Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced its new Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India.

• The Centre will be based in Maharashtra. 
• It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function held in New Delhi.
• It will be the fourth center in chain-ones as part of WEF's global network along with San Francisco (US), Tokyo (Japan) and Beijing (China) are already functioning.

About the Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution:

• The centre will facilitate to bring together government and business leaders to pilot emerging technology policies.
• It has selected drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain as the first three project areas.
• The centre will work in collaboration with government on national level to co-design new policy frameworks and protocols for emerging technology alongside leaders from business, academia, start-ups and international organizations.
• NITI Aayog will coordinate partnership on behalf of Government and work of centre among multiple Ministries.
• The initial efforts at national level are focused on two emerging technology areas AI and machine learning and blockchain and distributed ledger technology.
• The first project will focus on expanding access to data to accelerate adoption of AI in socio-economic areas like education, healthcare and agriculture. 
• The second will focus on application of smart contracts to boost productivity and transparency while reducing inefficiency.
• At state level, Maharashtra Government in collaboration with Centre is planning to undertake a drone mapping operation in the agriculture sector.
• These projects will be scaled across India and globally.

About World Economic Forum (WEF):

• It is an international institution founded by Klaus Schwab that works to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation.
• It was established in 1971 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It serves as an independent not-for-profit organization that works closely with other international organizations.
• It also works with leaders in the field of politics, business, academia to set global, regional and industrial agenda.

Questions:

Q1. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced its new Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution, where in India?
a. Kerela
b. Odisha
c. Uttar Pradesh
d. Maharashtra

Q2. Where is the World Economic Forum (WEF) headquatered?
a. Tokyo, Japan
b. London, England
c. Geneva, Switzerland
d. Sydney, Australia