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Category: All Current Affairs

’12th Democracy Index 2019′ released by Economist Intelligence Unit

January 23, 2020

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the 12th edition of the “Democracy Index 2019: A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest“. Norway topped the Index while North Korea was placed at the bottom of the list. India has been placed at 51st position among 167 countries in the Index and was included in flawed democracy.

Bangladesh has improved its ranking by 8 points and ranked at 80th position compared to 88th position in 2018. However, Bangladesh continues to be placed in the category of hybrid democracies. According to the EIU methodology hybrid regimes are marked by substantial electoral irregularities and government pressure on opposition parties.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s measure of democracy, almost one-half of the world’s population live in a democracy of some sort, although only 5.7% reside in a full democracy. More than one-third of the world’s population live under authoritarian rule, with a large share being in China.

Global Mega Science Exhibition “Vigyan Samagam” inaugurated in New Delhi

January 23, 2020

The Union Minister of State (I/C) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first global Mega Science Exhibition “Vigyan Samagam“. It will be be held from 21 January to 20 March 2020 at National Science Centre, New Delhi.

The exhibition is jointly organized by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology, GoI and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the ageis of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The exhibition aims to highlight the value and impact of fundamental research to a broad cross-section of the audience including students, academician, and industry. The exhibition also aims to further strengthen India’s participation in mega-science Projects.

Dr N Kumar, VC of TNAU honoured with ‘Harit Ratna Award 2019’

January 23, 2020

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr) N Kumar has been conferred with National Award for Agriculture sector namely “Harit Ratna Award 2019”. The award was presented by All India Agricultural Students Association (AIASA) during 5th National Youth Convention held at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyala, Raipur on January 20.

The award was conferred to him for dissemination of Rs.30 crore entrepreneurship project for attracting youth in agri business activity and his contribution to increase the impact of Fertigation, precision farming, ultra high density planting system for increasing farmers income and involved in increasing awareness of students and their role for welfare of the society and motivated the students to agriculture sector in Tamil Nadu.

Indian Oil signs pact with National Petroleum Authority of Ghana

January 23, 2020

Indian Oil has signed an MoU with Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to offer assistance and technical expertise to the country in implementing its National LPG Promotion Policy.

The purpose of this MoU is to strengthen cooperation between the two parties in the field of petroleum, in particular LPG, in which IOC would support the NPA in the successful implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) of LPG.

Indian Oil will provide support to the NPA in developing Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Standards, a licensing, permit and legal framework, the economics for LPG bottling plants, a pricing structure, and a communication strategy.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou elected as first woman president of Greece

January 23, 2020

Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a high court judge and human rights activist, on Wednesday was elected Greece’s first female president by the country’s Parliament with an overwhelming majority. She will succeed current conservative President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose five-year term expires in March.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Sakellaropoulou, who enjoys broad support across the major political parties in Greece. In her first remarks as president-elect, Sakellaropoulou vowed to pursue the “broadest possible consensus” in carrying out her official duties. In 2018, Sakellaropoulou, 63, become the first woman to serve as president of the Council of State, which is Greece’s top administrative court.

NPCI Vajra, blockchain-based platform launched

January 23, 2020

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the Vajra Platform to make payments fast and secure. Based on blockchain technology, the primary highlight of the Vajra Platform is that it automates clearing and settlement of payments, drastically reducing the need for manual reconciliation.

The Vajra Platform uses distributed ledger technology (DLT). It uses a permissions model to ensure that only approved parties are a part of the network. Payment companies can apply to be a part of the network. Once approved, they can deploy the platform using an application programming interface (API) that will be provided by NPCI.

‘Cardless cash withdrawal’ introduced by ICICI Bank

January 23, 2020

ICICI Bank has rolled out “Cardless Cash Withdrawal” service through ATM having a per day transaction limit of Rs 20,000. This service enables customers to withdraw cash from over 15,000 ATMs of the bank without using a debit card 24×7. They can withdraw cash by simply raising a request on iMobile, a mobile banking application.

Speaking on the launch, Executive Director of ICICI Bank Anup Bagchi said the bank will continue to focus on innovations in technology at all channels and touch-points that will bring more convenience to the customers. The bank’s consolidated total assets stood at Rs 12,88,190 crore at September 30, 2019. It is present across 15 countries.

India’s growth forecast for FY-20 lowered to 5.7% by UN

January 23, 2020

The UN projects India’s economy to grow by 5.7 percent in the current fiscal year and expects it to rise to 6.6 percent in the next fiscal year. The UN growth estimate for the current fiscal is drastically lower than the forecast of 7.6 per cent made in last year’s report in January and 7 percent in the May update.

The head of UN’s Global Economic Monitoring Branch, Dawn Holland, told IANS that although there has been a steep decline in growth, India was still one of the high performers globally. He said that it was expected to improve its growth rate in the coming year because of the steps being taken.

According to the report, only China has a higher growth rate than India among the world’s large economies with a 6 per cent forecast for the current calendar year.

Uttarakhand – 1st state to implement agricultural land leasing policy

January 23, 2020

Uttarakhand  has become the first state in the country where the government has made a policy to lease agricultural land. In lieu of giving land on a 30-year lease, the concerned farmer will get the rent for the land.

In the hilly areas of the state, the obstacles of leasing land for farming, agriculture, horticulture, herbs, off-season vegetables, milk production, tea plantation, fruit hybridization and solar energy has been removed with this step.

There is a provision to take more land in special circumstances. If there is government land around farm land, then it can be leased by paying the fee with the permission of the District Magistrate. The state government has made this policy in the wake of difficulties in the consolidation of land.

Mansukh Mandaviya participates at UNAIDS Programme in WEF

January 23, 2020

The Union Minister of State for Shipping and Chemical & Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya participated in the High-level roundtable of The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) at World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on 21 January 2020. The theme of the programme was ‘Access for all: Leveraging Innovations, Investments, and Partnerships for Health’. 

The officials discussed the health needs that are to be accessible for all and innovative technologies and solutions can play a key role, including in bridging economic inequalities. Mansukh Mandaviya mentioned Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana and Ayushman Bharat aiming to Affordable Quality Healthcare for all. He also described various schemes initiated by the GoI under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.