Focus Merit

Category: All Current Affairs

Indian shooters bags Gold medal in Meyton Cup held in Austria

January 22, 2020

Indian shooters Divyansh Singh Pawar and Apurvi Chandela have clinched a gold medal each in Meyton Cup in Innsbruck, Austria. While Divyansh won the gold in the men’s 10m air rifle event with an effort of 249.7, Auprvi bagged the metal in the 10m air rifle women’s category with a 251.4.

Deepak Kumar and Anjum Moudgil also a bagged bronze medal each in men’s and women’s 10m air rifle events respectively. Deepak shot 228 en route the bronze, while Anjum’s effort of 229 also fetched her a podium finish. The Meyton Cup is a private tournament where shooters go on their own to participate to gain experience before international events.

Hyderabad in global top 20 in home price appreciation

January 22, 2020

Hyderabad has emerged as the only Indian city in top 20 among 150 global cities, in terms of appreciation in residential real estate prices, standing at the 14th spot with a 9% on-year rise in home prices, as per the Knight Frank’s Global Residential Cities Index Q3 2019.

Budapest leads the index, with the highest annual growth rate of 24%, followed by Xi’an and Wuhan in China at 15.9% and 14.9 per cent, respectively. Among other Indian cities that have seen an appreciation in home prices, New Delhi stood at the 73rd rank globally, with a 3.2% rise; Bengaluru at the 94th rank with a 2% appreciation and Ahmedabad at the 108th rank with a 1.1% growth.

Among the Indian cities which have seen de-growth in home prices, Kolkata was ranked at the 130th spot with a decline of 2%, Mumbai at the 135th rank with a de-growth of 3% and Chennai at the 136th rank with a fall of 3%. Pune was the lowest-ranked Indian city standing at the 138th spot, registering a 3.5% decline in home prices.

Gujarat emerged as top governing state in 2019 Skoch rankings

January 22, 2020

Gujarat replaced West Bengal to become the top governed state in the 2019 Skoch rankings. Poll-bound Delhi was at the 19th place, lower than 15th spot it occupied in the previous two years.

Delhi is ranked fifth on the parameter of health, one of its main claims of governance. There are 22 parameters that go into the overall ranking, while health and cleanliness dominated the good governance initiatives across the country in 2019.

India secures 5th rank in Carbon Disclosure Project 2019

January 22, 2020

Global non-profit organization published the annual Carbon Disclosure Project 2019. The United States of America secured the top spot followed by Japan, United Kindom and France while India secured the 5th spot on the project report.

The Report said that a total of 58 companies shared details about the environment-related activities undertaken by them in this year. The report also claims that over 98 percent of top Indian companies have formed some type or committee or group within its organization to drive and address climate-related issues.

Carbon Disclosure Project, an initiative of the Global Reporting Initiative, is aimed at measuring the carbon reduction activities undertaken by different companies and firms operating in various countries across the globe.

Greenpeace report: Jharia most polluted city, Delhi reduces air pollution

January 22, 2020

According to a Greenpeace India report – Jharia, the coal-belching town in Jharkhand continues to be the most polluted city in India, while Delhi has made marginal improvement in reducing its air pollution level.

Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, known for its rich coal reserves and industries, is the 2nd-most polluted city in India while Delhi is the 10th-most polluted city in India

Six of the top-10 polluted cities are in Uttar Pradesh — Noida, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Allahabad, Moradabad and Firozabad. Mizoram’s Lunglei is the least polluted city in the country.

Indian flight surgeons to be trained by France for Gaganyaan mission

January 22, 2020

France will train Indian flight surgeons to enable them to monitor the health of astronauts selected for the ambitious human space mission. The two-week training is a critical aspect of the Gaganyaan project that is aimed at sending three Indians to space by 2022. The flight surgeons, who will be Indian Air Force doctors specialising in aviation medicines and responsible for the health of astronauts before, during and after flight, will be shortlisted soon. Those shortlisted will then undergo two weeks training in France.

Brigitte Godard, a flight surgeon with the European Space Agency, was in India in July and August last year to start the training of physicians and engineers. France has a well-established mechanism for space medicine. It also has the MEDES space clinic, a subsidiary of CNES, where space surgeons undergo training. The four shortlisted astronauts — all test pilots from the Indian Air Force — are currently in Russia for an 11-month training programme. India and France share robust ties in the area of space.

IIM Kozhikode hosts ‘Globalising Indian Thought’ conclave

January 22, 2020

An International Conclave on ‘Globalising Indian Thought’ was held from 16th to 18th January, 2020. The conclave was hosted by The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM Kozhikode). The three-day Academic conclave was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through video conferencing, witnessing representations from renowned academicians, public figures and the presentation of more than 100 world-class research papers.

IIM Kozhikode embraced Globalizing Indian Thought as its institutional mission a decade ago. Over the years, the Institute has fostered and nurtured various elements of Indian ethos in management and leadership. The conclave was the perfect platform for the congregation of academics discussing India’s contribution to the world and how India as a country can re-imagine itself and re-shape worldviews in the current context.

Bank of England picks Andrew Bailey as new governor

January 22, 2020

The British government on Friday named 60 year old, Andrew Bailey, the head of the Financial Conduct Authority, to be the next chief of the Bank of England. Mr. Bailey, who worked at the central bank for over 30 years before leaving to run the financial watchdog in 2016, will succeed Mark Carney.

As head of the Financial Conduct Authority, Mr. Bailey has extensive oversight experience. The regulator said it was investigating the misuse of a Bank of England audio feed that allowed investors to hear comments from news conferences before they were available to the public.

Mr. Bailey will begin his eight-year term on March 16. Mr. Carney, who had previously said he would leave on Jan. 31, will now stay on until March 15. He will be tasked with keeping the country’s economy on an even keel and responding to the fallout from the departure, known as Brexit.

RBS India appoints Punit Sood as its head

January 22, 2020

Punit Sood has been appointed as the head of RBS India, the technology and operations hub of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). In this role, Punit will be building the organisation’s strategic capabilities, supporting the bank to achieve its goals.

Punit was earlier appointed as the Head of Technology India, where he shaped the India Technology business to function as a centre of excellence for RBS. Previously, he was serving as the advisor of Cornerstone Venture Partners Fund, a technology-focused global VC (Venture Capital) funds.

‘Champions of Change Award’ clinched by Sparsh Ganga initiative

January 22, 2020

Environmentalist and social activist Arushi Nishank was honoured with the Champions of Change Award 2019 in the second edition of the Champions of Change Award held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on January 20. She received the award for her initiative towards cleaning and saving river Ganga, the Sparsh Ganga initiative.

The award is given under the transformation of Aspirational District Program which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year in January. The program identifies the progress of 115 ‘aspirational’ districts whose development is being monitored by NITI Aayog.

Other recipients of the award were actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, actor Suresh Oberoi for Culture and Lok Sabha MP Geeta Koda for Aspirational. Telugu film producer Allu Arvind, Minister of State Finance & Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur and Deepa Venkat of Swarna Bharat Trust (Andhra Pradesh), won the award for Social Welfare.