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- India ranks 116 out of 157 nations on SDG index
India is ranked 116 out of 157 nations on a global index that assesses the performance of countries towards achieving the ambitious sustainable development goals (SDGs).
- India is ranked 116th on the index with a score of 58.1, behind countries such as Nepal, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and China. Pakistan is ranked 122.
- Sweden leads the list, followed by Denmark and Finland.
- Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inducts First DEMU Train
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu dedicated to the nation the first 1600 HP DEMU train with Solar Powered Coaches with a unique facility of Battery Bank.
- The entire electrical need of the coaches for Lighting, Fans and Information Display System will be met from the Solar Energy produced from the solar panels fitted on the roofs of coaches.
- While this train has been manufactured by the Coach Factory of Indian Railways namely Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, its Solar panels and Solar systems have been developed and fitted by Indian Railways Organisation of Alternative Fuel (IROAF) Delhi.
- This first rake has been commissioned and based at Shakurbasti DEMU shed in Delhi of Northern Railway.
- Twenty-four more coaches will be fitted with this system within the next 6 months.
- The first rake will be put in the commercial service over the suburban railway system of Delhi division of Northern Railway.
- Centre releases advance grant-in-aid of Rs.51.30 crore to Arunachal Pradesh
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The Centre has released in advance two installments of grant-in-aid to the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh towards Central share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
- Due to heavy rains and floods in North East, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Government of India has released Rupees 51 crore and 30 lakh as grant-in-aid to the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh on the basis of recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission for relief necessitated by natural calamities to the State.
- This amount is being released in advance for rescue and relief operations required on account of flash floods.
- Delhi Police to be equipped with ‘super cop belt’
National capital police will be the first state police who will get ‘super cop belt,’ a specially designed belt, widely used by Police in UK, USA, Russia and para-military forces like CRPF, CISF, NSG etc.
- Recently, Delhi Police has flouted a tender for 10,000 belts for its officers performing ground duties.
- This belt will help cops to keep things like Gun, Mobile Pouch, Security Batten, Wireless Set Pouch & ammunition pouch.
- Maharashtra first state to have law against social boycott
With the President of India giving assent to the Maharashtra Prohibition of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2016, Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to bring a law making social boycott a crime.
- The movement, initiated by late Narendra Dabholkar, gained momentum after he was shot dead and the Maharashtra legislature passed the law unanimously in 2016.
- Raipur Airport Ranked First in Customer Satisfaction Index Survey
Raipur’s Swami Vivekananda Airport was once again ranked first in Customer Satisfaction among 49 airports in the country.
- Raipur Airport achieved 4.84 score on a five point scale index in the latest CSI survey conducted by an independent agency for the period of January-June 2017, followed by Udaipur, Amritsar and Dehradun airports which have scored 4.75, 4.74 and 4.73 respectively.
- The survey covers a wide range of parameters like transportation, parking, passenger facilities and cleanliness etc.
- Yes Bank gets $150 mn from OPIC to fund SME lending
Private sector Yes Bank has received $ 150 million funding from the US government and Wells Fargo to increase lending to support women entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises in India.
• This is the third round of funding to the bank as part of arrangement with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) i.e. the US government development finance institution and Wells Fargo.
• Under the agreement, OPIC will provide $ 75 million in financing and up to $ 75 million in syndicated financing jointly arranged by Wells Fargo Bank to Yes Bank, a statement said.
- European Union & India establish an Investment Facilitation Mechanism
European Union (EU) and India today announced the establishment of an Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU Investments in India.
• The mechanism will allow for a close coordination between the European Union and the Government of India with an aim to promote and facilitate EU investment in India.
• This agreement builds on the Joint Statement of the 13th EU-India Summit held in Brussels in March 2016, where the EU had welcomed India’s readiness to establish such a mechanism and leaders from both sides had reaffirmed their shared commitment to oppose protectionism and to work in favour of a fair, transparent and rule-based trade and investment environment.
• As part of the IFM, the EU Delegation to India and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, agreed to hold regular high level meetings to assess and facilitate “ease of doing business” for EU investors in India.
- NITI Aayog forms four task forces, seeks road map to reduce pollution
NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think-tank, has set up four task forces to prepare a roadmap for reducing pollution levels in the country.
• The task forces on transport, biofuels, industries and air will be headed by NITI Aayog’s CEO, Amitabh Kant, and will include officials of the ministries of transport, environment and petroleum, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• The task forces will use the report prepared by Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 2015 as the base to kick start assessment of the pollution problem in the national capital.
- President awards IIMB
President Pranab Mukherjee has awarded IIM Bangalore (IIMB) for making management education accessible to all through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
• IIMB is the national coordinator for management education on the government’s Swayam platform and has completed five MOOCs on the platform so far.
- President Inaugurates 7th Edition of KKM Memorial Gold Cup
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 7th Edition of Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee Rural Football Tournament at Mackenzie Park Football Ground in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
• The President witnessed an exhibition match between Mohun Bagan U-19 and Kingfisher East Bengal U-19. Mohun Bagan won the match by 1-0. The President greeted the players of both the teams and presented awards.
Source:- Daily Current Affairs Capsule
