NATIONAL
UPDATES:
1. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) declines: India has registered a
significant decline in Infant Mortality Rate, the IMR declined by 3 points (8%
decline), from 37 per 1000 live births in 2015 to 34 per 1000 live births in
2016. India also recorded a major drop in birth cohort, which has for the first
time come down to below 25 mn. Gender difference b/w female and male
IMR has reduced to <10%, giving a boost to Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme
2. Chattisgarh plans to give Free mobile phones: Chhattisgarh
CM Raman Singh has planned to give free mobile phones to 55 lakh 60 thousand
people within two-and-a-half-years in the state. A plan of Rs. 230 crore has
been prepared in order to provide free mobile phones to 55 lakh 60 thousand
people within two-and-a-half-years in the state. Free phones will be provided
to the youth of every rural household,
urban poor families and college-going youth.
3. Bengaluru comes out as the World’s most affordable technology city: Bengaluru is the world’s most
affordable technology hub, according to a study conducted by Knight Frank LLP. Among
the top 29 global technology hubs covered by the study, Bengaluru emerged the
cheapest in office rentals. Gurugram, another Indian city, comes second.
4. Gujarat to use EVMs with VVPAT: Gujarat will be the first
big state
where Assembly elections will be conducted with Electronic Voting Machine
equipped with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). Gujarat will be the
2nd state after Goa to use VVPAT system for assembly elections. VVPAT machines
during the poll will allow voters to experience transparency and will
allow them to see if their vote has been registered correctly.
5. India signs an agreement to train Afghanistan police: After training Afghan Army
officers and soldiers for 4 years, India will now train Afghan police
officers. India and Afghanistan have exchanged a memorandum of
understanding, which will see Afghan police forces trained in India for the first
time.
6. Deadline for obtaining Aadhaar extended by
three months: The union govt. has extended the deadline for obtaining
Aadhaar to avail benefits of government schemes and subsidies by three months
this year (Earlier 30th September 2017). This extension will only
apply to those beneficiaries who are not assigned Aadhaar number or those who
have not yet enrolled for Aadhaar.
INTERNATIONAL
UPDATES:
1. NASA delays launch of James Webb: NASA has pushed the planned
launch of its $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope from October 2018 to
spring of 2019, citing spacecraft-integration issues.bIt will be the world’s
most powerful space telescope ever built, serving thousands of astronomers
worldwide.
2. Interpol votes to admit Palestine: Interpol has voted to admit
Palestine as a full member, dealing a blow to Israel, which has strenuously
lobbied against Palestinian admission. Interpol is designed to help
countries share police intelligence and cooperate against crime that crosses
international borders.
OTHER UPDATES:
BUSINESS/ECONOMY:
1. Indian Internet firms create lobby group-Indiatech.org: India’s top Internet companies led
by Flipkart have created a lobby group called Indiatech.org that will represent
the interests of Indian Internet start-ups to fight their international rivals.
Co-founder and executive chairman Sachin Bansal will lead the lobby group. Apart
from Flipkart, Ola, Hike and some other Indian Internet companies will be part
of the lobby group.
2. Rajiv Sabharwal to take charge as the CEO of Tata Capital: Tata Capital has announced
the appointment of Rajiv Sabharwal as Managing Director and CEO designate of the company. Sabharwal
would be taking over from the company’s current Managing Director and CEO Praveen P Kadle, who will be
assuming other responsibilities in the Tata Group.
BANKING/FINANCE:
3. IDBI Bank launches ‘Project Nishchay’ for turnaround:
IDBI Bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ in partnership with the Boston
Consulting Group (BCG) to accelerate its turnaround program and improve
financial performance.
BCG will assist us to identify
areas for cost containment and revenue maximization leading to sustainable
growth and profitability of the Bank.
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