Daily Current affairs - June 24th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The Ministry of Urban Development has launched the ‘City
Liveability Index’ for measuring the quality of life in 116 major cities
including smart cities, capital cities and cities with a population of above
one million each.
- In a first of its kind Index to be introduced in the
country, cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79
parameters to capture the extent and quality of
infrastructure including availability of roads, education and health
care, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance
redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and
entertainment opportunities etc.
- The Index is a Common Minimum Reference Framework to
enable the cities know where they stand in terms of quality of life and
the interventions required to improve the same.
‘MERIT’ web portal launched by Ministry of Power
A web portal- MERIT (Merit
Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and
Transparency) was recently launched by the Ministry of Power.
- The portal has been developed by Ministry of
Power in association with POSOCO and Central Electricity Authority.
- The portal displays extensive array of information
regarding the merit order of Electricity procured by State(s) such as
daily state-wise marginal variable costs of all generators, daily
source-wise power purchases of respective states/UTs with source-wise
fixed and variable costs, energy volumes and purchase prices.
Government launches VAJRA scheme
In a bid to bring together the Indian scientists abroad and India-based
researchers for conducting joint researches in India, the Department of Science
and Technology (DST) has launched a scheme named ‘Visiting Advanced Joint
Research Faculty’ (VAJRA).
- Under this scheme, scientists or senior
researchers abroad – of Indian origin or otherwise – can collaborate with
faculties here.
- Under the scheme, foreign researchers would
receive endowments at par with those in their own countries.
- The endowments for faculties would be US $15,000 in
the first month of residency and US $10,000, for the remaining months.
Centre announces 30 more Smart Cities
Thirty more cities from across the country have been added to the Centre’s
Smart Cities Mission, with a proposed investment of Rs.57,393crore in various
projects under the scheme, taking the total number of cities to 90.
- Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram, topped this
round.
- Tamil Nadu emerged as the State with the highest
number of cities selected in this round, with Tirupur, Tirunelveli,
Thootukudi and Tiruchirappalli making it to the Mission.
- The Smart Cities mission was launched in June 2015
with the government releasing the guidelines and mission statement for the
100 Smart Cities project.
Panel to oversee progress in UN’s SDG
The Centre will soon set up a high-level committee headed by Chief
Statistician of India to oversee the country’s progress towards UN’s
Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending poverty, fighting inequalities
and tackling climate change.
- A dashboard is also being developed with technical
support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to “strengthen the
mechanism” for monitoring progress on these global goals.
- Data collected by private agencies may be considered
for monitoring the SDGs, particularly since a number of the goals are not
directly linked to the Centre’s provision of public services.
- The SDGs are a set of 17 goals and 169 targets aimed
at resolving global social, economic and environmental problems.
China stops Kailash pilgrims
The annual Kailash
Mansarovar yatra, which was flagged off earlier this month by External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj, has been disrupted.
- Reports suggest that China has declined permission
for the first group of 50 pilgrims to proceed to the holy Mount Kailash
through the Nathu La pass.
- The route through the Nathu La pass that opened two
years ago shortens the entire route making the pilgrimage less arduous.
ISRO puts 31 satellites in
space
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched 31 satellites — 29 of them belonging
to foreign countries — on board the PSLV-C38 from the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre.
- The PSLV, in its 40th flight, carried the Cartosat-2
series satellite, the main payload, weighing 712 kg and another Indian
satellite, NIUSAT, an Indian university/academic institute satellite from
Noorul Islam University, Kanyakumari.
- The Cartosat-2 is a remote sensing satellite, and is
the sixth in the series. It was placed in a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous
orbit. It will be used for cartographic applications, coastal land use and
regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land
use maps, Land Information Systems (LIS) and Geographical Information
System (GIS) applications.
M-banking now under ombudsman’s purview
Widening the scope of its Banking Ombudsman Scheme, the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has included complaints relating to mis-selling and mobile banking
in its purview. The amended Banking Ombudsman Scheme will come into force from
July 1.
- Under the amended Scheme, a customer would also be
able to lodge a complaint against the bank for its non-adherence to RBI
instructions with regard to mobile banking/ electronic banking services in
India.
- The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Banking Ombudsman
to pass an Award has been increased from existing Rs 10 lakh to toRs 20
lakh.
RIL-BP withdraws gas price
arbitration
Reliance Industries (RIL)
and its partner BP Plc have withdrawn an arbitration case pertaining to gas
pricing policy, paving the way for higher gas prices from Rs. 40,000 crore of
fresh investment the duo had announced earlier this week.
Carnegie Medal to Azim Premji:
Wipro Chairman AzimPremji is among the recepients of this year’s Carnegie
Medal, considered the most prestigious prize in philanthropy, for his efforts
to reform India’s public school system.
- Premji is among the nine recipients recognised “for
their outstanding and innovative leadership in philanthropy”.
- The honorees are recognised as catalysts for good
whose philanthropy has had a significant and lasting impact on a
particular field, nation, or community of people.
Sri Lankan economist Saman
Kelegama dies
Leading Sri Lankan economist
Saman Kelegama, who was highly regarded in South Asian policy circles, passed
away in Thailand .
- A trade policy expert, Kelegama served as the
Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka for
over two decades, and advised successive governments on key economic
matters.
- Kelegama was an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, where he completed a master’s degree in Mathematics.
