April 4, What is NIRF Survey? NIRF survey is first of its kind of indigenous ranking framework for

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1 April 4, 2017 IISc ranked India s top university in 2017 NIRF Survey The Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bangalore was adjudged as the best Indian university in the 2017 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by Union Human Resource Development Ministry. This year it is second edition NIRF survey and was released as part of the India Rankings 2017 for the Educational Institutions. What is NIRF Survey? NIRF survey is first of its kind of indigenous ranking framework for higher education institutions in the country. It outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country based on the parameters broadly covering Teaching, Learning and Resources, Research and Professional practices, Graduation Outcomes, Outreach and inclusivity and Perception. It covers six categories of institutions including universities, engineering, management, pharmacy, architecture and colleges. Background In the second edition of India Rankings, a total of 2995 institutions had participated. It included 232 Universities, 1024 Engineering Institutions, 546 Management Institutions, 318 Pharmacy Institutions and 637 General Degree Colleges, and others. Many of these had participated in multiple disciplines, adding to a total of 3319 participants across disciplines. List of top 5 India Rankings 2017 Overall Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 1

2 Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi India and Malaysia Sign 7 Agreements India and Malaysia have inked seven agreements to foster deeper relationship between the two countries. The agreements were exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Abdul Razak in New Delhi who was on six day state visit to India. Signed agreements are: Air Services Agreement: It is revised ASA with Malaysia signed by both countries in MoU on Cooperation Fertilizers sector: It deals with development of proposed Urea and Ammonia Manufacturing Plant in Malaysia and offtake of exisiting surplus urea from Malaysia to India. MoU on cooperation in Sports: It envisages cooperation through exchange of sportspersons, instructors, information on sports regimen and training curricula, etc. MoU for cooperation in training: It was signed between Malaysian Human Resource Fund (HRDF and EDII, Ahmedabad. It envisages EDII, Ahmedabad to carry out training and other capacity building programmes, as necessary on behalf of the Human Resource Development, Malaysia. MoU on Mutual Recognition of the Educational Qualifications: It was signed between Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). It establishes recognition of equivalence of various degrees awarded by educational institutions in both countries and envisages eventual signing of mutual recognition agreement. MoU on collaboration in technology development in the field of Palm Oil: It was signed between Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and India s Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT). 2

3 MoU on implementation of 4th Generation Technology Park in Andhra Pradesh: It was signed between MIGHT Technology Malaysia and AP Economic Development Board. The Malaysian industry-government group for high power technology (MIGHT) will act as facilitator to develop cluster in AP. As part of park, packing material will be made from recycled agricultural materials. The Union Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has launched Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana in Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh. The Scheme aims at providing physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. Key Provisions of the Scheme: The scheme will be distribute free of cost physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to BPL category in Camp mode. It is the first-of-its-kind Central Sector Scheme (CCS) in India, to be fully funded by the Union Government. It is expected to benefit 5,20,000 Senior Citizens and its expenditure implementation will be met from the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund. Implementing Agency: Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It will also undertake one year free maintenance of the devices. Aids and Assisted-Living Devices to be provided under it: The eligible elderly beneficiary will get walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers/crutches, tripods/qadpods, hearing aids, wheelchair, aificial Dentures and Spectacles depending upon their physical impairment. Purpose: The assisted-living devices will help the Senior Citizens to overcome their age related physical impairment and to lead a dignified and productive life with minimal dependence on care givers or other members of the family. Identification of beneficiaries: It will be done by the State Governments/UTs through a Committee chaired by the Deputy Commissioner/District Collector. 30% of the beneficiaries in each district shall be women. The Committee can utilize the data of BPL beneficiaries receiving Old Age Pension under the NSAP or any other Scheme of the State/UTs for identification of senior citizens belonging to BPL category. 3

4 Government Approves Purchase of Barak Missiles The government today approved procurement of a fresh batch of Barak surface-to-air missiles for Naval warships to enhance India's maritime capability. A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, approved capital acquisition proposals totaling over 860 crore rupees, including for the purchase of Barak missiles. Uttarakhand hosts 19th commonwealth forestry conference i. The 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference (CFC), 2017 begins at Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on April 3, ii. The conference is inaugurated by Uttarakhand Governor Dr. K.K. Paul at Dehradun. The 5 day conference is conducted on a theme Forests for Prosperity and Posterity. iii. The members from 49 Commonwealth countries will be present at the conference. iv. The conference is organized by Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change in coordination with the Commonwealth Forestry Association of United Kingdom. v. The main topics to be discussed in the conference are about issues affecting climate change and green cover. vi. The 18th commonwealth forestry conference was held at Edinburgh, Scotland on June 28,

5 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up separate Enforcement Department i. Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Santosh Kumar Gangwar informed Lok Sabha that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to set up a separate in-house Enforcement Department which will be operational from 3rd April ii. This Department will be responsible for framing broad policy related to enforcement and take action against registered entities that violate it. It will function as centralised department to deal with banks exclusively for enforcement action such as issuing warning or imposing penalty. New Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee i. Indira Banerjee, former judge of the Delhi High Court has been appointed as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court. The appointment was made by the President of India Shri. Pranab Mukherjee. ii. She will sworn in as Chief Justice on April 5, 2017 after taking oath of office from Tamil Nadu governor (in charge) Vidyasagar Rao. iii. Indira Banerjee will succeed Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who was elected to the Supreme Court on February 18, iv. Banerjee would be the second woman next to Justice Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar who was the Chief Justice from June to November in 1992 to head the charted court. 5

6 Scientists identify fungus that eats plastic Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have identified a soil fungus Aspergillus tubingensis that uses enzymes to rapidly break down plastic materials. The plastic-eating fungus was found Islamabad, Pakistan. The new discovery in an advance can help to deal with plastic waste problem that threatens our environment in safer and more effective way Key facts Scientists have found that Aspergillus tubingensis fungus which ordinarily lives in the soil can also grows on the surface of plastics. In order to grow on plastics, it secretes enzymes on the surface of the plastic which break the chemical bonds between the plastic molecules, or polymers. This fungus also uses the physical strength of its mycelia (the network of root like filaments) to break apart the polymers. First bio-gas bus with flat Re 1 fare inaugurated in Kolkata i. Phoenix India Research and Development Group in Kolkata has designed a bus that will run on biogas produced from cow dung. ii. The company has tied-up with Ashok Leyland to manufacture the 54-seater bus at a cost of Rs 13 lakh approximately. iii. The first bus will be flagged off on April 7, 2017 and will run between Ultadanga in the north and Garia in the south in Kolkata. iv. The ticket will be charged Re 1 for the 17.5 km stretch, which will be the cheapest mode of transport for a passenger in the country. 6

7 v. Until today, the lowest fare in a Kolkata bus is Rs 6, which goes up to Rs 12 for 17 km ride. The company has planned to launch 15 more buses on different routes in the city with the same base fare. vi. The company has got the permission to set up 100 fuel pumps in India. The first pump will come up at Ultadanga. India and six other South Asian countries of South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) have pledged to improve intra-regional connectivity to boost trade and tourism. India and six other South Asian countries of South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) have pledged to improve intra-regional connectivity to boost trade and tourism. Decision in this regard was taken at the Finance ministers of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar meeting held in New Delhi to reshape SASEC. They also came out with the SASEC Vision for 2025 and adopted operational plan Key Facts SASEC Vision: It is a new strategic road map to guide the sub-region s development through It reflects member nations commitment to tap into latent industrial demand and promote sub-regional industry-to-industry links Operational plan : It defines the strategic objectives and operational priorities in transport, trade facilitation and energy as well as for the development of economic corridor. The members are eying for $70 billion incremental GDP and 20 million jobs by 2025 so that SASEC become better, stronger and faster to make South Asia one of the fastest growing sub-regions in the world. 7

8 Mega-conference of World Parliamentarians hosted by Bangladesh i. The 136th Mega-Conference of World Parliamentarians has begun in Dhaka on April 1, 2017.The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. She will also release a commemorative postage stamp and launch Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) web television. ii. The main focus of this conference was to provide ways and means to end political and economic inequality for upholding democracy and human rights. iii. The mega-conference was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad. iv. About 1,348 delegates from 131 national parliaments were expected to participate in the conference. The participants include 45 Speakers, 37 Deputy Speakers and more than 200 women MPs, are expected to make their proposals. v. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi was the keynote speaker during the opening session of the debates held on April 2, vi. The 137th conference is to be held at St. Petersburg, Russia on October

9 Lenin Moreno to sworn in as the Ecuador President i. Ruling Party of Ecuador, Alianza PAIS candidate Lenin Moreno won the Ecuador s presidential election held on April 3, ii. He defeated conservative former banker Guillermo Lasso who demands a recount after three exit polls. iii. Lenin Moreno was nominated as Presidential candidate by former President Rafael Correa. iv. Out of 94 percent of voting acts counted, the National Electoral Council declared Moreno has defeated Lasso by 51 percent to 49 percent. Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passes away in Mumbai. Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passed away at her home in Mumbai on the 3rd April She was 84. Born on 10th April 1932 in Mumbai, Kishori Amonkar was recognized as one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and as an innovative exponent of the Jaipur gharana. While learning the finer points and techniques of the Jaipur gharana from her mother, Amonkar also developed her own personal style, which reflects the influence of other gharanas and was generally regarded as an individual variant of the Jaipur tradition. She was known primarily for her skillful singing of classical khayal songs set in the traditional ragas of Hindustani music, but also performed the lighter classical thumri, bhajan, devotional songs and film music. 9

10 Dawit Isaak to receive UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, 2017 i. Dawit Isaak, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist has been chosen for the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2017 dedicated to promoting press freedom. The award is to be presented on May 3, ii. Dawit Isaak is a Swedish-Eritrean playwright, journalist and writer, born on October 28, 1964 in Asmara, Ethiopian Empire. iii. In 2016 it was won by Khadija Ismayilova of Azerbaijan. 10