1. Global Gender Gap Report 2013: India Ranked at 101 Place
i. Global
Gender Gap Report 2013, which was published on 25 October 2013 by World Economic Forum- India was ranked
101 out of 136 countries on Gender Gap index.
ii. In 2012 Report, India secured 105th position in the Gender
Gap Index of 135 countries.
iii. The Global Gender
Gap Report 2013 Report revealed that world’s gender gaps narrowed slightly in
2013 on the back of “definite if not universal improvements” in economic
equality and political participation between the sexes.
iv. The worst performing
countries are Yemen (136), Pakisthan (135) and Chad (134).
Top 5
country:
1. Iceland
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Philippines
2. India Signed Pact with World Bank for Uttar Pradesh
Water Sector Restructuring Project
i. Government of India
on 25 October 2013 signed an agreement with World Bank for credit of 360 million US Dollar for the second phase of Uttar
Pradesh Water Sector Restructuring Project.
ii. The agreement was
signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government
of India and Country Director of the World Bank, Onno Ruhl. Similarly the
Project Agreement was signed by Deepak Singhal, Principal Secretary, Department
of Irrigation on behalf of the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
iii. The objective of
the project is to support the State on capacity building of Water Users
Association, rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation, development of
Basin River planning strategies and flood management systems.
The
project has six main components:
1.Strengthening of State Level Water Institutions and
Inter Sector Coordination
2.Modernization and Rehabilitation of Irrigation and Drainage Systems
3.Consolidation and Enhancement of Irrigation Institution Reforms
4.Enhancing Agriculture Productivity and On-Farm Water Management
5.Feasibility studies and Preparation Activities for the Next Phase
6.Project Coordination and Monitoring.
2.Modernization and Rehabilitation of Irrigation and Drainage Systems
3.Consolidation and Enhancement of Irrigation Institution Reforms
4.Enhancing Agriculture Productivity and On-Farm Water Management
5.Feasibility studies and Preparation Activities for the Next Phase
6.Project Coordination and Monitoring.
3. World Bank approves $250-m aid for Uttarakhand
i. The World Bank has
approved $250-million assistance for Uttarakhand, which was hit hard by rains
and landslides in June that killed 580 people, to help the State undertake
rehabilitation work and strengthen its capacity for disaster management.
ii. “In order to respond
in a timely manner, the project was fast-tracked under the World Bank’s
emergency procedures and was prepared within a three-month period,” said a
release.
iii. India had sought
assistance from multilateral agencies like the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) for undertaking rehabilitation work in Uttarakhand. ADB
too is expected to finalise its assistance package soon.
iv. Earlier, a joint
World Bank and ADB team conducted a Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (JRDNA)
at the request of the Indian Government to rebuild the state’s infrastructure
and assets lost in the June disaster.
v. JRDNA has estimated
the physical damages across a range of sectors and calculated the cost of
reconstruction at about $661 million.
4. Corporation Bank tops in
loans to small units
i. The Ministry of
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has assigned
Corporation Bank No. 1 rank under the ‘National Awards for Excellence in MSE
(micro and small enterprises) Lending’ for 2012-13.
ii. According to a
press statement by the bank, the ranking was acknowledged at the 18th meeting
of the Standing Committee for National Awards to Public Sector Banks recently.
Corporation Bank has been ranked based on its performance in contributing to
the MSE lending for 2012-13, it said.
5. Himachal Pradesh became Second State after Haryana to
introduce NVQF
i. Himachal
Pradesh on 26 October 2013 became the second state after Haryana to introduce
Union National Vocational Qualitative
Framework (NVQF) Scheme.
ii. The scheme has been
implemented by the All India Technical
Education Council and the National Skill Development Council.
Note: i. As per the scheme,
70 skill development councils will be established and each council will be
given specific trades.
ii. The scheme was
being implemented for students of Class IX to Class XI and every student has to
clear four levels to get the certificate.
iii. The programme is
being introduced in one hundred schools and each school will have to adopt two
trades out of five - Information Technology, Education, Retail Security,
Automobile and Health Care.
6. Ethiopia banned its Citizens from Travelling Abroad
for Work
i. Ethiopia's government on 24 October
2013 temporarily banned its citizens from travelling abroad to look for work.
ii. The government took this decision
because many Ethiopians had lost their lives or undergone untold physical and
psychological trauma due to illegal human trafficking. The Ethiopian government
had taken various steps to limit the suffering of its citizens, including
setting up a national council and a taskforce to educate them.
iii. The scarcity of work opportunities
contributes mainly fuelling emigration from Ethiopia, which has Africa's second
largest population. According to the official figures, Youth unemployment was
estimated at more than 50 percent.
iv. Many
Ethiopians migrate to Saudi Arabia, travelling via Yemen by sea and entering
the country illegally. Thousands of others go to Israel, South Africa and
Europe. Most of the migrants end up being smuggled, trafficked or subjected to
mental and physical torture.
7.
4
day WAF to be organized at Hyderabad from Nov 4
i. A four-day World Agricultural Forum Congress (WAF) will
be organized at Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh from 4th of November this year.
ii. The theme is re-shaping agriculture
for sustainable future focus on small farm holders.
iii. Talking to reporters in New Delhi today,
Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshmi Narayana said the conference
will aim at focussing on creating prosperity through attention to establishing
food security and investment in agriculture.
iv. Lakshmi Narayana also said an
Agri-Tech Trade fair will also be organized parallel to WAF Congress-2013. He
said arrangements are being made for mobilization of around two thousand
farmers on each day for Agri-Tech Trade Fair.
Note: 2011 World Congress was held in Brussels with the objective, the role
of Latin America in feeding the world in 2050.
8. Tarun Chatarjee appointed Chairman of the Uttar
Pradesh State Human Rights Commission
i. The
Uttar Pradesh Government on 25 October 2013 appointed retired Justice Tarun
Chaterjee as the new chairman of the state Human Rights Commission.
ii. State government
also nominated Justice UK Dhawan and Asha Tiwari as the members of the
Commission.
iii. Tarun Chaterjee
(68-year-old) was the chief justice at the Allahabad high court in 2003 and
retired as a Supreme Court judge in 2010.
9. Government sanctioned a new Plastic Park for Odisha
i. Union
Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers on 25 October 2013 sanctioned setting
up of a Plastic Park at Siju Village, Kujanga Tehsil of Jagatsinghpur District
in Odisha.
ii. A Special Purpose
Vehicle (SPV) called Paradeep Plastic
Park Limited would set up the Plastic Park.
iii. The project will receive a grant of 40 crore rupees by the
Government of India of which 8 crore rupees will be released sooner.
iv. The Plastic Park is
being established near IOLC. The infrastructure related the micro, small,
medium and large units in the Plastic Park will be facilitated by the Paradeep
Refinery and it has the necessary state-of-the art infrastructure
v. The park will open
opportunities to the entrepreneurs in and around districts like Balasore,
Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Paradeep, and other districts of Odisha to set up new
venture.
10.
BCCI
terminates contract of IPL team Pune Warriors for non-payment of franchise fee
i. The working committee of the Board of Cricket Control of
India has terminated the contract of the Indian Premier League team Pune
Warriors for non-payment of franchise fee. The team did not pay a bank
guarantee of 174 crore rupees.
ii. The owner of the Pune Warriors - The
Sahara Group - have been on collision course with the BCCI after the board
encashed its bank guarantee due to non-payment of franchise fee. Pune Warriors
was bought by Sahara for 1702 crore rupees in 2010 and is the most expensive
franchise on the IPL roster.
11.
English
Football Association marking 150th anniversary today
i. The world's oldest national football body, the English
Football Association, or FA is marking its 150th anniversary today. It was
established at a meeting in a London Tavern on the 26th of October, 1863 as
eleven football clubs and schools associations agreed to a set of common rules
for the sport.
ii. A special gala dinner is taking place
later today where on display will be a book containing the handwritten 13
original laws of football.
12. Alok claims silver at World Billiards
i. Indian cueist Alok Kumar could not add the
World Billiards trophy to his cabinet as he lost in the final to local
favourite David Causier to settle for the silver medal at the mega-event here.
ii. Alok,
a former Asian champion, lost 6-1 -- 150 (123)-06, 150 (114)-11, 150
(64)-81, 150 (85)-13, 150 (109)-92, 51-150 (53), 150 (124)-124 (93).
iii. On the
other hand, two-time runner-up Causier lifted his first ever world title here
at the Northern Snooker Centre. In the final he defeated Alok in a one-sided
affair.
iv. Alok is the only
player in the country, who has won titles in every discipline.