1. Govt releases socio-economic and caste census for
better policy-making
i. The
socio-economic and caste census (SECC) 2011 on Friday painted a grim picture of
rural India, indicating that one out of three families living in villages is
landless and depends on manual labour for livelihood.
ii. The SECC 2011,
also the first paperless census conducted on hand-held electronic devices by
the government, said 23.52% rural families have no literate adult above 25
years, suggesting a poor state of education among rural masses.
iii. The census,
carried out in 640 districts under the aegis of the rural development ministry,
was released jointly by finance minister Arun Jaitley and rural development
minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh.
iv. According to
the census, there are a total number of 24.39 crore households in the country,
of which 17.91 crore live in villages. Of these, 10.69 crore households are
considered as deprived.
2. Nationwide Mobile Number Portability goes live
i. The countrywide
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has become a reality today. This means mobile
subscribers can now keep their existing mobile phone numbers even while
shifting between states and circles.
ii. The move lays
the first stone for the government's 'One nation, One number' plan and is sure
to benefit millions of people across the country.
iii. Earlier, the
deadline to rollout full MNP was May 2, 2015. This was, however, extended by
two months after the Cellular Operators Association of India asked for an
extension from the telecom department.
iv. With about 3
million intra-circle MNP requests every month, more than 157 million
subscribers have ported to other operators as of April, according to Trai data.
3. Airbus to build military choppers in India with
Mahindra
i. Europe's Airbus
Group and India's Mahindra Group have struck a deal to build helicopters
jointly as they bid to win an expected wave of orders from the country's armed
forces, the companies said in a statement on Friday.
ii. The two groups
will form a joint venture in the coming months, aiming to become the first
private manufacturer of helicopters in India, the statement said. It did not say
how much the two will invest.
iii. India is in
the midst of a huge upgrade of its armed forces — analysts forecast it will
spend $250 billion over the next decade — and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
wants to encourage more indigenous manufacturing to end India's position as the
world's largest arms importer.
iv. Airbus
Helicopters, part of Airbus Group, is joining forces with Mahindra after
talking to several Indian companies that are investing hundreds of millions of
dollars to capitalise on the government's push to build arms at home.
4. SBI launches initiative to speed up home loan
applications
i. Country's
largest lender State Bank of India today launched an initiative to provide
doorstep services and expedite home loans application process.
ii. The initiative
known as 'Project Tatkal' will help get the loan within 10 days after receipt
of application form and relevant supporting documents, the bank said in a
release.
iii. The
implementation will be done at large centres with sizable home loan business.
iv. The bank has
also recently introduced an online customer acquisition solution (OCAS) for
instant e-approval of home loan applications.
5. Indian-American professor R Paul Singh named for
2015 World Agriculture Prize laureate
i. R Paul Singh, Indian-American
professor has been selected for 2015 World Agriculture Prize laureate.
ii. The award was
announced at the annual Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations
for Agriculture and Life Sciences (GCHERA) conference held at the Holy Spirit
University of Kaslik, Lebanon.
iii. Singh is known
for niche research areas of agricultural sector such as freezing preservation,
energy conservation, post-harvest technology and mass transfer in food
processing.
iv. He had earned a
bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering form Punjab Agricultural
University. He had completed his doctorate from Michigan State University, US.
6. Indian-American teacher Darshan Jain receives US
Presidential Award
i. Darshan Jain, an
Indian-American teacher has been selected for prestigious Presidential Award
for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
ii. He was named
for the award by President Barack Obama along with 107 Mathematics and Science
teachers across US. All of them were chosen for shaping America’s success
through their passion for Math and Science.
iii. Presently
Darshan Jain is director of mathematics at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in
Lincolnshire, Illinois. Previously, he had taught mathematics at this institute
for eight years.
iv. US Presidential
Award is awarded annually to outstanding science and mathematics teachers from
across US from K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grades). The award carries
monetary prize of US 10000 dollars.
7. Union Government launches web portal for issuing
green clearance Category B projects
i. Union Government
has launched a web portal for online submission of applications for environment
clearance by State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) for
Category B projects.
ii. It was launched
by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash
Javadekar in New Delhi on the occasion of Digital India Week. Soon after the
launch of the web portal, nineteen states instantly have joined it.
iii. The
environment clearance web portal raises the levels of transparency and
accountability as the clearances will be monitored and carried out effectively
on a real time basis. It will also help to reduce pendency for maintaining the
rigours of Environment Clearance process.
iv. It should be
noted that applications for Environment Clearances under Category ‘B’ projects
under EIA notification, 2006 comes under State government for approval purpose.