Current Affairs April 2017 - Reports

News 1 - HRD Ministry ranked IISc as the best educational institution

According to an annual national rankings released by the HRD ministry under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has been ranked at the top. IISc is the first Indian institution to make it to the top 10 in a global ranking.

Seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are the other institutes in the top ten.

News 2 - WADA placed India at the 3^rd position under the Doping Charts List

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) placed India at third position for the third consecutive time in a doping violation report 2015, because 117 athletes from the country were punished. Russian Federation topped the charts with 176 athletes from the country being punished and Italy was placed at 2^nd position with 129 athletes from the country being punished.

It is the first set of Anti-Doping Rule Violation statistics under the revised WADA Code and third such report in its history since 2013.

News 3 - WTTC placed India on the 7^th position in the Tourism based GDP Economy Report

World Travel and Tourism Council released tourism based GDP economy report 2016 where India was ranked 7^th in terms of its total contribution to the country's GDP. Report analysis was topped by USA followed by China at 2^nd, Germany at 3^rd place.

India created 40.3 million jobs in 2016, accounted for 88% growth in travel economy and received 9 million international arrivals in 2016. World Travel and Tourism Council report is based on International Monetary Fund (IMF) outlook October 2016 for year 2016 and 2020.

News 4 - WEF placed India on the 40^th position in Travel and Tourism Competitive Index

World Economic Forum released the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index, where India was moved 12 places up in this ranking from 52^nd to the 40^th position. In all, in the last three years India has cumulatively improved its ranking by 25 places, which is a significant achievement. Index was topped by Spain followed by France at 2^nd, Germany at 3^rd, Japan at the 4^th place and UK at the 5^th place.

The report ranks 136 countries across 14 dimensions based on economic development, sustainable development, and societal benefits through tourism and travel sectors.

News 5 - India ranks 9^th in terms of corruption in business

EMEIA Fraud Survey 2017 placed India at 9^th place among 41 surveyed countries for the survey done on bribery and corrupt practices in businesses. The remaining eight countries are Ukraine, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Kenya, South Africa and Hungary, in the perception survey.

In 2015, India was placed at sixth position, however new schemes, AADHAR enrolment etc. has improved transparency and governance of the system. The survey reported that nearly 78% respondents in the India have mentioned that bribery and corrupt practices happen widely in businesses.

News 6 - President of India released India rankings 2017 report

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee released the India Rankings 2017 report. He also presented awards to top-ranked institutions i.e. top 10 in overall category and toppers in the stream wise categories – Engineering, Management, Universities, Colleges and Pharmacy.

The Indian Institute of Science was ranked first, followed by Indian Institute of Technology Madras at second spot and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay at third place. The President congratulated all the awardees and institutions of repute and hoped that this feather in their cap would inspire others to follow their example.

News 7 - Samsung R&D Institute India topped chart of IT patent applicants

As per the annual report of Office of the Controller General of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications, Samsung R&D Institute India topped the chart for the maximum number of patent applications in the IT sector in 2015-16. TCS and Wipro followed the list in the top three.

The other top applicants include premier Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) and HCL Technologies. Samsung R&D Institute India, TCS, Wipro, IITs and HCL have filed 229, 213, 149, 60 and 49 applications, respectively.

News 8 - President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Geoscience Awards for 2016

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the National Geoscience Awards 2016 on twenty-six geoscientists in New Delhi.

The 26 geoscientists were presented the National Geoscience Awards for the year 2016. Dr. Abhishek Saha from National Institute of Oceanography Goa got the Young Scientist Award. The awardees this year were from GSI, CSIR, IITs, and various other private and public sector enterprises. The National Geoscience Awards includes the Award for Excellence, Young Scientist Award and nineteen individual and / or team awards in 16 fields of geosciences.

News 9 - Haldia Port Topped the List in the First Ever Ranking of Ports on Sanitation Parameters

Haldia Port bagged the first rank on sanitation parameters. The assessment was done by Quality Council of India (QCI) based on the efforts undertaken by the ports to counter waste generating sources with respect to port operation, office area, township area and the response to incoming ships.

The Vizag port bagged the second spot. The survey was done on the twelve major ports under the Ministry of Shipping. Almost all ports have achieved the benchmark for cleanliness or are well above it.

News 10 - India placed on the 8^th spot in the Global FDI Confidence Index

A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index 2017 placed India at 8^th spot based on factors such as investors’ decision considering investment destination, domestic market size and cost of labour. India has moved up by one spot compared to last year, due to 'transparent' and an 'easy' business environment in India’s reforms.

Index was topped by USA (1^st), followed by Germany (2^nd), China (3^rd), United Kingdom (4^th) and Canada (5^th). The Index is an annual analysis of how political, economic, and regulatory changes will likely affect FDI inflows into countries in the coming years.

News 11 - Forbes’ under 30 super achievers list names 50 Indians

The second Forbes '30 Under 30' Asia list 2017 lists 300 young entrepreneurs around the world in 10 categories, including entertainment, finance and venture capital, retail, social entrepreneurs and enterprise technology.

Around 53 Indians have been included in the list. List was topped by China, with 76 entrepreneurs. Some of such listed Indians entrepreneurs were gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik, actor Alia Bhatt, Paralympic swimmer Sharath Gayakwad, founder of SheSays Trisha Shetty, founder of Feeding India Ankit Kawatra etc.

News 12 - Narendra Modi and Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma in Time’s ‘most influential people’ list

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma made it to an annual list of ‘100 most influential people in the world’ this year released by the Time magazine.

US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and their Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have also been named by the Time magazine. They were all named among the 100 most influential people in the world in its annual list of global achievers.

News 13 - India became World’s Second Largest LPG importer

India has become world’s second largest LPG importer after China. Japan stood third. According to Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, LPG imports in the country has increased 23% during the financial year 2016-2017 to about 11 million tonnes.

The Government of India started a free LPG scheme for poor women who fall under the category of BPL. The government provided a whopping 32.5 million LPG connections under the clean fuel drive in 2016 only. India has set an ambitious target of increasing LPG usage to cover 80% of the households by March 2019.