1. World Economic Forum releases competitiveness index
(i) The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Competitiveness
Report on the world’s most competitive economies.
(ii) Switzerland has retained the
top position for the 7th consecutive time, followed by Singapore, the US,
Germany and the Netherlands.
(iii) India is up by 16 places on the index and ranks
55th.
2. SC directs government to grant citizenship to Chakma-Hajong refugees
The Supreme Court recently directed the Union Government and the government of Arunachal Pradesh to grant citizenship to refugees in Chakma-Hajong region within three months.
The decision was given by bench of Justice A R Dave and A K Goel. The judges opined that Chakmas have a right to be granted citizenship subject to the procedure and that they cannot be discriminated in any manner.
The refugees had migrated to India and settled in the northeastern
state after being displaced from Bangladesh in 1964-69 due to construction of
Kaptai hydro-electric dam in the Chittagong Hill tracts.
3. NOC Online Application Portal and Processing System launched
(i) The Union Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma in September 2015 launched the
NOC online application portal and processing system (NOAPS) in New Delhi.
(ii) An
initiative of the National Monument Authority (NMA), it is aimed at making
approval procedure more efficient for construction activities near historic
monuments that are protected by the Archaeological Society of India.
4. Jayant Prasad appointed as DG of Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses
(i) India’s former ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad was recently appointed as
the Director General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).
(ii) Prasad has previously served as India’s permanent representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, ambassador to Algeria, and counsellor for trade access and development cooperation at the Indian Mission to the European Union in Brussels. He was ambassador to Afghanistan from 2008 and 2009.
(iii) IDSA is an autonomous body that undertakes research on all aspects of defence
and security. It is headquartered in New Delhi.
5. Defence Minister commissions INS Kochi
(i) In September 2015, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned stealthy
warship INS Kochi at the naval dockyard in Mumbai.
(ii) It is the second ship of the
Kolkata class (Project 15 A) Guided Missile Destroyers. The ship is designed by
the Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders
Ltd. in Mumbai.
(iii) INS Kochi is packed with state of the art weapons and sensors. It includes a vertical launch missile system for long distance engagement of shore and sea-based targets.
6. Government selects 4 brand ambassadors for Digital India initiative
(i) On September 29, the government announced four brand ambassadors for its Digital India programme.
(ii) The appointments were finalised during the Digital India week i.e 1-7 July.
(iii) The four ambassadors are Ankit Fadia – ethical hacker, Pranav Mistry – a computer scientist and the author of ‘SixthSense’, Satwat Jagwani – all-India IIT-JEE-Advanced Topper 2015 and Krati Tiwari, IIT-JEE -Advanced Girl Topper 2015.
7. International Translation Day observed
(i) On September 30, International Translation Day was observed with the theme
being – ‘The Changing Face of Translation and Interpreting’.
(ii) The celebration
was started by the International Federation of Translators (FIT) as a tribute to
the work of translators who bring the world closer by eliminating language
barriers.
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