[CA/Econ] Global Competitive Index (GCI) 2017-18

·        India has been positioned as the 40th most competitive economy on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitive Index (GCI) 2017-18 (Last year, India was placed at 39th)

·        Switzerland is at the top followed by USA and Singapore

·        WEF puts out the ranking of 137 countries

·        Among BRICS: China (27th), Russia (38th), India (40th), South Africa (61st) and Brazil (80th)

[CA] INS Tarasa

INS Tarasa, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft was commissioned (on Sep 26, 2017) into the Indian Navy

·        INS Tarasa is the fourth and last of the follow-on Water Jet FAC's built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.

·        The first two ships of the class i.e. IN ships Tarmugli and Tihayu were commissioned in 2016 and are based at Visakhapatnam; while the third ship INS Tillanchang was commissioned earlier this year at Karwar on 09 March 2017.

·        INS Tarasa is 50 m long and powered by three waterjets which give it speeds of over 35 knots (65 kmph). The ship is armed with a 30 mm main gun indigenously built , and a number of light, medium and heavy machine guns to undertake costal defence operations. The ship is an ideal platform for missions like coastal and off-shore surveillance, EEZ Patrol, law enforcement as well as non-military missions such as Search and Rescue, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.

·        This is the second ship of the Indian Navy to be named INS Tarasa. The first INS Tarasa was in service of the Navy from 1999 to 2014. She was gifted to Seychelles Coast Guard as a symbol of India's partnership with friendly maritime nation in IOR. The new INS Tarasa will be based at Mumbai under the operational control of Western Naval Command.

[CA] Vision 2025

[CA] World Tourism Day 2017

 Sep 27: World Tourism Day

·        Theme: "Sustainable Tourism – a Tool for Development"

·      Celebrated in line with the 2017 “International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development”, the Day will be dedicated to exploring the contribution of tourism to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

·        The official celebrations of World Tourism Day 2017 will be held in Qatar

Tourist Arrivals in Indian States  

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India  

[Quest] Crossword Puzzle (4)

[CA] Germany goes to poll

[CA/Econ] Quarterly GDP of Indian Economy (March 2016 - March 2017)

Quarterly GDP
March 2016	9.2%
June 2016	7.9%
Sep2 016	7.5%
Dec 2016	7.0%
March 2017	6.1%
June 2017	5.7%

[CA] Five-point proposal for Rohingya crisis

Bangladesh Prime Minister, Ms. Sheikh Hasina has floated a five-point proposal at the United Nations to find a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis

(1) Myanmar must stop the violence and the practice of ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State unconditionally, immediately and forever

(2) UN Secretary General should immediately send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar

(3) All civilians, irrespective of religion and ethnicity, must be protected in Myanmar. For this, “Safe Zones” could be created inside Myanmar under UN supervision

(4) Sustainable return of all forcibly displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh to their homes in Myanmar must be ensured

(5) Recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission Report must be implemented immediately, unconditionally and entirely

[CA] Khelo India Programme

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the revamped Khelo India programme at a cost of Rs.1,756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20. This marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the Programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development, economic development and national development.

The revamped Khelo India Programme would impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy.

Salient features:

Some of the salient features of the Programme include:

• An unprecedented Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which would cover 1,000 most talented young athletes each year across select sports disciplines.

• Each athlete selected under the scheme shall receive an annual scholarship worth Rs. 5.00 lakh for 8 consecutive years.

• This is the first time ever that a long-term athlete development pathway would be made available to gifted and talented youngsters to excel in competitive sports and will create a pool of highly competitive athletes who can compete to win at the world stage.

• The Programme aims to promote 20 universities across the country as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sports persons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.

• The Programme also aims at creating an active population with healthy life-style.

• The Programme would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive, which will not only measure the physical fitness of all children in the age group, but also support their fitness related activities.

Impact:

• The power of sport in promoting gender equity and social inclusiveness is also fully recognized and special measures are provided for to achieve these objectives.

• The programme also aims at engaging youth living in disturbed and deprived areas, in sporting activities, to wean them away from unproductive and disruptive activities and mainstream them in the nation-building process.

• The programme strives to raise the standards of competition, both at school and college level, to have maximum access to organized sports competitions.

• It also includes the use of latest user-friendly technology in all aspects of sports promotion such as, use of mobile apps for dissemination of sports training; National Sports Talent Search portal for talent identification; interactive website for indigenous sports; GIS based information system for locating and using sports infrastructure, etc.

• This programme strives to promote “Sports for All” as well as “Sports for Excellence.”

[CA] VASTRA 2017

6th Edition of the 4-day international textile and apparel fair, 'VASTRA' will be organized in Jaipur (Sep 21-24, 2017)

·        Karnataka is participating as partner state

·        Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal are participating as supporting states in the event.

[CA] Zero Hunger Programme

Three districts (Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Koraput in Odisha and Thane in Maharashtra) will see the launch of India's ambitious “Zero Hunger” programme through interventions in farm sector on October 16 (World Food Day).

[CA] Political turmoil in Tamil Nadu

[CA] Naramada Dam Project

Narmada Dam Project is the second biggest concrete gravity dam by volume in the World after the Grand Coulee Dam in the U. S. and the biggest in terms of the volume of concrete used. It’s is the third highest concrete dam in India.

Year	Event
April 05, 1961	Prime Minister, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru lays foundation stone
1964	A. N. Kosla Panel formed to resolve dispute between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh over sharing of the water and electricity
1969	Madhya Pradesh government differs with the committee report; hence the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal is formed
1979	Tribunal gives final award in Dec 1979
1980	Work being, but protest by the Narmada Bachao Andolan against massive displacement of people and environmental destruction hold up work
1996	Supreme Court stays the project, further delaying the work
2000	Supreme Court allows work to resume, subject to completion of the rehabilitation process
2006	Mr. Narendra Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat, sits ona51 – hour fast in 2006 as the UPA Government refuses to give permission to raise the height of the dam, citing incomplete rehabilitation work
2014	After becoming Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi gives the final permission to raise the height of the dam to 138metresandinstallthe gates
Sep 17, 2017	Dam was officially inaugurated

[CA] MoUs between India - Japan

[CA] India - Japan

(01) Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project:

·        Construction of the 500-km long bullet train will begin soon and it would become operational by 2022-23.

·        Along with the High Speed Rail project, a training institute is also taking shape.

·        It will prepare the Makers of a New India – the highly skilled manpower required to build, operate and maintain the high speed railway.

(02)  Development of Japanese Industrial Townships:

·        Country-wide, four locations have been finalized. They are located in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

(03) Auto – mobiles:

·        The Suzuki plant at Maandal is exporting cars world-wide, and foundation has been laid for production of Lithium-ion batteries to power the next generation hybrid and electric vehicles.

(04) Japan-India Institutes of Manufacturing:

·        They are being developed by Japanese companies.

·        Will be developed   in Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

(05) Varanasi – Kyoto:

·        The project of Varanasi Convention Centre is a symbol of cultural co-operation between Kyoto city of Japan and Varanasi.

·        Have named it Rudraksh – the symbol of love, and a Prasad of Lord Shiva to Humanity. This Rudraksh will be a gar-land of love of Japan for Varanasi. It will also be a tribute to our shared Buddhist heritage present at Sarnath too.

·        Japan’s financial assistance to this project

[CA] Swachhata Rankings 2017

Institution		Place	State/UT
University
1.	O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat	Sonipat	Haryana
2.	MANIPAL UNIVERSITY, JAIPUR	Jaipur	Rajasthan
3.	Chitkara University, Kalu Jhanda (Barotiwala),Solan	Solan	Himachal Pradesh
4.	K.L.E. Academy of Higher Education and Research, Belgaum	Belgaum	Karnataka
5.	Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra	Agra	Uttar Pradesh
Colleges
1.	Kongu Arts and Science College	Erode	Tamil Nadu
2.	Vidya Pratishthans Arts, Commerce & Science College, Pune	Pune	Maharashtra
3.	RAMAKRISHNA MISSION VIVEKANANDA COLLEGE	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
4.	Vivekanandha College of Arts & Science (W)	Tiruchengode	Tamil Nadu
5.	S N R Sons College	Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu
6.	K.G. College of Arts and Science	Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu
Technical institutions
1.	Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore	Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu
2.	Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Guntur	Guntur	Andhra Pradesh
3.	Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Chennai	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
4.	Vivekanandha College of Engineering for Women	Tiruchengode	Tamil Nadu
5.	R.M.D Engineering College	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
6.	R.M.K Engineering College	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
7.	Abes Institute of Technology	Ghaziabad	Uttar Pradesh
Government institutions
1.	G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,	Pantnagar	Uttaakhand
2.	Madurai Kamraj University,	Madurai	Tamil Nadu
3.	Alagappa University, Alagappa Nagar,	Karaikudi	Tamil Nadu
4.	National Institute of Technology,	Hamirpur	Himachal Pradesh
5.	Indian Institute of Technology,	Guwahati	Assam
6.	Govt Post-graduate College for Girls, Sector-11	Chandigarh	Chandigarh
7.	Punjab University	Chandigarh	Punjab