Daily Current Affairs for Competitive Exams: February 3, 2017

Hello Readers,

Here are the important headlines of the day with significant highlights essential for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, IBPS PO, SBI PO, Bank Clerk and other competitive examinations. 

States will be ranked on innovations from 2017

• To make India an innovation-driven economy, NITI Aayog, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) together launched a mega initiative “India Innovation Index” that will rank states on Innovations through country’s first online innovation index portal that will capture data on innovation from all Indian states on innovation and regularly update it in real time.
• The India Innovation Index Framework will be structured based on the best practices followed in Global Innovation Index (GII) indicators and additionally by adding India-centric parameters those truly reflect the Indian innovation ecosystem.
• This initiative will be the point of reference for all international agencies to collect India’s up to date data points for global indices and analytic.
• India currently ranks 66th out of 128 countries on the Global innovation Index (GII) 2016. To improve India’s rank in GII and other international indices, NITI Aayog jointly with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), organized the Global Innovation Index – India Round table on January 31, 2017, in the capital.

Awards for Excellence for Public Administration

‘Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration’ are instituted to acknowledge, recognize and reward extraordinary and innovative work done by Districts/Organizations of the Central and State Governments.

There shall be a maximum of 15 awards under the Priority Programme category and 2 awards under the Innovation category.

​

Following priority programmes have been identified for awards under the scheme.

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)
• e – National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)
• Standup India/ Startup India

In addition to the awards in Priority Programmes, awards shall be given to organizations of Central/State Government/District for innovations in Environment Conservation, Disaster Management, Water Conservation, Energy, Education and Health, Women and Child Centric Initiatives etc.

For the Prime Minister’s Awards 2017, an innovative and competitive methodology has been adopted for wider participation. Districts across the country and Central and State Government Organisations were motivated to compete under the scheme.

Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III)

A Financing Agreement for IDA credit of US$201.50 million (equivalent) for the “Third Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III)” was signed with the World Bank.

The Financing Agreement was signed by Mr. Raj Kumar (Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs) on behalf of Government of India and Mr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank.

Highlights:

• The objective of the Program is to enhance quality and equity in participating Engineering Education Institutes and improve the efficiency of the Engineering Education System in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, 8 North Eastern States and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• The Project has two main components, (i) Improving quality and equity in engineering institutes in those states; and (ii) System-level initiatives to strengthen sector governance and performance. The project has been designed as a disbursement linked one, that is, the World Bank loan will be disbursed on achievement of specific outcomes.
• The closing date of TEQIP III is 31st March, 2022.