1 July 2016

National Doctor's Day

· 1 July is observed as Doctor's Day in India to honour the legendary physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. He was born on 1 July, 1882 and died on the same date in 1962, aged 80 years.
· Dr Roy was honoured with the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna on 4 February, 1961.

· This is a significant day for doctors as it provides them with an opportunity to reflect on their career and remind themselves about practicing the art and science of Medicine and Surgery in an ethical manner.

Nhai Gets Green Nod For Rs1,246-Cr Up Road Upgradation Project

·   National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has received environment clearance for updgrading the 146-km long carriageway of Kanpur (Chakeri) to Allahabad section of NH-2 in Uttar Pradesh at a cost of Rs 1,246 crore.

·     The approval has been given subject to the compliance of the specific and general conditions, the official said.The total cost of the project would be Rs 1,246 crore.

·     The total length of the proposed road section is 145.31 km, which passes through three districts — Kanpur (23.7 km), Fatehpur (90.33 km) and Kaushambi (32.2 km) in UP

Union Cabinet Approves Recommendations Of 7th Pay Commission

·        Union Cabinet on 29 June 2016 approved the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

·        The salaries and arrears, effective from 1 January 2016, will be made applicable.

·        The commission recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.

·        This implementation of the recommendations will put an additional burden of 1.02 lakh crore rupees on the exchequer annually or nearly 0.7 percent of GDP.

·        The minimum pay for government employees is recommended to be set at 18000 rupees per month against Rs. 7000.

·        The maximum pay is recommended to be Rs. 2,25,000 per month for Apex Scale and Rs. 2,50,000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level.

·        The increase in pay will be 16 percent, increase in allowances will be 63 percent and increase in pension will be 24 percent.

Union Railway Ministry launches Nivaran portal, an online grievance redressal system

The Union Railway Ministry has launched Nivaran portal, an online system for redressal of service related grievance of serving and former Railway employees. It was launched by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at function held in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. 

Key Facts

•  Nivaran portal is an online system that seeks to facilitate the employees to lodge their grievances and also monitor the progress. 
• The system will also provide employees of Indian Railways facility for lodging appeal to the higher authority in case the decision is not found satisfactory. 
• Highest controlling authorities will also be able to monitor the progress of grievance redressal by field offices through this system. 
• It has been developed by CRIS (Centre for Railway information systems), an IT arm of Indian Railways on basis of process designed by Establishment directorate of Railway Board. 
• This online system for redressal of service related grievance will help to achieve Union Railway Ministry’s emphasis on the importance of its manpower. Indian Railways is the single biggest civilian employer in the country and has workforce of over 1.3 million people.

World Bank, ISA sign agreement for India’s solar-energy program

The World Bank (WB) Group has signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to provide more than 1 billion dollars to support India’s solar initiatives. The agreement was signed in the presence of World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi.

 Under this agreement

• World Bank will support projects such as solar rooftop technology, infrastructure for solar parks, introducing innovative solar and hybrid technologies to market and transmission lines for solar-rich state. 
• It will provide 625 million dollars to India’s grid-connected rooftop solar programme that will finance the installation of at least 400MW of solar photovoltaic installations. 
• This programme will provide clean, renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions by displacing thermal generation. 
• World Bank will also collaborate with the 121-member International Solar Alliance (ISA) to mobilise 1 trillion dollars in investments by 2030 to promote solar energy worldwide. 
• For this purpose, World Bank will develop a roadmap to mobilise financing for development and deployment of affordable solar energy.
•  It will also work with other multilateral development banks and financial institutions to develop financing instruments to support solar energy development.

India’s first integrated Defence Communication Network launched

India’s first integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) was launched by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in South Block, Delhi The network will enable India Army, Air force, Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process. 

Key Facts 

DCN is the largest single satellite network in the Indian Defence Forces, spread across the country. 

• It is a strategic, highly secure and scalable system. It has has a pan-India reach from Ladakh to the North East to island territories. 
• The tri-communication network makes voice data and video data accessible to the three services over a secured network. 
• It has been designed, developed and deployed by the information technology services, distribution and digital solutions firm HCL Infosystems. 
• It is capable of working on both terrestrial as well as satellite mode of communication and has also been fixed onboard different military vehicles.

Union HRD Ministry launches Prashikshak, an online teacher education portal

The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has launched ‘Prashikshak’- an online teacher education portal for District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). The Prashikshak portal was launched by the Union HRD minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi.  It seeks to strengthen DIETs and bring quality teachers into the school education system.

 Key Facts

•  The portal has been developed by the Union HRD ministry in collaboration with the Central Square Foundation, a policy think tank focused on improving quality of school education. 
• It is an open online platform for collecting and reporting data from all DIETs which will help in the establishment of a strong monitoring mechanism. 
• Prashikshak users will comprise pre-service teacher educators, DIET faculty and principals, policy makers at district, state and national level and the general public. 
• The portal will strengthen the teacher education system in four ways (i) It will equip government officials with data for decision making, (ii) empower aspiring teachers (iii) Support innovation in teachers’ education and (iv) Increase transparency. 
• It will help DIETs to make informed decisions about their institutes and compare the performance of their institute against other DIETs by facilitating online reporting of data. 
• It will provide insightful analysis to strengthen the teacher education scheme in the country and allow states to spot areas where resources can be targeted.

Cricket In 2024 Olympics If Rome Wins Host BID

·        The Italian Cricket Board President has revealed that cricket will be a part of the 2024 Olympics if Rome gets to host the tournament.

·        As per new rules, host cities will have the opportunity to add five sports to the Games.

·        Other cities vying for host status are Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest, with France also keen to add cricket.