Weekly One Liners 08th to 14th of March 2021
Economic Freedom Index 2021 announced
The Heritage Foundation, a US Conservative thinktank, recently launched the “Economic Freedom Index”. The index was prepared by covering 184 countries this time for the period of July 2019 to June 2020. This is the first time the index has been published since the COVID-19 pandemic overturned lives as well as global economies and the scoring reflects a small extent how governments have responded to the health crisis. Ranking: In the index, Singapore has topped the global ranking for the second consecutive year. In the 2021 Index, India came in around the middle of the pack among Asia-Pacific countries ranking 26th out of 40 countries, scoring 56.5 points. Globally, the Foundation rates India’s economy as the 121st freest. Although its overall score is unchanged, improvements were made in business freedom. This was offset by declines in judicial effectiveness and other scores.
Index • Rank 1: Singapore • Rank 2: New Zealand • Rank 3: Australia • Rank 4: Switzerland • Rank 5: Ireland Important Fact of the Index: • The biggest news generated from the “2021 Index of Economic Freedom” was however not the rankings or how COVID-19 impacted the scores but that The Heritage Foundation decided to exclude Hong Kong from its rankings for the first time ever. • The Heritage Foundation said that the reason for leaving Hong Kong out is that the Special Administrative Region and its economic policies have now come under the direct control of Beijing.
Winners List of Swiss Open 2021
India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu has won a silver medal in the BWF Swiss Open Super 300 in the final of the women’s singles event held at Basel, Switzerland. The World No. 7 Sindhu lost to World No. 3 and reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin. • Men’s Singles : Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) beat Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand). • Women’s Singles: Carolina Marin (Spain) beat PV Sindhu (India). • Men’s Doubles: Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark) beat Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel (Germany). • Mixed Doubles: Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (France) beat Denmark pair, Mathias ChristiansenAlexandra Boje.
2021 Dandi March to mark 75 years of Independence
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off the 91st anniversary of Dandi March on March 12 in Ahmedabad to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mahatma Gandhi to protest the British rule in the country. The event is kicked off from Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram and this event is also the part of the State government’s programme to mark “Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav.”
National Affairs
• The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has laid the foundation stone for the conservation works of Singorgarh Fort in Singrampur village of Damoh district, Madhya Pradesh. He also inaugurated the newly carved Jabalpur Circle of Archaeological Survey of India. • Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has inaugurated the ‘Maitri Setu’ bridge between India and Bangladesh through a video conference, to strengthen the connectivity between both countries and especially with the north-eastern region of India. Maitri bridge will also make Tripura the ‘Gateway of North East’ with access to Chittagong Port of Bangladesh. The Maitri Setu bridge has been built on the Feni river, which lies between the Indian boundary in Tripura and Bangladesh. • The Union Cabinet has approved the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi (PMSSN), as a single non-lapsable reserve fund. This has been approved for the share of Health from proceeds of Health and Education Cess which is levied under the Section 136-b of Finance Act, 2007. • The Union Cabinet has given its nod for amendments in the Insurance Act, paving way for 74 per cent foreign direct investment in the sector. Currently, the permissible FDI limit in life and general insurance stands at 49 per cent with ownership and management control with Indian. According to sources, the Cabinet in its meeting has approval for amendments in the Insurance Act, 1938. • The commerce and industry ministry has stated that the central government is working to develop a portal called “Atmanirbhar Niveshak Mitra Portal” for information dissemination, hand-holding, and facilitation of domestic investors.
International Affairs
• Google has launched a new web platform ‘Women Will’ on March 8, 2021, on the occasion of “International Women’s Day”. This platform will provide its support to 1 million rural women in India in order for them to become entrepreneurs with the help of accelerator programmes, business tutorials and mentorship. • In the 50th year of Indian victory over Pakistan in the 1971 Liberation war, Indian Naval Ships arrived in the port town of Mongla for a three-day visit to Bangladesh. The Indian Naval Ships is on a threeday visit between March 8 to 10. This is the first time ever that any Indian Naval Ship is visiting the port of Mongla in Bangladesh. • Switzerland has voted in favour of a proposal banning full facial coverings including the burqa and niqab in almost all public places. In the public referendum, around 51.21 per cent of voters voted in support of the controversial proposal. • Mahamadou Issoufou, the incumbent President of Niger has won the “2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership”, the world’s largest leadership prize, worth $5 million. He is the sixth winner of the Ibrahim Prize since it was introduced in 2006, by Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim’s foundation to promote good governance in the world’s poorest continent. • The Japanese scientific research institute called RIKEN and Fujitsu started developing the “Fugaku” six years ago. It is the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Fugaku has been named after an alternative name for Mount Fuji. • The space agencies of China and Russia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of their national governments, to jointly construct a lunar space station that will be open to all countries. The MoU was officially signed between the Chinese space agency, China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, on March 09, 2021.
Science and Technology
• ISRO has completed the development of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capable of producing extremely high-resolution images for a joint earth observation satellite mission with the US space agency NASA. NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a joint collaboration for a dual-frequency L and Sband SAR for earth observation. NISAR will be the first satellite mission to use two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in our planet’s surface less than a centimetre across. ISRO is providing the spacecraft bus, the S-band radar, the launch vehicle and associated launch services for the mission, whose goal is to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging. • The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched a new online certificate course on 5G technology to be conducted by the National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT), which is the training institute of DoT.
Appointments/Resignations
• Indian-origin Naureen Hassan has been appointed as the first Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the New York-based Federal Reserve Bank, by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. • NABARD chairman, G R Chintala has assumed charge as the chairman of APRACA (Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association). He has taken over from DPK Gunasekera, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Ceylon. • Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Girish Chandra Murmu has been re-appointed as the Chairman of the Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations for the year 2021. Prior to this, Mr Murmu was elected as Chairman of the Panel for 2020 as well. • The Central Government has appointed Dr G P Samanta as the new Chief Statistician of India (CSI) for a period of two years. He is India’s fourth CSI. He will replace Kshatrapati Shivaji who was holding an additional charge of the post since September 2020. • Union Minister Anurag Thakur has become the first serving MP to be appointed as Captain in the Territorial Army. Thakur has been promoted to the rank of Captain at 124 Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Sikh). • Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (Arcil) has announced the appointment of Pallav Mohapatra as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Prior to the appointment, Mohapatra was the MD and CEO of the Central Bank of India.
Defence News
• The Indian Navy got its third Scorpene submarine, commissioned as INS Karanj, of Project P-75 in Mumbai. With the delivery of Karanj, India further cemented its position as a submarine-building nation. Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), one of India’s leading shipyards with the capacity and the capability to meet the requirements and aspirations of the Indian Navy. Before Karanj, INS Kalvari and INS Khanderi have been commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2017 and 2019, respectively. • The India – Uzbekistan joint military exercise DUSTLIK II has commenced in Foreign Training Node Chaubatia, Ranikhet in Uttarakhand. This is the Second Edition of the annual bilateral joint exercise of both armies. It will continue till the 19th of this month. The first edition of the exercise was held in Uzbekistan in November 2019. 45 Soldiers each from Uzbekistan and the Indian Army are participating in the exercise.
Awards and Recognitions
• World rapid chess champion Koneru Humpy has won the BBC Indian Sportswoman-of-the-Year award. BBC director-general Tim Davie, hosting the virtual awards ceremony. The Lifetime Achievement award went to veteran athlete Anju Bobby George. English cricket star Ben Stokes announced the 19-year-old Indian Shooter, Manu Bhaker as the winner of the Emerging Player-ofthe-Year award category. Bhaker, won two golds at the ISSF World Cup in 2018, followed by gold at the Youth Olympics and a Commonwealth Games gold with a record to boot. • Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be honoured with an award by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). The veteran actor will be the first Indian cinema personality to be bestowed with the FIAF Award for his dedication and contribution to the preservation of the world’s film heritage.
Sports News
• In wrestling, the World Championship bronze medallist Bajrang Punia won a gold medal at the Matteo Pallicone ranking series held in Rome, Italy. Apart from this, the ace India woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat won the gold medal in the 53kg title. The 26-year-old Vinesh beat Canada’s Diana Weicker 4-0. • India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was awarded the ICC Player of the Month award for February, the International Cricket Council (ICC). Meanwhile, England opener Tammy Beaumont won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for February. • India will play their inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl Stadium, England from June 18-22. Initially, the final was supposed to be held at the Lord’s but Southampton, with a fivestar facility inside the stadium, will make it easier for both the ICC and the England and Wales Cricket Board to create a bio-bubble for the two teams. • The veteran Indian women’s cricketer Mithali Raj has become the first Indian woman cricketer that has completed 10,000 international runs in all the cricket formats. She also becomes the second woman cricketer at the international level to complete 10000 runs. She achieved the milestone of 10,000 after she hit a boundary off the Anne Bosch in 28th over of Indian innings in the ongoing third ODI match against South Africa.
Obituaries
• M G George Muthoot, the Chairman and Whole Time Director of The Muthoot Group, has passed away. He was the mentor and visionary leader who played a pivotal leadership role through his long career in building one of the most trusted financial powerhouses in the country. • Noted Kannada poet, critic and translator NS Lakshminarayana Bhatta has passed away. Popularly known as ‘NSL’ in the Kannada literary world, he was born in 1936 in the Shivamogga district. A was recipient of the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi award and Kannada Rajyotsava Award among others, his popular works include Thaye Ninna madilali. • Dhyan Chand National Sports Award-winning veteran Indian athlete Ishar Singh Deol, has passed away. Punjab-based Deol won the Dhyan Chand National Award in 2009 for his lifelong contribution towards sports. • Justice Shri Anshuman Singh, the former Governor of Rajasthan & Gujarat, has passed away. Anshuman Singh was a retired Justice who served as the Governor of Rajasthan from January 1999 till 2003. Prior to that, he was appointed as the Governor of Gujarat state in 1998. • The Marathi stage and film actor, Shrikant Moghe has passed away. He was popular for his work in both Marathi and Hindi languages. • The incumbent Prime Minister of Ivory Coast, Hamed Bakayoko, has passed away due to cancer. He was named prime minister in July 2020 following the sudden death of his predecessor, Amadou Gon Coulibaly. President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has named Patrick Achi as interim prime minister in place of Bakayoko.