Current Affairs August 2018 - Reports
1 - India breaks into top 100 in UN’s E-Government index
India has been ranked at 96th position in the United Nation’s E-Government Index. India has jumped 22 ranks in last four years and 11 ranks in last two years. The index maps how digital technologies and innovations are impacting the public sector and changing people’s everyday lives.
According to the Survey, the three most commonly used online services in 2018 are utilities payment, submission of income taxes, and registration of new businesses. Denmark is the world leader, both on E-Government index and E-Participation sub-index.
2 - Global Innovation Index, GII- 2018 launched in India
The Global Innovation Index 2018 was launched in New Delhi. The event was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – one of the founding partners of GII along with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
India’s rank on the Global Innovation Index (GII) has improved from 60 in 2017 to 57 in 2018. India has been consistently climbing the GII ranking for the past two years.
3 - Pune topped Ease of Living Index 2018
Pune has topped the Ease of Living Index 2018, followed by Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai. This was announced at the launch of the Index as well as Swachh Survekshan 2019 in New Delhi. The Ease of Living Index will help cities assess their livability in relation to global and national benchmarks.
The Swachh Survekshan 2019 will be carried out across all urban areas. The government aims to complete the survey of all urban local bodies in 4 weeks - between 4th January and 31st January 2019.
4 - BBC's ‘Women Who Changed the World’ list unveiled
BBC History Magazine reader’s poll of 100 women who changed the world list was unveiled. The list was topped by Polish scientist Marie Curie, followed by activists Rosa Parks at 2nd place and Emmeline Pankhurst at 3rd place. Some other powerful women who made it to top 10 list were Ada Lovelace (mathematician, 4th place), Rosalind Franklin (scientist, 5th), Wollstonecraft (writer, 8th) and Florence Nightingale (nurse, 9th). Mother Teresa was ranked at 20th place.
100 Women is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The series examines the role of women in the 21st century.
5 - India’s first NABARD Rural Financial Inclusion Survey released
India’s first NABARD Rural Financial Inclusion Survey released for 2016-17. NAFIS was launched in 2016-17 as a national level survey that offers a comprehensive overview of the rural population in terms of their status of livelihoods and level of financial inclusion.
Major highlights are given below:
40% higher income levels in agri households during a three year period ending 2015-16.
Average loan amount from agricultural households (? 1,07,083) came out to about 1.5 times of that on non-agricultural households (? 75,668).
Average income of an agricultural household is Rs 1,07,172 compared to Rs 87,228 of non agri household.
6 - Kotak Wealth Hurun-Leading Wealthy Women 2018 list topped by Smitha V. Crishna
Kotak Wealth Management and Hurun Report India unveiled the ‘Kotak Wealth Hurun - Leading Wealthy Women 2018’ list, a compilation of the wealthiest women in India. The list was topped by Smitha V. Crishna, heir of the Godrej family having wealth of Rs. 37,570 crore. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon, is the wealthiest self-made woman entrepreneur on the list. Shradha Agarwal, Outcome Health is the youngest self-made wealthiest woman on the list.
The average wealth of the women in this list is about Rs 4,000 crore. The threshold for this ranking is above Rs 1,000 crore.
7 - Global Liveability Index 2018 topped by Vienna
Vienna displaced Melbourne as the most liveable city in the world in Global Liveability Index 2018 released by Economist Intelligence Unit. Melbourne (Australia) was placed at 2nd place followed by Osaka (Japan) at 3rd place, Calgary (Canada) at 4th place and Sydney (Australia) at 5th place. Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai were placed at 112th and 117th spot respectively in the list.
The Economist Intelligence Unit publishes an annual Global Liveability Ranking, which ranks 140 cities for their urban quality of life based on culture, environment and stability.
8 - Forbes’ List of World’s Highest-Paid Actors 2018
According to Forbes magazine list of World’s Highest-Paid Actors 2018, Akshay Kumar has emerged as the seventh highest-paid actor in the world with a total earning of USD 40.5 million. Salman Khan was ranked 9th with USD 38.5 million.
The list has been topped by Hollywood star George Clooney with USD 239 million followed by Dwayne Johnson, USD 124 million. Robert Downey Jr, earned USD 81 million to book the third place. Chris Hemsworth and Jackie Chan were fourth and fifth in the list with earning of 64.5 million and 45.5 million respectively.
9 - Kempegowda International Airport among fastest growing airports in world
According to a study published by RoutesOnline, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is ranked second among the top 20 fastest-growing major airports in the world. The airport has added 4.18 million passengers during the first six months of 2018.
According to KIA, in 2017-18, the airport had handled 26.91 million passengers. Tokyo's Haneda International has bettered KIA's growth. New Delhi's airport is placed sixth (with a growth of 32,76,183). Hyderabad is placed 17th in terms of actual growth of passengers (20,97,087 passengers).
