Current Affairs November 2016 - Reports
News 1 - India's gross-value added growth to hit 7.6% in 2016: DBS
India's gross value added growth is expected to reach 7.6 per cent in 2016 from 7.2 per cent in 2015. While private sector activity remains subdued, high frequency fiscal numbers point to sustained support from public capex spending, according to a report by global financial services major, DBS.
According to DBS, after an upside surprise from China, India manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, PMIs also jumped in October, affirming signs of a cyclical upturn in the region.
News 2 - Forbes Fab 40 announced ‘Dhoni’ as most valued Indian athlete and Federer globally
India’s cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni retained most valued Indian athlete position in Forbes Fab 40 brand value of top sports labels list of 2016. Veteran tennis player Roger Federer marked his top-most position as the most valued athlete globally.
Sports business category revealed Nike, ESPN and Adidas as the top three spots. The Forbes Fab 40 list reveals the notional value of each brand’s name. In the sports event category, American football tournament Super Bowl topped the list.
News 3 - India rises to second spot on global business optimism index
A survey says, India has improved its ranking by one spot in a global index of business optimism, with policy reforms and Goods and Services tax expected to become a reality soon.
The report is prepared on the basis of a quarterly conducted global business survey of 2,500 businesses across 36 economies.
According to the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report, India was ranked second on the optimism index during the third quarter (July-September 2016). Indonesia took the top spot, with the Philippines coming in third.
News 4 - Freedom of the Press 2016 report revealed
Freedom House revealed the Freedom of the Press 2016 report on theme ‘The Battle for the Dominant Message’. According to annual report, press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015.
India’s score was 41 on a 0 to 100 scale, as the report revealed that freedom to the press is partly free. Its major finding is that only 13 percent of the world’s population enjoy a Free press and 41% of world’s population has a Partly Free press.
News 5 - Scientists discovered lost river Chandrabhaga in Odisha
Panel who recently confirmed the existence of the mythical Saraswati river in India’s North-West, have found another ‘lost’ Indian river in Odisha. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur now claim that they have found evidence.
IIT study that aims to verify this myth, confirms the presence of the Chandrabhaga river in the proximity of the Sun Temple of Konark. According to their report, the satellite imagery and Google Earth image showed an inactive river, passing north of the Sun Temple extending approximately parallel to the coast.
News 6 - India placed at 20th position in Climate Change Performance Index 2017
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017 was revealed by German watch and Climate Action Network Europe, stating that with the historic Paris Agreement having recently entered into force, index 2017 has shown a boost for renewable energy and positive developments in energy efficiency. However, the necessary energy revolution is still happening too slowly.
India was positioned at 20th place. Since there wasn’t any big emitter in line with the 1.5−2°C limit, none of the countries were placed at first three places, whereas France ranked 4th and Sweden ranked 5th.
News 7 - 2016 edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report released
The 2016 edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report was launched during the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) 2016, in Gaborone, Botswana by UN International Telecommunication Union. Survey was done among 175 world economies, where Republic of Korea topped the list.
The Sub-Saharan Africa’s Niger ranked lowest and India was placed at 138th position. The report includes a chapter looking into the current status of mobile adoption and analyze trends and developments in the digital world.
News 8 - IIT Kharagpur ranked top varsity in India in international survey
For the second time in a row, IIT Kharagpur has been ranked as the top institution in the country by QS Employability Ranking, with IIT Bombay also figuring in the list of top 100 universities in the world.
The IIT Kharagpur has been ranked in the range of 71-80, the highest position among Indian institutions, out of 200 universities from across the world.
IIT Bombay, ranked next to IIT Kharagpur, is the only other institution from India to have been ranked among the top 100.
News 9 - Singapore tops global education rankings
Singapore has the highest-achieving primary and secondary pupils in international education tests in Maths and Science. Primary school pupils in Northern Ireland were ranked sixth at Maths, the highest of any in Europe.
These international rankings, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, are published every four years, based on tests taken by more than 600,000 students, aged nine to 10 and 13 to 14 in 57 countries.
News 10 - New Zealand, Australia most preferred destination for Indian travelers
According to global travel search engine, Skyscanner, New Zealand emerged as a favorite among Indian travelers whereas, Australia was the second most searched destination. New Zealand witnessed a growth of 52% in travel searches from last year, whereas, Australia recorded an increase of 47% in travel searches.
Malaysia saw a rise of 28 per cent in travel searches and the United Kingdom, recorded a 15 per cent surge in searches since 2015.
News 11 - India ranked 138 in ICT Development Index 2016
India has been ranked a low 138th out of 175 nations on a global index that measures the level of information and communication technology access, even as the number of households with Internet and computer has increased in the country over the last five years.
The index was released as part of the annual Measuring the Information Society Report for 2016 of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
