PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone of AIIMS and fertiliser plant in Gorakhpur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and revival of fertilizer factory plant in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

 The fertilizer factory plant belongs to the Fertiliser Corporation India Ltd (FCIL) and was lying idle since 1990s. It would be revived through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of public sector units (PSUs) at an estimated cost of 6,000 crore Rupees.

NTPC, Coal India Limited (CIL) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) have formed a joint venture in this regard. The plant is expected to offer 3,000-4,000 jobs to skilled workforce in the state and will also ensure easy availability of urea to farmers.

AIIMS

• The establishment of new AIIMS in Gaurakhpur will serve the dual purpose of providing super-specialty health care to the population.
• Besides, it will also create a large pool of doctors and health workers that can be available for primary and secondary level facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM).
• The hospital at AIIMS will have a capacity of 750 beds and will also include emergency or trauma and AYUSH sections.
• The AIIMS will be set up under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) which aims at correcting the regional imbalances in availability of affordable and reliable tertiary level healthcare in the country.
• PMSSY also seeks to augment facilities for quality medical education in backward states.

India ranks 110th on Sustainable Development index

• India has been ranked a low 110th out of 149 countries on Sustainable Development index (SDI). 
• The SDI assesses countries where they stand with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also their progress and ensuring accountability.

Key Facts 

• Top 10 Countries: Sweden (1st), Denmark (2nd), Norway (3rd), Finland (4th), Switzerland (5th), Germany (6th), Austria (7th), Netherlands (8th), Iceland (9th) and United Kingdom (10th). 
• Bottom 5 Countries: Chad (145th), Niger (146th), Congo (147th), Liberia (148th) and Central African Republic (149th).
•  India’s neighbours: Pakistan (115th), Myanmar (117th), Bangladesh (118th) and Afghanistan (139th). 
• BIRCS: Russia (47th), China (76th) and India (110th). 
• The countries closest to fulfilling the SDGs are not the biggest economies but comparably small, developed countries. 
• Poor and developing countries score lowest on the SDG Index as they have little resources at their disposal. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries struggle to meet the goals on climate change, inequality, sustainable consumption and ecosystems.
•  Developing countries face major difficulties in providing basic social services and infrastructure access to their populations. 
• For Latin America and the Caribbean countries face challenge of high levels of inequality among the most pressing issues. 
• East and South Asia outperform many other developing regions but unmet challenges mostly persist in health and education. 
• Sub-Saharan Africa which is the world’s poorest region faces major challenges across almost all SDGs, with extreme poverty, hunger and health as major areas. 

About Sustainable Development index (SDI) 

• The SDI seeks to help countries identify gaps that must be closed in order to achieve SDGS by 2030 and to identify priorities for early action. 
• The new index was launched by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung. 
• Methodology: SDI ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 global SDGs. The index helps countries to identify priorities for early actions. 

About Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

SDGs are 17 global non-binding goals featuring 169 targets to be implemented from 2015 to 2030. These goals and targets are a set of ambitious objectives across the three dimensions of sustainable development viz. economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability, underpinned by good governance.

Union Government launches Transforming India website

The Union Government has launched Transforming India Website (www.transformingindia.mygov.in), a repository for sharing the impact of various governance initiatives with citizens in real-time.

 It was launched by the Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi.

Key Facts 

• The website provides community based platform facilitates for two-way communication between the government and citizens. 
• It is also a social platform on which users can share their opinions about various initiatives of the government. 
• The key facet of the website is to promote accountability in major national initiatives, act as a repository of major policies and decisions of Union Government.
•  It also seeks to provide a central platform to citizens for sharing of transformational changes that they see around themselves. 
• This website will provide information in a user-friendly format that will enable citizens to view the content in the form of Infographics, e-books, performance dashboard. 
• It will also present information in videos, daily news corner etc. format and engage with the content by comments and sharing the content through Social Media.

Lifeline Express: World’s first hospital on a train completes 25 years of service

The Lifeline Express, the world’s first hospital on a train of Indian Railways has completed 25 years of service to the poor and underprivileged masses of rural India. 

To mark the occasion and celebrate the success of the train a function was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

About Lifeline Express 

• The Lifeline Express is also known as the Magic Train of India. It was launched on 16 July 1991. 
• The Lifeline Express has the distinction of being the first ever hospital-on-rails in the world. 
• It is equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipment to cater to the needs of the rural patients.
•  The train is a flagship social initiative of Impact India Foundation (IIF) in partnership with the Indian Railways and the Union Health Ministry. 
• It was started with an aim to provide on-the-spot diagnostic, medical and advanced surgical treatment for preventive and curative interventions for disabled adults and children using the Indian Railway Network. 
• So far, the train covered 173 projects in 18 state and also covered 2 lakh kilometres distance and has medically served more than 10,00,000 poor in rural India.

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. 
• HCL Infosystems has had a long association with the Indian Defence sector. The company has closely worked with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to deploy AFCEL (Air Force Cellular Network) and Air Force Network (AFNet). 
• AFNet: It is the first network of its kind for Indian armed forces which interlinks major installations throughout the country on a high bandwidth network and incorporates latest traffic transportation technology in the form of Internet Protocol.

Union Railways Ministry flags off Champaran Satyagrah Express train in Bihar

Union Railways Ministry has flagged off Champaran Satyagrah Express train at a function in Motihari, Bihar. 

The train was flagged off by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. This train will run between Bapudham, Motihari to Anand Vihar, Delhi. 

Champaran Satyagrah Express train has been introduced to mark 100 years of the historic Champaran Satyagraha (movement) launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917.

 It is weekly train which will have load combination of 15 coaches, including one third AC, six sleeper and six general coaches and two brake vans. 

Besides, the Union Minister also inaugurated Banmankhi – Purnea rail section and Pipraha Railway Station. He also inaugurated road over bridges at Motihar, Begusarai and Danapur through video conferencing. 

Background 

The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917 was Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagraha in India. It was launched against the oppressive policies European indigo planters that led to exploitation of tens of thousands of landless serfs, indentured labourers and poor farmers in Champaran and neighbouring areas. 

Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha were the events which later put Gandhi on the front seat of Indian National Revolution and made Satyagraha a powerful tool.

Union Cabinet approves ordinance to keep state boards out of NEET ambit for one year

Union Cabinet has approved promulgation of an ordinance to keep state boards out of the ambit of common medical entrance exams i.e. National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for one year. 

Through the ordinance, the order of the Supreme Court on NEET will be put on hold for a year i.e. for the academic year 2016-2017.

Background 

Earlier in May 2016, Supreme Court had refused to modify its April 2016 order making NEET mandatory for admission to undergraduate medical courses across the country for one year. 

The apex court order had implied that all government colleges, deemed universities and private medical colleges would be covered under NEET. It also had scrapped all those examinations which had already taken place or were slated to be conducted separately. 

Several State governments and major political parties had favoured deferring implementation of the apex court verdict. Several State governments also wanted their exams to be the basis for admission for their 85 per cent quota for the academic year 2016-2017. 

So far, as per the SC order 6.5 lakh students have already sat for the first phase of NEET held on 1 May 2016. The next phase of the exam was scheduled on 24 July 2016.