INTERNATIONAL
- London becomes world’s 1st city to launch 24×7 pollution charge zone
- London became the first city in the world to implement a special Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that would charge an entry feefor older vehicles if they do not meet the emission standards.
- This move aims to reduce toxicair pollution and protect public health.
- The ULEZ will be operational for 24 hours and seven days a week.
- Polluting vehicles account for around 50 per cent of London’s harmful Nitrogen Oxideair emissions.
- London’s famous red bus fleet is also being updated as part of these efforts, and all 9,200 vehicles will meet or exceed ULEZ standards by October
- National Safe Motherhood Day is celebrated on April 11
- National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD) is observed annually on 11 April to raise awareness about the proper healthcare of women and maternity facilitiesto pregnant and lactating women.
- The theme of 2019 NSMD is “Midwives for Mothers“.
- Last year’s NSMD theme was ‘Respectful Maternity Care’.
- This day also raise awareness for the prevention of child marriages, that may be an indirect cause of maternal deaths.
- This day is an initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance India (WRAI) to provide women with various healthcare programs during pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal services.
- This day is first celebrated in 2003.
- 11 April is the anniversary day of Kasturba Gandhi’s birth.
- India retained top spot as the worlds largest recipient of remittances in 2018
- According to the latest edition of World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, India’s remittance in 2018 stood at USD 79 billion.
- India was followed by China: 67$ billion.
- In 2016, India received $62.7 billionin remittances and in 2017 it was $65.3
- Remittances grew by more than 14 percentin India, where a flooding disaster in Kerala likely boosted the financial help that migrants sent to families.
- Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, reached USD 689 billionin 2018, up from USD 633 billion in 2017.
- Remittances to low-and middle-income countries reached a record high of USD 529 billionin 2018, an increase of 9.6 percent over the previous record high of USD 483 billion in 2017.
- Reducing remittance costs to three per centby 2030 is a global target under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10.7.
NATIONAL
- IIT Madras bags No. 1 spot on NIRF and Atal Innovation rankings for 2019
- IIT Madrashas been ranked as the ‘Best Educational Institution‘ in the country in the latest edition of National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2019.
- The rankings was released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India.
- IIT Madras also emerged as the ‘Top innovative Institution‘ in the country in the maiden edition of the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA), launched by the Innovation Cell of MHRD in 2018, bagging the Rank number 1 in Government Institutions category.
- The rankings were announced by the President Ramnath Kovind.
NIRF Rankings 2019:
Top Engineering Institution in India 2019: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Top University in India 2019: Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Top College of India 2019: Miranda House, Delhi
Top Architecture Institute in India: Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Top Law Institute in India: National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
Vellore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, topped the Private or Self-financed Institutions category.
- The NIRF rankings was released for a total of 9 categories – Overall, Universities, Engineering, Colleges, Management, Pharmacy, Medical, Architecture, and Law.