1. Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden elected non-permanent UNSC members
The UN General Assembly elected Ethiopia, Bolivia and Sweden as non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year period beginning in January, 2017.
The 193-member UN body conducted the elections for five non-permanent seats, which included one seat for the African Group, one seat for the Group of Asia and the Pacific small island developing states, one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, and two seats for the Western European and Others Group.
The two-year terms of the new members will begin January 1 next year and run through December 31, 2018. Ethiopia got 185 votes, while Bolivia got 183 and Sweden garnered 134 votes.
2. India jumps 19 places in World Bank's global logistics performance ranking
India has jumped 19 places in the latest World Bank ranking in the global logistics performance, reflecting the improvement in movement of goods inside the country thus facilitating better trade.
The World Bank in its latest once-in-two-year Logistics Performance Index (LPI) said India is now ranked 35th as against the 54th spot it occupied in the previous 2014 report.
Logistics organises the movement of goods through a network of activities and services operating at global, regional, and local scale.
In the 2014 report, India had a LPI score of 3.08, which increased to 3.42 in 2016. For the third time, Germany with 4.23 points tops the ranking, followed by Luxembourg (4.22), Sweden (4.20), Netherlands (4.19) and Singapore (4.14).
3. PM releases book titled “The Birds of Banni Grassland”
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released a book titled “The Birds of Banni Grassland” in New Delhi. The book was presented to the Prime Minister by the Scientists of Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE).
The Book is a compilation of the research work, relating to more than 250 species of birds found in the Banni area of Kutch, Gujarat.
The Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, located at Bhuj, has been studying the plant, bird and marine life in the Rann of Kutch for over 15 years.
4. Google's Sunder Pichai and 3 other Indian-Americans honoured with Great Immigrants Award
Indian-origin Google CEO Sunder Pichai and three other Indian-Americans are among the 42 US nationals honoured with this years prestigious "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America" award.
The other three Indian-Americans are Hari Sreenivasan, anchor and senior correspondent, PBS NewsHour, Vikram Malhotra Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey & Company and Bharati Mukherjee National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author.
The annual award of the Carnegie Corporation would be presented to them at an event in New York on June 30.
For 2016, the Corporation named 42 honorees, who represent some 30 different countries of origin, a wide range of personal immigration stories, and inspiring professional accomplishments.
5. Shri Radha Mohan Singh launches a web based App CMRS for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers
The Union Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) – a web based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers in a program organised at ICAR-RCER in Patna.
Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) is a web-based App which can be used with computer, mobile and tablet and aims to increase farmer's net income and sustain the productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Bihar, India. CMRS provides irrigated and rainfed farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop and nutrient management guideline customized to the needs of an individual farmer. CMRS uses a farmer's answers to questions on farming practices to automatically generate a rice, wheat, or rabi maize management guideline.
6. Cabinet clears 7th Pay Commission
The Cabinet has cleared all recommendations made by the Seventh Pay Commission report that will result in about 23.55 percent overall increase in salaries, allowances and pension for more than 1 crore government staff and pensioners. The move is expected to give a big boost to the economy as consumption demand in urban areas is likely rise owing to the rising income levels.
In January, the government had set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have a bearing on the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.
The recommendations
The Pay Commission recommended 23.55 percent overall increase in salaries, allowances and pension. This is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, or nearly 0.7 percent of the GDP, on the government.
The panel recommended a 14.27 percent increase in basic pay, the lowest in 70 years. (The 6th Pay Commission recommended 20 percent hike. This was doubled while implementing it in 2008.)
The minimum pay in government is recommended to be set at Rs 18,000 per month. This is more than double the present Rs 7,000.
The maximum pay is set at Rs 2,25,000 per month for apex scale and Rs 2,50,000 per month for cabinet secretary and others at the same pay level (as against the current Rs 90,000 per month).
If the government approves this, the outgo will increase further and so will the burden on government expenditure. It will also have serious repercussions on fiscal deficit of the government which has been set at 3.5 percent of GDP.
7. Nand Kishore Appointed Dy CAG
Senior bureaucrat Nand Kishore was today appointed as Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Kishore, a 1981 batch officer of Indian Audit and Account Service, is presently Additional Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved Kishore's appointment as Dy CAG in the rank and pay of Secretary to government of India with effect from September 1, 2016, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.
He has been appointed in place of his batchmate Balvinder Singh who retires on August 31. Singh has already been appointed as Technical Member in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
The UN General Assembly elected Ethiopia, Bolivia and Sweden as non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year period beginning in January, 2017.
The 193-member UN body conducted the elections for five non-permanent seats, which included one seat for the African Group, one seat for the Group of Asia and the Pacific small island developing states, one seat for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, and two seats for the Western European and Others Group.
The two-year terms of the new members will begin January 1 next year and run through December 31, 2018. Ethiopia got 185 votes, while Bolivia got 183 and Sweden garnered 134 votes.
2. India jumps 19 places in World Bank's global logistics performance ranking
India has jumped 19 places in the latest World Bank ranking in the global logistics performance, reflecting the improvement in movement of goods inside the country thus facilitating better trade.
The World Bank in its latest once-in-two-year Logistics Performance Index (LPI) said India is now ranked 35th as against the 54th spot it occupied in the previous 2014 report.
Logistics organises the movement of goods through a network of activities and services operating at global, regional, and local scale.
In the 2014 report, India had a LPI score of 3.08, which increased to 3.42 in 2016. For the third time, Germany with 4.23 points tops the ranking, followed by Luxembourg (4.22), Sweden (4.20), Netherlands (4.19) and Singapore (4.14).
3. PM releases book titled “The Birds of Banni Grassland”
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released a book titled “The Birds of Banni Grassland” in New Delhi. The book was presented to the Prime Minister by the Scientists of Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE).
The Book is a compilation of the research work, relating to more than 250 species of birds found in the Banni area of Kutch, Gujarat.
The Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, located at Bhuj, has been studying the plant, bird and marine life in the Rann of Kutch for over 15 years.
4. Google's Sunder Pichai and 3 other Indian-Americans honoured with Great Immigrants Award
Indian-origin Google CEO Sunder Pichai and three other Indian-Americans are among the 42 US nationals honoured with this years prestigious "Great Immigrants: The Pride of America" award.
The other three Indian-Americans are Hari Sreenivasan, anchor and senior correspondent, PBS NewsHour, Vikram Malhotra Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey & Company and Bharati Mukherjee National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author.
The annual award of the Carnegie Corporation would be presented to them at an event in New York on June 30.
For 2016, the Corporation named 42 honorees, who represent some 30 different countries of origin, a wide range of personal immigration stories, and inspiring professional accomplishments.
5. Shri Radha Mohan Singh launches a web based App CMRS for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers
The Union Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) – a web based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers in a program organised at ICAR-RCER in Patna.
Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) is a web-based App which can be used with computer, mobile and tablet and aims to increase farmer's net income and sustain the productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Bihar, India. CMRS provides irrigated and rainfed farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop and nutrient management guideline customized to the needs of an individual farmer. CMRS uses a farmer's answers to questions on farming practices to automatically generate a rice, wheat, or rabi maize management guideline.
6. Cabinet clears 7th Pay Commission
The Cabinet has cleared all recommendations made by the Seventh Pay Commission report that will result in about 23.55 percent overall increase in salaries, allowances and pension for more than 1 crore government staff and pensioners. The move is expected to give a big boost to the economy as consumption demand in urban areas is likely rise owing to the rising income levels.
In January, the government had set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission which will have a bearing on the remuneration of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.
The recommendations
The Pay Commission recommended 23.55 percent overall increase in salaries, allowances and pension. This is estimated to put an additional burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, or nearly 0.7 percent of the GDP, on the government.
The panel recommended a 14.27 percent increase in basic pay, the lowest in 70 years. (The 6th Pay Commission recommended 20 percent hike. This was doubled while implementing it in 2008.)
The minimum pay in government is recommended to be set at Rs 18,000 per month. This is more than double the present Rs 7,000.
The maximum pay is set at Rs 2,25,000 per month for apex scale and Rs 2,50,000 per month for cabinet secretary and others at the same pay level (as against the current Rs 90,000 per month).
If the government approves this, the outgo will increase further and so will the burden on government expenditure. It will also have serious repercussions on fiscal deficit of the government which has been set at 3.5 percent of GDP.
7. Nand Kishore Appointed Dy CAG
Senior bureaucrat Nand Kishore was today appointed as Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Kishore, a 1981 batch officer of Indian Audit and Account Service, is presently Additional Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved Kishore's appointment as Dy CAG in the rank and pay of Secretary to government of India with effect from September 1, 2016, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.
He has been appointed in place of his batchmate Balvinder Singh who retires on August 31. Singh has already been appointed as Technical Member in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
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