1) World Tuberculosis Day- 24 March
•World Tuberculosis Day celebrated on 24 March each year. It is an opportunity to raise awareness about the burden of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide and the status of TB prevention and care efforts.
•The theme for World Tuberculosis Day 2017 is 'Unite to End TB: Leave no one behind'. 2017 is the second year of a two-year "Unite to End TB" campaign for World TB Day.
2) India ranks 131 on Human Development Index, Norway No.1
•In the recently released Human Development Index by United Nations, India is ranked 131 out of 188 countries in the list.
•The list is topped by Norway followed by Australia and Switzerland on 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. India’s HDI value for 2015 is 0.624, which puts the country in the medium human development category but behind fellow South Asian countries like Sri Lanka (73rd)and the Maldives(105th).
•India’s improved HDI value is second among BRICS countries, with China (90th) recording the highest improvement 48%. In South Asia, countries that are close to India in HDI rank with a comparable population size are Bangladesh and Pakistan, which are ranked 139 and 147, respectively.
3) UP Assembly appoints Fateh Bahadur as its Protem Speaker
•Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik today on the proposal of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appointed BJP MLA Fateh Bahadur Singh as the Protem Speaker of the state Assembly.
•The Protem Speaker (officiating speaker), generally the senior-most member of the Legislative Assembly, administers oath to new MLAs.
•"Governor Ram Naik on the proposal of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has appointed Fateh Bahadur Singh as the Protem Speaker," a Raj Bhavan statment said.
4) Cabinet approves proposal for Amendments to the NABARD Act, 1981
•Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals:
(a) Amendments to National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Act, 1981, include provisions that enable Central Government to increase the authorized capital of NABARD from Rs. 5,000 crore to Rs. 30,000 crore and to increase it beyond Rs. 30,000 crore in consultation with RBI.
(b) Transfer of 0.4 percent equity of RBI in NABARD amounting to Rs. 20 crores to the Government of India.
•The proposed increase in the authorized capital would enable NABARD to respond to the commitments it has undertaken, particularly in respect of the Long Term Irrigation Fund and the recent Cabinet decision regarding on-lending to cooperative banks.
5) MoU signed between Assam govt, SBI over housing, educational loan at subsidized interest rates
•The MoU was signed by Om Prakash Mishra, General Manager, State Bank of India, NE Circle on behalf of State Bank of India and Devajyoti Hazarika, Additional Secretary, Finance, on behalf of Assam government in the presence of state finance and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia, PVSLN Murty, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India, Local Head Office Guwahati, V K Pyarelal, IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary (Finance), Dr Ravi Kota, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary (Finance) and Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay.
•The MoU ceremony commenced in the evening with lighting of lamp by the distinguished guests at NEDFi House, Dispur.
•The MoU has been signed for providing loans for Housing & Higher Education Loan to the State Government Employees at very nominal rate of interest.
•The government will provide interest subsidy at the rate of 3.50% for housing loan and at suitable rate to make education loan at 4%.
•Accordingly, the State government employees will get substantial benefit in terms of interest rates and reduced EMI. There are provisions for collateral free loan, Zero Margin, Zero Processing Fee with longer repayment tenure.
•Murty stated that, about the reach out of SBI across the state serving an average of 7 lakh people per day and wide spread network and infrastructure of the bank to meet the demands of State government employees within the short time.
•He also termed the scheme basically for the employee lower income group but applicable to all the employees of State government who has minimum age of 21 years and residual service of 5 years. Maximum limit of Housing Loan (named APON GHAR) is Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for High education loan (named BIDYA LAXMI). Various Distinguished guests from Govt and Bank have expressed their valuable views in this regards.
•Assam finance minister termed this event as an historic event as it is the only State governemnt to sign such MoU for the benefit of its employees.
6) Indian shooter Ankur Mittal wins gold at World Cup, also equals world record
•Mittal has delivered India’s nine-member contingent its first medal at ISSF World Cup
•Mittal beat the gold medalist at that event, Australian James Willet, on day three
•He had a strong day, ending second in qualification with a score of 138 out of a possible 150
