NATIONAL

Multidimensional Poverty Index released

• The Multidimensional Poverty Index was recently released by Niti Aayog, think tank of the government, twhich was caluclated equally on three dimensions namely health, education and standard of living.
• The three dimensions were considered and calculated under 12 parameters namely nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank accounts.
• The report revealed that 51.9% of Bihar’s population is poor and is followed by 42.16% in Jharkhand, 37.79% in Uttar Pradesh, 36.65% in Madhya Pradesh and 32.67% each in Meghalaya and Assam.
• Kerala has registered 0.71% of its population as poor followed by 3.76% in Goa, 3.82% in Sikkim, 4.89% in Tamil Nadu and 5.59% in Punjab.
• Among the less populated union teritories showed better results, likely , Puducherry having 1.72% of its population as poor, Lakshadweep (1.82%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (4.30%), Delhi (4.79%) and Chandigarh (5.97%).
• The index was released based on the findings of National Family Health Survey 2015-16.

Additional Fact- Global Multidimensional Poverty Index is released by Oxford Poverty and Human development Initiative(OPHI) and United Nations Development programme, The key indicators used to calculate the global index are health, education and standard of living indicators to determine the incidence and intensity of poverty experienced by a population.

Cherry Blossom Festival inducted

• The Cherry Blossom Festival of Meghalaya 2021 was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma along with Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India.
• It is a two day festival held at Ward’s Lake and Polo Grounds of Meghalaya, where the ward’s lake will host Shillong Cherry Blossom Literary Festival and Musical festivals , fashion show and other events will be held in Polo Grounds.
• The festival has been celebrated from 2016 by the State tourism department.

Additional fact-

1. Meghalaya Capital-Shillong
2. Major populations of Meghalaya include Kashsis tribe, followed by Garos, and then Jaintias.

New Variant of concern classified

• The variant of B.1.1 529 first detected in South Africa on 9 November 2021 was classified as the Variant of Concern by the World Helath Organization.
• The technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV- 2 Virus has renamed the Variant B.1.1.529 as Omicron, It also poses an increased risk of reinfection compared with other highly transmissible strains.
• The Variant has been detected in other parts of the globe including Israel, Botswana, Belgium and Hong Kong, Now the countries has started to impose travel restrictions amid the new variant Omicron.

Andhra gets $250 million for SALT project

• An agreement worth $250 million was signed by the World Bank, Union government and State government of Andhra Pradesh for Supportive Andhra’s Learning Transformation(SALT) aimed to improve the quality of education for 50 lakh students.
• The project is the first innovative project for training training teachers, facilitating State-level assessment and establishing an effective education management and information system.
• It aims to cover:
  •  40 lakh students between the ages of 6 and 14 in over 45,000 government schools,
  • Over 10 lakh children between the ages of 3 and 6 enrolled in Anganwadis, about 1,90,000 teachers, and
  • More than 50,000 Anganwadi workers.
• It will introduce a one-year preschool-level course in 3,500 schools in the tribal blocks.
• The project will be launched with a five year tenure from 2021-22.

INTERNATIONAL

Japan approves spending on defence

• Japan’s cabinet has approved extra defence budget of $6.8 billion for the purchase of missiles, anti submarine rockets and many other weapons after its rising tensions in Japan Sea by North Korea, China and Russia.
• This approval has made Japan’s military spending to a new high of $ 53.2 billion up by 15% from the last year, The request is still pending for parliamentary approval.

BANKING, FINANCE AND ECONOMICS

New co-branded credit cards

• HDFC bank and equitas small finance bank have partnered to launch its new co-branded credit cards in two categories.
• The first category includes Excite Credit card that offers a credit limit from Rs 25,000 to 2 lakh, and the second category includes Elegance credit card offereing a credit above 2lakh to the customers.
• It aims to to provide the small finance bank with the facilities of the banking ecosystem.

Long term cap on prometrs increased

• The internal working group on ownership and corporate structure of the Reserve bank has raised the long term cap on promoters stakes in private sector banks, which permits them in holding 26% from the current`15%.
• The working group has accepted the 21 proposals of total 33, which includes a a suggestion that allows corporate houses to operate private banks.
• The Resreve bank has also doubled the net worth that is required to set up a new bank from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1000 crore.

EXIM extends credit to Africa for vaccines

• The Export and Import bank of India will be distributing $100 million to Africa Finance corporation to procure vaccines for COVID-19.
• They have distributed the $100 million from the total credit limit of $250 million.
• The EXIM bank of India will be distributing $150 million to African EXIM bank and $100 million to the Africa Finance Corporation.

Issue Price for Gold Bond

• The Reserve bank of India has said the issue price for Soverign Gold bond scheme  has been placed at Rs 4,791 per gram of gold, which will be issued from November 29.
• A discount of Rs 50 per gram on nominal value of investors applying online and whose payment are done in digital mode as decided jointly by the RBI and the government.

SPORTS

North-East sports conclave held

• The first North-East Sports conclave hosted by the Indian monthly sports magazine Sportstar was held at Guwahati, Assam.
• Different sports personalities from different sports disciples participated in the conclave discussing the difficulties in sports and handling the issues at the region.
• Chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma who took part in the conclave added that the government has sanctioned Rs 1000 crore for developing the sports infrastructure in the region,
• The conclave was held in association with the Directorate of Information and Public Relations Assam, IOC, SBI and LIC India.